Written by Michelle Kretzer
The Federal Bureau of Investigations just released preliminary data of America's most violent cities, and Flint, Michigan, had more reported crimes per capita than any other large city. Number two, Detroit, trailed by a wide margin. So to help Flint stop resembling scenes from The Godfather, PETA has made the city an offer it can't refuse—or at least it shouldn't. We offered to pay the cash-strapped city to display this banner across City Hall and other government buildings:
As we explained in our letter to Mayor Dayne Walling:
The violence inherent in producing meat, eggs, and milk today would shock all but the most hard-hearted person. Chickens and turkeys have their throats cut while they're still conscious, piglets are castrated without being given any painkillers, fish are suffocated or cut open while they're still alive on the decks of fishing boats, and calves are torn away from their mothers within hours of birth. Buying meat, dairy products, and eggs means paying for these practices to continue—effectively, hiring the hit man.
But eating vegan means making a conscious effort to be compassionate three times a day.
And because people who deliberately abuse animals often go on to commit violent acts against human beings, Flint might also help stem the flow of violence by advocating respect for animals—and encouraging citizens to report any suspected acts of cruelty.
Reducing violence in Flint means helping people to put down their weapons, starting with the steak knife.
Written by Jeff Mackey
Wrongdoers, watch out—wearing animals' skins and fur is a total (and literal) rip-off, but PETA, as always, is on the case! October has been declared Crime Prevention Month by the National Crime Prevention Council, and we're glad to do our part here at The PETA Files—after all, it's the least any animal advocate could do for a group whose symbol is a dog.
What happens to animals who are killed for their skins may not be illegal in many places (yet), but it's a flagrant violation of their rights. Confined to cages, caught in steel-jaw traps, subjected to cruel abuses, nailed to trees, suffocated, electrocuted, gassed, poisoned, bludgeoned, hanged, and often skinned alive—together, it's a crime against common decency.
So PETA's walking the beat and throwing the book at offenders. The fabulous PETA "fashion police"—gotta love a cop in pleather!—hit the city streets to hand out tickets for leathery larceny and felony fur-flaunting. They've even braved that most hostile of precincts, New York Fashion Week, where they issued a citation to the cruelest of all fur hags, Vogue's Anna Wintour, proving that they never miss the meaner misdemeanors.
Some of PETA's famous friends are taking on crime-busting duties, too. Pink and Ricky Gervais use their voices to call out the skin trade for what it really is—theft—in PETA's attention-getting "Stolen for Fashion" video, while Tim Gunn reminds everyone that these aren't victimless crimes. Then there's the animals' own wonder woman, Pamela Anderson, who gets the message across that "cruelty doesn't fly" (with a little help from Steve-O, Andy Dick, and Carol Leifer) as only she can:
Keep on the straight and narrow—sign PETA's pledge that you'll shed everyone's skin but your own!
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.
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