Written by PETA
The following is a guest post from PETA Living's Mylie.
This week is "Meat's Not Green" Week, but it also happens to be World Week for Animals in Laboratories. So, if you are already doing a little spring cleaning, what better time to clear out any household items you have lying around that were tested on animals?
Check out these suggestions for replacing items that you might currently be using with cruelty-free products that you can pick up at your local drug and discount stores, such as Walgreens and Target:
For a more complete listing, check out our searchable database!
Written by Mylie Thompson
When I was 12, I won a fishing contest—something I haven't been proud of for a long time now. Back in the day, I was conditioned to ignore any qualms I might have felt about hooking fish, but I eventually realized how much suffering I was causing and put down my rod and reel for good.
What I've only more recently come to understand is that angling doesn't just hurt fish. Case in point: PETA staffers Hannah and Philip Schein were at Lake Kussharo in Hokkaido, Japan, when they saw a whooper swan who had a multi-pronged fishing lure embedded in her foot. She tried to remove it the only way she could—with her mouth—but the sharp hooks only became embedded in her beak as well. With her face now attached to her foot, the swan struggled in a twisted circular position, panicked and in pain:
Tragedy was avoided in this case, but not all victims of fishing tackle are so lucky. Countless water birds and mammals suffer, and many die, from injuries caused by discarded or lost fishing hooks, monofilament line, lead weights, and floats. Animals who become entangled in fishing line can be trapped underwater and drown or die slowly of starvation. The UK has banned certain types of tackle because of this problem, and other countries need to follow its lead.
Even non-anglers can help by skipping seafood. Commercial fishing boats haul in sharks, sea turtles, birds, seals, and dolphins who get tangled in nets and hooked by long-lines only to be thrown overboard to die of shock, blood loss, or predation.
If you find yourself craving cod or salivating over salmon, just picture a plate full of snared, scared swans. Then enjoy these cruelty-free recipes instead.
Written by Jeff Mackey
This past weekend, the Southern California desert town of Indio was steamier than usual. PETA's lettuce ladies made a special appearance at the three-day Coachella Music Festival—where our beloved Morrissey was performing—and wooed broiling-hot fans to the joy of soy by giving away free Tofutti Cuties. The ladies report that the icy-cold, nondairy treats were a smash hit and even turned skeptics into fans.
And what about Morrissey, you ask? Well, he proved once again that he will never let animals down. In front of a crowd of thousands, Mr. M. halted his own performance to let the meat vendors inside the venue know their presence was not welcome, shouting: "I smell burning flesh, and I hope to God it's human. This smell of burning animals is making me sick."
Check out some photos of our ladies at the festival:
Hmm, anyone else think a Morrissey and Lettuce Ladies world tour is in order?
Written by Jennifer Cierlitsky
Pamela Anderson and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin? It turns out that the two of them have more in common than you might think. Namely, they are both opposed to the mass slaughter of seals.
Pamela has written to Putin suggesting that he use his political influence to help her—and many other Canadians, Russians, and people worldwide—end Canada's shame. Putin recently banned the killing of baby harp seals in Russia after calling the hunt a "bloody industry that should have been banned long ago." Pamela, a Canadian who is always a stunning PETA ambassador, has hand-delivered thousands of petition signatures to her homeland's parliament, protesting the fact that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper still allows the beating and skinning of approximately 338,200 seals every year. PETA and Pamela believe that if Putin directs his opposition of the seal slaughter at Prime Minister Harper, Harper will sit up and take note.
Written by Shawna Flavell
I have flipped through Guinness World Records more than once, searching for a record that I could break. Longest fingernails? No thanks. Longest bout of hiccups? Whoa, 68 years!
Turns out, I'm not the only one looking. KFC is hoping to make a name for itself—other than Kentucky Fried Cruelty … or the company with the most people who've resigned from its animal welfare committee … or the company that's most resistant to taking any effort to stop chickens from being scalded alive in its de-feathering tanks—by attempting to break the world record for (wait for it) most people doing the chicken dance at once.
The Guinness World Records folks have already shown that they are a sensible and decent bunch by stating, "We do not accept records based on the killing or harming of animals." So we've now approached them to ask them to refuse to accept record attempts from companies that have yet to adopt even modest humane reforms to reduce the needless suffering of animals. After all, the chicken dance is what people do at weddings and bat mitzvahs. Who wants it associated with the pain of billions of chickens, many of whose throats were cut while they were still conscious?
Here's hoping you'll be seeing my name in Guinness World Records before anyone shakes their tail feathers for KFC.
Lots of people are still hopping mad and flat-out disappointed that the first dog, Bo, came from a breeder—and who can blame them? After all, people working in animal shelters (the ones who are experts in the overpopulation crisis) know that buying from breeders spells certain death to an estimated 4 million dogs and cats each year—dogs and cats who didn't need competition from litters that were produced simply for a profit. These hardworking people are the ones who personally have to say goodbye to the dogs they come to know, love, and care for—because there aren't anywhere near enough decent homes for them all.
So, here's an idea that we and others such as Jana Kohl have proposed to the Obama family: Keep Bo company by adopting a second non-allergenic dog, this time from a breed rescue, a pound, an animal shelter, or from the lists of homeless animals on the Internet. There's no doubt that the Obamas mean well, or they wouldn't have given a donation to the humane society, got Bo fixed, or arranged that complicated "He's a reject from someone, no one bought him" deal. So, hopefully, they'll learn from their missteps.
Please, offer words of encouragement on this topic by writing very polite letters to President Obama. His family is just like yours: They just didn't "get" that a rescue means a rescue.
For the next five days, we are going to present you with fun stuff: environmentally friendly blog posts that we hope will leave compassion as your only dietary option.
As you may have heard, raising animals for food is the number one cause of climate change and its frightening side effects. And that's not just meat production—the waste from which contaminates land, air, and waterways. Egg and dairy farms (which often rely on feeding animals to other farmed animals—bleh!) also contribute to the destruction of our ecosystem. With deforestation, desertification, and loss of potable water—and with 800 million people affected by famine—I'd say that a little restructuring is in order. And the most powerful tool we have is our very own fork.
Want to know how your diet is affecting the planet? It's as easy as punching your information into our carbon calculator. Then, if you've heard all you needed to hear—or if you just want to get a jump on things—click here and take the Pledge to Be Veg for 30 Days.
Written by Missy Lane
Forget paying to check your luggage or being charged for an in-flight drink; if you're a passenger on United Airlines with a little extra "personal baggage," the airline might charge you double. United says that overweight passengers must pay for two seats instead of one.
That's why PETA is asking to put up a billboard at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport with this advice for passengers:
It's a fact: Vegetarians and vegans are, on average, some 10 to twenty pounds lighter than meat-eaters. So, switching to a vegetarian diet isn't just good for your health—it could leave you with some extra cash for cute souvenirs.
From Los Angeles, California, to Paducah, Kentucky and from Berlin, Germany, to Zagreb, Croatia—all around the world, caring people are taking to the streets to protest against the shameful Canadian seal slaughter. These caring activists are showing Canada that the world will not tolerate this bloody massacre.
We've posted many entries on this blog with photos from across the globe, but that's just a fraction of the pictures that have flooded into our inboxes in recent weeks. We've just set up a gallery on Flickr, so we're no longer limited in the number of photos we can share with you. Check out the slideshow:
Got demo photos of your own that you'd like to share? Why don't you send 'em our way so that we can add them to our Flickr gallery?
Some people just need to have things spelled out for them before they catch on. At this very moment, the seal slaughter is staining the ice floes of Canada blood red, despite all the not-so-subtle hints that we've been dropping to let Canada know that allowing a massacre to take place on its territory is an intolerable embarrassment. So, we've launched a billboard campaign across Canada to grab attention in a way that people can't miss.
The first billboard was unveiled in Mississauga, Ontario, by some kindhearted people and an all-too-adorable seal. I don't think that anyone who sees this while driving down the highway can fail to get the message:
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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