Don't let your dog or cat appear on 16 Weeks and Pregnant. Spay and neuter.  

The biggest shopping day of the year is also the biggest fur-free day of the year—from Anchorage, Alaska to our headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the young, the old, and even, well, dummies were out in force to urge shoppers to cross fur off their holiday lists.

Even a little bit of fur trim means a lifetime of suffering for minks, foxes, rabbits, and other animals on fur farms, who are crammed into filthy wire cages and are often genitally electrocuted to avoid damaging their pelts. Even dog and cat fur has been found in clothing exported from China to the U.S.

Be sure not to miss opportunities to educate shoppers in your area about the coldhearted fur industry: Sign up to receive important updates from PETA's Action Team about additional fur-free outreach events in order to make this a happy holiday season for one and all.

Philadelphia and Baltimore may be a little safer after PETA members worked tirelessly to get baby-killers off the streets—the killers of baby turkeys, that is.

A baby doll bedecked with frills served as the centerpiece for this eerie Thanksgiving dinner, making the point that farmers drug and breed turkeys to grow so fast that most are only months old when they are slammed upside down into metal shackles, only to have their throats slit. (What kind of job is that? But who pays someone to do it? The consumer!)

But as we hear out there, ever more people are turning to a meal that celebrates life and spares a turkey, not "pardons" one. After all, what crime could a baby have committed?

You know what they say: The key to a man's heart is through his … stomach. Our sexy pilgrims, who are touring New England this week, can attest to that and more. Obviously, they attract a crowd, largely because of the delicious, free Tofurkys they're handing out. In fact, the Tofurkys flew off the table—with men and women gobbling them up—within 20 minutes in Bangor, Maine.

The pilgrims also gave out PETA's free vegetarian/vegan starter kits and told passersby that every year in the U.S., 40 million gentle, inquisitive turkeys are killed for Thanksgiving dinners alone.

In nature, turkeys are protective and loving parents as well as fast, cunning runners who are able to outwit their pursuers. But the turkey industry crams the birds into windowless warehouses and genetically manipulates them to grow so large that their legs are often unable to withstand the birds' weight. Countless birds slowly starve to death within inches of food after they become crippled and are unable to move.

PETA's sexy pilgrims will be docking in New Haven today and Providence tomorrow. Even if you aren't lucky enough to grab a Tofurky from these lovely ladies, you can get tips on serving up a cruelty-free feast at our "Living" page.

Staking out towns throughout Ontario, Canada, PETA's sexy cops are after the robbers who stole the skin right off animals' backs.

If you're thinking that maybe it wouldn't be so bad for one of these arrestingly beautiful officers to read you your rights, think again. They're showing no mercy to people who buy fur ripped off live animals, leather from cows and other animals who are routinely hacked apart while still conscious, or wool, which often comes from sheep whose backsides have been mutilated.

Considering that these offenders only got tickets, they got off easy. Click here to check out what "TSA Agent" Pamela Anderson does to would-be airline passengers who are swathed in skin that isn't their own.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Many of Sarah-Jane Honeywell's fans—the children who know her as the presenter of two British kids' TV shows—might not have recognized her earlier this week when she was nearly naked and lying on a plate.

Honeywell stripped off the bright, hip clothes she normally wears to ask people young and old alike to understand that the meat on their plates came from living, thinking, feeling beings. "Going vegan is the best decision I've ever made," she said. "I have tons of energy, and I know that I'm not contributing to animal suffering."

Still not convinced that the meat in front of you is a "who," not a "what"? Watch PETA's Glass Walls video, narrated by another famous Brit, Sir Paul McCartney, before deciding if you can look your cat or dog in the eye while eating someone who is just as capable of experiencing joy and sadness.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

As two American PETA members approached the entrance to Russian Fashion Week in Moscow with their "Wear Your Own Skin" signs, they were suddenly surrounded by camera flashes and microphones.

The women were impressed that nearly 30 journalists had turned out for their naked anti-fur and -leather demonstration, but before they could even unzip their jackets, the women were mobbed a second time—by police. They were held for a day at the Moscow police department.

Despite the harrowing ordeal, the women were upbeat, calling the day "a success" because of all the media attention their arrest brought to the cruel treatment of animals killed for their skins.

The duo continued their protest tour and received warm welcomes in cold cities throughout Europe, including in Tallinn, Estonia, where people knew enough English to tell them, "Good, good."

And in Helsinki, Finland, passersby learned how rabbits are skinned alive for their fur when they stopped to pose for pictures with our "snow bunnies."

What would you do to stop cruelty to animals? Get started now.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Even without a big striped hat, our mischievous cat shook things up at the St. Louis Children's Hospital gala this past weekend. Dressed to the nines in a bowtie and tails, the cat grabbed the attention of the gala attendees while his fellow protesters handed out information about the hospital's abuse of cats for cruel and archaic intubation training exercises in its Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) course.

The leaflets were, unfortunately, not works of children's fiction. Trainees at St. Louis Children's force hard plastic tubes down cats' delicate windpipes over and over again in a procedure that can cause bleeding and swelling in the tissue of the cats' throats as well as pain, scarring, collapsed lungs, and even death. One gala attendee exclaimed, "Are they really doing this? I have a cat at home. This is horrible!"

Readily available infant simulators have been shown to better prepare trainees to treat sick and injured babies and children. Even the PALS course's sponsor, the American Heart Association, strongly opposes animal use in the course. The group has distanced itself from the few facilities that still use animals and only recommends the use of simulators.

If you do not like it, not one little bit, take a minute to tell Saint Louis Children's Hospital to stop abusing cats and better serve children by switching to modern, superior human-patient simulators. 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Would you get out your grill and start barbecuing a slab of dog ribs? Hope not! That's the point that PETA's "pigs" made at Charlotte's BBQ & Blues Festival—that every slab of meat comes from a thinking, feeling individual who was slaughtered in ways that would be illegal if the victims were dogs.

Pigs and dogs share many personality traits. Like dogs, pigs are highly social, intelligent, and playful, and they like to be surrounded by their "pack"—their family. Pigs dream the way that dogs do, and they also respond to their names. They can learn to sit when asked, and they love playing with a ball.

But pigs raised for food have no life at all. They are confined for their entire lives in crowded, filthy, warehouse-like barns until they are shipped to slaughter, where many are still alive and screaming as they are immersed in scalding-hot water to remove their hair.

Pigs deserve compassion. Take PETA's Pledge to Be Vegan for 30 Days to help end the abuse.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

While PETA members were showing Monterey, California, that all animals have the same parts, residents showed the demonstrators that we also have the same hearts. Friendly Monterey welcomed the ladies with reporters, compliments, photographs, and lots of questions about how a vegan diet can help animals, the Earth, and their health.

The protestors had lots of great conversations with passersby, and many walked away with smiles on their faces and vegetarian/vegan starter kits in their hands. 

The executive director of the Old Monterey Business Association thanked the women for what they were doing and even offered to vouch for them if any other cities were ever hesitant about letting them demonstrate. We just may take him up on that!

 
Written by Michelle Sherrow