Written by PETA
Update: The British Columbia SPCA has issued a gut-wrenching report about finding the decomposing bodies of the approximately 100 dogs who were dumped in shallow graves after being stabbed and shot at a failing dog-sledding operation. Read more here.
A company that operates dogsled tours of Whistler, British Columbia, reportedly killed 100 dogs last year when business slowed after the Vancouver Olympics. The killings came to light after an employee of Outdoor Adventures Whistler filed a claim for compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder that he says he suffered as a result of being told to shoot dozens of dogs or cut their throats and then dump them in a mass grave. The British Columbia SPCA is investigating and calling for a criminal investigation.
Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. Mushers routinely abandon, shoot, bludgeon, or drown dogs when they become ill, don't run fast enough, or are simply unwanted. In 2005, it was revealed that the largest dogsled tour operation in the U.S., Krabloonik Kennel in Aspen, Colorado, was shooting and killing as many as 35 dogs every year. A Krabloonik employee defended the killings, saying, "This is part of the circle of life for the dog-sled dog."
The deaths of these dogs serve as a tragic reminder never to patronize dogsled tour operations. With the Iditarod coming up, be sure to tell everyone you know about the cruelty inherent in dogsledding.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
A few months ago, we told you about a vote by the European Union (E.U.) to end the sale of seal products. Well, now is the time to do a little victory dance, because the ban has just been finalized! According to the AP, Canada exported about $5 million worth of seal products to the EU last year, so this ban is another big blow to the country's annual seal massacre.
Since most of Europe has denounced the shameful slaughter of baby seals loud and clear, you'd think that Canada's government would finally get a clue and take action to end the annual bloodbath, right?
Think again.
Sorry to say, but once again, instead of enacting the ban that good people around the world—including a great many in Canada—are demanding, the Canadian government continues to pour all its efforts into keeping the massacre going. Until the last minute, it was still lobbying the E.U. to change its mind.
Canadian bureaucrats can be pretty thickheaded, but we are determined to keep the pressure on them until they can't ignore it any longer. That means pushing the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic Games to get involved, buying American maple syrup instead of Canadian, and spreading the word to get other folks involved too!
Written by Jeff Mackey
In an effort to clean up its act before the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, the city of Victoria is building four new waste-treatment plants to handle the tens of millions of gallons of raw sewage that are currently being pumped into Puget Sound every day.
Processing sewage isn't the only thing that Canada needs to do in order to clean up its act before the Games. That's why we're suggesting that until Canada's prime minister finally washes the blood of baby seals from his hands, one of the new sewage plants be named the "Stephen Harper 'Something's Rotten' Sewage Treatment Plant" in his honor.
That's just our little way of reminding him that allowing hundreds of thousands of seals to be shot and beaten to death each year is a load of crap.
If Stephen Harper really wants his country to look good in time for the 2010 Olympics, he needs to act now to make sure that there won't be another seal massacre in 2010.
Otherwise, Harper may well find himself in deep doo-doo.
Because we've heard from so many people who want to know more about PETA's position on "Flygate," we've decided to explore the question of "to bee or not to bee" in a bit more depth.
As we all know, human beings often don't think before they act. We don't condemn President Obama for acting on instinct. When the media began contacting us in droves for a statement, we obliged, simply by saying that the president isn't the Buddha and shouldn't be expected to do everything right—if not for that, we would not have brought it up. It's the media who are making a big deal about the fly swat—not PETA. However, we took the opportunity, when asked, to point out that we do offer lots of ways in which to control insects of all kinds without harming them, including the humane bug catcher we sent President Obama. There is even a chapter in PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's book The PETA Practical Guide to Animal Rights about how to rid your home of "uninvited guests."
We have lots of other items on our agenda, as you can imagine, and PETA's focus will remain on our core issues—promoting alternatives to eating animals, opposing fur and products made from animal skin, opposing laboratories that torment animals, and fighting the abuse of animals in circus training camps as well as other overt abuses that fall within our mission statement, which states that animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment.
We support compassion for all animals, even the most curious, smallest, and least sympathetic ones. We hope that everyone will take inspiration from Nobel Peace Prize–winner Dr. Albert Schweitzer, who believed that even insects were deserving of compassion and who would stop to move a worm from hot pavement to cool earth. Aware of the problems and responsibilities that go along with an expanded ethical code, Schweitzer said that we each must "live daily from judgment to judgment, deciding each case as it arises, as wisely and mercifully as we can."
We can't stop all suffering, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't stop any. Our wish is for all people to act wisely and mercifully toward animals.
Written by Alisa Mullins
Sometimes it seems like PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk doesn't sleep a wink. While on tour promoting her new book, she took time out to appear on CNN and denounce Puerto Rico's plans to erect a breeding facility for monkeys. Sometime during all that, she managed to pen an article about how easy it is to be kind to animals. It was posted yesterday on The Huffington Post.
Check out this snippet of Ingrid's article, and then head over to The Huffington Post, read the rest, and leave Ingrid a comment:
This week, Sir Paul McCartney and his daughter Stella introduced the concept of "Meat-Free Mondays," coincidentally the same name as that of a program that PETA Europe is also working on in British schools. As a vegan who was once busily eating her way through the animal kingdom, from mussels to calf's brains on toast, it's a message that I wish I'd heard far earlier, just as I wish that when I wore my first fur coat, there had been an animal rights activist there to hand me a card saying, "Your coat was stolen from its original owners." Thirty years ago, a good animal rights "nag" was hard to find.
Read the rest of the article here.
Written by Shawna Flavell
Well, I guess it can't be said that President Obama wouldn't hurt a fly. The commander in chief was recently pestered by a fly during an interview. He swatted at the insect and killed the little guy instantly.
Believe it or not, we've actually been contacted by multiple media outlets wanting to know PETA's official response to the executive insect execution.
In a nutshell, our position is this: He isn't the Buddha, he's a human being, and human beings have a long way to go before they think before they act.
If all this has you wondering how you can be a bigger person (figuratively, as well as literally) in your dealings with exoskeletal beings, check out our handy-dandy bug catcher—one of which we are sending to President Obama for future insect incidents. I can tell you from personal experience that it sure came in handy the other day, when one of my cats was chasing the World's Largest Palmetto Bug around the house.
Update: US Airways rejected our initial offer, but that little bump in the road isn't stopping us. We're still hopeful that we can work something out with the airline—and if US Airways isn't open to talking, we'll be approaching other airlines with the idea.
With the 2010 Olympics approaching, people are looking to book their travel to the Games sooner rather than later. So, we'd like to let would-be passengers know that there may be a reason (or 338,200 reasons) to skip that trip to Canada.
To that end, we've approached US Airways with a proposal. We'd like the airline giant to wrap a few of its planes (the ones that fly in and out of Vancouver—Games headquarters) with one of our ads:
US Airways is quite the global ambassador and thus is the perfect flying billboard to promote responsible travel. By placing our "Canada's Olympic Shame—End the Seal Slaughter" ad on the body of a few of its planes, US Airways will be doing its part to show Canada that the world won't rest until the cruel slaughter of baby seals ends. How do you like our design?
By now, the whole world knows about the horrors of the Canadian seal slaughter. With demonstrations taking place around the world, it's pretty hard not to notice. Our friends in Canada, Germany, and cities across the U.S. have been out on the streets to spread the word. Check out some photos of recent demonstrations, and then visit our Action Center online to find out how you can organize your own protest.
Inspired yet? Take a minute to read the words of a Canadian who opposes the seal slaughter, and then take action by telling the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee that you won't support the Olympic Games until Canada stops supporting the seal slaughter.
Written by Lianne Turner
After winning us over with its tasty veggie burgers and meatless taco salads (yum!), the West Michigan Whitecaps' Fifth Third Ballpark has held a special place in our hearts. Unfortunately, the newest edition to the Whitecaps' 2009 menu has us reaching for the Pepto-Bismol.
Weighing in at a hefty 4 pounds, the Fifth Third Burger contains a whopping 4,800 calories. Between two 8-inch buns lie five 1/3-pound beef patties and enough fixins' to make even the heartiest eaters clutch their chests in horror: a cup of chili, five slices of American cheese, salsa, nacho cheese, Fritos, lettuce, tomato, and sour cream. And what do you get for finishing this artery-clogging sandwich? A T-shirt.
Well, PETA is challenging anyone who chows down on the Fifth Third Burger to take on a side order of all the resources it took to create the massive meal. Producing just one pound of animal flesh takes 16 pounds of grain and 2,468 gallons of water. You're probably busy gagging over the mere thought of this monstrous burger, so I'll do the math for you: on top of the 4-pound sandwich, you'll be required to shovel in 27 pounds of grain and wash it down with 4,000 gallons of water. Think you can handle it?
For those gourmands who are intent on ingesting several days' worth of food in one sitting, we're asking the Whitecaps to offer the Fifth Third Veggie Burger. Vegetarian burgers don't waste all the valuable resources that meat products do, so they're a guilt-free indulgence for baseball fans who care about animals and the planet.
Written by Liz Graffeo
If you've kept up with our campaigns, you're well aware of the horrors of the factory farms and slaughterhouses that supply chickens to greasy fast-food joints such as KFC and McDonald's. After learning about the cruelty that goes into making every "Happy Meal" (more like Unhappy Meal), some PETA members took to the streets to turn the tables on old Ronald.
Check out these photos, and then send a letter to McDonald's and let officials there know that you won't stand for any more McCruelty.
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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