Written by PETA
We're all for reaching for the lettuce, but hands off this salad, bucko!
Written by Shawna Flavell
Pop quiz—Tokyo's bustling Shibuya Crossing is famous for:
All of you who answered "e" would get a big, sloppy wet kiss from HachikÅ if he were still with us, but since he isn't, you'll have to content yourselves with a pretty picture of the Lettuce Ladies in action:
Written by Alisa Mullins
It's National Veggie Dog Day! This means that vegetarians across our great nation are pulling out the charcoal and gathering their friends for a summer feast that they won't soon forget. In honor of this year's "holiday," we assembled several of our nation's finest ladies, including Playboy Playmate of the Year—and stunning vegetarian—Jayde Nicole, on Capitol Hill.
Wearing only a lettuce bikini and her 1,000-watt smile, Jayde helped us get our healthy, humane, and tasty veggie dogs to our nation's finest congressmembers. While serving up the "dogs" to politicians and passersby, Jayde reminded each person that "the best way to safeguard your health, reduce your carbon footprint, save animals' lives, and look your very best is to go vegetarian."
For those of you who can't get enough of Jayde, there are more photos of her after the jump.
Written by Christine Doré
If you're trying to reduce your carbon footprint, changing your light bulbs is a good start—but PETA's Lettuce Ladies are on a mission to let people know that there's a better (and more delicious) way to go green. Our environmental crusaders' first stop was the Consumers Energy building in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they gave passersby free veggie burgers and—for some instant gratification to show the environmental impact of adopting a vegetarian diet—coupons for $10 off their energy bills.
According to Environmental Defense, if every American replaced meat with vegetarian foods just once per week, the carbon dioxide savings would be equivalent to taking more than half a million cars off U.S. roads. So, how about cooking up a vegetarian meal for dinner tonight?
Written by Liz Graffeo
Yesterday, crowds descended on Los Angeles' Staples Center to pay respects to the "King of Pop," but it was "Her Royal Hotness," PETA's Lettuce Lady, who stole the show outside Michael Jackson's memorial. Wearing only her signature lettuce bikini and a single, white sequined glove, Christina Cho held a mirror reading, "Go Vegetarian for the Man in the Mirror."
Her message was inspired by Michael Jackson's hit, "The Man in the Mirror," which pondered the impact of personal change:
I'm gonna make a change, For once in my life,It's gonna feel real good,Gonna make a difference,Gonna make it right . . .
What's the easy answer for those who want to make a difference in their health, animal suffering, the environment, and starving children like those featured in the song's video? Go vegetarian!
Written by Karin Bennett
San Francisco's gay pride parade—touted as the world's largest—got a healthy infusion of vegetarian pride on Sunday. Working with local group Bay Area Vegetarians, PETA showed up in full force—accompanied by more than 100 men and women who were eager to educate the public about the benefits of a vegetarian diet.
Obviously, everyone who participated in the parade had tons of fun—but the icing on the (vegan) cake is that more than 500,000 people attended the event and learned that by cutting meat out of their diets, they could be healthier, reduce their carbon footprint, and save over 100 animals' lives per year.
Check out even more pictures of the parade here.
Back in December, we spread some holiday cheer with news that a greyhound racetrack in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, had closed. Today we are celebrating Independence Day for all greyhounds used in racing in New Hampshire, because the last two dog tracks in the state have stopped racing greyhounds!
Greyhounds in the Granite State will now be spared routine racetrack horrors, which include long hours in cramped kennels, broken legs, heatstroke, and heart attacks, and being abandoned, starved, shot, or sold to laboratories when their racing days are through. Break out the bubbly and join us as we toast this victory.
One state down, nine to go …
The number with the worst rap may be 666, but 555 turned out to be the real "Number of the Beast" for one mother who was arrested last week on charges of neglect when authorities found out that 555 pounds was how much her obese 14-year-old son weighed.
Jerri Gray of Travelers Rest, South Carolina (near Greenville), says that juggling jobs meant she often relied on fast food to feed her tubby teen. She learned the hard way that a diet of bacon cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets is a recipe for a health disaster—one that has put her son's health in serious danger.
To ensure that Greenville residents get that message loud and clear, we plan to erect our billboard reading, "Feeding Kids Meat Is Child Abuse." Also, Ms. Gray will be receiving a copy of Meatless Meals for Working People, a cookbook of quick and simple vegan fare, courtesy of PETA.
With the annual Canadian seal slaughter just over (although our battle has really just begun), I was ready for a little R&R when I left PETA headquarters in Norfolk for my vacation in Martha's Vineyard last week.
I have a friend who owns a house at the popular getaway, and as we set up chairs on Lucy Vincent beach in Chilmark, I didn't think that my vacation could get any better. The sand was cool beneath my feet and the ocean waves were filling the air with a salty mist. Then, out in the distance, we saw her. A seal!
At first, we could just see her head as she swam in the waves, but then she headed toward shore and pulled herself up onto the beach for a nice rest. I sat and observed her from a distance—her eyes were so big and luminous. I thought about how lucky she was not to live in Canada where thousands of seals like her have been bludgeoned to death over the past several months. Here in Martha's Vineyard, she could enjoy her time on the beach just as my friends and I were, without having to fear for her life.
So many seals are not as fortunate as this one. Please take action now and voice your outrage at Canada's continued support of the clubbing of seals just like her.
Written by Tracy Reiman
Since Michael Jackson's passing on Thursday, there have been hundreds of news stories ranging from how he influenced just about every musician performing today to how he's responsible for the Academy's recent decision to allow 10 nominations for “Best Picture” (no, really!). It got us thinking: What if Michael's music could be used to help animals?
We've written to Michael Jackson's estate asking for the rights to the singer's first solo hit, "Ben," which was written for the 1972 film of the same name. This beautiful song is about the friendship between a lonely boy and a rat named Ben, and we're hoping to use it to raise awareness about the plight of rats and other animals tormented in laboratory experiments.
Mice and rats make up the vast majority of animals used in experiments, but because they are excluded from the federal Animal Welfare Act, they are denied even minimal legal protection. Part of the message of "Ben" is that rats are frequently misunderstood. (For example—did you know that rats and mice are fastidiously clean, intelligent, and highly sociable animals—they even giggle!) In the song, Jackson sings:
Ben, most people would turn you away I don't listen to a word they say They don't see you as I do I wish they would try to.
We hope we'll be able to use this song to inspire people to understand rats a little better and to join our campaign to stop cruel and archaic animal experiments on them.
Written by Amanda Schinke
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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