Written by PETA
Fashion fast-forward with the latest cruelty-free design: "Leather" made from green tea cultures! In a new process being developed by visionary designer Suzanne Lee, bacterial cultures are extracted from vats of green tea and then formed into eco-friendly cellulose sheets. Suzanne uses this "textile biomaterial" to make fashionable and cruelty-free jackets and dresses.
Unlike real leather—animal flesh coated in toxic preservatives such as formaldehyde and chromium to keep it from decomposing—BioCouture clothing is safe for animals and the environment. It isn't commercially available yet, but some of Lee's fresh and fabulous designs are on display at the Science Museum in London until early next year.
Via treehugger
Written by Jennifer O'Connor
When it comes to animals, Jada Pinkett Smith has a heart as big as her incandescent smile. We recently learned that the HawthoRNe star came to the rescue of a hungry puppy who was fending for himself on the streets of Beijing during the shooting of the hit film The Karate Kid—produced by Jada and her husband, Will Smith, and starring their son, Jaden (who also recorded a song for the soundtrack with Justin Bieber and Jackie Chan.
The lucky dog, nicknamed "Beijing Black," has now made himself at home with the Smith brood, along with a number of other animals. After recognizing how unhappy snakes are in captivity, Jada vowed not to take home any more caged animals. Now, she says, "I like to rescue dogs."
Written by Jeff Mackey
My "Things That Make You Go Aww" folder is thick with the obvious and the not-so-obvious.
Today that file is bursting at the seams, thanks to Sergeant Mark Fry, a caring cop in Toledo, Ohio, who raced to respond to a call about a pregnant deer who'd been hit by a car. Because of her severe injuries, the doe was euthanized, but her fawn was saved, thanks to Fry's swift, decisive action. He not only performed a C-section at the scene, he also administered CPR to the surviving fawn and then instinctively knew to nourish the weak baby with the doe's milk. Later, during a media interview, he admonished the unknown hit-and-run driver for fleeing the scene and abandoning the injured animals.
Sergeant Mark Fry's heroic efforts reflect his belief that "[a] life is a life, it doesn't matter if it's an animal or if it's a human being." For his compassionate actions, we're presenting him with PETA's "One Can Make a Difference" award. Please leave Sergeant Mark Fry a note of thanks in the comments section, and then read up on how to help deer and other animals in your city.
Written by Karin Bennett
Animal abusers, be warned: You do not want to mess with PETA cruelty caseworker Kristin DeJournett. Not only is she relentless in pursuing justice against people who hurt and kill animals, she's also a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
After a rigorous series of tryouts that tested competitors' stamina, technique, and expertise, Kristin was recently chosen from among thousands of black belts across the country to participate in a prestigious international Tae Kwon Do tournament in England.
To prepare for the competition, Kristin and her teammates met twice weekly for grueling practice sessions that lasted up to four hours. Kristin also trained daily for at least an hour with jogging, sprinting, and calisthenics—all fueled by a vegan diet, of course.
"I was able to build lean muscle and shed fat by eating lots of vegetable protein (tofu, beans, and faux meat), whole grains, and a ton of leafy green vegetables and fruits," says Kristin. "I've noticed that a vegan diet helps me feel quicker and lighter on my feet."
Kristin reports that Team USA cleaned up—all the teams earned gold medals in their age groups—and Kristin captured the bronze in an individual event!
Are you a vegan athlete? Post a comment below to tell us how you fuel your workouts.
Written by Alisa Mullins
At PETA, we sometimes embrace things that others might call "bizarre," like Andy Dick's interview as Ronald McDonald with Jiminy Glick.
So when people started ringing our phones wanting our reaction to the recent news that Mike Myers is "kind of obsessed" with painting KFC's Colonel Sanders, we might have puzzled some callers who assumed we'd be alarmed or offended to learn about his muse. We're not. Monet may have had his water lilies but, hey, not all artists are inspired by foliage.
Besides, at the recent premiere of Shrek Forever After, the actor/funnyman/artist told our own Senior Vice President Dan Mathews that after watching a PETA video, he doesn't eat chicken anymore.
That's no surprise, really—after all, like art, many individual's attitudes are ever-evolving—and countless caring people have kicked KFC's unhealthy buckets from their diets.
So we're thankful that one more person has chosen not to support the appalling cruelty that's imposed upon billions of chickens, and we'll daydream that Mike Myers might one day honor us with a gift of one of his renderings of the Colonel. If we paired it with our crippled KFC chicken statue from artist Harry Bliss, we could add immeasurable artistic flair to our Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign.
Calling all connoisseurs of cuteness: We need your help deciding which of the following pics from recent PETA demonstrations is the most aww-inspiring.
Personally, I'm rooting for my boy Chris P. Carrot and his sweet pea Penelo, who recently attended the Veggie Pride Parade in New York City. Then again, I really ♥ the picture of the little dude in diapers sharing his disgust over the abuse of dairy cows at a Land O'Lakes supplier. But how can you not love Ellie the Elephant, who travels around the country educating elementary school kids about Ringling's abuse of baby elephants? Dang, I can't decide. You decide for me:
Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth
Adrian Grenier has a heart to back up those drive-me-crazy (yes, I did just allude to the 1999 Adrian Grenier–Melissa Joan Hart classic) good looks. While out for a run yesterday, the Entourage star stopped when he spotted an injured dog on the side of the road. Grenier checked the dog's vital signs and attempted to revive the animal, then contacted local authorities when he realized it was too late.
Follow Adrian's lead! If you ever see an injured animal—even if you think he or she may be dead—stop and check. Many animals go into shock after they are hit by cars and can end up paralyzed and in pain. If no one stops to help, they may be left to suffer, sometimes for days, before they eventually succumb to their injuries. It only takes a minute of your time to reduce animal suffering.
Written by Logan Scherer
Remember PETA's 2007 undercover investigation of Rainbow World Exotics (RWE), a hellhole in Hamilton, Texas, that supplies PETCO and PetSmart stores with little hamsters, gerbils, and other critters? Before going public with that investigation, we sat down with three PETCO corporate representatives (one of whom was a vet) and showed them heartbreaking footage of a worker who was castrating rabbits and bleaching their wounds, a manager who was stomping hamsters to death, live animals who were being tossed in the trash, a cockatoo who was starving and dying, and more. We were sure that PETCO would want nothing to do with RWE after seeing the footage of all this misery. Boy, were we wrong. PETCO (as well as PetSmart) stood by RWE, refused to sever ties, and insisted that things there were not so bad. We are quite sure that the animals would disagree. Up until now, we thought that we knew how low this massive pet-store giant was capable of stooping.
It turns out that we were wrong.
On Tuesday, PETCO put out a news release saying that it had "stepped up" and was "calling all small animal lovers" to "adopt" "more than 2,000 recently rescued animals" who are being held in the company's Dallas-area stores—animals who were among the 26,000 critters who were confiscated from yet another hellhole supplier, U.S. Global Exotics (USGE), after a PETA investigation uncovered horrific conditions there. USGE was a supplier to RWE. Many of the animals seized from USGE were ultimately bound for PETCO stores.
In the news release, a PETCO rep actually proclaimed, "We were appalled by the tragedy at U.S. Global Exotics …." That's rich! But not as rich as PETCO—the company made more than $2.5 billion in 2008 by selling animals from massive mills like RWE and USGE. And according the release, it looks like the company was poised to make a pretty profit off this "adoption" deal. All the money to be made from the adoptions and the application fees for the animals was set to go to the PETCO Foundation, while all of the money from the pet supplies a new parent needs to properly care for an animal would have lined the pockets of PETCO's CEOs. The money would not have gone to the thousands of animals from USGE who need homes. No, that responsibility falls on the shoulders of PETA and other nonprofit organizations that have been working around the clock to get these animals out of harm's way and to provide them with the basic necessities of which they have been deprived.
After PETA made a few phone calls, we were able to get the animals—including anoles, geckos, toads, snakes, iguanas, hermit crabs, long-tailed grass lizards, mice, hamsters, and frogs—removed from PETCO's clutches. We were promised that they would be placed with reputable groups. PETCO told local media that it was "extremely disappointed" after this absurd plan was halted (we bet!).
These animals are now safe, but PETCO's exploitation of animals will continue as long as the corporate giant continues to buy and sell animals. So what can you do? Tell everyone you know to chime in and demand that PETCO cease all live animal sales immediately!
Written by Daphna Nachminovitch, Vice President of Cruelty Investigations
The situation in Haiti is obviously bleak for all living beings. PETA is asking rescue and relief agencies on the ground in Haiti—some with rescue dogs from the U.S. and Europe who are helping locate trapped people—to please spare a moment if they can to aid any suffering animal by offering scraps, drops of water, or any other emergency assistance possible. We are offering funding for any emergency services, including for euthanasia to put badly injured animals out of their misery. We are appealing to every kind member of earthquake specialist teams as well as EMS personnel, news reporters, and any other person who is in everyone's debt already for going about the vital task of searching for and rescuing human beings.
All living beings—no matter what their species—deserve the kindness of others. We also ask aid personnel who come across animals who are suffering without any hope of being saved to attempt to be strong and to quickly—and as humanely as possible—put them out of their misery.
Keep checking our blog for updates on the disaster in Haiti and for ways you can help the country's animals.
Your best friend is hit by a car on a busy freeway, right in front of you. Would you risk your own life to pull him or her to safety? That's exactly what one intrepid dog, did last year when he came to a friend's rescue by risking his own life to run into oncoming highway traffic.
What if you saw a mother and her baby drowning at the beach? Would you rush to their rescue? A dolphin named Moko did when she guided two beached whales into deeper waters off the coast of New Zealand.
Researchers at the University of Paris recently discovered that selflessness among animals like that heroic dog and Moko the dolphin—who put their own lives in danger in order to save others—is even more prevalent than we once thought. The examples of animal altruism are many and moving: Dolphins endanger themselves to rescue their trapped friends, ants help fellow colony members when they're caught in traps or under attack from a predator (though we've known that insects were geniuses for a while now), female fruit bats help each other during labor to ease birth pains—and that's only a quick sampling.
Their selfless acts don't end with their own species either: Dogs will risk their lives to save their guardians, gorillas will care for human children, and one hears story after story about dolphins who come to the aid of swimmers and surfers. If animals can put aside the differences they have with us to help ensure our survival, isn't it about time we did the same?
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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