Written by PETA
Warning: Spoiler Alert! If you don't want to have your suspension of disbelief, er, suspended, please do not read any further.
The penguins in Madagascar and Happy Feet are not real!
OK, so you knew that already, but you still love them anyway, right?
Our point exactly. That's why we're asking the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York, to replace the real penguins at the zoo with bionic birds.
Developed by German engineering company Festo, these robotic penguins are able to swim and communicate just like real penguins—and tap dance like the fake ones.
These cutting-edge carbon copies are totally lifelike—but as fake as some zoos' concern about animal welfare—and they'll allow visitors to observe animal behavior without inflicting the stress of captivity on live penguins. Penguins are avid swimmers and divers who belong in open water—not on display in concrete enclosures that fail to come even close to simulating their natural environments.
And forget attracting a partner with a sweet song. Penguins in zoos have their mates chosen for them through breeding programs, and their chicks are often taken away to be raised by zookeepers.
It's no wonder that being pent-up in a zoo causes pimped penguins and other exploited animals to have pent-up frustration.
Here's hoping that the Rosamond Gifford Zoo will take our advice (we're offering to donate two grand toward this grand idea). I'd definitely be down with watching robotic animals.
How about you? What type of animal would you most like to see zoos replace with a robot?
Written by Amy Elizabeth
One hot, humid afternoon in July, I was apartment hunting and checking out an old factory in Brooklyn that was undergoing renovation for loft rentals. As I entered the bathroom in one unlit, unfinished space, two pigeons flapped frantically in the darkness—apparently they were as startled by my presence as I was by theirs. The birds had found a way into the building but were unable to get out because the windows had been boarded up.
After tearing a board off a window, I managed to catch and release each of the frightened birds. Both of them paused on the scaffolding outside to allow their eyes to adjust to the bright sunshine and to take in fresh air before flying off into the distance. If I hadn't helped them out of that stifling, sawdust-filled space, they surely would have succumbed to the searing heat, as well as hunger and thirst.
Around that same time, a similar situation was unfolding in a small, rural town in Kansas. A distraught resident called PETA to report that countless birds were roasting to death in a dilapidated building that the city had recently boarded up. With summer temperatures climbing, we immediately contacted city officials and urged them to take action for the birds, but the person we spoke with told us that the city had bigger problems to deal with. Um, wrong answer.
We raced to place an action alert on our Web site, and we fired off a letter to city commissioners. Realizing that PETA and our caring members weren't going to back down, city officials acted. Less than 24 hours after our initial contact, the fire and police departments were sent to rescue the surviving birds. They provided them with water and tore holes in the roof to create escape routes and ventilation.
By not turning a blind eye to animal suffering, and by making a call to PETA, one "little bird" prompted the rescue of countless others from certain death.
Written by Karin Bennett
The tweets were flying this weekend after a certain musician took over the mic as Taylor Swift happily accepted her first Moonman. (Stay classy, Kanye.)
Little did those angry tweeters know that Kanye was not the only mic takeover artist this weekend. As McDonald's CEO was stepping up to receive an award (no, not a VMA—they don't give out Moonmen for cruelty), a protester beat him to the podium and blasted him for McDonald's suppliers' inhumane slaughter practices.
"Shame on you, Jim Skinner," indeed!
Written by Amanda Schinke
The following is a guest post from peta2's Lara.
The iPhone has paved the way for smart phones, making information, communication and entertainment available at your fingertips. But did you know that the iPhone can also help animals?
Check out the best iPhone apps for animals below:
What's your favorite or least favorite iPhone app? (My least fave is Deer Hunter 3D.) Let me know in a comment below.
Written by Lara Sanders
McDonald's billboards boast "Billions [of patties of slaughtered animal bits] Served." But in a recent New York Times article, the restaurant chain tries to downplay the slaughter of millions of hoki, a breed of fish sea kitten, for its restaurants each year.
Why is McCruelty so shy all of a sudden?
The fast-food giant, which refuses to ease the worst cruelties inflicted on the billions of chickens killed for its restaurants, now finds its Filet-O-Fish Sea Kitten under scrutiny. Hoki, the main ingredient in McDonald's fish sandwich, are dragged (along with other "unintended" victims) from the depths of their ocean homes by huge factory trawlers off the coast of New Zealand. Now alarm bells are ringing as environmentalists realize that hoki populations are dwindling.
Considering McDonald's indifference to the suffering of the factory-farmed animals who are killed for the cheap, unhealthy crap it sells, we suspect that the company won't give a hoot about hoki either.
But there is hope for hoki (and other animals)—if you go vegetarian and join our McCruelty campaign.
When I first became involved with PETA, it was on an "issue-by-issue" basis—they interviewed me in my old apartment about animal abuse in the circus as I sat on a leather sofa. At that time I was a meat-eater and told them I believe that if anyone is going to wear the flesh or fur of an animal, they should at least have the decency to eat the meat of that animal. That comment led to my involvement in PETA's "Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaign. The following year, I chose to stop eating meat (and stop wearing or purchasing anything made out of leather); however, citing reports that Jesus Christ fed lots of people with fish, I continued to eat fish. Most recently, for just over a month now, I've kept to a strictly vegan diet and I've not felt "hard-done-by" at all. I have been really enjoying making a project out of seeking out an extremely healthy diet of raw, organic, vegan foods—and I plan on continuing to do so. —Steve-O
Visit his Web site to continue reading about why Steve-O chooses to work with PETA and the impact he's making in the lives of animals.
Written by Shawna Flavell
If you're a PETA expert, you might remember our classic "Carnivore Picnic" billboard. If not—or if you'd just like to brush up on your PETA trivia—guess which of the captions below accompanied this classic PETA image (answer after the jump):
Caption One "Timmy, can you please pass me the rotten carcass?" "Well, gee whiz, Suzie—of course. One charred slab of flesh, coming right up!"
Caption TwoWhat's the difference between these teen picnickers and a pack of hungry cheetahs? Silverware.
Caption ThreeThe carnivorous pack had gathered for the kill.
Think you have an even better caption for this classic PETA billboard? Leave a comment and let us know!
Written by Liz Graffeo
According to news reports out of Nepal, that country's forest minister, Dipak Bohara, has "imposed a ban on monkey breeding for export to the United States for biomedical research."
This could be an important first step toward ending the grotesque breeding-and-export trade in monkeys once and for all.
The next step is for the Nepali government to listen to the coalition of animal protection groups (including PETA India) that has been urging the government to rehabilitate the hundreds of monkeys at a breeding center in Lele and to pass a law that would halt all commercial wildlife breeding.
We hope Nepal's action also inspires officials in Puerto Rico to block plans by Bioculture to build a monkey-breeding facility there. But in case they're not paying attention to Nepali news—and, let's face it, many folks aren't—please be sure to add your voice to the growing chorus opposing the construction of Bioculture's facility.
Written by Jeff Mackey
We told you we'd be back. After nixing plans to protest Vogue's Fashion Week party out of respect for our pal Charlize Theron, we showed up at last night's "Fashion's Night Out" event at Macy's to make sure that villainous Vogue editor Anna "Nuclear" Wintour never forgets that animals often remain alive after being skinned for their fur:
After a brief glimmer of hope that the slaughter in Taiji, Japan, would not happen this year, it has belatedly begun. Of the 100 dolphins rounded up so far, half will be released and the other half will be sent to prison aquariums. Fifty pilot whales have been slaughtered.
But there is hope: Worldwide outrage prompted by the recent movie The Cove means that the future of the slaughter is uncertain, according to an anonymous official at the Taiji fisheries association.
There's still work to be done. Please contact your local Japanese embassy and express your disgust over the sale of dolphins to aquariums and the slaughter of pilot whales.
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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.