Written by PETA
Deflocked, baby. Deflocked.
To check out the archives of past strips, click here.
Alright people, fun’s over. You had your day with Joel talking about soy nog and “smiles”. Now it’s time to get back to work. Today we will be going over the finer points of whether a coherent liberationist ethic can be constructed from strictly utilitarian arguments (or whether some sort of deontological consequentialism is necessary to round out the debate), and throughout next week, I will be doing a series on recent addenda to the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act. There will be a quiz on Friday to make sure everyone takes it all in.
Now, here’s a picture of the serious work I was doing yesterday while Joel was goofing off back at the office. We spent the afternoon outside the British Embassy in DC to remind the British Ministry of Defense that the “world is watching” while they continue to needlessly slaughter black bears for their ceremonial hats. Apparently this required that we remove all of our clothes and paint our naked bodies like flags. Hey, I just do what I’m told. The demonstration was a blast—we met some great activists, some friendly photographers, and some very bewildered passersby, and I think the pictures came out really well. Check em out.
Here’s a blog that I’ve been pushing Amy at our VegCooking blog to write since the idea of having a PETA food blog was still in its infancy. Amy, however, is against processed foods. I’ve been hoping Amy would go on vacation, or be sick, or something so that I could fill in for her on her blog, but I’ll have to settle for posting on The PETA Files while Jack is out.
This is a blog to spotlight the glory of McCain’s SMILES fries. According to McCain’s web site, “Mealtime is fun time with McCain SMILES® Fun Shaped Potatoes. Everyone enjoys these fun shaped potatoes that add fun and excitement to everyone’s meal!” And you know what—they aren’t lying! Sure, I love French fries as much as the next guy, but there’s just no denying that SMILES fries are like French fries deep fried in fun.
SMILES, like basically all fries, are vegan and that’s how I’m justifying writing about them on PETA’s blog. Take that, Amy!
Another food I really like is Vans’ vegan waffles.
- Joel Bartlett
P.S. Feel free to comment about how you think I’m a better blogger than Jack and Amy.
P.P.S. Don’t worry Amy, when you’re out someday I’ll post SMILES recipes on the VegCooking Blog.
I’m going to be in DC tomorrow, standing naked outside the British embassy painted like a British flag along with PETA members from seven other nations who will be reminding Britain that the “world is watching” while the nation condones the cruel slaughter of black bears for the Queen’s Guards’ silly ceremonial hats. Embarrassing as all this is for me, the real purpose of this post is to say that the PETA Files will be in the capable hands of my good friend Joel Bartlett during my absence tomorrow, so please treat him nice and try to bear with him if he goes off on long tangents about Star Trek or Buffy the Vampire Slayer (as he occasionally has a tendency to do).
And yes—I have a weird job. Wish me luck!
As an aside, I should point out that I don’t normally get quite this excited about women’s fashion, but Stella’s win is more than just an accolade for a talented designer—it’s a message to the fashion world that truly innovative and progressive designers can do just fine without using fur or leather. Stella, who has been a great friend to PETA over the years, has always been outspoken about her desire to keep her designs animal-friendly, and even took the time to narrate an anti-fur video to help us to persuade other designers to follow suit. Congratulations, Stella—and thanks for everything that you do.
Although the media are focusing their attention on other issues now that the furor over the Michael Vick case has died down for the time being, the horrors of dogfighting are just as present as they ever were—and there is still a long, uphill battle ahead for the animal protection community as we work to stamp out this cruel blood sport forever. Yesterday, at a hearing in Virginia to determine a trial date for Vick and his codefendants, PETA members gathered to remind the public that all dogfighters need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and that all dogs deserve justice—not just the ones who happen to be abused by famous football players.
Fox News Atlanta is currently airing an investigation into the hideous practice of fox penning, in which animals—usually foxes, wildcats, or coyotes—are chased, cornered, and torn to shreds by hunting dogs. Penning events can last up to several days, with the hunters leaving the fenced-in area so that the dogs can “exercise.” You can watch the first part of the Fox investigation here, and learn more about this horrific blood sport on reporter Randy Travis’s blog. It’s great to see that this practice is being exposed for what it is, and hopefully the investigation, which is airing tonight, will go some way to getting it stopped forever.
… Probably not, if you’re able to read this without sounding out the letters. But the term does require some explaining for an American audience, especially since we’ve just launched a brand-new website for our Burberry Campaign, written by chavs, about chavs, and for chavs. OK, to be honest, it was written by me, about Burberry, and for pretty much everyone except chavs, but it still requires some explanation for anyone who’s never lived in the UK. So here goes:
“Chavs” are city-dwelling people who enjoy public drunkenness, vandalism, thievery, “breaking things,” and, conveniently enough, Burberry clothing. And our brand-new “Boycott Burberry for the Chavs” site is a petition created for chavs who are sick and tired of Burberry making even them look bad by its tacky refusal to stop selling fur. With a lot of help from the wonderful people who design PETA’s websites, I’ve even included a handy “translate” button in the banner for the site, so you can read the petition in the “original chav.” Check it out here, and sign the petition yourself.
If you won’t do it for the animals—do it for the chavs. (And if all this still doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to you, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Trust me.)
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.
Follow PETA on Twitter!