Seeing is believing for a team of researchers from the University of Nevada–Reno who are developing an app to help blind people navigate independently. Giving the visually impaired more mobility without bringing more dogs into the world to serve as guide dogs certainly qualifies as progress in our book, so PETA has given the team a Proggy Award.

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The app functions much like a GPS system, gauging the user's pace, warning of obstacles, and giving spoken directions. And unlike its canine counterpart, the app doesn't contribute to the animal overpopulation crisis. Guide-dog breeders take homes away from dogs in animal shelters, as dogs who have become too old to work, along with those who don't make the cut to begin with, must be put up for adoption. The app also doesn't mind being required to work day after day or being forbidden from socializing while working.

We call that a doggone good invention. 

Congratulations to mail-order retailer Haband, which just snagged a PETA Proggy Award! ("Proggy" stands for "progress.") 

When Haband saw our undercover video footage showing how many birds used for down have their feathers forcefully ripped out of their sensitive skin, the company pulled all down-filled items from its website and vowed never to sell down again. Haband also posted an awesome message on its website so that whenever a customer searches it for an item containing down, this is what they will see:

Haband is doing a great service for its customers by offering blankets, pillows, and coats that are made with materials such as polyfill that are just as warm as, and less expensive than, down. And the company is doing a great service for birds, who will no longer be held down and plucked alive, leaving them covered in painful, bloody wounds, for the company's products.

Thanks to Haband for its compassionate action!