Courtesy of our friends at PETA Germany, TV viewers in that country learned how birds are routinely mistreated and neglected by Wiesenhof (the leading German poultry brand) when the ARD network aired a program that included undercover footage from PETA Germany's investigation of a Wiesenhof turkey farm. The sizable audience saw workers as they kicked and threw turkeys, birds thrown roughly into cages, animals who fell off trucks, and other abuses. And this was hardly a fluke—last year, another PETA Germany investigation found similar nastiness at a Wiesenhof chicken farm.

Of course, things are no better on factory farms outside Germany, so if you haven't taken cruelty off the table, pledge to go vegan right now.

Written by Jeff Mackey

Apparently, stealing milk meant for baby cows so that we can drink it ourselves isn't sufficient: Now one fashion designer has decided that we need to dress ourselves in milk too.

 
German designer Anke Domaske is constructing clothing out of thread that she spins from sour milk protein, suffering under the misconception that this constitutes “green” fashion. Considering that factory dairy farms produce enormous amounts of waste and greenhouse gasses, in addition to other environmental (and animal) abuses, clothes made of milk are about as eco-conscious as a Hummer. What's wrong with a nice organic cotton? Or even a soy suit?

Dressing oneself in environmental destruction and cruelty to animals? Smells rotten to me.  

Written by Michelle Sherrow

As intense heat continues to plague many areas throughout North America, PETA is calling on people to protect their dogs and cats by letting them inside and by taking dogs for short walks (never jogs) only during the coolest part of the day.

Dozens of dogs have already died or had close calls in hot cars this summer. If you see a dog who is showing signs of distress inside a car, get help right away. Even if the windows are partially open and the car is parked in the shade, a dog in a hot car can suffer brain damage or death in just 15 minutes. Look for the dog's owner, and call humane authorities and the police. If no one responds quickly, you may need to take steps to save the dog yourself. (If so, stay by the car until the police arrive!)

Chained dogs also suffer during heat waves, especially when they are denied access to water and continuous shade. Alert authorities immediately if you see a chained dog without shelter or access to water (both are required by law) or in distress. If officials are slow to respond, offer the dog cold water or ice cubes.  

When you are driving, be aware that wild animals may cross roadways more frequently in search of water sources, so be on the lookout and stop to help animals who appear to be injured.

Robbie LeBlanc

Merciless heat adds to the suffering of animals trapped on factory farms and in roadside zoos and circuses. PETA has received reports of thousands of animals who have died while crammed together in sweltering, windowless barns. And no one would want to spend the summer chained inside a hot boxcar or trailer and being dragged across the country from one performance to another.

Please offer a helping hand to animals in need, and stay away from businesses that profit from their suffering.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade, may be cooling his heels thanks to the NBA lockout, but he still shouldn’t go back to slinging deep-fried chicken parts at KFC, where he once worked as a teenager. KFC has asked Wade to bring his dunking skills to mashed potatoes and gravy by becoming an “honorary captain” while he’s “unemployed.” But PETA quickly wrote to D-Wade and explained why that would be a foul for fowl.

“While defenders know that ‘broken ankles’ are a risk with your crossovers on the court, chickens killed for KFC often have their fragile legs broken when they are slammed into metal shackles, among other horrifying abuses,”  wrote Senior Manager Michelle Cho.

Dwyane Wade: Dave Gillem | cc by 2.0

We also asked D-Wade to use his influence with KFC to ask the chain to require its suppliers to use a less cruel slaughter method. Hopefully, the NBA champ won’t be appearing behind a KFC window any time soon, and will stick to only inflicting pain on the court.  

 
Written by Michelle Sherrow

Lights, camera, justice for animals! A controversial Florida bill that would have made filming and photographing factory farms without the owner's permission illegal—and which PETA Vice President Dan Mathews personally visited Florida to speak out against—has died in the House. This is a huge victory for animals, since the bill would have essentially banned the undercover investigations necessary to expose cruelty to animals on factory farms, prosecute the offenders, and lobby for improved animal welfare standards.
 

 
Unfortunately, animals are still under attack in Iowa and Minnesota, where legislators are still considering bills that would subject whistleblowers to criminal prosecution. Cloris Leachman has written on PETA's behalf to legislators in both states explaining that filming is necessary for exposing criminal cruelty to animals.

You can speak out against these thinly veiled attempts by the meat industry to hide the truth, even if you don't live in Minnesota or Iowa, by e-mailing the governors of both states and urging them to veto the hush bills if they are passed.
 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

If fever, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and dehydration aren’t your idea of ‘healthy,’ step away from the turkey burgers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service recalled nearly 55,000 pounds of Jennie-O All-Natural turkey burgers when the meat was found to be infected with salmonella hadar, which is resistant to antibiotics. So far, cases have been reported in 10 states, although the turkey was distributed nationwide.
 

 
Besides the fact that turkey flesh is devoid of fiber and is loaded with even more fat and cholesterol than many cuts of beef, the USDA reports that one out of eight turkeys is infected with salmonella. The cramped, filthy conditions on factory farms enable bacteria to spread like wildfire, and the antibiotics routinely given to birds to keep them alive long enough to be slaughtered contribute to the development of drug-resistant "superbugs." 

The good news is that you can get the taste of turkey without the icky-ness by gobbling up Tofurky, Tofu Turkey, Native Food's Holiday Wellington, or Gardein's Veggie Turkey Breast.

 
Written by Michelle Sherrow

After an unprecedented victory by the Green Party in Germany's elections, Green candidate Winfried Kretschmann is preparing to be the party's first appointed governor in the state of Baden-Württemberg. One newspaper called it "the start of a new political era in Germany."

The Green era could be the animal-friendly era, too, if the party opts to support healthy vegetarian and vegan diets. It would make perfect sense, considering that a German study conducted in 2008 concluded that the diet of a meat-eater is responsible for more than seven times as much greenhouse-gas emissions as the diet of a vegan is. 
  

There’s nothing ‘green’ about factory farms.

 
Raising animals for food is one of the biggest sources of carbon dioxide and the single largest source of methane and nitrous oxide emissions. (Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide together are responsible for the vast majority of global warming.) In addition, runoff from factory farms pollutes our waterways more than all other industrial sources combined. And where does all that farmland come from? An area of land equivalent to the size of seven football fields is bulldozed every minute in order to create pasture and raise crops for farmed animals.

You don't have to be German to go green. Just order a free vegetarian/vegan starter kit—and maybe you won't feel so guilty about your old incandescent light bulbs.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Considering how much Martha Stewart loves animals, it shouldn't come as any surprise that the domestic diva is dedicating an entire show to vegan living. She'll be cooking a vegan entrée with Twitter's vegan co-founder, Biz Stone, and learning about a cruelty-free lifestyle with Kathy Freston, best-selling author of Veganist and Quantum Wellness.  

© StarMaxInc.com

By showing her fans how easy it is to whip up a delicious vegan meal, Martha could be helping them prevent obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and strokes, in addition to saving countless animals from abuse on factory farms and in slaughterhouses.

The show airs tomorrow, March 30, at 10 a.m. on the Hallmark channel. Can't wait until then to learn more about vegan living? Order your free vegetarian/vegan starter kit and discover how delicious cruelty-free can be.

Massive amounts of snow and ice in Bozrah, Connecticut, caused the roof of a barn on a factory egg farm to collapse, killing all 85,000 hens inside. It was a miserable way to die for birds who already had a miserable way to live.

Egg-laying hens on typical factory farms are crammed into battery cages that are not wide enough for them to spread their wings. Birds defecate on one another, and disease is rampant. Many of the hens lose their feathers because of sickness and stress, and their bones—made fragile by calcium deficiency caused by producing egg after egg—often break. Birds die in the cages every day and are left there to rot, forcing other hens to sit on top of their corpses. When the hens' egg production drops, they are sent to slaughter.

The deaths of the Connecticut hens were tragic—and so were their lives. Bear that in mind the next time you see a carton of "farm fresh" eggs—and consider using egg replacements instead.

Written by Michelle Sherrow  

One surprising item in the news today (h/t Treehugger) is a story about activists with the Israeli group Anonymous for Animal Rights.

For the last few years, Anonymous has been campaigning against the use of cruel battery cages on egg factory farms. Now, the group has put a hidden webcam inside a battery cage on an egg factory farm in Israel, streaming live video showing exactly what life is like for hens who are forced to live in these cramped wire-mesh cages. So far, the owners of the farm haven't been able to locate the camera—but, as you might imagine, they're apparently trying to find it.

As Treehugger put it (an understatement, to say the least), "It does not make for pleasant viewing." In the short time that I watched, I saw the caged birds pecking at each other in obvious frustration, and, as is apparent from the abuse, neglect, filth, and cruelty exposed by PETA's many undercover investigations, the situation is often even uglier for animals on factory farms.  
 

alueta/CC by 2.0

Written by Jeff Mackey