It's time to help PETA select the "Sexiest Vegan Next Door" for 2013. Unlike that other annual sexy competition, the entrants in this contest aren't stars—although they definitely include some heavenly bodies,showing the world the health advantages of a vegan diet in the flesh.

And what's sexier than someone who not only cares about animals and the environment but also takes action to protect both of them?

So be sure to cast your vote today—and then come back on April 15 to help choose your favorites from the finalists! (And if you want to get ready to take part in the 2014 contest, here's how to go vegan in three simple steps.) 

PETA will consider three factors in selecting finalists and winners: votes, enthusiasm and attractiveness. Read the contest details for more info.

As Pope Benedict XVI resigns from the papacy, PETA hopes that the newly elected pope will also encourage believers to respect animals, as Benedict and his predecessor Pope John Paul II did.

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When asked about the rights of animals in a 2002 interview, the pope, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, responded, "That is a very serious question. At any rate, we can see that they are given into our care, that we cannot just do whatever we want with them. Animals, too, are God's creatures . . . Certainly, a sort of industrial use of creatures, so that geese are fed in such a way as to produce as large a liver as possible, or hens live so packed together that they become just caricatures of birds, this degrading of living creatures to a commodity seems to me in fact to contradict the relationship of mutuality that comes across in the Bible."

You can learn more about the Bible's teachings about care and concern for animals at JesusVeg.com.

PETA first learned about Boomer when his owner was seeking a new doghouse for the 4-year-old Rottweiler, who was left outside 24/7 in the Pacific Northwest. A PETA cruelty caseworker urged her to allow Boomer to live indoors or else give him up so that he could have a chance to be adopted by someone who would. When she balked at doing either, the caseworker worked with a local animal advocate to try to persuade her to act in Boomer's best interests.

Happily, Boomer's owner eventually opted to give him up so that he wouldn't have to spend the whole winter shivering outside all alone. Now the personable pup is in a foster home, and his foster mom is so smitten with him that she says if she can't find the "perfect, perfect home" for him, she will just keep him herself.

It's the best possible outcome for a dog or cat—a bright future filled with care and affection instead of cold and loneliness.

What You Can Do

Please help dogs like Boomer by working to pass anti-chaining legislation in your community, and if you know of any animals left outside all the time, don't assume that the owners won't listen to you—speak up and try to make a difference!

When a PETA staffer found this dog named President Obama two years ago, he was stuck on a tangled lead in a trash-strewn yard without proper food, water, shelter, or attention of any kind.

He was fed table scraps by his owner, who would not consider allowing him indoors. Our staff member visited Obama frequently over the next two years, each time offering to find him a new home but always getting turned down. So PETA did what we could to keep the little guy healthy and comfortable, including providing him with a new doghouse and neutering him. 

Recently, when a snowstorm was approaching, PETA's staffer took Obama some straw for warmth and found him wet and shivering in the freezing-cold backyard. But this time, the little tyke's owner finally agreed to let PETA take him, which just goes to show why it's so important never to give up when a chained dog needs help.) Here is Obama in his wonderful new home with his adopted "sister":

As you can see, Obama has made himself right at home with his new family—and, just like someone else we know, is taking full advantage of his second chance! 

It's fitting that Rosa Parks' birthday, February 4, has been designated the Day of Courage. Parks is, of course, famous for her work to end segregation and racism, beginning with her refusal to give up her bus seat to a white passenger and continuing with her leadership during the bus boycotts that followed. But Parks soon broadened her base to include others who needed to be freed from the yoke of oppression: animals. She was a vegetarian for more than 40 years.

In fact, many civil rights leaders, past and present, have maintained that as long as one form of prejudice exists, no form of prejudice can be completely eradicated, and thus, civil rights and animal rights are inextricably linked:

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: "There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor political, nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him that it is right."

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Alice Walker: "If I'm eating food I know was a creature in a cage, it brings up memories of segregation and the stories from my ancestors, of being in captivity and denied their personalities, their true beings. Animals were not made for us, or our use. They have their own use, which is just being who they are."

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Cesar Chavez: "Kindness and compassion towards all living beings is a mark of a civilized society. Racism, economic deprival, dog fighting and cock fighting, bullfighting and rodeos are all cut from the same defective fabric: violence. Only when we have become nonviolent towards all life will we have learned to live well ourselves."

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The Rev. Al Sharpton: "So I say if KFC wants to take [African-Americans'] money, and use it to pay for sloppy practices that hurt animals, I say we send them a message that this is not going to happen. I'm calling on people to boycott KFC until they adopt animal welfare systems recommended by PETA." 

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Russell Simmons: "The more I opened myself up to the idea of the full scope of exactly what non-violence translates to, the less interested I became in consuming the energy associated with the flesh of an animal that only knew suffering in his/her life and pain and terror in its death. "

Rosa Parks did not just refuse to give up her seat on the bus. She refused to give up her humanity. She refused to accept oppression as "how things are." In honor of her, please encourage your friends and family to do away with the last of their personal prejudices by sharing the quotation above that speaks to you the most on your social-networking sites.

Team PETA does it again! After losing last year by a scant half a point, PETA has reclaimed the crown in the Sixth Annual GlobalBee International Quiz trivia challenge sponsored by the Sister Cities of Newport News. Team PETA blew away the competition—which consisted of a field of 16 teams representing Hampton Roads–area colleges, high schools, civic groups, and other organizations—besting the second-place team by a comfortable margin of 13 points.

Team PETA members Emily Bowling, Chris Holbein, Hannah Schein, and Lauren Stroyeck aced the diverse topics, which included geography, cultural traditions, current affairs, and science. The team walked away with a handsome trophy, which will be engraved with Team PETA's name and kept proudly for a year.

Holbein attributes the team's success to its members' self-described status as news junkies but also gives a nod to their healthy vegan diets, which he says helps keep their arteries clear and their wits razor sharp.

Are vegetarians really smarter? According to a 2012 analysis of nine studies, eating lots of vegetables is associated with a lower risk of dementia and age-related cognitive decline. And a study by Southampton University linked a high IQ with being vegetarian after finding that schoolchildren who tested high on IQ tests were more likely to become vegetarian later in life.

Want to protect your health, animals, and the environment all at the same time? It's a no-brainer—go vegan. 

Update: Great news! The hellhole formerly known as "Angel's Gate, Inc.," has been shut down for good!

After PETA provided evidence that Angel's Gate had persistently failed to comply with reporting laws for nonprofits, the New York Attorney General's Office filed suit to dissolve Angel's Gate for receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in donations without accounting for any of those funds, in alleged violation of state law.

The lawsuit's settlement prohibits Angel's Gate founder Susan Marino from caring for or harboring any animals other than her own “pets” and from being an officer or a director of an organization that holds charitable funds for 10 years. The settlement also requires that Angel's Gate provide all outstanding financial reports. The documents are to be closely examined to determine whether the money that well-meaning people sent to the organization was ever actually used to help animals or instead was misused.

PETA's undercover investigation of the Delaware County, New York, facility found shocking, systemic, severe, and fatal neglect of ailing and debilitated animals—but now, no animal will ever suffer again at Angel's Gate, as Tuxie, Malcolm, Scrappy, Mimi, Casey, Marley, Lexus, and countless others did over the years.  

Originally posted on November 7th, 2012:

There's some good news to report about the criminal prosecution of Angel's Gate founder Susan Marino on cruelty-to-animals charges following PETA's undercover investigation of the misery-filled hoarder warehouse, which posed as a "hospice and rehabilitation center." On November 7, Kortright, New York, Town Justice Yvonne Pagillo prohibited Marino from having any animals for six months, during which time the case is adjourned.

Since August 29, Marino and Angel's Gate have been banned from taking in any more animals or contributions, thanks to a lawsuit brought against them by the New York State Attorney General's Office. Let's hope the lawsuit's resolution shuts down Angel's Gate for good and that this hellhole's finances will be gone through with a fine-tooth comb for evidence of misuse of charitable funds.

Angel's Gate is not the only hellhole at which PETA investigators found suffering, death, and cruel conditions. Caboodle Ranch, Inc., was also a self-proclaimed "sanctuary" with a website that gives well-meaning people a false impression. Please help ensure that not another hard-earned dollar goes to cause, not relieve, animal suffering by urging the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to cancel the ability of Caboodle Ranch to solicit contributions.

Rosa Parks is remembered as one of the most fearless civil rights activists in history. So it's fitting that her birthday, February 4, has been deemed the National Day of Courage, when we are all encouraged to raise our voices against injustice.

The Henry Ford Museum in the Detroit area, where Parks spent the latter half of her life, plans to pay tribute to her with a day of special events. But the museum overlooked an important detail: Parks didn't harm animals for food. She was a vegetarian. And a celebration of her life and her legacy should be, too. So PETA raised our voices and asked the museum to honor all of Parks' convictions by serving vegetarian food.

Parks is, of course, best known for her work to end segregation and racism. But like her friend, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Parks soon broadened her base to advocate for all socially disadvantaged people. And she, like Dr. King's widow, Coretta Scott King, and his son, Dexter Scott King, went on to embrace other disadvantaged species. Believing that animals should also be free from being subjugated and abused, Parks became a vegetarian and King's widow and son both went vegan.

Not only did Rosa Parks refuse to give up her seat on the bus, she also refused to go along with the idea that it's OK to inflict suffering on others for her own ends. In honoring her legacy, we should do the same.  

Next month, thousands of bullocks, ponies, and horses in India will soon be forced to walk and run as far as 150 miles, hauling carts full of families and goods to the annual Chinchali Fair. Along the way, some of them will collapse from exhaustion, injuries, dehydration, and despair. Others will try to soldier on, enduring injuries from the heavy yoke, increasing lameness, and the sting of the whip.

Animal Rahat, an organization of veterinarians and relief workers funded by PETA, plans to set up stations along the route to and from the four-day fair to bring some measure of relief to animals in distress—and the group needs your help. 

The attention that each animal will receive from Animal Rahat may prove crucial. The veterinarians will bandage wounds, provide water and food, adjust or replace harnesses and straps that are causing pain, demand rest for those who are faltering, and give medical treatment to animals who would otherwise lack the most basic care.

What You Can Do

Have you ever had someone offer help at a moment when you needed it most? Making a gift to Animal Rahat is the perfect way to pay it forward—and with the fair only weeks away, now's the time!

The strain of months of neglect showed on the horses' emaciated frames and in their sunken eyes. Confined to muddy pens that had long since been grazed out, they could only stare at the grass out of reach beyond the fence. They continually checked their dry water troughs, hoping that the rainy Washington weather would leave them a sip of water. Two dogs on the property fared no better. They waited listlessly for the once-a-week drop-by from their owner, when they would finally get to eat.

People who lived near the property where the animals were kept had called law enforcement time and again to report that the seven horses and the dogs were being neglected.For months, officials had been trying to get the animals’ owner to improve their living conditions, but the situation was getting worse. Finally, a neighbor called PETA and, at our urging, law enforcement seized all the animals. Several community residents stepped up to foster the horses and help them recover and the local animal shelter took in the dogs. A veterinarian confirmed that one of them was a full 40 pounds underweight.

Now, the horses and dogs are eating well and regaining their strength. And PETA is working with the district attorney to get cruelty charges filed against the animals' neglectful owner and we will push for the court to ban her from owning any more animals.