Written by PETA
We were already crushing on The Biggest Loser's tough-love trainer Bob Harper after he went vegetarian and then signed on to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine's 21-Day Vegan Kickstart program. But we're in full-on love after learning that Bob adopted his new canine companion from an animal shelter, saying, "It just kills me when people spend money on a dog when there are dogs in shelters waiting for someone to take them," adding, "I want to tell them, 'No! Those are puppy mills!'"
We couldn't have said it better ourselves!
Written by Jeff Mackey
According to Time magazine, scientists at the University of Missouri have created a soy-based chicken that tastes and feels, well, just like chicken. That should give meat-eaters and vegetarians something to salivate over. The owner of Turtle Island Foods, the maker of Tofurky, is reportedly thinking about purchasing the product, which is not commercially available yet. (In the meantime, Gardein, Boca, and Morningstar Farms make some pretty tasty faux chicken!)
If the University of Missouri's stuff is as good as Time says it is, then more meat-eaters will be swayed to stop eating chicken, which will help curb greenhouse gasses, reduce waistlines, and save billions of birds. The author of the article foresees a bright future. After he plugged PETA's $1 million prize offer for anyone who can bring in vitro chicken meat to market by 2012, he mused, "Maybe one day you'll order a chicken fajita at Chili's that is made with soy.* You almost certainly won't notice the difference, but the planet will."
What do you think? Will this soy in chicken's clothing change the way you eat?
Written by Heather Moore
*Rumor has it that Chipotle Mexican Grill is already a step ahead and is set to launch its vegan "Garden Blend" faux-chicken burrito nationwide any minute.
Oops—I meant to say "Parade."
OK, so maybe that pun made you wince, but the photos from Toronto's first annual Veggie Pride Parade will make you beam! PETA's own Chris P. Carrot, Lettuce Ladies, and "seal" joined hundreds of revelers who encouraged curious onlookers to help animals, their own health, and the planet by going vegan.
(No more puns this week. I promise.)
Written by Karin Bennett
Looks like somebody over at The Onion has been surfing the PETA Files. Catch the satirical newspaper's spot-on skewering of elephant acts, with descriptions of a "hooked rod," "cramped, feces-covered enclosure," and "constant beatings." They even picked up on the fact that the only male elephants used in circuses are youngsters, because once they reach adolescence, they become too aggressive to be controlled—despite the constant threat of being whacked with a bullhook (or, perhaps, because of it).
As usual, The Onion's parody so closely parallels reality that it can bring tears of laughter and sorrow. Take this gem:
"Look, they're dancing," said 5-year-old Jonah Meeks, mistaking the elephants' constant swaying for something that wasn't a maladaptive behavior caused by serious psychological trauma. "I can dance like an elephant, too. Look at me!"
The folks at The Onion obviously do their research, but is it possible that they are also psychic? Their circus send-up was published just days before peta2 launched its brand new "Elephants Never Forget" campaign today. Coincidence?
Written by Alisa Mullins
If you think that you can judge that package of dismembered animal bits by its expiration date, here's a cautionary tale that will make you think again. A customer at a Brooklyn grocery store found a newer "sell-by" label slapped on top of an expired one on a package of chicken and told the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets about it. The inspecting body for food safety shrugged it off, saying that sell-by dates are "nothing but a tool for store managers," who are permitted to relabel or repackage food.
60 Minutes called the fluid in which dead chickens float before they are processed for food "fecal soup," and we have heard enough horror stories to realize that most meat is contaminated with dangerous bacteria like E. coli, campylobacter, listeria, and other bacteria that live in the intestinal tracts and feces of animals. Meat and dairy products spoil fairly quickly, so this might be a good time to start avoiding the stuff altogether. I'm hoping for a run on our vegetarian/vegan starter kit displays, but if you don't have one nearby, you can download a copy or order one from our Web site.
It just goes to show—any way you slice it, meat is still just decomposing flesh.
Wild animals are dying because of human avarice, but unlike the plight of those who are perishing in oil, the carnage at SeaWorld can easily be stopped. An orca named Taima died this weekend while giving birth to a stillborn calf at SeaWorld Orlando. The baby was conceived by Tilikum, the angry and frustrated orca who battered a trainer to death earlier this year—the third time he has killed a human.
For Taima, death was terrifying and painful, but it was a release from a miserable life of deprivation. In nature, orcas choose their own mates, and the families stay together for life. Ripped from her ocean home, Taima's own mother, Gudrun, died in captivity after a complicated delivery in which chains were used to extract her stillborn calf. Gudrun was called mentally ill and was known to be violent. Both mother orcas and their calves met their end alone in a tank full of chemically-treated water that must have felt like a bathtub to these animals, who were meant to explore the endless fathoms of the sea.
SeaWorld is a greedy outfit that spends millions of dollars on cruel breeding programs and marketing promotions. It values profit over safety and treats orcas as if they were wind-up toys. Like BP, SeaWorld can never make up for the harm that it has done. It should immediately fund the creation of a coastal sanctuary into which the orcas can start their journey back home. It can start with Tilikum.
Please, contact Blackstone Group and insist that it stop the horrors associated with keeping animals in captivity and put its money toward more humane endeavors.
Written by Jennifer O'Connor
PETA's brand-new McCruelty PSA starring actor Jenna Jameson turned out fantastic, as we knew it would, but we had to shoot it several times. Jenna had to stop the action to regain her composure whenever she started talking about how chickens' legs are often broken when workers slam them upside down into metal shackles, and how these gentle birds are frequently scalded alive in defeathering tanks.
It's depressing enough to think (and blog) about cruelty that McDonald's could stop but simply chooses not to—let alone to talk about it on camera. Perhaps McDonald's should change its slogan "You deserve a break today" to "We'll give you a breakdown today."
Jenna is passionate about this issue, and she's optimistic that better times for chickens are ahead. "They're going to listen. Just wait," she told PETA. Yes, they will, if we all get behind the campaign and push—so come on, everyone. And thank you, Jenna!
Please join Jenna in demanding that McDonald's start buying chickens from suppliers that only use controlled-atmosphere killing, a less cruel form of slaughter.
My family and I play some mean games of nickel poker, but there's nothing mean about World Series of Poker player Annie LePage, whose thoughtful interview with PETA about why she went vegan showed that this competitor has a heart bigger than any jackpot.
Annie says that her healthy, humane diet helps her focus and will surely serve her well as she competes in this legendary tournament. Good luck, Annie!
This week, The Colbert Report aired the shocking video of a tortured bull who gored a matador (or, in Colbert's words, "tight-assed fancy-pants in a sparkly coat") moments before the animal was killed. Even if you've already seen the gory footage before, you won't want to miss what Colbert had to say about the gruesome blood sport:
The NBA finals are upon us, and Los Angeles Lakers small forward Ron Artest is up to his old tricks—playing lock-down defense on Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics and bringing his patented passion and energy to a Lakers team that acquired him in the off-season for just that reason.
Artest may be vying for his first championship ring, but he's already got one accolade in the bag—PETA's Defensive Player of the Year award for defending dogs and cats against the animal overpopulation crisis. Through this eye-catching ad, the tough-as-nails Artest urges his fans to "have the balls" to spay or neuter their dogs:
This busy athlete also took the time to shoot a public service announcement for PETA, asking people to make a difference for animals by getting involved.
We wish Ron-Ron the best of luck in bringing home the title this year! Around the country, fingers (and paws) are crossed in thanks for his full-court-press for animals.
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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