Photo from Covance Investigation

The AP story points out that human waste and animal waste from factory farms contaminates water with drugs, but back in July 2006, PETA discovered that animal laboratories are also contaminating water with pharmaceuticals. Our report showed that at places like Covance, animals are pumped full of massive quantities of test drugs that still haven’t even been approved by the FDA. The animals pass some of the drugs out of their bodies when they pee and poop and this waste is hosed down the drain–toxic drugs and all–and ends up in our water supply.

Now with all the attention on water safety, we’re doing our best to convince Chandler, Arizona (where we've been working with activists on this issue for some time now) to not let a Covance facility set up shop in their city.

Check out this awesome letter that our senior researcher Alka sent to Chandler, Arizona, and check out our official PETA report on this issue too.

This could be a great victory for animals if we can convince residents and government officials in Chandler, Arizona, not to allow this hellhole in their city! Thanks to Alka and the anti-vivisection team for all their hard work!

Leave it to music legend Sir Paul McCartney to launch one of PETA's best veggie testimonials yet!

"Many years ago, I was fishing, and as I was reeling in the poor fish, I realized, 'I am killing him—all for the passing pleasure it brings me.'" So says Sir Paul McCartney in his brand-new ad campaign for PETA. "And something inside me clicked," he continues. "I realized as I watched him fight for breath that his life was as important to him as mine is to me." The ad concludes, "I Am Paul McCartney, and I Am a Vegetarian."

Paul's new ad is also kicking off PETA's newest Web feature where fans can go to hear what their favorite stars have to say about kicking the meat habit. Check it out here!

Hey, everyone! I wanted to tell y'all about A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the World, a new documentary by the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA). The film has several scenes depicting very powerful footage of animal suffering. According to JVNA's Web site, A Sacred Duty reminds viewers that it is "our responsibility to apply Jewish teachings to how we obtain our food, use natural resources, and live among other creatures whom God created. It offers simple, practical measures for reducing our impact on the planet."

JVNA is offering free DVD copies of A Sacred Duty to religious groups, educational institutions, environmental organizations, cultural clubs, the media, Jewish film festivals, and others who will arrange showings. Click here to contact JVNA and request a copy.

You can view the film in its entirety online. Check it out here.

Thanks, JVNA, for showing everyone that the suffering of animals raised for food should be taken into account by those concerned about the environment and for reminding people about Jewish values of compassion for animals.

Photo from Ms. Amy Cook of the VegCooking Blog

My mom is a Cajun woman straight from the dirty south. She's loud and proud and makes food so spicy it'd make you slap your grandma. When I was 13-years-old I announced to my parents that I had made the life decision to never eat meat again (ya know, the whole decomposing animal flesh just didn't appeal to me). My parents were both very supportive, but one question remained… what on Earth would I eat?? We were so used to the heavily meat-based world of Cajun delicacies that it was tough at first.

However, being the wonderful mother that she is, my mom and I started inventing vegan versions of the most delicious soul food that I'd been used to for so long. One of the recipes even made it to VegCooking.com (check out my mom's vegan gumbo recipe by clicking here). Dirty rice, gumbo, jambalaya, cornbread dressing, every traditional Cajun dish eventually gained a vegan version. I was thrilled! No more side-dish-only-Thanksgivings for me!

When I moved to Norfolk to start my job at PETA, I discovered another world of delicious vegan substitutes for other traditional dishes (which you can read about here). My point is, vegetarians and vegans are hot and we deserve the best. I urge you to remember one of your favorite meals from before you took the pledge to be veg and recreate it vegan-style because I guarantee that not only will it be delicious, but it'll be way better for you this time around (not to mention there'll be no animals harmed in the process).

Bear baiting is so cruel it has been banned in British Columbia and in many U.S. states, and is condemned by the majority of Canadians and by numerous hunting and conservation groups as being cruel and unsportsmanlike, yet black bears continue to be cruelly slaughtered in Canada.

Alexia over at the PETA UK blog has all the latest on conservative MP Ann Widdecombe's public unveiling of this shocking footage at the House of Commons. Click here to get the entire scoop!

Please click here to join us in contacting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and ask him to help end bear baiting in Canada. Plus, I created this action alert, so you know it's an important one!

I'm sure ya'll remember Jack's tease on this sexy new ad from last week … well lucky you! The time has finally come.

Click here to read the full feature and enter to win the pleather bikini that Jenna wore in the ad! Jenna will unveil the new campaign, which was shot by top celebrity photographer Gavin Bond, as part of Los Angeles Fashion Week.

What's up PETA Files readers! You may be familiar with our recent University of Washington action alert (made by yours truly, so you know it's a good one). Well, PETA recently threw a demo in regards to this alert causing an attention-grabbing article to come about.

Nearly 100 PETA supporters gathered in front of a University of Washington animal research laboratory last week for a very compelling protest. So compelling, in fact, that it persuaded Seattle-Pi columnist Robert Jamieson Jr. to write this excellent article, comparing the torture that primates go through in labs to the horrors of Abu Ghraib.

Check out the article here and if you haven't yet, please take action on this important campaign here and ask the National Eye Institute to stop funding these cruel experiments at the University of Washington and everywhere.

Hey everyone! Jack's now out of the office for a few days attending a conference in Texas. As I'm sure you dedicated readers know, when Jack takes off then usually the marketing manager Joel hops in to write about something clever. However, Joel is basking in the warm sun of Jamaica as we speak on a well-deserved vacation.

So, you may think another logical person to help write the blog in Jack and Joel's absence would be Amy from the VegCooking blog or Mylie who helps out with KP's Dog Blog … but hey, they're all at that same darn conference with Jack! So, there you have it. Time to pull out all the stops! I may be 5th in line to do this job (just call me PETA Marketing's Secretary of State), but hey, I rock just as hard as those 4 fancy "experienced" blog writers.

When I'm not covering for my 7 co-workers who are out of the office (yes, you read that right), my typical job is PETA's E-Mail Marketing Assistant. Therefore, it's time for some shameless plugs ...

Are you signed up for PETA's E-News?? If you dig animals enough to read this blog, then you absolutely must be sure to sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter coordinated by yours truly. Click here to sign up if you haven't already.

Another big part of my job is coordinating PETA's Action Alerts. Be sure to check out this page frequently to get the latest updates and most current action alerts where your voice can be heard and you can take action. We've got everything from speaking out against the ridiculous game of donkey basketball , all the way up to speaking out against horrors witnessed by our undercover investigators at slaughterhouses and other places.

I’m at South by Southwest in Austin this week with some other folks from PETA’s Marketing Department, for the Interactive Media portion of their little festival. ‘Cuz I like to nerd out like that. The idea is that I’ll return an even more cutting-edge and, like, connected blogger than ever before. It’s my intention to learn how to use obnoxious Internet-speak more effectively and maybe spend more time dropping references to XHTML or whatever’s going on with my Twitter page—so you all have that to look forward to if I’m able to make the most of SXSW this week.

Anyway, the point is that my friend Christine will be running the PETA Files in my absence. Unlike some of the other folks who have been filling in for me in recent weeks, Christine is smarter, cooler, and generally more fabulous than I am. She’s like Jack 2.0. So, um, don’t get too attached. I’ll be back Wednesday.

Alistair Currie, the Senior Research and Campaigns Coordinator for PETA UK has an amazing piece in The New Statesman this week about the ethics of animal experimentation. If you’ve got a few minutes, you should definitely check that bad boy out. For some reason, there’s also a poll on the page asking whether “24-hour drinking is bad for society,” but I don’t recommend voting on it. It’s not particularly fulfilling.

Anyway, you can read Alistair’s great piece here. Lemme know what you think.