PETA made sure that grocery shoppers didn't wind up in a pickle when the eco-friendly ban on plastic bags went into effect in Oakland, California. A convivial carrot and personable pickle offered shoppers at one grocery store free tote bags that were greener than a cucumber salad.

That's because not only did the bags help shoppers stop contributing to plastic-bag pollution, they also illustrated how much the meat industry pollutes the air, water, and soil. Inside their new bags, shoppers found a DVD of Paul McCartney's meat industry exposé "Glass Walls" and a vegetarian/vegan starter kit.

Many shoppers told the pair of produce that they were trying to be greener or were thinking about going vegan. And the green goodies were such a hit that employees came out of the store to ask if they could take some inside because customers were asking for them.

If you didn't get one of the totes, don't go out of your gourd. Pick up a vegetarian/vegan starter kit, a "Glass Walls" DVD, and a PETA bunny tote to help you be healthier and more Earth-friendly, and make your friends go green with envy. 

If holiday shoppers needed divine intervention to persuade them to keep animal skins off their lists, that's exactly what they got. A saintly duo of PETA "angels" has been crisscrossing Canada in cherubic attire to help people in the frozen north be angelic to animals this winter by eschewing fur, leather, wool, down, and exotic skins. 

And while crowds of pedestrians were stopping to take pictures of the holy encounter and offering to buy the angels some hot tea, the dreamy pair was busy explaining that torturing and killing animals for their skin is an unholy nightmare.

The angels are hopeful that people will show good will toward animals this holiday season so that this year, every time a bell rings, an angel will get her wings and animals will keep their skin. 

If director Peter Jackson were hoping people would forget about the controversy surrounding The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at the film's New York City premiere, he was in for a disappointment. Amidst the crowd that gathered to watch the cast and crew waltz into the Ziegfeld Theater were PETA members wearing horse masks and holding up signs that bore unmistakable reminders of the horses, chickens, goats, and sheep who reportedly lost their lives during production of The Hobbit.

© Jeffery Harmon

© Jeffery Harmon

In an age of strikingly realistic computer-generated imagery (CGI), there is no reason for animals even to be present on a movie set, and the deaths of animals during the making of a film is inexcusable. It isn't as if Jackson didn't know how to make a riveting blockbuster without using animals: He won a PETA Proggy Award (for progress) for the breathtaking CGI in King Kong.

PETA has asked New Zealand authorities to investigate the deaths that occurred during the making of The Hobbit. Meanwhile, you can help by e-mailing ActionTeam@peta.org to get leaflets and posters of your own, and hit your local theater to make sure that the film's animal victims are not forgotten.

The ladies of the Lingerie Football League are part of the NFL (No Fur League), and they want to make sure that everyone gets drafted. The BC Angels are the latest team to join PETA's anti-fur campaign, asking Vancouver to "tackle cruelty: bench fur."

The gals had a ball tossing around the faux pigskin and talking to holiday shoppers about how fur is a personal foul.

And when a woman in a ridiculous fur hat got snippy with them, the classy lassies snapped right back, politely telling her that while they may choose to take a beating on the field, animals who are killed for their fur would definitely choose not to be beaten, electrocuted, or skinned alive. 

Help intercept the cruel fur industry by telling bebe that you won't be buying until it takes fur out of the game.

An 8-foot-tall goose on a busy sidewalk is enough to make people do a double-take. But an 8-foot-tall goose who has had his feathers ripped out is enough to make people stop in their tracks.

PETA's goose made feathers fly in order to ask holiday shoppers to save geese's skin.

PETA's goose is touring the country asking people to be benevolent to birds.

As the hurried shoppers stopped to gape at the goose, they readily accepted information about the cruel down industry. People were horrified to learn that geese are often held down while workers yank out their feathers by the fistful. The birds are often left with gaping wounds, which the workers hastily sew closed without any painkillers.

As shoppers learned, it couldn't be easier to be a friend to fowl. Many companies, including Martha Stewart, The Company Store, and Lands' End, offer bedding or coats made with high-tech synthetic materials like PrimaLoft® and Thinsulate™ that are as warm as down but, unlike bird feathers, don't lose the ability to insulate when they get wet.

Join compassionate shoppers in taking PETA's pledge to be down-free and make a goose's day.

It was just another evening in Hollywood—the sun was sinking in a gold-and-orange blaze, throngs of tourists were posing for photos on the Walk of Fame, and some of my PETA colleagues and I gathered to spread the message that McDonald's suppliers mutilate conscious chickens.

Although a couple of teenagers who hovered around Ozzy Osbourne's star assured me that they could beat up anyone who gave us any trouble, most of the more than 300 passersby who took our leaflets were sympathetic. In fact, even the bus passengers wanted our leaflets—a convenient bus stop provided the opportunity for a certain enthusiastic (and tall) staffer to hand leaflets through the bus windows. 

You can help by telling McDonald's to require its suppliers to use a less cruel chicken-slaughter method, lest the stretch of sidewalk in front of this Hollywood location give new meaning to "Walk of Shame."

Written by Heather Faraid Drennan

Tourists in Washington, D.C., are getting some food for thought courtesy of PETA's art installation on the National Mall. The Diner, by political artist Greg Metz, is housed inside a 28-foot 1955 Airstream trailer. One side of this clever piece shows a re-creation of the Last Supper—with famous vegetarians throughout history, including Sir Paul McCartney, Pamela Anderson, George Bernard Shaw, and Gandhi, replacing the apostles—and the other side shows graphic images of factory farms and slaughterhouses. Imbedded in the Airstream is a TV screen that plays PETA's video "Meet Your Meat."

The Diner is getting lots of attention. Thousands of people are stopping by every day, and many leave with stickers and copies of PETA's vegetarian/vegan starter kit and our video "Chew on This: 30 Reasons to Go Vegetarian."

The Diner will remain on the National Mall at the intersection of 14th Street S.W. and Jefferson Drive S.W. through Sunday, so if you're in town, come by and say "Hi." But if you can't make it to the Mall before then, check out this Flickr page.

Written by Paula Moore

How do you plan to observe the third-annual World Day Against Speciesism on June 5? The day is designed to remind people that speciesism, like racism and sexism, has no place in a civilized society. Prejudice toward animals is no more acceptable than prejudice toward humans.

If a person truly believes that kindness is a virtue, how could it be possible to justify scalding chickens alive, forcing chemicals down rats' throats, keeping elephants in chains, or electrocuting foxes and stripping off their fur—all simply because they're "just animals"?

Animals are made of flesh, bone, and blood, just as you and I are. They feel pain and joy, just as we do; they form friendships, grieve for lost loved ones, communicate with one another, raise families, and use tools. But whether or not they are "like us," they deserve respect, compassion, and empathy. In the words of philosopher Jeremy Bentham, "The question is not, 'Can they reason?' nor, 'Can they talk?' but, 'Can they suffer?'"

If you need ideas for honoring World Day Against Speciesism, please check out PETA's Web sites listed above or visit our Action Center. Any one—or two or three—of the suggested actions will make a difference!

Written by Heather Moore

Protesters in the (in) defense (of donkeys) zone!

Last night, high school students, parents, and PETA supporters gathered en masse outside Snohomish High School in Snohomish, Washington, to inform people who were attending a donkey basketball fundraiser that exploiting animals for a cheap thrill is both cruel and far from educational.

During donkey basketball "games," participants often drag, kick, and punch the animals in order to get them to "play." Full-grown adults ride on the backs of animals who are only able to bear a little more than 100 lbs., and this is dangerous for both the donkey and the rider. The only thing that spectators and participants learn from events like these is that it's OK to dominate, torment, and humiliate those who are weaker than they are.

Dunk tanks and bake sales are just two of the many fundraising opportunities available in which all participants are willing participants. If you are a student or a parent at a school that wants to host a donkey basketball game, don't let event organizers resort to cruelty in order to cash in—take action by contacting your school district's superintendent and asking for a policy that bans the use of live animals in fundraisers forever.

Written by Logan Scherer

There was no containing this prophylactic pair yesterday in Shreveport, Louisiana. The "giant condoms" were determined to let passersby know that the only way to save the more than 6 million unwanted cats and dogs who end up in U.S. animal shelters every year—half of whom are euthanized because there simply aren't enough good homes for them—is to spay or neuter their companion animals. Spaying one female dog can prevent 67,000 births in six years, and spaying one female cat can prevent 420,000 births in seven years.

Since cats and dogs can't wear condoms, it's up to their guardians to curb the overpopulation crisis.

Written by Logan Scherer