Written by PETA
Country music sensation Laura Bell Bundy braved the Nashville heat today to record PETA's latest "Hot Dog" TV spot. The public service announcement won't be released until next summer, but for now, you can check out the photos that we grabbed of Laura at the shoot.
Written by Shawna Flavell
Alert Cute Overload—we have a code-red cuteness emergency!
This may very well be the cutest new product that the geniuses in PETA's Merchandise Department have come up with this millennium (with the exception of the legendary Notta Nugget, of course). In fact, it's possible that it's actually too much adorableness for one piece of iMachinery to handle.
Nah, not a chance. But you have a chance to have one of these laptop covers for your very own. Just post a comment below explaining why your "other laptop" is so special and you could be one of two lucky people who will be able to turn their laptops into the most huggable hardware on the block. (Winners can choose between a "dog" and "cat" laptop cover.)
The contest ends on September 8, 2010, and we'll select two comments that warm our heart drives as the winners on September 10, 2010. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. May the force of Hello Kitty be with you.
Written by Alisa Mullins
Time to check in on a few of the many homeless animals we rescued from overflowing shelters in oil-ravaged Louisiana with the help of our tireless angel for animals, Pamela Anderson.
If there's room in your heart and home—as well as your schedule and budget—consider finding the love of your life at your local animal shelter.
Written by Karin Bennett
Desperate to help a cat who'd been stuck in a tree for a week through the summer's worst thunderstorms, Tanya Lippke of Lewiston, Maine, turned to PETA—who she knew would never turn away from an animal in need. According to the local newspaper,
Tanya had been trying to find a hero all week. She tried the Fire Department. She tried police and an animal control officer. She even called some tree companies directly to implore them for help. "Nobody would do it. They said the cat would come down eventually," Tanya said. "But you know what? It wasn't coming down." Drastic times, as they say, call for drastic measures. Tanya went up as high in the command as she could go. She called the people of PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. It was a last resort, a Hail Mary. And it worked.
Tanya had been trying to find a hero all week. She tried the Fire Department. She tried police and an animal control officer. She even called some tree companies directly to implore them for help. "Nobody would do it. They said the cat would come down eventually," Tanya said. "But you know what? It wasn't coming down."
Drastic times, as they say, call for drastic measures.
Tanya went up as high in the command as she could go. She called the people of PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. It was a last resort, a Hail Mary.
And it worked.
Within hours the kitty was safely down.
You hear about PETA's lettuce ladies storming Capitol Hill and our undercover investigations that shake up entire animal-abusing industries. You don't always hear about PETA saving cats from trees—but, yup, we do that too.
Aren't you proud to be a PETA member?
Written by Joel Bartlett
P.S. Just a reminder: Please keep cats indoors where they are safe.
UPDATE: Mary Bale has been charged with two counts of animal cruelty.
Picture this: A middle-aged woman walks down a residential sidewalk. A friendly cat jumps up on a ledge. The woman stops, pets the cat, and … looks for the cat's guardians? Keeps on walking? No. She pushes the cat to a trash bin, slams the lid, and strolls quickly away.
You don't have to picture it, because the whole sickening scene, which happened in Coventry, England, was caught on a security camera video. The cat, named Lola, spent 15 hours trapped in the bin on a hot day, terrified and eventually covered in her own waste, before her guardians heard her faint cries and rescued her. The woman has been identified.
Lola's ordeal is a prime example of why letting our cats roam outdoors unattended isn't doing them any favors. Cruel people, as well as traffic, poison, aggressive animals, disease, and countless other dangers lurk outside our doors. For tips on keeping cats content in the "great indoors," check out PETA president Ingrid E. Newkirk's book 250 Things You Can Do to Make Your Cat Adore You.
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
The following is a guest post by Heather Carlson, PETA's manager of Communications.
This year for spring break, I was looking forward to spending a week in Mexico with my family. We planned to relax, scuba dive for the first time, and enjoy each other's company. But when we looked out our bus windows while traveling in the rural Yucatán Peninsula, we saw chickens and pigs in small crates, underweight cows tied to trees, and stray dog after stray dog.
As we arrived in a small Mayan village, I glimpsed a small, seemingly hairless figure out of the corner of my eye. I thought to myself, "That could not possibly have been a dog." The tour bus pulled into the parking lot of a flea market, and as the other tourists filed in to the store, my family and I ran back up the street to the tiny convenience store where I thought I had spotted the dog. Sure enough, there she was: small, nearly hairless, and riddled with mange. Although we approached slowly so that we wouldn't spook her, she cowered and ran away. We were close enough to see that she was dreadfully thin and that her body was riddled with open abscesses—her skin cracked from the progression of the disease that was eating her alive.
The people working at the little store didn't understand our questions about the dog, so we ran back to the tourist market and asked if there was an animal shelter or a vet in the area who could help us with a dog suffering from mange. They did not fully understand us, but they nodded and said "sarna" (which I later learned means "mange") and indicated that there was no animal hospital anywhere in the area. With the tour bus leaving; no car, taxi, or bus services nearby; and barely anyone who spoke English there to help us, my family and I left some food near where we'd seen the dog and reluctantly left her there in Ebtún.
From that moment forward, I made it my mission to find her help. I called home, and PETA's Casework Division worked hard to put me in touch with activists in the area who might be able to help get medical treatment for the dog, whom we had started to call "Maya." One of PETA's caseworkers helped me find someone willing to drive me back to Ebtún, and we spent a day walking around the village looking for her. The villagers indicated that Maya frequented the spot in front of the store but that they hadn't seen her since early that morning. I had to fly back home the next morning and, upon nightfall, we had to leave Ebtún—without little Maya.
When I got back home, I continued looking for someone who could make the journey back to Ebtún to try again to find the dog. After e-mailing, networking via Facebook, and getting in touch with animal lovers in the area, I learned more about the plight of animals in the Yucatán Peninsula. Activists there have quite a challenge in front of them—in a country that openly advertises cockfights on city streets, little is known about spaying and neutering, and there are few protections for animals.
Even though significant time had passed and the odds were clearly stacked against her, I recently received some amazing news—Maya had been rescued. Sophie Van Den Abeele and Emma Guerrero of Cancun Animal Rescue made the three- to four-hour journey from Cancun to Ebtún and spent the day trying to find the little street dog with "sarna"—who, as it turns out, the local villagers had named Muñeca. They found Muñeca just as scared, still suffering from mange, and seemingly pregnant. While they were loading her into the van, another dog approached, and they quickly discerned that she was suffering from a tumor in her vulva. The locals reported that she was also a stray, and so Abeele and Guerrero were able to bring her back with them as well. They arrived back home late at night, and a local vet they often work with tended to the dogs' immediate needs—including removing the second dog's tumor. Both dogs were spayed and have started on the road to rehabilitation.
Please never leave a suffering animal behind if you find one while on vacation. I'm not the only person whose life was touched by what we learned in Mexico—in part because of the suffering of the animals they witnessed from the bus windows on the way to Chichén Itzá, two more members of my family went vegetarian. As a result of our spring break vacation to Mexico this year, I have reserved a special place in my heart for the animals there and for compassionate people like Sophie and Emma who have dedicated their lives to helping them.
Donations to help fund Sophie and Emma's work can be made to the PayPal account of Cancun Animal Rescue Change My World A.C.
At least, it's true for firefighters in Portland, Maine. After learning that the Portland Fire Department (PFD) was looking for help in equipping all fire stations with oxygen masks for animals, PETA has donated six masks, in various sizes, to assist with the effort. All too often, first responders have had to treat animals suffering from smoke inhalation with poorly fitting oxygen masks designed for humans—so cheers to the good folks of the PFD for making sure that they're ready to help everyone who is endangered by fires.
They say, "As Maine goes, so goes the nation," so let's hope that more fire departments will soon follow in Portland's compassionate footsteps—maybe you could even make the suggestion at your local fire station. And let's also hope that more of us who share our homes with animal companions will take this as a cue to include them in our emergency plans by posting a notice on the doors of our homes about how many animals are inside in case of fire.
Written by Jeff Mackey
The terrible destruction in Pakistan is a chilling reminder that disasters can strike anytime and anywhere. More than two weeks of relentless monsoon rains have left at least 1,600 people dead and millions more homeless, and health officials are concerned about the spread of cholera.
Animals are even more poorly equipped to survive a disaster than humans are. They are even more likely to suffer and perish since rescue efforts invariably focus on getting vital food, water, and medical care to human survivors. According to news reports, hundreds of thousands of cattle have drowned in Pakistan's floods. Surviving goats, sheep, and other animals desperately rummage for food that isn't there on muddy patches of wasteland.
As we did during other crises, including the earthquake in Haiti and Hurricane Katrina, PETA is providing support to organizations and volunteers in the affected areas who are working to care for injured and starving animals. But we can't do it alone.
Please consider making a donation to PETA's Animal Emergency Fund. With your support, we can continue our vital work to help animals wherever they may be in trouble.
Written by Paula Moore
A bear owned by notorious Ohio animal exhibitor and convicted felon Sam Mazzola has mauled a 24-year-old man to death. PETA has campaigned against Mazzola's cruel act for years as he took bears on the road and charged people to "wrestle" them or have their photos taken. His act left injured people and property damage in its wake. Mazzola was fined, and after 20 years of exploiting animals, federal authorities finally revoked his license to display animals. But because there are no laws prohibiting people from keeping wild and dangerous animals as "pets" in Ohio, Mazzola is still allowed to keep bears, tigers, and other animals.
Need I mention the chimpanzee who removed a woman's face and fingers in Connecticut or the woman who was mauled by a bear who escaped from a menagerie in Ashtabula County, Ohio; forced his way into the woman's home; knocked her to the floor; and attacked her? The list is long. The time is overdue for lawmakers to revamp the laws so people can't keep tigers, bears, chimpanzees, and other wild animals in backyard pens and ramshackle cages.
Please join us in calling on Ohio Governor Ted Strickland to quickly sign the pending executive order that would ban the sale, purchase, breeding, and possession of many species of exotic animals in the state.
Written by Jennifer O'Conner
Remember the sweet, starving, and nearly bald cat whose owner abandoned her on the street in front of PETA's parking lot last year?
Today, Nadia is thriving in an adoring, permanent home! With consistent feedings and regular flea prevention, all her hair has grown back and she has gained some much-needed weight (when PETA Foundation staffers rescued her, she weighed only 5 pounds, and all her bones were visible). Here's happy Nadia chilling with her "kitty" friend:
Few animals who are dumped on the street to fend for themselves have such happy endings, so let's always be on the lookout for abandoned cats and dogs, and urge anyone who is thinking of rehoming an animal to take him or her to a well-run, reputable open-admission animal shelter, where the animal will be safe and cared for and will have a chance at finding a new home.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
Follow PETA on Twitter!