If you've ever read one of PETA's "Piense Antes de Comer" leaflets or seen actor Constance Marie's spay-and-neuter billboard—or any of our countless other Spanish materials—you're already familiar with our outreach to Latinos. But at Mama's International Tamales in downtown Los Angeles yesterday, we celebrated a groundbreaking moment with the official launch of our newest outreach division, PETA Latino! And the stars were out to celebrate with us. Television star Marco Antonio Regil hosted the event, and actor Patricia De León unveiled her new pro-vegetarian ad, reading (in Spanish), "Eat Your Vegetables. They're Very Tasty." Hollywood beauties Daniella Alonso and Mayte Garcia were also there to show off their PETA ads and sample the delicious food.

Marco and Patricia both gave impassioned speeches about the importance of reaching out to the Spanish-speaking community and adopting a meat-free diet for animals, human health, and the planet. And PETA's vice president of communications, Lisa Lange, rounded out the afternoon with some words on PETA's ongoing commitment to the Latino community and anyone who wants to live a compassionate lifestyle, no matter what language he or she speaks. "Our goal," she said, "is to make PETA Latino an indispensible resource for everyone in this community."

Marco and Patricia mingled with the dozens of supporters and reporters who came out to share this groundbreaking moment for animals and even stopped to snap a picture with their matching Pure bracelets (made of all-vegan materials, of course!), made by Energy Muse, which is donating a portion of the sales of the stylish bracelet to PETA's lifesaving campaigns.

But the fun didn't end when we were done munching on delicious vegan taquitos, tamales, and pupusas. Back at the Bob Barker Building, we got back to work strengthening PETA Latino with new Spanish outreach materials, videos, and content for PETALatino.com. Check it out!

For its outstanding advances in behalf of animals over the past 12 months, Los Angeles has been chosen as PETA's City of the Year for 2012. The Los Angeles City Council will receive a commemorative certificate, along with a letter signed by PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk, in recognition of its achievements.

In a state that has been a trailblazer for animal-friendly legislation—including bans on foie gras and shark-fin soup and the passage of a law that raises the standards of animal welfare on factory farms—the City of Angels continued to raise the bar in 2012, with accomplishments that include:

• Banning the Retail Sale of Cats, Dogs, and Rabbits
  In October, L.A. became the largest U.S. city to prevent pet shops from selling animals from breeders and puppy mills. The new law, passed by the City Council in a 13-2 vote, is intended to encourage the adoption of animals from city shelters—a vital step toward ending the animal overpopulation crisis.

• Endorsing Meatless Mondays
  In November, Los Angeles officially endorsed Meatless Mondays—the largest American city to do so thus far—by a unanimous City Council vote. The resolution cited concerns over the harm that the meat industry causes to animals, the environment, and human health as reasons for the endorsement.

• Taking Up a Ban on Exotic and Wild Animals in Circuses
  After the city's Personnel and Animal Welfare Committee proposed a law barring circuses and other traveling exhibitions from forcing elephants to perform in L.A., the City Council has begun considering enacting such a ban. If the law passes—and please help PETA make sure that it does—Ringling Bros. and other circuses that abuse elephants and other exotic animals will no longer be allowed to exploit them during stints in Los Angeles.

But these aren't the only reasons why L.A. has drawn PETA's notice in 2012. In July, Dodger Stadium took the fifth spot on PETA's annual list of the Top 10 Vegetarian-Friendly Major League Ballparks. L.A. is also the hometown of PETA's 2012 Person of the Year, the fabulous Anjelica Huston.

And, hmm, it seems like there was something else … oh, yes: In March, PETA held the grand opening of its Los Angeles offices in the freshly inaugurated Bob Barker Building. Coincidence? Think it over while Ella takes you on the grand tour.

We hope you'll join PETA in thanking the members of the Los Angeles City Council for their compassionate actions over the past year—and encourage them to keep up the great work in 2013 and beyond!

Los Angeles has been on a roll lately (ever since PETA's new Bob Barker Building opened there—coincidence?). First, the city banned pet stores from selling puppies, kittens, and rabbits from breeders, and then it became the first major city to embrace and endorse Meatless Monday. Now, the City of Angels is considering a ban on cruel elephant acts.

Here's what's going on: The City Council's Personnel and Animal Welfare Committee proposed a measure that would ban circuses and other traveling exhibits in L.A. from forcing elephants to perform. 

If the council passes the measure, Ringling Bros. and other circuses that abuse elephants will no longer be allowed to haul them to Los Angeles in cramped, stifling boxcars or trucks in which they're kept chained for up to 100 hours at a time. These circuses will no longer be allowed to drag elephants into an L.A. arena and force them to stand on their heads or balance on balls, with the ever-present bullhook looming threateningly nearby. In L.A., they would no longer be able to deprive elephants of the right to be elephants.

Ringling Bros. is already blasting the measure with both barrels, so the L.A. City Council needs to hear from every single person who has elephants' welfare at heart. Please write—even one line—to the council and encourage it to support the ban on cruel elephant acts. Get everyone you know to do the same so that L.A. can continue to serve as a role model for cities across the country.

Is Bill Clinton's healthy diet rubbing off on his wife? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in a vegan state of mind on her birthday, celebrating with her family and a vegan cake.

The Clintons might be a power couple for decades to come: Bob Barker names his vegetarian diet as the reason for his longevity and vivacity, telling Vegetarian Times, "I became a vegetarian out of concern for animals, and I was a vegetarian for a very long time before I realized that many people become vegetarians out of concern for their health. I think they are absolutely right. I think it is the healthiest way to live. I worked until I was 83 years old."

Ever wondered what made country cutie Carrie Underwood first ditch meat? Now we know. On VH1's Behind the Music, she described seeing her parents castrate calves. "And lightbulb," she said. "I was horrified and sad and I just couldn't believe this was happening, you know, in our pasture."

Another vegan singer, Renee Olstead, might have made a certain magazine editor cringe recently when she prominently rep'd PETA in an interview. We've had our famous run-ins with furry Vogue editor Anna Wintour, but in Renee's Teen Vogue interview, the singer and actor proudly declared, "I love animals. I'm getting ready to do a campaign with PETA. I went vegetarian when I was twelve, and I went vegan about a year and a half ago."

Staunchly fur-free Mayte Garcia just made the list of the hottest reality stars. Would her naked ad for PETA have had anything to do with that?

One of the hottest former reality stars, Lauren Conrad, has a reason to celebrate as well: She just adopted a new puppy, Fitz, from a shelter. Fitz scored some "welcome home" toys and treats from PETA to share with his new canine sister, rescued dog Chloe.

The Los Angeles City Council's vote to ban stores from selling animals who came from breeders  and puppy mills was a hot topic on Twitter this week, as were the bill that could end the Canadian seal slaughter and protecting animals during Hurricane Sandy.

To keep up with what all your favorite celebs are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter.

Animal advocates, it's time to break out the bubbly. After pressure from PETA and tens of thousands of our members and supporters, NBC has pulled the plug on its cruel show, Animal Practice. Here's the celebration in progress at PETA's Bob Barker Building in L.A.:

The only thing funny about this "sitcom" was its laughable ratings. By not tuning in, viewers told NBC that they weren't interested in watching animals dressed up and made to perform cheap tricks—animals who had been torn away from their mothers as babies and subjected to cruel training methods and unnatural living conditions.

Even before the first episode aired, PETA showed NBC that if the network wanted to broadcast cruelty, it was going to have a rocky road ahead of it. We wrote to NBC and the show's producers and explained how wild animals suffer in the entertainment industry. We kept the heat on by asking advertisers to pull their support, organizing demonstrations, sending an urgent action alert to our members and supporters, and enlisting primate experts to speak out about how the portrayal of monkeys as "pets" leads irresponsible people to acquire them on a whim. And it worked.

NBC will air the three remaining episodes of Animal Practice that have already been filmed. Then viewers can rest assured that cruelty to animals won't be part of the Wednesday night TV lineup.

Cheers!

Birds of a feather flocked to PETA's L.A. office this weekend for what was quite possibly the world's cluckiest adoption fair. Seventy-eight hens made themselves a comfortable roost in the Bob Barker Building while adopters listened to the hens' story and snacked on vegan egg-salad sandwiches.

The hens had been used by egg producer A&L Poultry until the company went out of business last February and simply left 50,000 hens to die in battery cages without any food or water. Two weeks after A&L shut its doors, Animal Place sanctuary and other animal advocates got wind of how A&L ran afoul of the fowl and rushed in to rescue the hens. Many had already died or were too ill to save, but rescuers were able to save nearly 4,500 hens and nurse them to health.

At the adoption event that PETA hosted, the blissful birds got a Hollywood ending when they were whisked away by SoCal families who will let the birds be birds and finally live the life that they deserve.