Sounds like some sketchy-ass cult from a second-rate slasher flick, and, honestly, this recent segment on HBO about these shadowy figures in the horse racing industry kinda reinforces that impression. My favorite part in the video is the dude at the beginning of the second segment who’s all, “Yeah, I sold my horse to The Meat Men, but I didn’t ask where the horse was going, ‘cuz I didn’t want to know.” I imagine he’s the sort of guy who would hand his kids over to a babysitting service called The Black Market Organ Dealers, and then be all surprised when they came back without any kidneys. Check the two parts of the segment out here and here, then let me know what you think—it’s pretty well-known that the horse racing industry and the horse slaughter industry are more or less BFFs, but this footage really drives the point home in a powerful and (fair warning) pretty disturbing way. While we’re on the topic of horse racing, a bit of house cleaning: First, and most importantly, my colleague Jeff Kerr is giving a press conference in Louisville this morning to renew PETA’s call for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding Eight Belles’ death, following the admission by Eight Belles' trainer that the filly was given a powerful anti-inflammatory drug just hours before her catastrophic breakdown. More on that as it develops. Secondly, since we’re talking about breakdowns, here’s a list of all the thoroughbred deaths that have taken place since the Eight Belles incident on May 3. More than a dozen so far, and counting. And finally, here’s The New York Times on the widespread use of steroids in the horse racing business. So there you have it, Meat Men, high on-track death rates, and widespread steroid abuse. Classy stuff, horse racing industry. You guys are real winners. --JackPosted by Jack Shepherd, Marketing Coordinator

This little logo—which PETA is using in our efforts to urge Lowe's to stop selling cruel glue traps (archaic torture devices that trap small animals, causing them to suffer from suffocation, starvation, and mutilation)—is apparently causing big headaches for the company:



Last week, the company that manages Lowe's trademarks sent the head legal counsel for PETA a letter claiming that our logo parody infringes on their trademark rights and demanding that we stop using it. Our legal eagles fired back with a letter saying, in short, "Umm, not quite." (Though, as lawyers always tend to be, they were a bit more technical than that.) In the letter—sent to LF LLC (which has the most generic, nondescript corporate name EVER)—our corporate counsel wrote: Pow! That's gotta hurt—though not nearly as much as being caught in one of Lowe's glue traps.

Adidas—the second-largest sporting-goods manufacturer in the world—has just taken steps to reduce the suffering of sheep in its supply chain. Following nearly four months of discussions with PETA, Adidas has now decided to boycott all wool from mulesed lambs—including those mulesed using clips.Frank Henke, Global Director of Social and Environmental Affairs for Adidas, told PETA: "Adidas has given a clear briefing to its development and sourcing teams to not use merino wool from sources where mulesing practices are applied. Clip-mulesing is also rejected by our internal policy. … [W]e would select another material unless we obtain clear confirmation from the source that mulesing practices were stopped." As some readers might know, mulesing is a standard mutilation used by Australian woolgrowers in which lambs have huge chunks of skin and flesh carved from their backsides with big, metal shears (like gardening shears). This gruesome procedure is used in a misguided attempt to protect sheep from maggot infestation, despite the fact that humane methods (e.g., in which animals’ skin isn’t removed) exist. In an attempt to win back clothing retailers that are boycotting Australian wool over this issue, some farmers have started using clips to mules their animals. Clip mulesing involves clamping clips onto the animals' skin so tightly that the skin dies and falls off. This method still causes pain, but is not bloody (and therefore less visually shocking), which lead the Australian wool industry to hope that it would be acceptable to clothing retailers. But Adidas—like HUGO BOSS, Perry Ellis, H&M, and many other companies—is not buying this new mutilation … which is great news, since it will help animals today and push the Australian wool industry to stop all forms of mulesing once and for all.This decision by Adidas comes just one week after Australia’s Federal Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke, wrote a publicized letter to Adidas thanking it for supporting Australian wool and trying to justify the mulesing mutilation to them. Bad timing, Mr. Burke. Three cheers for Adidas for refusing to support unnecessary and cruel lamb mutilations down under! You can help! Take a few seconds to sign our petition urging the Australian Prime Minister to help put an end to mulesing immediately. --MattPosted by Matt Prescott, Assistant Director of Corporate Affairs

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has found a new hotbed of activist networking to infiltrate: vegan potlucks. From this City Pages article, it seems that the FBI has taken particular interest in finding informants to report back to them on potential protest activities regarding the upcoming Republican National Convention. In order to do so, they are trying to get moles to attend vegan potlucks in the Minneapolis area and keep tabs on any demonstration plans they may have. Not one to be fooled into believing these elaborate conspiracy theories, I propose a simpler and much more believable reason for these suspicious activities: the FBI is finally gearing up its efforts to obtain my super-secret recipe for vegan apple turnovers with homemade icing. If you ever tasted one of these little pockets of soft and squishy apple goodness wrapped in a flaky, melt-in-your-mouth puff pastry, you would understand and wholeheartedly support their extreme efforts. All this aside, try not to worry. Continue to welcome newbies to your potlucks and make only nominal efforts to check your friends for hidden recording, transmission, or other devices related to espionage. But if you do find yourself breaking bread with Mulder and Scully, let me know. —Sean Posted by Sean Conner, Laboratory Investigations Special Projects Coordinator

Beachgoers at Puri Beach in Orissa, India, were greeted by a little more than just sun and surf yesterday. PETA India recognized World Environmental Day with a giant sand sculpture of a polar bear crushed beneath a larger-than-life shoe and a sign that read, "Your carbon footprints have leather shoes." You can catch the full story here.

The 10-foot-tall sand sculpture coincided with PETA India's new environmental campaign, highlighting the harmful effects that the leather industry has on the environment. And given that India is one of the top producers of leather, the sculpture is perfectly fitting, I'd say.

Leather products full of chemicals, dyes, oils, and finishes cause irreversible devastation not only to the world's waterways and ecosystems but also to human health. And the cruelty involved with the leather industry isn't any better—since leather is the most important byproduct of the meat industry, leather production directly contributes to factory farms and slaughterhouses. And according to a 2006 United Nations report, raising animals for food creates more greenhouse gasses than all trucks, cars, planes, and ships in the world combined. The damage caused by India's leather industry makes the country a major contributor to global warming and the further endangerment of polar bears and their natural habitat.

I think PETA India's N.G. Jayasimha puts it best when he says, "Consumers can save polar bears and cows at the same time by giving leather products the boot." And well, we tend to agree.

--JenPosted by Jennifer Cierlitsky, Membership Correspondence Coordinator

Remember when your mom would tell you that you should finish your food because there were kids in China who were going to bed hungry? Well, it turns out that moms in the U.K. never told their kids that—or the kids just plain didn't listen. Earlier this month, the U.K.-based Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) reported that a lot of food—much of it unopened and not yet expired—gets tossed by U.K. consumers. Perfectly good bread, potatoes, vegetables, baked goods, and packaged meals wind up in British landfills. Also on the list: 1.5 million (yes, million) single-serving containers of yogurt and 5,500 whole chickens (yes, five thousand and five hundred whole chickens on Styrofoam trays and wrapped in plastic) get discarded every single day in the U.K.Now, I don't consider the corpse of an animal to be food. I don't want that suffering anywhere near my plate. But the fact that there are people who will unthinkingly buy what in essence is misery wrapped in plastic and then throw away that misery without a second thought pretty much makes me lose my lunch (and breakfast and dinner). I remember reading once that in commercial egg operations, it can take a hen 34 hours to lay a single egg. I would see a plate of half-eaten scrambled eggs left by a diner in a restaurant or a recipe that called for just part of an egg with the rest presumably discarded, and I would wonder how many hours of suffering were represented in that waste. There are oceans of misery and oceans of indifference, but with all our teaspoon acts of kindness and mercy, we might just be the change that this world needs. —GracePosted by Grace Friedan, Researcher

So I told some of my animal buddies about the progress with the KFC campaign in regards to the animal welfare changes we secured for chickens killed for Canadian KFCs.. So we had a little celebration, as you can see here. They couldn't really wait for the grapes to ferment into wine and all that, so they just gobbled (no pun intended) them up.


Congrats to everyone for doing such a great job with the campaign so far! The chickens especially thank you for working to make their lives better.—PulinPosted by Pulin Modi, Senior Street Team Coordinator, peta2

We frequently catch wind of some insightful satire from the folks over at The Onion, as their talent for drawing attention to ridiculous practices and pastimes deservedly focuses on animal issues from time to time.In this very clever piece, the San Diego Zoo reportedly merges with the San Diego prison to boost tourism and cut costs (which is a common theme in animal industries). It's worth noting that they refer to the new facility as a zoo-prison, which is not exactly a new concept—"zoological park" is really just a kid-friendly way of saying zoological prison. The only difference between the medium-security inmates and the big cats, after all, is the inmates' right to a day in court before a life of imprisonment. The last quote in the article really says it all:—SeanPosted by Sean Conner, Laboratory Investigations Special Projects Coordinator

Now that the warmer months are finally upon us, you're probably planning your summer getaway, right? C'mon, don't deny it—I know I am! I plan on spending a ridiculous amount of time at the beach this summer—relaxing on the sand, strolling the boardwalk, doing some kayaking in the ocean waves, probably falling out of the kayak in the ocean waves .... What I'm getting at is whether you're headed to the beach, to the weekend bed and breakfast, or up the West Coast on a road trip, why not consider taking your furry companions with you? There are a number of activities that you can do together—you can take a walking tour of an old town, play Frisbee on the beach, or visit local dog parks for some R and R. Most dogs love car rides, and let's face it, your pooch is probably your only friend who won't judge your off-beat, out-of-tune, don't-even-know-the-words singing. It's true. Plus, there are some great destinations out there that offer animal-friendly accommodations, and they won't cost you a fortune. Most rest stops along the main highways nowadays even have designated dog areas so that you can both get out and stretch your legs. As far as your dog's safety is concerned, it's best to make sure your four-legged friend is up-to-date with all the appropriate tags. And don't forget to stick a recent photo of your dog in your wallet in case of an emergency. There. You're all set. Now plan your vacation, pack the car, grab your pooch, and hit the open road! And do send all your envious friends postcards—they will surely thank you. —JenPosted by Jennifer Cierlitsky, Membership Correspondence Coordinator

You might be surprised to learn about Switzerland's involvement in the cat-fur industry. Switzerland is the only country in Western Europe that still legally allows cats to be hunted for their fur. Swiss law even states that cats that wander 200 yards or more away from their homes can legally be killed—and their fur can be made into jackets, coats, and bed blankets.

It's really no coincidence that most people don't know about Switzerland's cat-fur trade. If you were to step inside a fur store in Switzerland and raise questions about cat fur, chances are the store would deny any involvement or pretend it does not know anything about the industry.

But undercover investigations conducted by television crews last year exposed Switzerland's cat-fur trade. And caught on film were the same tanners and furriers who, when questioned, denied any involvement. You can read the details here.

The footage caught on film from hidden cameras caused an uproar from Swiss citizens and animal rights groups. Longtime animal rights advocate Brigitte Bardot has thrown her support to the cause, and SOS Chats—Switzerland's pro-cat lobby—is now working to ban the cat-fur trade and cat hunting.

Ironically enough, Switzerland actually banned all cat-fur imports from other countries in 2006 because of concerns about the animals' treatment during slaughter—a move that is proving to be as useless as the cat- and dog-fur ban that the European Union will be adopting later this year.

It's a little hard to be neutral when you're contributing to this, Switzerland. Don't you think?

—JenPosted by Jennifer Cierlitsky, Membership Correspondence Coordinator