Written by PETA
They were hung from trees in the woods behind Michael Vick's house, eight dogs left there to die, kicking and screaming.The pit bulls had made the mistake of failing the test. They weren't mean enough, quick enough, strong enough in the ring, so they were of no more use to Vick's Bad Newz dogfighting operation.Imagine, killing a dog because it's just too nice.Five of the dogs finally kicked their last breaths away as the ropes cut deeper and deeper into their throats. Three somehow clung to life. Vick and two of his henchmen, growing impatient, cut those three down and one by one shoved their heads into five-gallon buckets filled with water, drowning them to finish them off.Try keeping your breakfast down after hearing that report on ESPN.The inhumanity, the callousness, the abuse of these innocent, helpless animals is almost beyond comprehension.
Have you heard of Jason “Gummi Bear” Davis? Don’t worry if you haven’t, he’s just another in the long line of disposable tabloid fodder LA rich kids. Usually Gummi’s only real claims to fame are having a slightly less un-famous brother and not getting into clubs, which while funny of course, wouldn’t land him on this blog. But I just heard he was spotted at a KFC event the other day, and honestly, I don’t think I can come up with a better advertisement for vegetarianism than having this kid roll around town in his KFC shirt he’s so proud of . . .
Check out this KFC protest organized by PETA Asia-Pacific in Hong Kong yesterday. This is truly a global campaign, with demonstrations happening in about 100 countries so far. KFC needs to wake up and realize that people all over the world are against grotesque cruelty to animals, and the sooner it makes the simple animal welfare improvements we're pushing for, the better.
Want to organize a demo like this where you live? Get in touch here.
Designer and Project Runway star Michael Kors recently pacified representatives from the Humane Society of the US by agreeing to stop using raccoon dog fur in his clothing lines. Unfortunately, Kors is turning a blind eye to the suffering of the countless other animals he still uses for their fur. It won’t result in fewer animals dying—just different animals dying. This “pledge” to not use the fur from just one species completely ignores the simple fact that millions of other animals, including foxes (also members of the canine family), are beaten, strangled, anally or genitally electrocuted and skinned alive for their fur. I’m sorry, but this step just isn’t enough, especially given that so many top designers—including Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Stella McCartney, Betsey Johnson, Marc Bouwer, Rebecca Taylor, and Kenneth Cole, to name just a few—are totally fur-free.
As you probably know, we are all about rewarding companies for taking incremental steps forward. This, however, is not a step forward. Fur is the one issue where there is no middle ground, and the reality here is that this will do absolutely nothing to stop animal suffering overall. Michael Kors’ PR director confirmed to us yesterday that the “MICHAEL” Michael Kors label may in fact still include the fur from other species (as will all other Kors labels).
Well, we’re not willing to take the scraps that Michael Kors is throwing out. It is the year 2007 and it is high time that Kors stops using all fur for good. Please help convince him that there is simply no excuse for using any fur at all by taking action here.
And here is the letter PETA prez Ingrid Newkirk fired off to Kors yesterday.
Dear Mr. Kors:The bone that you tossed to The Humane Society about dropping raccoon dog and raccoon fur may have pacified Humane Society CEO Wayne Pacelle, but it leaves a bad taste in our mouths. As you know, there’s not a lick of difference between beating and skinning live raccoon dogs and doing the same to foxes, who are also members of the canidae family. The rest of the animal protection community knows that when it comes to feeling the pain of being beaten, strangled, genitally electrocuted, and skinned alive, a raccoon is a coyote is a fox is a mink. To PETA, it isn’t whether or not the animal looks like a raccoon or barks like a dog—suffering is suffering. Foxes, too, have central nervous systems, as do the minks who have their necks broken for your “coffee mink tunic dress.” Having met with your team twice—including your head designer—and shown them a video that reveals the horrific suffering endured by animals used for fur, we are sure this must not have trickled down to you. I urge you to take five minutes to watch this exposé of the fur trade, which is narrated by Martha Stewart, who had a change of heart herself about fur. I think it might help you understand why removing fur from one fur-bearing animal in your collections and replacing it with another is totally unacceptable. Top designers including Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Stella McCartney, Betsey Johnson, Marc Bouwer, Rebecca Taylor, and Kenneth Cole have all chosen to take a compassionate stand and rid their lines of fur—or have never used fur at all. We call on you now to do the same. Sincerely, Ingrid E. NewkirkPresidentPETA
Dear Mr. Kors:
The bone that you tossed to The Humane Society about dropping raccoon dog and raccoon fur may have pacified Humane Society CEO Wayne Pacelle, but it leaves a bad taste in our mouths. As you know, there’s not a lick of difference between beating and skinning live raccoon dogs and doing the same to foxes, who are also members of the canidae family. The rest of the animal protection community knows that when it comes to feeling the pain of being beaten, strangled, genitally electrocuted, and skinned alive, a raccoon is a coyote is a fox is a mink.
To PETA, it isn’t whether or not the animal looks like a raccoon or barks like a dog—suffering is suffering. Foxes, too, have central nervous systems, as do the minks who have their necks broken for your “coffee mink tunic dress.”
Having met with your team twice—including your head designer—and shown them a video that reveals the horrific suffering endured by animals used for fur, we are sure this must not have trickled down to you. I urge you to take five minutes to watch this exposé of the fur trade, which is narrated by Martha Stewart, who had a change of heart herself about fur. I think it might help you understand why removing fur from one fur-bearing animal in your collections and replacing it with another is totally unacceptable.
Top designers including Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Stella McCartney, Betsey Johnson, Marc Bouwer, Rebecca Taylor, and Kenneth Cole have all chosen to take a compassionate stand and rid their lines of fur—or have never used fur at all. We call on you now to do the same.
Sincerely,
Ingrid E. NewkirkPresidentPETA
Finally. This project has been in the works for longer than I care to admit, and it's incredibly exciting for me to see the beautiful, beautiful final product. A lot of people have been working really hard on this, so I did want to particularly thank my friend Drew, who generously donated his time and expertise and was a huge help in the early stages, as well as Shawn from our Web department, who crafted it into the masterpiece it is now—and who had to deal with me making obnoxious demands of him, like, "This is good, Shawn, but can you make a version with Satan in the background?" The generator is all part of the newly revamped Kentucky Fried Cruelty Campaign site, so you should probably check that out too. It’s pretty much the worst thing to happen to Colonel Sanders since people found out he wasn’t really a Colonel.
You can reward yourself for having read all the way through my little self-congratulation fest by clicking the sign below to play around with the generator yourself. It really is something special. And I promise that's the last time you'll see me gratuitously patting myself on the back in this blog.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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