It's so hot in the city, you'd think I'd be making another batch of lemonade—but I've got a hankering for some Internet Soup. It's been a while since the last batch, so dig in!

• Scientists know that pigs prefer a life like Arnold Ziffel's—full of Green Acres and some "luxuries" …
• … but this pug is partial to that other 60s hit, Batman.
• This video by Frank Strick has it all: A catchy song, an important question, and a big dash of cute—i.e., kid hugs turkey.
• Fisher nets baby black bear—but never fear! Mama to the rescue!
• We've said it before, but it bears repeating: Meat is never "green."
• Sure, beefcakes might make women swoon for a moment, but broccoli wins love for a lifetime.
• We know that Polly wants to fly. I'm guessing that Pauley wants to run.
• "Hummus: The Rap" has inspired me to finish my own masterpiece, Guacamole, A Concerto.
• Professor Turtle weighs in on how to be a hero.

Oof! I don't know about you, but I'm full after all that soup—and guac. This Special K needs a siesta. Until next time …

Written by Karin Bennett

frontiersoups / CC

Plainly put: Money talks, and governments are slow to change the status quo unless they are compelled by an overwhelming response from outside forces.

Canada produces 85 percent of the world's maple syrup, and the maple leaf is known throughout the world to represent Canada. And, unlike seal skins, which have been banned throughout the U.S. and Europe, Canadian maple syrup is a product found in many grocery stores and kitchen pantries. A boycott of this iconic product will send a strong message to the Canadian government that people living both in and outside the country will not stand by while baby seals are beaten and skinned.

The Canadian government has claimed that it continues to support the seal massacre for economic reasons. By boycotting maple syrup, continuing to hold demonstrations around the world, and targeting the upcoming 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, we will send the message that continuing the massive commercial seal slaughter will hurt Canada's economy far more than it helps it. Every time someone takes PETA's online pledge to boycott Canadian maple syrup, we will send a copy directly to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Canada's Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day so that they realize how hard their continued support of the seal slaughter is hitting them in the wallet.

Canadian officials may turn a blind eye to seals' immense suffering, but the outcry against the seal slaughter echoes around the globe. Many compassionate Canadians have already spoken out against the slaughter, and PETA hopes that, as this year's slaughter draws to a close, Canadians will rally to defend their international reputation and tell their government once and for all that they will no longer stand by as this bloody massacre takes place in their country.

As a pancake and seal lover, I'll be buying only American maple syrup until Canada comes to its senses. Won't you join us?

Written by Karin Bennett

Our campaign to convince Lowe's to stop selling glue traps is stuck in high gear. Recently, a woman dressed as a mouse stuck on a glue trap stopped traffic in Yakima, Washington.

Then PETA member Stewart David requested that state officials in North Carolina investigate Lowe's bogus claim that its glue traps somehow "anesthetize" captured animals.

And in Charlotte, North Carolina, Lowe's shareholders gasped at the sight of our "dying mice," who were struggling to escape a giant glue trap beside a sign reading, "Lowe's: Stop Torturing Animals!"

Maybe pressure from shareholders will convince Lowe's to finally join Rite Aid, Safeway, CVS, and other big names that have taken the torture devices off their store shelves.

Written by Karin Bennett

treehugger / CC

The good folks over at Animal Makers are up to their old tricks. By "tricks," we mean creating amazingly lifelike animatronic models that stand in for real animals in movies and advertisements. Oh, and now we can add that they stand in for real dolphins in "swim with" therapy programs.

We're generally not fans of anything to do with swimming with dolphins (unless it involves a boat and scuba gear out in the middle of the ocean). That's because hotels and aquariums that offer people the chance to "swim" with dolphins really mean that you get to sit with a dolphin in a swimming pool—a pool that is essentially the equivalent of a bathtub to an animal who would naturally swim dozens of miles a day. In addition to the criminal lack of exercise and mental stimulation, captive dolphins are suspected of being driven mad by the sound of their sonar, which constantly bounces off the tank walls.

But thanks to Animal Makers, kids with cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome, and other developmental disorders will get a chance to interact with "TADs" (therapeutic animatronic dolphins) that move and even make squeaky dolphin noises at a new facility that is being built in Florida.

Kids get to play with really cool life-like robots, dolphins get a break. It doesn't get any better than that.

Written by Alisa Mullins