Smashing Pumpkins founder and frontman Billy Corgan is the latest star to speak out against the cruel practice of dehorning cattle. Billy is calling on California Pizza Kitchen to make the responsible and ethical decision to demand that its cheese suppliers stop this barbaric mutilation.

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Instead of using these excruciating dehorning methods, farmers can instead breed for naturally hornless, or "polled," cattle. Just as farmers select for traits such as coat color, they can select for the hornless gene. And since a single gene determines whether a cow will have horns and the polled gene is dominant over the horned gene, with selective breeding new generations of cows can be born without the gene for horns.

Several other companies have taken steps to eliminate dehorning, and Billy urges California Pizza Kitchen to follow suit. He is one of several celebrities, including Ryan Gosling and Casey Affleck, who want to see an end to this painful, and unnecessary mutilation immediately.

Billy is no stranger to raising his voice to protect animals. He's been a staunch supporter of PETA's Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign and PETA Asia's campaign to free Mali. 

What You Can Do

Please join Billy Corgan in writing to California Pizza Kitchen and urging the company to require its cheese suppliers to stop dehorning.

Big dairy better be wary. Casey Affleck and Ryan Gosling have helped us expose dairy farms' cruel practice of dehorning calves to the public, and now PETA is appealing directly to dairy distributors' shareholders.

We bought stock in several dairy companies and businesses that have dairy farms in their supply chains so that we could propose shareholder resolutions asking the companies to phase out dehorning. Last week, we attended the annual meeting for WhiteWave, which owns Horizon Organic Milk, and told the other stockholders how the companies' dairy farm workers use searing-hot irons to burn off horn tissue or sharp tools to gouge out, or cut off calves' horns and often the surrounding tissue, too, while the animals bellow and writhe in pain. Not exactly the kind of thing that stockholders want to hear. We'll be piping up at the annual meeting for Domino's and proposing a shareholder resolution asking the company to require its suppliers to phase out dehorning.

PETA is offering both companies an easy solution: breed for polled (hornless) cattle. A single gene determines whether or not a cow will have horns, and this approach has proved effective in the beef industry.

We're also offering consumers an easy way to end dehorning: Purchase only cruelty-free (nondairy) milk. Let's horn in on cruelty, shall we?

There isn't a chick alive who doesn't love Ryan Gosling, from the ones he woos in theaters (guilty) to the ones he helps on factory farms. He was spotted saving the latter recently by eating vegan at Los Angeles' Flore Vegan Cuisine.

Since animals aren't normally allowed to go to concert venues, Jay Sean invited them into his living room. The rapper performed an online Stageit show from his home and donated all the proceeds to PETA's "Angels for Animals" program, which provides neglected, chained dogs with doghouses, toys, and lightweight tie-outs.

On a slightly larger screen, Bones is set to air another animal rights–themed show. Vegan star Emily Deschanel says she loves hearing from fans that the Bones episode on chicken farming made them stop eating chickens, and now the Fox thriller is tackling the exotic-animal smuggling trade. 

Fran Drescher is hopping on the vegan train as well, telling RadarOnline about some of her delicious recipes: "Lately, I have been eating vegan and gluten-free, so I have been making delicious kale soup and gluten-free pasta with sautéed arugula, garlic, olive oil and pesto. I also like my recipe for white bean hummus, as well as a good simple field and micro green salad with my special house dressing of olive oil, lemon, Dijon mustard and salt and pepper. I like to add raw veggies to it, like peas, corn, carrots, and zucchini."

James Cameron is growing vegan. The director just purchased 2,500 acres of rural land in New Zealand, and part of his property includes a former dairy farm. The government is requiring Cameron to continue to farm on part of the land, and the director, who grabbed a PETA Proggy Award for Avatar, said that since he and his family are striving for a more plant-based diet, they will likely grow crops. 

Cameron is no stranger to awards, and neither is our friend Kate del Castillo, who snapped up several of Telemundo's nominations for its inaugural Premios Tu Mundo Awards.

Set design: Jack Guy|Hair and makeup: Eric Ferrell for Dion Peronneau Agency|Styling: Shiffy for Aim Artists

Other celebs were busy representing animals in the Twitterverse this week:

To keep up with what all your favorite stars are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter. 

Yep, you read that right.

We want to thank Kanye West for the shout-out to PETA in his new song, "Theraflu." While the aptly named tune does make us want to reach for an over-the-counter remedy as Kanye opines about his inexplicable penchant for slinging tortured dead animals across his back, the song did make #tellPETA trend on Twitter worldwide, giving us a great opportunity to educate people about the revolting cruelty of the fur industry. #TellKanye that 60 beautiful minks have to die to make one ugly coat.

Compassionate rapper Waka Flocka Flame could give Ye some pointers—his "Only Cowards Abuse Animals" PETA ad appears in this month's YRB magazine. (Last month, the mag featured Chris "The Birdman" Andersen's colorful anti-fur ad.)

The cover of the May issue of Vanity Fair features the fair face of fur foe Grace Park, looking as stunning in white as she did in her PETA "Save the Seals" ad.

Fellow seal savior Christian Serratos tweeted her support for PETA's campaign this week: "The Canadian seal slaughter has begun. Pls help @PETA stop the bloody massacre NOW!"

Mickey Rourke saved a stray dog he found on a movie set in Romania. Now Foxy has a great new home with Rourke and his other beloved pups, including Jaws, who stars with Rourke in his animal birth control ad:

Photo: Faubel Christensen

When Pamela Anderson visited Turkey and noticed that the country's streets were also teeming with strays, she went on a mission to persuade officials there to adopt an aggressive spay-and-neuter campaign.

Ryan Gosling was a savior for a woman who was almost hit by a taxi in New York City. His lifesaving heroics for people and advocacy for chickens make Ryan a heartthrob with a heart of gold.

Lance Armstrong seems to be made of steel, and now he's living strong thanks to eating mostly vegan foods.

Maybe he'll start whipping up homemade meals from the Candle Café like Christina Applegate. 

A vegan eatery led to love for Alec Baldwin, who got engaged this week to Hilaria Thomas, whom he met at Pure Food and Wine.

Christina Aguilera took both her loves—her boyfriend and her son—to Cirque du Soleil, scoring herself a thank-you card from PETA for supporting a circus with only human performers.

To keep up with what your favorite stars are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter.

Ryan Gosling has certainly earned his cape this month. First, he broke up a street fight in Manhattan. Then, the Academy Award-nominated actor leapt to the defense of chickens and turkeys on factory farms. Gosling wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on PETA's behalf calling on the agency to revoke its approval of a foam-based extermination method that kills birds by submerging them in foam to slowly suffocate them. This process can take up to 15 minutes and is as traumatic and panic-inducing as killing birds by choking them, strangling them, smothering them, or burying them alive.

"If dogs and cats were killed in this way, the person committing these acts would be charged with cruelty to animals," Gosling wrote. He went on to urge the USDA to put its stamp of approval on a less cruel alternative that uses carbon dioxide to painlessly render birds unconscious and that has already been approved by veterinary experts.

This isn't the first time that Gosling has flexed his impressive muscles in birds' behalf. He previously wrote to KFC and McDonald's urging the fast-food chains to adopt PETA's proposed animal welfare reforms.

We just love a guy who has such a drive to stick up for chicks. You can be a hero for animals, too—don't patronize McDonald's or KFC.

Written by Alisa Mullins

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Ryan Gosling is the heartthrob with a heart of gold—and now he's got a message for the Golden Arches: Stop scalding chickens to death in defeathering tanks. The Oscar-nominated actor just fired off a letter on PETA's behalf to McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner asking him to adopt a less cruel slaughter method. Controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK), which McDonald's European suppliers already use, would eliminate the worst abuses currently faced by chickens who are killed for McNuggets.

Ryan himself said it best in Half Nelson: "The only constant is change." By changing to a more humane slaughter method, McDonald's would evolve and show the world some compassion for animals. If you could say anything to McD's, what would you tell them?

Written by Logan Scherer

I wanted to do a joke here about the fact that “gosling” means baby goose, but it’s not coming, so I’ll just play this one straight: Ryan Gosling, the Oscar-nominated star of Lars and the Real Girl, Murder by Numbers, and Half Nelson, has just fired off a letter on behalf of PETA to John Bitove (who runs the show for most KFCs in Canada, Ryan’s home country) urging him to stop Canadian KFCs' suppliers worst abuses of chickens, who are killed when they’re still just babies. "The time is ripe to do the right thing," he writes. "By adopting the basic recommendations made by PETA and scientific experts (including raising birds in a more natural manner and employing less cruel slaughter methods), you could dramatically improve the lives and deaths of chickens …."

Ryan Gosling	Goslings

Image credits: DeadlineHollywoodDaily, BBC / CC

And if you haven’t seen Lars and the Real Girl yet, you should rent it. Definitely one of my favorite movies this year.