Written by PETA
With all the buzz about the guest appearance by Bristol Palin—whose unplanned pregnancy sparked controversy during her mother's 2008 vice-presidential campaign—on the July 5 episode of ABC Family's The Secret Life of The American Teenager (a show all about teenage sex and pregnancy), what better time for PETA to bust out our notorious "Sex Talk" ad?
For those of you who somehow missed the ad's previous high-profile airings, it draws the parallel between negligent people who won't spay or neuter their animal companions and parents who take a cavalier attitude toward pregnancy in a chat with their daughter:
So while we ask ABC Family to run the ad during Monday's Secret Life, will you please show it to everyone you know who has not spayed or neutered their animal companion or who might be contemplating breeding their dog? The ad is also a great way to promote conscientious attitudes among teens—and parents—by encouraging them to act responsibly and help all members of the family avoid unplanned pregnancies.
Written by Jeff Mackey
It's like a plot out of a cheesy Lifetime movie or, better yet, a sleazy episode of Maury Povich's talk show: Teen Girls Forge Pregnancy Pact. Man, now that would make a great headline. Oh, wait, it is a headline!
Yep, if you haven't heard yet, 17 Gloucester, Massachusetts, high school students may have formed a pact to get pregnant. And parents say teenagers can't follow through on anything....
Well, while everyone else is trying to figure out who did what or how or why—or whom, for that matter—we thought it'd be a good time to toss in our own two cents. Obviously, this town could use a little more sex education and a little less scandal ala the likes of Jamie Lynn.
So we thought maybe this sleepy fishing town could use a little "Sex Talk"—PETA style! Our PSA, which highlights the importance of spaying and neutering to prevent unwanted births—will air nationally during CNN's Anderson Cooper 360° show. Take that, unprotected sex!
As ill-conceived as the decision may have been for these girls to get pregnant, they at least had a choice, unlike the countless number of female cats and dogs left unspayed and forced to fend off every male animal for miles around when they go into heat. It's anything but a good time.
Hopefully, a little national attention will show that it's about as insane to allow cats and dogs to have litter after litter of babies as it is for teens. And, well, if it reduces the number of teenage girls getting paternity tests on The Maury Show, well, I guess that's good too.
Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky
OK, not quite. Actually, the International Cannes Film Festival is already over, for those of you not on the up and up with film awards. What I'm talking about here is the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, where two—yes, count 'em, two—of PETA's PSAs have made the short list for public service messages. Ladies and gentlemen, may we introduce "Buy One, Get One Killed" and "Sex Talk"!
All right, so the videos have been around for a few months now, but they're definitely worth watching for a second, third, or 37th time, because, well, they're just that amazing.
This is a huge honor, and we're pleased and proud that both videos are receiving the recognition that they deserve and that spay/neuter advocacy is receiving the spotlight that it so desperately needs.
The animal overpopulation crisis is a growing problem and will only continue to grow if guardians don't do the responsible thing and practice animal birth control for their companion's health and happiness.
Now, about conquering that other film festival. ... Hey, there's always next year ....
With his solid wit and enthusiasm, he brought a pro-animal message to many people who may not have received it otherwise. On the veg front, Carlin has said, "Eating meat is one thing, but this whole beef-rancher-manure-cattle-hamburger side show is a different skillet of sh** altogether. Each year, Americans eat 38 billion hamburgers. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of red meat. Cattle consume one half of all the fresh water consumed on Earth. The sixty million people who will starve this year could be adequately fed if Americans reduced their meat intake to just 10 percent."
Even though Carlin has passed on, his words will live on and we really appreciate his zeal and fervor for animals. "And yet, in spite of all these examples of creature mayhem, I will not strike a dog, I will not chase and taunt a bull around a ring, and I will not squeeze an animal's testicles just to give the yokels a better show," said Carlin in one of the many pro-animal excerpts from Brain Droppings. We'll always remember you!
In honor of George's extremely popular "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" and his passion for animals, we'd like to include our own list of "Seven Videos You Can Never Show on Television." The following list is a sampling of our many banned television ads:
Seven Videos You Can Never Show on TelevisionIn Honor of George Carlin
The Guardian, a U.K.-based newspaper, was recently "granted exclusive and unfettered access" to a super-secret primate testing facility at an undisclosed location and operated by the staff of an undisclosed university. This facility works on marmosets, drilling "tiny" holes in the monkeys' skulls and injecting "minute" amounts of "liquid toxin."
Basically, they—whoever they are—open monkeys' heads up with a drill and pour in some poison. But hey, don't worry about the monkeys—Guardian blogger James Randerson claims they aren't "noticeably affected" by the holes and poison in their heads.
While you can read the whole article here, I would suggest you better spend your time checking out what PETA Europe's Alistair Currie had to say in his response letter:
When James Randerson was shown around a primate laboratory (Report, May 31) did he ask why he was being shown this particular laboratory—and whether his "unfettered" access was the same as seeing what goes on in his absence? Undercover investigations into primate laboratories consistently reveal animal suffering far in excess of what he saw on this official tour, and the research conducted was itself far from typical—most monkeys in the UK are used in pharmaceutical toxicology research. Nor is the attitude of technicians or scientists the point. Whether they are or are not "caring", monkeys don't belong in cages, their brains are not ours to interfere with and this PR exercise was a cynical misrepresentation of a far uglier reality.
And if you're actively searching for a reason to be seriously frustrated for the rest of the day, The Guardian was nice enough to post this audio slideshow in which the tiny monkeys cling to the bars of their cages. Listen closely for the bit about how research staff consider themselves "compassionate professionals"—aren't you curious to know what their definition of a sadist is?
One of the many tragic things about breeders (I’m talking about the bad kind here, not the awesome, rockin’ kind) is that their obsession with generating a manufactured, unnatural series of traits in the animals they manipulate inevitably results (as you might expect) in a whole slew of health problems for the victims (not to mention an untimely death for the homeless animals who won’t be adopted as a result). I’m about to drop some science on you here, so bear with me, but this list, of the top 10 over-bred dog breeds in the U.S., is a stark reminder of the sacrifices that these people think it’s acceptable for animals in their care to make so that they can tell their friends that their dog is the fluffiest, or the shiniest, or whatever the hell it is they talk about when they’re not leaving hateful comments on this blog or writing big checks to help the AKC stifle laws designed to protect animals from abuse. Phew! Sorry for the run-on sentence (and the possibly unforgivable use of the phrase “drop some science”)—I tend to get a bit ranty when I talk about breeders. Here’s the list:
The Top 10 Most Over-Bred Dogs and Their Ailments(Coincidentally enough, this is also the list of the top 10 most popular breeds, according to the AKC)
What was the California Healthy Pets Act has become "Dogs and Cats—Nonspayed or Unneutered: Civil Penalties"—a far cry from the lifesaving legislation that was originally presented to the California Legislature last year.
Although we can support the amended and nearly not recognizable bill because it implements some spaying and neutering of animals (only following running at large and impoundment multiple times), it completely ignores the breeders who are bringing more animals into this world when 6 to 8 million enter our nation's animal shelters each year. These shelters must put to death nearly 4 million dogs and cats every year because of simple math: too many animals and not enough worthy adoptive homes.
This new bill sends a message that the overpopulation of cats and dogs isn't at a crisis level and isn't something that every single litter impacts in a very negative way. Buying an animal from a breeder adds up to killing a homeless animal in an animal shelter. Yet vital legislation that will help reduce the overpopulation crisis in California was changed so drastically that it doesn't even address a major component of the crisis: Breeders kill shelter dogs' chances.
It's time we hold accountable those who are major contributors to the death of millions of animals each year. Organizations like the American Kennel Club (AKC) continue to oppose lifesaving spay/neuter legislation, even though there are exemptions that allow breeding with permits, as AB 1634 did. No one hates euthanasia more than the shelter workers who are forced to hold the syringes, yet it is really folks like the breeders from the AKC who are responsible for the killing. Really, breeders, how do you sleep at night?
See our animal birth control (ABC) campaign for more information.
Posted by Christine Dore
Yesterday, U.S. marshals paid the PETCO food-distribution center in Joliet, Illinois, a little visit—to confiscate a variety of pet food products that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fears may have been contaminated by rodents and other animals. It does beg the question: If a company isn't even capable of keeping food clean and safe, how are they going to ensure the safety and well-being of the animals they sell in their stores?! Cans are simple inanimate objects ....
This seizure comes after two earlier inspections this spring at the major distribution center found "widespread and active rodent and bird infestation."
The FDA urges anyone who has purchased canned or glass containers at PETCO stores in the states served by this center to wash the outside thoroughly and to wash their hands with soap and water. Don't worry, though—only a few areas were affected … just Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Kansas. Oh, right, and also Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, and Minnesota. Oh, wait, sorry, I forgot to mention Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. OK, so it's a big freakin' deal! Way to set the bar, PETCO.
This certainly isn't the first time that PETCO has been called out for their disgusting business practices.
PETCO has a history of selling live animals and contributing to the demand of live-animal factories, including massive breeding mills like Rainbow World Exotics (RWE), which, like puppy mills, churn out animal after animal in filthy, hazardous conditions without giving much thought to their health or well-being. PETCO stood by RWE vigorously when PETA shared with PETCO executives its findings of terrible animal suffering at the mill—and it continues to buy animals from RWE! The company doesn't care about "its" animals or your animals; it cares about MONEY.
If you care about animals, don't shop at PETCO (or any store that sells live animals!).
As if we didn't already have enough reasons to protest the horseracing industry, the Associated Press reports that nearly 20 racehorses crammed inside a double-decker trailer meant for moving cattle sustained numerous injuries following the four-day transport from the U.S. to Puerto Rico. Apparently, it didn't occur to the people handling these animals that horses are taller than cows. The horses' bodies were forced into unnatural and painful crouched positions—even causing one horse to remain crouched over for five days following arrival.
The injuries sustained en route have prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to launch a federal investigation.
I guess the handlers missed the memo sent out by the legion of misguided race fanatics that racehorses are better cared for than any other animal used for "entertainment." Sarcasm aside, the aforementioned statement is the number one excuse we keep hearing from race fans who continue to support a dying industry.
This wasn't one case of poorly arranged transport, folks—it's an ever-growing trend in the racing industry to cut costs and increase earnings. Thoroughbreds are transported to Puerto Rico by the hundreds each year, and racehorses on all tracks are made to suffer by this money-hungry industry. Steroids, painkillers, and injuries because of underdeveloped bones—if this is the good life, then I really don't want to see the bad. Take action to help horses here.
*The other reasons are the more than 5,000 horses that have died on racetracks since 2003.
Wintour will receive further recognition from PETA for her tireless work promoting an industry in which foxes, minks, and chinchillas are confined for months to crowded, filthy cages before being suffocated, gassed, or genitally electrocuted. We are sending Wintour a certificate entitling her to a brain scan to identify the arrested development of her mirror neuron, the part of the cerebral cortex that allows a person to experience empathy—or not.
Posted by Ingrid E. Newkirk
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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