It wasn't easy to choose two people out of the slew of celebrities who have taken action for animals this year—heck, just during the past two months, Joanna Krupa bared her true feelings about purebred pups, Ana Ortiz blasted McDonald's, and a blinding number of stars all agreed that protesting the Canadian seal slaughter fit their caring personalities to a T.

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But we had to make a decision, so this year, PETA's Man of the Year is Tim Gunn and PETA's Woman of the Year is Ellen DeGeneres. I must say, we're over the moon about it!

Let's start with Ellen—ever since she and her wife, Portia De Rossi, decided to ditch all animal products in 2008, Ellen has made sure that her wildly popular talk show includes features to raise people's awareness of animal issues. She made vegan pizza with Chef Wolfgang Puck, spoke with Dr. Neal Barnard about the health benefits of a vegan diet, and just in time for Thanksgiving, "talked turkey" about the everyday abuse of animals on factory farms with Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Eating Animals. Ellen also created pages on her Web site that feature insight, info, and tips about cruelty-free living. Visitors can find recipes, read about why Ellen went vegan, learn where to shop, and more.

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Now on to Tim Gunn: The connoisseur of class, the guru of good taste, the titan of tact (I could go on all afternoon with these) narrated our video exposing skin-crawling atrocities suffered by animals who are slaughtered for their pelts, and the media have been buzzing ever since. Tim recently told the L.A. Times, "Wearing fur is like wearing a big sign reading, 'I'm in favor of inflicting cruelty and pain on animals as a fashion statement.' Unspeakable torture is inflicted on dogs, cats, bunnies, raccoons, foxes, minks, and myriad trapped, helpless creatures in the name of fashion—yes, dogs and cats."

And thanks to Tim, fur challenges are noticeably absent from Project Runway—and there's zero fur at Liz Claiborne, where he is chief creative officer.

So, to Ellen DeGeneres for her exuberant embrace of cruelty-free living and to Tim Gunn for his thoughtful and thought-provoking messages of compassion for animals, we at PETA are dancing in the halls. Thank you, thank you! And conga-rats!

Written by Karin Bennett

I don't know about you, but I've already accomplished my first goal of the new decade—to spice up my bedtime. I'll admit it: Before I got myself a pair of PETA's plaid pajama bottoms, I was just a gray-sweatpants kind of guy. I mean, don't get me wrong—I love myself a good pair of sweatpants, but plaid is the Stella McCartney of nighttime couture.

With 2010 just days away, I know we've all got the future on our mind, but all this talk about PJs gets me thinking back to the days when I was sporting onesies and sleeping with Piggy, my favorite stuffed animal. By the time I was 5, he had one-and-a-half ears and had turned from piglet pink to who-knows-what brown. To win a pair of our plaid pajama bottoms, tell us about the plush animal you used to (or for all you young-at-hearts, still) bring to bed with you. (Come on, we all had one!) We'll give a pair to the three readers with the most original slumberland memories—make us laugh, cry, and wish we were 5 again!

Enter by posting your anecdote in the comments section. The contest ends on January 13, 2010, and we'll pick the three winners on January 15, 2010. Best sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Good luck!

Written by Logan Scherer

The holidays are almost over, and after days of small talk with friends and family, there's nothing I want more than to go bleary-eyed from playing video games. With the announcement that The Sims 3 has just won PETA's Proggy Award for Most Animal-Friendly Game of 2009, it's obvious which digital world I'll be inhabiting well into the new year.

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In the latest version of the biggest-selling gaming franchise ever, Electronic Arts allows players to choose a vegetarian lifestyle. According to game testers, vegetarian Sims, like their real-life counterparts, live longer, age more slowly, and feast on cruelty-free delights—from tofu dogs to ratatouille. And, like all great art, The Sims 3 imitates life—if your Sim eats meat, it will get sick.

EA's compassionate update to its perennial favorite shows commitment not only to animals but also to the game's players. In Sims 2, players who wanted vegetarian Sims had to manually create mods to meet their cruelty-free standards. Now, digital life—featuring an official vegetarian lifestyle—is a lot easier.

Last year, the Proggy went to Fable 2—the epic journey in which fruits and vegetables give you purity points and meat gives you corruption points. My holiday gift to myself? Purity points and digital tofu dogs galore. I'm about to hole up in room with these totally guilt-free pleasures for a very long time—no more actual socializing until 2010!

Written by Logan Scherer

Mario knows what it's like to be on top—his new album, D.N.A., has been climbing the charts—but his compassion keeps him grounded. That's why this Billboard Music Award–winning R&B crooner is baring his "Soul Truth" tattoo (and his chest) in a sexy new "Ink, Not Mink" ad. And in a PETA Files exclusive interview, the soulful singer opens up about his lifelong love of animals, explains how an animal is killed for every piece of fur that is produced, and even serenades us with an impromptu tune:

Follow Mario's melodious lead by pledging to be fur-free forever.

Written by Logan Scherer