With a terse dismissal, the State Fair of Texas denied PETA's application to display our own version of a 4-H booth at the upcoming event. Fair officials must not want visitors to know that the cows, sheep, goats, and chickens 4-H participants have spent countless hours bonding with will ultimately make their way to a blood-soaked killing floor, just as most animals raised for food do.

Our four "H's" stand for "hellish for animals," "hazardous to the environment," "heart attack–inducing," and "hypocritical for teaching kids to care about only certain animals and to disregard others." We planned to screen Glass Walls and hand out free copies of our vegetarian/vegan starter kits.

I suppose that, to paraphrase Jack Nicholson, the State Fair of Texas can't handle the truth. But we think their patrons can—or at least their hearts can.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

Even if you didn't spend 12 years in Catholic school, as I did, you probably still know that St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals. He was a man who preached to birds and blessed a wolf, and it is rumored that from his deathbed, he even thanked his donkey for his years of loyalty.

In keeping with the spirit of its patron saint, who believed that God looked out for all of His creation, St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Cleveland has seen the light and agreed that giving away bunnies—or any live animals—as "prizes" is a bad idea. A vendor at the church's annual carnival was offering live rabbits as game-booth prizes, but after hearing from us about the grim fate of animals who are given away so casually, Rev. James Caddy readily agreed not to let it happen again. We're sending him a vegan chocolate rabbit as a token of our thanks.

The fair season is in full swing, so check out these ideas on what you can do to help all the animals who suffer and die on the summer circuit.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor