Written by PETA
Even if you're not an avid baseball fan, you've probably heard of Tony La Russa, one of the greatest managers of all time, who made headlines this week by announcing his retirement right after steering the St. Louis Cardinals to their dramatic victory in this year's World Series. La Russa is also an all-star for animals who is a longtime vegetarian and PETA supporter, as well as the founder of his own animal protection group, the Animal Rescue Foundation.
La Russa has been defending animals for decades. When seedy Las Vegas showman Bobby Berosini was caught on tape beating orangutans with bars and punching them in the face in 1989, La Russa flew to Vegas with other sympathetic celebrities to condemn the abuse. After his case wound through the courts for years, Berosini was ultimately forced to pay PETA $400,000 in court costs and relinquished custody of the orangutans.
La Russa also led PETA supporters in a "fur funeral" outside the Seattle Fur Exchange to bring attention to the fact that animals on fur farms are kept in cramped, filthy cages and are killed by genital electrocution. In the "eulogy" that he delivered, La Russa stated, "Fur is something to be ashamed of." He also starred in a PETA ad against American Express when the credit card giant was selling fur in its catalog (the company eventually bowed to pressure and pulled the pelts).
We congratulate Tony La Russa on a long and successful career and wish him the best in his retirement!
Written by Heather Faraid Drennan
TMZ founder Harvey Levin is the breaking celebrity news—he's newly vegetarian and no longer wears leather. It's likely that Levin's love of animals caused him to make the switch. He's "deeply into animal rescue" and says that the last time he cried was when his beloved dog, Floyd, passed away.
All aboard! Ozzy Osbourne is riding the vegan train after watching the documentary Forks Over Knives. When Russell Brand watched it, the reigning Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity opted to become the Sexiest Vegan.
You wouldn't expect anything less than healthy and delicious when Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi partner with Chrissie Hynde for a new vegan restaurant, and that's just what you'll get with vegan celeb chef Tal Ronnen preparing the menus. He's a busy guy—he's also bringing his vegan flair to LYFE Kitchen restaurant as co-executive chef, alongside Oprah's former chef, Art Smith.
Vegetarian singer Kate Bush wanted to let her fans know in advance of her forthcoming album, 50 Words for Snow, that she wears 50 kinds of faux in the snowy photo shoot because she's sure her fans "feel the same way as I do about wearing real fur."
Fellow musician Helen Marnie of Ladytron made no bones (or pelts) about the group's refusal to wear fur in an interview with Rolling Stone. "[F]ur—be it rabbit, fox, mink, whatever—is totally out of the question," she says.
To see what else celebs have been saying about PETA, check out our Twitter feed.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
It's almost time for Halloween, and while some folks are being sweeter than candy to animals, some are making us wish that we were only watching a scary movie.
Kisses to Los Angeles' Ghost Ship. The country's only haunted sailing vessel promises its victims a 75-minute voyage of horror, but only if they aren't wearing the victims of the horrifying fur industry. Even ax-wielding maniacs know that fur is cruel.
Kisses to The Office for showing the very real danger of leaving a dog in a hot car in very memorable Office style.
Hisses to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for talking out of both sides of its mouth about the foods that people put into theirs—pushing people to eat vegetables but granting huge subsidies to the meat industry.
Kisses to women's clothing store Dress Barn for proudly displaying "Fab Faux Fur" in its windows.
Hisses to the U.S. Air Force for considering turning animals into fuel for planes. With all the biofuel options available, even Fred Flintstone would think that this cruel fuel is archaic.
Kisses to Tom Wargo of Lilburn, Georgia, and to 13-year-old Victoria O'Connell of Rapid City, South Dakota, for realizing that companion animals also suffer in a recession and starting animal food banks. Wargo gets an extra smooch for requiring owners to obtain low-cost spay-and-neuter services.
Written by Colleen Borst
My husband probably thinks that I watch Atlanta Falcons games with him to be supportive of his favorite team, but I'll confess, it's for tight end Tony Gonzalez.
Last Sunday's game was especially cool because toned Tony edged out Cris Carter and Marvin Harrison to become second in career receptions, with 1,104 catches. He now trails only Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. But Tony got one reception that Rice never did: a warm reception from compassionate folks everywhere for the naked anti-fur ad that he and his lovely wife, October, starred in.
Tight end indeed.
As two American PETA members approached the entrance to Russian Fashion Week in Moscow with their "Wear Your Own Skin" signs, they were suddenly surrounded by camera flashes and microphones.
The women were impressed that nearly 30 journalists had turned out for their naked anti-fur and -leather demonstration, but before they could even unzip their jackets, the women were mobbed a second time—by police. They were held for a day at the Moscow police department.
Despite the harrowing ordeal, the women were upbeat, calling the day "a success" because of all the media attention their arrest brought to the cruel treatment of animals killed for their skins.
The duo continued their protest tour and received warm welcomes in cold cities throughout Europe, including in Tallinn, Estonia, where people knew enough English to tell them, "Good, good."
And in Helsinki, Finland, passersby learned how rabbits are skinned alive for their fur when they stopped to pose for pictures with our "snow bunnies."
What would you do to stop cruelty to animals? Get started now.
Tired of going through racks of Halloween costumes and seeing the same old hockey masks and sexy nurse uniforms? Here are six scary DIY costumes guaranteed to make the most fearless revelers do a double-take—and then think twice about eating meat, wearing fur, or going to the circus.
Steal an idea from PETA Vice President Dan Mathews and go as KFC's purveyor of live-chicken scalding, Colonel Sanders.
Instantly transform into bunny butcher Donna Karan by carrying some plush rabbits drenched in red paint. To complete the ensemble, lie all night about how you don't really use fur even while you're holding the evidence.
Clowns are scary to a lot of people, and Ronald McDonald is one of the scariest of all. Follow in Andy Dick's footsteps and wave around a bloody knife as you illustrate how a chicken becomes a McNugget. (Hint: It's a lot more cruel than it has to be because McDonald's refuses to implement a less cruel slaughter method for chickens.)
If you want the theme to your outfit to be "cold as ice," be a Canadian seal clubber. A plush seal, a club, and a red-stained shirt will have anyone with a heartbeat running and screaming for points south of the Great White North.
If splashy is more your style, don a top hat and tails or a tight Lycra jumpsuit and you can be a Ringling Bros. animal trainer abuser. It works best if accessorized with a bullhook and paired with a partner dressed as a helpless baby elephant.
For women who want to show that fur is a bad asset, pair a Sasquatch suit with two strategically placed pillows and a diva attitude to become Jennifer Lopez. Be sure to brag about how you burn through animals like you burn through husbands.
We know where Bill Maher got the shirt that he wore to perform at George Washington University—'cause we made it. Lookin' good, Bill.
© Michelle Rattinger/ GW Hatchet.
Speaking of making it: After becoming the first vegan to win a Food Network cooking competition, chef Chloe Coscarelli is still on a (vegan-buttered) roll, making the world a better place for animals and our waistlines. Check out her scrumptious new recipes on Eatocracy.
Anna Wintour took some heat for being cold-hearted enough to wear several cold-blooded animals on her back. "She looks like she got that at a consignment store where pimps drop their coats off," said E! news anchor Giuliana Rancic.
Another proud animal friend who's "still right here" is Melissa Ferrick, who is currently on tour promoting her new album. The adoption advocate would love what Robert Downey Jr. and his wife, Susan, are up to—the couple adopted a pair of cats their friend found in a bush.
Cats don't belong in the wild, but elephants certainly do, according to Coldplay, whose new video features the band members dressed up as elephants searching for "Paradise."
Attention, ladies. Now you, too, can cause your neighbors to phone in Big Foot sightings. You, too, can look like the frightening "before" picture on an infomercial for Epilady. And you, too, can look like you are trying to kidnap the cast of Cats.
How? It's fall fashion season, and mixed in with some lovely new styles (such as Stella McCartney's color-block sheath dress that celebs are loving) are flops that make it seem like designers have been hitting the sauce a lot harder than they've been hitting the sketch pad. One design that is particularly puzzling is this epic fail: jackets with fur sleeves.
Of course! Women want their arms to look fat and hairy. Why didn't we think of that? But seriously, if you do favor a furry look, go with faux, like fauxier to the stars Donna Salyers' Fabulous-Furs, so that you'll avoid killing more animals than the entire Cullen clan.
Supermodel and former Leonardo DiCaprio flame Bar Refaeli is catching heat for posing in fur for clothing company Bel Air, especially in light of the proposed fur ban in Israel. Honorary PETA Director Pamela Anderson sent Refaeli a letter explaining, "You probably weren't aware that numerous undercover investigations have revealed that foxes, minks, coyotes, and rabbits—and even cats and dogs—are bludgeoned, genitally electrocuted, and often skinned alive for their pelts." Pam asked Refaeli, model to model, to raise the bar on ethical fashion and dump fur.
But Refaeli insisted that there had been a titanic mistake, telling an Israeli publication that Bel Air had lied to her and said the fur was fake. Then she took to Twitter, posting, "I think its time 2 get it straight! i'm against fur! the truth of the matter is that on the shoot day i was told the fur is FAKE!"
Considering the lies that the fur industry tells about how animals are killed, it's not surprising that fur-mongers would finagle Refaeli into donning pelts.
Be a model of compassion and bar fur from your closet. Lookin' at you, Blake Lively…
Just when you thought that footwear involving the mutilation of millions of sheep couldn't get any ugglier, several makers of knock-off UGG-style boots have been found to use fur from animals who were beaten and skinned alive. Tests conducted on products labeled as "Australian sheepskin" found that they were actually made of raccoon dog fur, most likely from animals confined to barbaric Chinese fur farms.
Raccoon dogs are confined to row upon row of tiny wire cages that are exposed to the elements. Many of the animals go insane from the intensive confinement. Undercover video footage shows raccoon dogs as they are dragged from cages and slammed repeatedly to the ground before being skinned while still conscious. Some survive for as long as 10 minutes, blinking in pain on a pile of other bodies.
The tests also found that some boots contained domestic dog fur, which made it into Australia despite the country's ban on dog and cat fur.
Since you never can be sure whose fur ends up on your boots, coat, or gloves, the best thing to do is avoid all fur.
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.
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