Donna Karan had a bit of an unpleasant surprise at the Yoga Journal Boston Conference on Saturday, in the form of naked PETA members doused in fake blood and crouched in yoga poses. Just our subtle way of saying, “Hey, DK, how about a little less with the nonviolence speeches and a little more with the not skinning bunny rabbits to make clothes?” Except, like without the confusing sentence construction.

The Boston Herald has the story.

So most people know PETA for our flashy naked protests and work with celebrities to speak out against cruelty to animals. If you live in the Norfolk, Virginia area, you may know PETA as the group that drives around the mobile low-cost spay/neuter clinic or delivers free dog houses to low-income areas.

But unless you’re the CEO or executive of one of the more than 80 unfortunate companies we target through our “shareholder advocacy” program, you may not know about the behind-the-scenes work PETA does to improve the lives of animals worldwide. Through this program, we purchase small amounts of stock in companies that abuse animals in some way—whether for food or clothing or in animal tests—and then use our position as stockholders to submit shareholder resolutions calling on the companies to adopt better animal welfare standards (or in the case of some companies, to adopt any animal welfare standards). We’ve won major victories for animals through using this tactic, like getting Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s to adopt improve their animal welfare practices and getting Dow Chemical to reduce the number of animals killed in its tests.

Our work in this area was recently recognized when As You Sow—an organization dedicated to promoting corporate responsibility—named PETA the most active group in shareholder activism…a title we’ve now held for the fourth straight year in a row. That means that PETA submits more of these shareholder resolutions than any other non-profit organization in the country, regardless of the issue.

These efforts were also discussed in a recent Orlando Sentinel article about PETA, which you might want to check out.

Oh, and don’t worry: while we may not show up to companies’ shareholder meetings in the buff, our “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign won’t be going away any time soon.

OK, you totally will guess. We’re recommending that people pledge to be vegetarian during that week. Obviously, if you want to do it for longer, that’ll make us really happy too, but this is a great time for people who’ve been thinking about making the switch to give it a try in a nice easy way. People who take the 7-Day pledge will receive an email with some tips on making the transition, and there are plenty of resources available on our aptly titled Making the Transition page.

If you’re already veg, well, you’re obviously exempt from this assignment recommendation, so take a minute to pat yourself on the back, smile smugly to yourself (like so), and then politely recommend the pledge to one of your meat-eating friends. By way of an incentive, here are some pictures of a pig who thinks he’s a dachshund.

Following the public outrage about the shady practices of the horseracing industry that was triggered by the death of Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby, many PETA members and concerned citizens showed up at the Preakness in Baltimore to remind the industry that they can’t just sweep their problems under the rug (or send them off to the glue factory). Here are some photos from this amazing demonstration:

Back when I was coming up, we didn’t need all these whistles and bells to enter a good, ol’ fashioned video contest. We’d just throw on our Sunday best, cue up the Kodak Super 8, and make ourselves a video. And a damn fine video it would be. But apparently that’s not good enough for kids today. They won’t do a video contest unless there’s a famous pop star standing by to judge it. And if there’s no chicken costume for a prize, well, they turn their noses up at it. Is what they do.

Actually, this is starting to sound pretty sweet. More details at peta2.com.

A lot of people had a lot to say about our recent offer of a million bucks to the first team of scientists who could produce commercially viable meat grown in a laboratory (clean meat). We’re deadly serious about this thing, as it could end the suffering of billions of animals in factory farms if it takes off—but we need to get an idea of the reservations people (both vegetarians and nonvegetarians) might have about eating meat that’s been produced in a lab. So if you have a moment, please take our Clean Meat poll and let us know where you stand. I’m kind of fascinated to see how this thing turns out.

It’s time, people. As usual, I will be voting for Alyssa Milano. Multiple times. It’s a no-brainer. But don’t let me influence you—cast your vote here, then come on back and lemme know who you picked.

PETA’s campaign to get the great apes out of advertising has been hitting some pretty big home runs lately—by way of a recap, our ad in Variety magazine calling for Hollywood insiders to blow the whistle on animal abuse received international media coverage. Then, shortly after that, I brazenly took credit for Speed Racer’s poor box performance on this very blog.

Raising awareness about the campaign is all very well, but it’s also nice to have something to show for it, and the recent decisions by multi-billion-dollar companies Subaru and CDW not to renew their ad campaigns featuring great apes are very real victories along the way to getting great apes out of advertising for good.

Subaru was given a PETA Compassionate Business Award last month after they made the following promise:

"Due to the issues surrounding their use in the entertainment industry, Subaru of America will not employ primates in its advertising in the future."

The folks at computer-equipment company CDW did things the other way round—they moved on to an ape-free ad campaign after we gave them a Litterbox Award for animal-unfriendly advertising (for the commercial with the dude and the chimpanzee setting up an office on a desert island).

But no matter how they come about, these are big victories, and it’s great to see major companies taking responsibility and helping other executives realize that any time an ad company suggests they trot out a chimpanzee for a new campaign, it’s time to hire a new ad company.

P.S. This just in – MovieTickets.com have just confirmed for us that they’ve ceased airing their ads which featured chimpanzees, and that they will no longer use great apes in their ad campaigns. Boo ya!

A lot of people were pretty shocked to see this video of a North Carolina state trooper hanging his dog from a railing and repeatedly kicking the animal, who had refused to let go of a toy. Well now Sgt. Charles Jones, who was fired last September after his partner released the cell phone video of this incident, is fighting to get his job back.

In the meantime, PETA is fighting to ensure that the District Attorney in the county where this incident occurred files charges against the sergeant. We're reminding the DA that animal abuse is an indicator of deep mental disturbance and often leads to further violent acts. You can watch the video and judge for yourself who’s got the right end of the stick here.

ClimateProgress / CC

So giving up meat helps polar bears. It also helps animals like cows, chickens, and pigs. Who also matter.