Written by PETA
This summer, I plan to exercise, read, and socialize, so I intend to focus my Web surfing and not get so lost in cyberspace. Enter PETA's new Internet Explorer add-ons.
By placing them in your Internet Explorer favorites bar, you can stay current on streaming PETA News and PETA Files updates—no Googling required. Instead, you'll go straight to the streaming source: The PETA News widget will keep you in the know on PETA's groundbreaking work for animals, and the PETA Files add-on can boost your chances of being the first person to "awww" us with your "Win It" Wednesday entries. The add-ons are free and easy to install, so what are you waiting for? Go get 'em.
Written by Karin Bennett
A Sports Illustrated swimsuit model's image on a plane is OK, but an ad with metal undies is too much? Really, Southwest?
Recently, Southwest Airlines rejected this ad saying that it was "too provocative" for their in-flight magazine, "due to the lack of clothing the woman is wearing." Can I get a ticket to Prudes-ville via Hypocrite City, please? The only thing revealing about this ad is the fact that going vegan is the best thing that you can do for your health, the environment, and animals.
Personally, on my next flight I'd much rather see metal panties with a pertinent message than another passenger wearing sweatpants with the words "Bootylicious" or "Juicy" stamped across the butt.
Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth
Some people don't eat animals because they don't want to support factory farming. Others are worried about protecting their health or the environment. Nicolas Cage has a much more, shall we say, X-centric reason for why he leaves certain animals off his plate: They have undignified sex.
No, I am not making this up. Here's what Cage told the U.K. tabloid The Sun: "I actually choose the way I eat according to the way animals have sex. I think fish are very dignified with sex. So are birds. But pigs, not so much. So I don't eat pig meat or things like that. I eat fish and fowl."
While this is great news for pigs and cows, I have to wonder where Nick got the idea that there is anything dignified about the way birds live on factory farms. Turkeys are bred to grow so top-heavy that they can no longer reproduce naturally, so female turkeys are artificially inseminated. "Breeder broiler" chickens are kept alive longer than most chickens who are raised for their flesh (most of whom are killed when they are just a few weeks old), so the males are deprived of food to prevent their bodies from getting too large for their organs to support. How do farmers do this? By shoving plastic rods through their beaks to prevent them from gaining access to females' feed troughs. Yeah, real dignified.
As for me, I'm not particularly concerned about how birds, bees, or even educated fleas do it. I'm more worried about making sure that animals have a dignified life—and death.
Written by Alisa Mullins
As a seitan worshipper, I got a kick out of a recent letter that found its way to PETA's inbox: A PETA supporter (who wishes to remain anonymous) was preparing to barbeque some seitan—also known as "wheat meat"—when an image of Jesus Christ on the cross appeared in the godly gluten. Here's the photo he/she sent us:
It makes me wonder, WWJD if He knew that billions of animals live miserable lives and die violent, bloody deaths to sate our addiction to the taste of their flesh? Considering that His message is one of love, kindness, and mercy for all of God's creatures, I think that Jesus would say to hell with meat.
Right now, I'm going to practice the compassion that Jesus preached and grab some vegan eats …
OMG, there's an image of SpongeBob SquarePants in my block of tofu!
The prestigious Telly Awards "honor the very best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions." And guess who just won four—yes, count 'em, four—Tellies this year for outstanding public service announcements (PSAs)? You got it: PETA!
Eli Roth's spot about the link between animal abuse and violence against people took the bronze in the Public Service category.
Both our Thanksgiving PSA, reminding viewers that the holidays can be murder on turkeys and our too-hot-for-TV "Veggie Love" ad took silver awards in the Nonprofit Campaign category.
And my favorite, PETA's "Stolen for Fashion" ad featuring the voices of Pink and Ricky Gervais, also won Nonprofit Campaign silver:
Check it out, and then tell us which PETA PSA is your fave.
Written by Paula Moore
Ricky Gervais' comedic gold at Sunday's Golden Globes was almost enough to help me get over Jane Lynch's loss. The news that prompted my speedy recovery? Hearing that every nominee got a copy of our new DVD, "Glass Walls," in their gift bags. Narrated by Paul McCartney, who presented the Best Animated Film Globe to Up, "Glass Walls" goes inside slaughterhouses to show people what really happens to animals before they end up on dinner plates:
The only celebrity with a voice as delightfully inimitable as Paul's? Alec Baldwin, whose narration of "Meat Your Meat" remains iconic for proud PETA supporters everywhere and who took home his third (!) Golden Globe for his brilliant work on 30 Rock. At this point, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association should really just call the category Best Performance by Alec Baldwin and nominate Jack Donaghy's five best episodes.
Written by Logan Scherer
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.
Tomorrow is the birthday of PETA's favorite British comedian (Ricky Gervais … obviously), so PETA Europe has teamed up with Animal Rahat to give him a very unusual present … a bullock! Well, they haven't exactly gift-wrapped and mailed him a bullock—that would just be wrong—but they have rescued and retired a hardworking bullock through Animal Rahat and named the lucky guy "Ricky" in Gervais' honor.
Gervais' cute namesake is a 20-year-old bull who has worked the sugar mill district in Sangli, India, his entire life and would have been sent to slaughter if Animal Rahat had not rescued him.
PETA Europe wanted to give Ricky an extra-special birthday present this year for being such a great sport for animals. As you may recall, the star launched into a hilarious "tirade" earlier this year against organizations that send animals to people in developing countries. Recognizing that impoverished people often lack the basic means to feed and care for the animals they receive, Ricky remarked, "There's nothing in it for the goat!"
Add to that the letter he sent to Gordon Brown asking for an end to the use of real bearskins for The Queen's Guards' caps and his teaming up with Pink to voice one of the characters in our Stolen for Fashion CGI video, and you have one compassionate comedian who deserves a great big "Thank you!"
Happy birthday, Ricky.
Written by Shawna Flavell
It's that time again—"Win It" Wednesday! What's the prize this week? It's our brand-spanking-new "Mean People Wear Fur" T-shirt, in honor of our equally brand-spanking-new "Stolen for Fashion" PSA.
"Stolen for Fashion" follows an alligator and a bunny (voiced by Pink and Ricky Gervais, respectively) as they confront the people who stole their skins. It's the first and only animal rights video using CGI (computer-generated imagery), so it's pretty special, just like these awesome T-shirts.
The tee comes in milky red and black amethyst, so if you win, you'll have to let us know which color you want, in addition to the size.
How do you win? Leave us a comment letting us know why you think people should only wear their own skin. The three people who post the most creative answers will each take home a "Mean People Wear Fur" T-shirt.
The contest ends on March 25, 2009, and we'll choose the three most creative comments on March 26, 2009. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Check back every Wednesday for new prizes. Good luck!
Written by Lianne Turner
We predict a hit with ABC's new sitcom Better Off Ted, which premieres tonight (check local listings for times). I mean, with a story line that revolves around in vitro meat, as it does in the first episode, how could the show fail?
The premise of Ted, which sounds sort of like a cross between The Office and Big Bang Theory, is that smart and successful, if somewhat nerdy, employees are forced to use their powers for bizarre, if not downright unethical, endeavors by a soulless corporation. They are asked to weaponize pumpkins (which doesn't sound all bad, really) and to create uncomfortable, scratchy office chairs (some chairs do seem to have gone missing from the PETA office). They even cryogenically freeze a company scientist for a year as part of an experiment (now that's the kind of animal testing we can get behind—just kidding, c'mon).
But back to that in vitro meat. We can't help but think that the show's creators were inspired by PETA's call to scientists to develop a commercially viable lab-grown meat by 2012. As an incentive, we're dangling a big, juicy carrot in the form of a $1 million prize. Hey, we already have lab-grown candy—how big of a leap is from it Pop Rocks to test-tube T-bones?
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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