Sometimes it’s kind of hard for people to make the connection between their pets and the animals they eat, so here are some masks our Production department made to help with that. What do you think?

If you haven’t heard about the little tiff we’re having with eBay at the moment, the point of contention is that the company refuses to prohibit the sale of live cats and dogs—as well as items lined with dog fur—on its Chinese website. Which, honestly, this is really an issue that everyone can get on board with, especially once you see the photos posted by eBay sellers showing animals chained to cages on the streets, puppies trapped in wire-bottomed cages, and other horrors that would be more suitable in an animal-cruelty case file than on an international auction site that’s supposed to have a code of ethics. Well, since the company has been turning a deaf ear to our pleas, this morning, we took them straight to the shareholders: Our fearless campaigner Deedra spoke at the Boston eBay shareholder meeting, while my friends Melissa and Julie stood outside to let passersby know exactly what’s going on at eBay China. Check it out, and if you’d like to write to eBay about this issue, click here.

I honestly don't know how these people get their licenses, but a Florida avian veterinarian named Susan Clubb has just made the astounding decision to auction off 600 exotic birds she's been using for breeding. Apparently (I wish I were kidding about this), Dr. Clubb is selling the animals because she “needs the money” as a result of a divorce. Leaving aside for a second the question of why anyone would consider divorcing a woman who likes to exploit sick birds and sell them to the highest bidder, we need to get this auction stopped right now. You can learn more about the whole sordid affair here, and we've included contact information so that you can ask her to reconsider this supremely lousy idea. Please be polite if you do decide to contact her—the goal here is to help these abused animals, not to antagonize someone with an obvious compassion deficit.

With all this happy talk about Pam and Ingrid's birthday, I totally forgot to mention the fact that today is the very day, 21 years ago, that Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen were spawned. I figured that this would be an appropriate place for a tribute, so here goes:

Mary Kate and Ashley began their careers playing the nauseating baby on Full House and went on to be nauseating in their own right as the no-talent fur hags who are always ready to be the butt of a joke when the gossip press is looking for a punchline. In 2006, Ashley reached the pinnacle of her career by being singled out on PETA's annual Worst Dressed List with the comment: "Wearing fur does add 20 pounds, but if Ashley wants to fill out her frame, we suggest using a fork instead." Inspired by Ashley's achievement and, as usual, completely failing to grasp the point, the twins are condemning a new generation of animals to death this year for their aptly titled fashion label, The Row. Now that the terrible twins have finally reached the legal drinking age, the world is waiting with bated breath to see what they'll do next. Happy Birthday, the Olsen Twins. You guys really freak me out.

Princess Cuteyface: You can take the cat off the streets, but you can't take the street out of the cat

I hope day 2 of Be Kind to Animals Week is treating you well. This one's a wee bit controversial, but I thought it would be a good time to address the issue of purebred animals, especially given some of the surprising comments I've been seeing from so-called "responsible" breeders on a recent entry about some landmark legislation that's being pushed through in California to help cats and dogs. PETA's position on "responsible" breeding is that there just ain't no such thing, because every animal that a breeder sells means an animal in a shelter who won’t find a home. The harsh reality of the situation is that, with 6 to 8 million animals handled by animal shelters in the United States every year—3 to 4 million of whom won't make it out alive—deliberately breeding cats and dogs is about as irresponsible (and frankly, cruel) as it gets.

Anyway, without getting too preachy here, one great way to celebrate Be Kind to Animals Week is, if you or anyone you know is thinking about getting a pet, be sure to adopt them from a shelter. And if you happen to be running a breeding operation, frickin' stop it.

Here's a link to some more info on the topic. And here's a link (this one kind of dates me) to the only good kind of Breeders. Kim Deal rocks.

Vick drops the ball

You've probably heard by now about the alleged dogfighting ring that was uncovered in a raid on Michael Vick's property last week. Vick has been vigorously denying any involvement in the operation, and I really, really want to believe him, because he genuinely is a fantastic quarterback. Unfortunately, the man's versatility in the pocket is at best dubious proof of his innocence in this case, and things are looking even more bleak for the Falcons QB after Deadspin reported on another apparent link between Vick and the property. According to info published on Deadspin:

Um, yeah. We're still calling on the Falcons to suspend Vick until this has been cleared up, and to release him from the team if animals on his property are found to have been neglected or used for fighting. For my own part, unless he is able to absolve himself completely of all this, I will not be selecting Michael Vick for my fantasy football team this year. It's called tough love, Michael.

See Also:

Deadspin
USA Today

Many of you will be familiar with PETA’s “March of Crimes” Campaign, which was launched a number of years ago to promote a simple message: Harming animals, whatever your ultimate intention, is harmful to people too. Sadly, charities like March of Dimes, which have a laudable goal of preventing birth defects, also have an ugly side, which the public rarely sees. Many of the experiments on primates, cats, dogs, rats, and other animals that have been funded by the March of Dimes are downright gruesome, and the frustrating thing is that, with so many effective, humane alternatives around, there was absolutely no good reason for these animals to have suffered and died in the first place. Anyway, the reason for all this March of Dimes talk right now is that their annual “WalkAmerica” fundraiser is taking place at the moment, and I’d like to encourage people who are considering giving them a donation to have a look at this great list of humane certified charities instead. These are groups that are doing the same important work as March of Dimes without torturing anyone, which is just a kickass way of getting things done, in my opinion. For a much more eloquent statement on the topic than I could ever muster, here’s an article by my good friend Heather Moore about her own unique experience with humane giving. It’s all pretty damn inspiring, if you ask me:

Health Charities: Helping or Hurting?

By Heather Moore
Senior Writer
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Heather and Carly Moore

Unbeknownst to many donors, a number of health charities, including the March of Dimes, waste time and money on animal experiments instead of devoting all of their funds to worthwhile projects that may truly help people with CMT and other disabilities or diseases.

This causes me far greater distress than any genetic defect ever could. It’s shameful that a health charity would inflict the same pain and suffering on animals that it wishes to eliminate in humans.

Animal research proponents often like to claim that animal rights advocates would change their minds about animal experimentation if they had diseases or disabilities. I didn’t. In fact, I find the implication that those of us with disabilities would automatically support animal experimentation insulting. It suggests that people with diseases and disabilities are selfish, callous, and desperate, and will support cruelty to animals in order to help themselves—no matter how futile the chance.

It’s simply unethical to cause harm to one species under the guise of helping another—unethical and ineffective. Although animals feel pain and fear like people, there are enormous physiological differences between animals and humans; data taken from one species cannot always be correctly applied to another. Vast differences exist even between mice and rats, let alone rats and humans.

Every dollar spent on animal research is a dollar that could have been better spent on humane, effective methods of fighting birth defects and helping people.

Relevant programs, such as the National Birth Defect Registry, improved prenatal care, counseling and education, and treatment for pregnant women addicted to nicotine, alcohol and drugs, can really help prevent birth defects and improve the quality of life for people with disabling conditions.

Many other charities, including Easter Seals, Birth Defect Research for Children, Heimlich Institute, and the Little People’s Research Fund, Inc., put all their funds into programs that directly benefit people and never waste a penny on animal experiments. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, where I work, provides a complete list of health charities that do and do not fund animal experiments at StopAnimalTests.com.

The next time a health charity stretches a hand in your direction, make sure the charity won’t waste your money on cruel animal experiments. After all, health charities are supposed to help stop suffering—not cause it.

As you probably know, our country is in the midst of an extreme companion animal overpopulation crisis, and unfortunately, California (where some estimate that nearly a half million dogs and cats are euthanized for lack of good homes annually) is no exception.

Fortunately, a life-saving piece of legislation that would address this crisis—Assembly Bill 1634—has been introduced in the California Assembly, and if it becomes law, AB 1634 would prohibit any person from owning or possessing any unaltered cat or dog over the age of four months, unless that person purchases an intact-animal permit. Violators would be fined, and the money raised from the fines would be used to fund free and low-cost spay and neuter programs.

The cool thing about this legislation is that it would make California a safer place for people and save animal lives. According to one Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, male dogs who are not neutered are almost three times more likely to attack a human being than are those who are sterilized, so this really is a win-win proposition.

If you happen to live in California, please politely urge your assembly member (click on the links for “Find My District” and “Member Directory” on the left side of the page) to support AB 1634. And please forward this information to anyone you know who does live there.

Like most people, I love to watch the man play football, but if the allegations I heard today are true, I'm not sure I ever want to see Michael Vick suit up for a game again. According to news reports, local and state law enforcement discovered more than 60 pit bulls and other dogs on Vick's property in Surry County Virginia yesterday, who showed signs of serious abuse that is consistent with having been used for fighting. Officials also evidently discovered dogfighting paraphernalia, including a “rape stand” on the premises. These are deadly serious allegations, and it's immensely distressing to see such a high-profile athlete accused of this kind of cruelty. PETA is calling on the Atlanta Falcons to immediately suspend Vick pending the outcome of the investigation, and if animals on his property are found to have been neglected or used for fighting, we're asking that he be released from the team.” You can help out by clicking here to write to the Falcons about this issue, and for more information you can read our letter to Falcons Owner Arthur Blank.

The Atlanta Falcons should be kicking themselves right now that they traded away backup QB Matt Schaub this offseason, but even a year with Joey Harrington at the helm is better than having your team led by someone with a mark like this on their record.