Here's the situation: Abercrombie & Fitch has offered to pay Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino and other Jersey Shore cast members not to wear the brand, saying that seeing the Sitch in Fitch is damaging the company's image. Well, Mike can't run around shirtless—at least not all the time―so PETA is sending him replacement clothing that's worthy of T-shirt time. Here's our mocked-up, fingers-crossed vision of what Mike would look like rocking a PETA tee:

Unlike A&F, PETA would be honored if The Situation were to wear our 
T-shirt and show his fans that real tough guys are kind to animals. By sticking up for animals, The Sitch would join other macho men with hearts of gold like Dennis Rodman, Amar’e Stoudemire, Waka Flocka Flame, Mac Danzig, Chad Ochocinco, Carey Hart, and Ron Artest.

We hope to see Mike fist-pumping in our T-shirt soon. In the meantime, you can pick up one of our "too sexy" tees for yourself at the PETA store at CafePress.com. As Pauly D would say, "Yeeeeeeeah, buddy!"
 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

In honor of Father's Day, here are some fathers who are friends to the furry, feathered, and finned. We had way too many great dads like Kevin Nealon, Bryan Adams, Woody Harrelson, Iggy Pop, and Chad Ochocinco to choose from, so here are just a few of the fellas who make us glad for awesome dads:

• Ron Artest loves being a dad to his family, but he knows that dogs and cats are happier without their own brood of offspring and should always be spayed and neutered.
• Vegan dad Casey Affleck is starting his young sons out on a compassionate note, setting a great example by speaking out about the cruelty of the meat industry and lethal steel-jaw traps.
• Alec Baldwin is a proud pop who would never hop on a horse-drawn carriage.
• Tony Gonzalez and his wife could win an award for most beautiful parents, and this fur-free dad has a beautiful heart too.
• Happy first Father's Day to Carey Hart. He and his wife, Pink, seem like they'll be fun parents for their new baby girl, but they'll be pretty serious when teaching her about cruelty to animals.
• With a dad like Tommy Lee and a mom like Pamela Anderson, the Lee boys may grow up to work at PETA! We love any dad kind enough to give a homeless man $100 with the request, "Just don't buy KFC."
• Sir Paul McCartney obviously instilled animal-friendly values in his children, who are all vegetarian, including daughter Stella, who is also a cruelty-free fashion designer.
• Power dad Russell Simmons has been running with PETA for a long time, and he shows his children that being successful and being kind to animals go hand in hand.
• We're not the only ones celebrating fur-free father Amar'e Stoudemire. The Knicks captain is receiving a Father of the Year Award in New York City today.
• There's not a woodland creature who wouldn't love Forest Whitaker, and we're sure his kids think he's pretty darn great too.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

© Star Max Inc.

PETA pal Pink recently tweeted that she had "… the BESTest day" with her "amazing sexy hubby," Carey Hart, riding around on beach cruisers and watching the circus. Not to worry, though—our girl Pink would never attend the kind of circus that tears baby elephants away from their mothers and beats them with bullhooks. Pink's tweet continued: "Not the real circus people. No animals, just people. That look and behave like animals. On acid. Tis' a colorful world." We should all take a cue from this compassionate couple and support one of the many circuses that leave animals in peace and feature only amazingly talented—and, most importantly, willing—human performers!

Via Vegetarian Star

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

Sex sells, but if you think it's only ladies who bare all to bring attention to the plight of animals—think again. Feast your eyes on some of the sexy male celebrities who've spiced up PETA's campaigns by stripping, and then name your favorite in the comments section below.

Grab some ice water, because it's about to get very hot.

Am I allowed to admit that Jamie Bamber's ad is my favorite? Which one is yours?

• Fans of bear bare skin were left seeing stars (and not much else), thanks to Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber, who took it off for bears killed for their fur.
• Vroom, vroom! Motocross rider Carey Hart sported his tattoos—and not much else—in our anti-fur ad.
• Steve-O's "Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" ad is how I learned that "Your Name" is inked on Steve-O's butt.
• Owain Yeoman's pro-vegetarian ad is sure to drive any girl "mental."
• Adult film star Ron Jeremy's enormous … um … fan base grew even bigger after he appeared in a provocative PETA spay-and-neuter ad.
• Pulses everywhere pounded when The Young and the Restless star Kristoff St. John exposed his sexy skin in our "Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin" ad.
• Forget oysters! Everyone knows that a sense of humor is a better cruelty-free aphrodisiac. Case in point: comedian David Cross, bare-assed in our "Wear Your Own Fur" ad.
• Neon hair never looked so hot as it did on former basketball champion Dennis Rodman, who scored a slam-dunk with his "Think Ink, Not Mink" ad.
• Bad-boy rock superstar Tommy Lee is looking very good in our "Ink, Not Mink" ad.
• Are you ready for some hardcore action? Agnostic Front and Disasters frontman Roger Miret's Kentuck Fried Cruelty ad should fix you right up.

You're welcome.

Written by Karin Bennett

The U.S. military has declared war on animals by burning, stabbing, and shooting them in unnecessary training exercises, and it's time to fight back! Animals need you to enlist in the army of animal lovers willing to speak out against these cruel exercises. If you go above and beyond the call of duty for this mission, you'll be in with a great chance to win an iPod shuffle.

Enlist Now
Join the battle for animals by signing our Facebook petition to end military trauma training on animals.

Recruit Your Friends
Click "Ask Friends to Sign" on the petition page to recruit your friends to this cause. The more invites you send out, the more people you will recruit. Tell them how live pigs are shot, stabbed, and burned; live goats have their legs broken with bolt cutters and cut off with shears; and live monkeys are poisoned with harmful chemicals.

Go Home Victorious
The individual who collects the most petition signatures by September 10, 2009 wins the iPod Shuffle. We'll announce the winner on September 14, 2009.

Share the petition on your Facebook wall and everywhere else you can. The harder you fight, the larger the impact you'll make, and the greater the chance is that you'll go home with an iPod in hand.

Please take action today for all the monkeys, pigs, sheep, and other nonhuman victims killed in military training. Humane, responsible training is essential in our effort to work toward a peaceful world. Learn more about this campaign at PETA.org/trauma.

Heads up: By entering the contest you're acknowledging that you've read and agreed to our privacy policy and terms and conditions.

Good luck, soldier!

thesun.co / CC

Never buy an animal on a whim just because you saw one in a movie. How many times do we have to say this?

It looks like at least once more. Harry Potter fans, or to be more precise, their parents, have broken our cardinal rule of movie fandom. As a result, an animal sanctuary has opened on the Isle of Wight in the U.K. to help cope with the problem of owls who have been dumped by people who purchased them without thinking.

In the books and movies, Harry's snowy owl, Hedwig, is portrayed as low-maintenance, but many fans who purchased snowy owls for their kids are realizing that real owls require a lot of attention—and they're abandoning the birds after the magic wears off.

The moral of this story is twofold. Companion animals shouldn't be acquired on a whim, and birds of prey shouldn't be preyed upon by film fanatics.

Written by Karin Bennett

tusb.stanford.edu / CC

Vegan prisoners in the U.K. have just won the right to order cruelty-free hygiene products, including essentials such as shampoo and sunscreen. So, you might say that the incarcerated vegans¹ will now be protected in their right to bare arms (ba-dum, ching!).

The Vegan Prisoners Support Group has successfully petitioned for inmates to have access to nuts and dairy alternatives as well. Next up? Vegetarian shoes, of course.

While I don't know the state of lip balm in U.S. prisons, I do know which states have the tastiest vegetarian prison food²—and you can check out our celebrated Top 10 List here.

Written by Amanda Schinke

1. Incidentally, the name of my next band.
2. Spoiler: It's Idaho.

Recently, members of PETA Asia-Pacific and Animosa stripped down to their daisies and took to their coffins outside the Giorgio Armani store in Taipei.

In 2007, Armani vowed to stop using fur, but several months later, his collection was full of rabbit fur.

PETA Asia-Pacific wanted to remind the designer that the pelts, ripped from the bodies of rabbits who kick and scream before they are hung upside down and decapitated, are indeed fur—and that fur is dead.

Written by Karin Bennett

blog.chron / CC

With the passing of Sen. Edward Kennedy, animals—and the people who care about them—have lost an outstanding advocate and friend.

In his more than four decades in the Senate, Kennedy proved to be a strong voice for the protection of animals. Animal-friendly legislation championed by Sen. Kennedy included bills to curtail the overuse of antibiotics on farmed animals, end commercial whaling and the illegal trade in whale meat, prevent the slaughter of horses in North America, validate non-animal methods for testing products and chemicals, and raise the penalty for forcing dogs, roosters, and other animals to fight to the death from a misdemeanor to a felony.

In recent years, Sen. Kennedy's own dogs, Splash and Sunny, were constant presences to Capitol Hill, and Kennedy authored a children's book from Splash's viewpoint called My Senator and Me: A Dog's-Eye View of Washington, D.C. In the wake of evacuations following Hurricane Katrina, during which people were often forced to leave beloved companions behind, Sen. Kennedy co-sponsored the PETS Act, calling for disaster plans to include animals. "I wouldn't leave the house without Sunny and Splash," he said. "It's no surprise that so many people in New Orleans flat-out refused to be rescued if they couldn't take their pets with them."

As a tribute to this extraordinary man, let us keep his love of animals alive and carry on his legacy of helping them by practicing kindness and compassion toward all animals every day. For more information and ideas, please visit HelpingAnimals.com.

Written by Shawna Flavell

Carey Hart has so many job descriptions that he's practically a one-man employment agency. He's a professional freestyle motocross rider, successful business owner, AMA team owner, and reality TV star, and now he can add one more line to his résumé: anti-fur model for PETA.

That's right! Hart's got heart. He's so passionate about the fur issue that he's starring in our latest "Ink, Not Mink" ad. OK, enough from me, now feast your eyes on this:

Phew, I know, he's definitely easy on the eyes. We've also got some fantastic interview footage in which Carey calls fur-wearers "petty" and "shallow" and also describes how ex-wife, Pink, got him involved in animal rights.

Check it out:

You didn't think that was all we had to offer, did you? Just for a little extra somethin', we're giving away a FOX jersey autographed by Carey himself. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling us what you think about people who wear fur. The contest ends on February 15, 2009, and we'll pick the lucky winner on February 16, 2009. Make sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting.

Good luck!

Written by Christine Doré