Here's a lovely follow-up to a story we mentioned earlier this year: The Cle Elum Seven are now honorary citizens of Cle Elum, Washington.

The Cle Elum Seven are chimpanzees who were living out life in a laboratory, until we helped them gain their freedom and they were given a home at the Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in Cle Elum, Washington. As you might expect, the chimpanzees have thrived in the new setting, and their neighbors are clearly pleased. To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the chimpanzees' residency, the City Council unanimously issued a proclamation that made the chimpanzees honorary citizens. The proclamation also commends Cle Elum's human residents for donating toys, food, blankets, and time to the sanctuary.

All together now: Awww!

It's beginning to look like a very positive trend is emerging for great apes. Perhaps some day soon, the abuse of chimpanzees and other apes in laboratories and in Hollywood will be a horror of the past.

Written by Jeff Mackey

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From Washington state comes another story from the "why you should always adopt, never buy" files.

Today, Benton County law enforcement officials seized more than 400 dogs from a puppy mill owned by 66-year-old Ella Stewart in what they are calling "one of the worst cases" of animal abuse the state has ever seen.

All the dogs reportedly require medical treatment for a variety of ailments, including malnutrition, overgrown nails (which can cause painful foot injuries), and urine burns.

Urine burns! That's because all these pups were found living in makeshift crates (including shopping carts) that were caked with feces and soaked with urine.

You can bet that this isn't an isolated incident. Puppy mills, from which almost all pet stores buy their dogs, are breeding grounds (no pun intended) for disease and neglect. The animals who are unfortunate enough to be housed in these hell holes are viewed as commodities, not as living beings who require exercise, love, and care. They are crammed together into cages that they can barely turn around in, they are fed barely enough to survive, and when they suffer from injuries, their wounds go untreated.

So, the next time you're in the mood to bring a cute, dreamy-eyed pup home, don't support the Ella Stewarts of the world. Stop by your local animal shelter instead.

Written by Shawna Flavell

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If you have a flight scheduled into or out of Seattle-Tacoma airport, congratulations. You'll be in the good hands of the most progressive airport in the nation.

When thinking airplane safety, most airports don't do a whole lot to take into consideration all the birds who are forced to share their airspace with us—which results in 7,000 to 8,000 bird strikes (i.e., dead birds) reported to the Federal Aviation Administration every year. Seattle-Tacoma airport is doing its part to reduce those numbers. And, no, this isn't because of that famous splash-down on the Hudson.

Seattle-Tacoma uses several techniques in its fight to keep birds (and humans) safe. A staff wildlife biologist, who has been there for 30 years, uses radar to detect birds who may intercept flights. Once birds are detected, the airport uses lasers to try to scare them away, and if the lasers don't work, it uses "thunderclap" fireworks. With an animal-friendly lightshow like that, it's no wonder that we're awarding Sea-Tac our Most Progressive Airport Proggy.

This has me thinking about other ways that airports can save animals. Don't you think that they should take PETA up on some of our ideas?

Written by Shawna Flavell

Update: Please click here to take action on this issue.

I wish I could say that the title of this entry were anything other than a simple statement of fact. But according to shocking allegations made by a former animal technician at Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories (SNBL), the recent boiling of a live female macaque monkey—who was evidently placed inside a giant rack washer inside her wire cage and killed during the 180 degree, 20-minute cycle—was just one in a long list of egregious animal welfare violations at the animal-testing facility.

The whistleblower, whose employment was terminated shortly after she complained about these apparent violations, told reporters that SNBL’s reaction to her inquiry about the incident with the macaque was to complain about the additional paperwork that it was generating.

"When I inquired about it,” she told a Kiro TV reporter who investigated her allegations, “the reply I got back was 'Oh, dear.' Think of the paperwork. That just upset me to my soul because no animal in there should die because of somebody’s mistake or negligence or lack of compassion. "

Last week, PETA sent the whistleblower a $1,000 check and a basket of groceries to thank her for standing up for the animals abused in this lab despite the fact that her decision to do so likely led to her firing. As PETA President Ingrid Newkirk puts it, “Her ‘reward’ for revealing SNBL’s callous and vicious treatment of monkeys was unemployment. But in our book and that of all primates, she’s a hero.”

The USDA is currently investigating this incident, so there’s a chance that the lab will be held accountable for this horrific negligence, but there isn’t much hope that those responsible will be charged with cruelty to animals. As the Seattle television station which has been covering this story pointed out, although causing unnecessary suffering or death to an animal is illegal in the state, there’s an exemption for this on the books in cases where the cruelty is connected with “any properly conducted scientific experiments.”

As horrific as this story is, it would never even have come to light in the first place had it not been for the whistleblower’s willingness to speak out, and we are extremely grateful to her for her bravery. You can watch investigative footage of this lab here, and for more information about what you can do to help animals suffering in laboratories, click here.

I just found this speech by PETA President Ingrid Newkirk on YouTube. It's pretty old—an address she gave in Washington a few years ago—but it's cool to see some of the old campaigns PETA was working on back then. Plus, she's a hell of a speaker, so it's worth checking it out, even if you don't have 20 minutes to spare for the whole thing.