Written by PETA
Get ready to tap your feet—the two-hour season premiere of Dancing With the Stars airs tonight on ABC, and as usual, PETA pals are strutting their animal-friendly stuff.
Just a week after she unveiled her "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" ad, Elisabetta Canalis will make her Dancing debut, and she's rumored to be the early favorite. When asked if Elisabetta's PETA ad would help in the competition, her partner Val Chmerkovskiy said, "I don't know if it will help us, but I do hope it helps PETA. Before I found out that Elisabetta was involved with PETA, I was astounded how conscious she was about animal cruelty and how passionate she was about helping animals involved in any sort of mistreatment."
Fellow animal advocate Ricki Lake could be a serious contender too. She proved she has determination when she was arrested after storming Karl Lagerfeld's showroom to demand that the designer stop using fur. And spay-and-neuter advocate Metta World Peace (aka: "Ron Artest") might put his fancy footwork to good use off the court and pull off an upset.
Elisabetta, Ricki, and Metta World Peace are in good company. Previous DWTS rosters read like the guest list at a PETA fundraiser. Pamela Anderson, Cloris Leachman, Steve-O, Joanna Krupa, Kelly Osbourne, Lance Bass, Jennie Garth, Audrina Patridge, Belinda Carlisle, Holly Madison, Mario, Shanna Moakler, Karina Smirnoff, and even judge Carrie Ann Inaba all know that the most important steps you take are those that help animals.
Good luck, Elisabetta, Ricki, and Ron! We'll be rooting (and voting) for you.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
Lovely Dancing With the Stars pro Karina Smirnoff graces the May cover of Playboy magazine. But before she was a Playboy bunny, Karina stood up for bunnies killed for their fur in a steamy ad for PETA.
As Karina shows, the sexiest thing that you can wear is compassion. Be a honey for bunnies and sign PETA's Pledge to Be Fur-Free.
The naked gold guy who reigns over Rockefeller Center's skating rink made way today for a naked gold medal champ, Tai Babilonia, who bared all this afternoon for PETA's "Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaign.
Click here to see images of the event.
Tai is urging shoppers to cross fur off their wish lists. "Just because it's cold outside doesn't mean we should be cold inside," she says. "There are many more warm things to wear nowadays than fur." Indeed, whether your style is sporty or super-glam, you can find fauxfillment here.
She joins a long list of huge-hearted big names—including actor Eva Mendes, Dancing With the Stars' Karina Smirnoff, and Tony Gonzalez and his wife, October—who have taken off all their clothes for PETA campaigns and drawn attention to the cruel killing of millions of animals for their fur.
Tai's action will surely motivate many people, including cold medalist Oksana Baiul, to forgo fur forever.
Written by Karin Bennett
Ricky Williams is hulking proof that vegan athletes last longer and play harder, and we're sure that his new restaurant, PROOF, will have the same stamina that he has.
PROOF opened today in the Z Ocean Hotel on Miami Beach's Ocean Drive, and the most delectable part of its menu is the Ricky's Picks section. Handpicked by the NFL star so that he "can order entrées," the section's hearty and humane options range from a black-bean burger to rice noodles and tofu.
Kudos to Ricky for creating a menu that makes my mouth water just by reading it. You'll definitely find me seated at PROOF on my next trip to Miami.
Written by Logan Scherer
Dancing With the Stars has hosted a virtual cornucopia of PETA supporters, from contestants Joanna Krupa and Steve-O to dancing pro Karina Smirnoff and judge Carrie Ann Inaba. So we were bummed to learn that DWTS planned to use a chimpanzee as a "guest judge" on last night's episode.
Yesterday morning, several organizations, including PETA, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, and International Primate Protection League, contacted the show's executive producer, Conrad Green, to try to convince him not to air the segment. In our letter, we alerted Green to the fact that workers tear captive baby chimpanzees away from their mothers and beat them in order to force them to perform. We also sent along our moving video about great apes in entertainment, which is narrated by Anjelica Huston.
Anjelica must have worked her magic, because the kind Mr. Green got back to us right away to let us know that the segment featuring the chimpanzee would be cut and that he would never use great apes in the future. Good to his word, no chimpanzee put in an appearance on last night's show, according to the crazed avid DWTS fans on our staff.
This just goes to show that if you speak up, good people like Conrad Green are quick to do the right thing.
Written by Alisa Mullins
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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