One whistleblower's powerful testimony about the abuse of pigs and calves in slaughterhouses throughout the country may bring about a serious overhaul in the U.S. government's monitoring of slaughterhouses.

Dean Wyatt is a veterinarian and supervisor of the Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS), which is a part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Last week, Wyatt told the members of a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee that time after time, his warnings about unsafe slaughterhouse practices went ignored. Two of the slaughterhouses he worked with—one in Oklahoma that allegedly mishandled pigs and one in Vermont that he ordered to shut down three times for mistreating calves—ignored his directives to stop abusing animals. And a Government Accountability Office report released Thursday supports Wyatt's claims, admitting that the FSIS has a history of unsuccessfully regulating slaughterhouses and that it is lax in its enforcement of humane slaughtering standards:

Now governmental officials are saying that they will take steps to improve the agency's enforcement standards. So does this mean that we'll see more stringent enforcement anytime soon? We hope so. But in the meantime, there's no reason to support the massacre of animals or to jeopardize your health: Go vegan!

Written by Logan Scherer

Tuftronic10000 / CC by 2.0

Despite record low ice levels, Canadian officials seem hell bent on choking down baby seal flesh before they'll willingly choke back their pride and denounce the seal slaughter. According to news reports, tomorrow, in an effort to thumb their noses at the E.U.'s recent seal-product ban, Canada's parliamentary restaurant will be serving seal meat to politicians (and in other news, I just threw up a little).

This isn't the first time that government officials have proposed placing the decomposing flesh of a bludgeoned baby seal on their menu, and according to Senator Celine Hervieux-Payette, the bloody feast is meant to demonstrate "the solidarity of the Canadian Parliament behind those who earn a living from the seal hunt."

(Not so) sorry to break it to Senator Hervieux-Payette, but the commercial seal slaughter, which accounts for 97 percent of seals killed each year, is not a subsistence trade. Profit from the slaughter barely exceeded C$1 million in 2009, and the average pay for a sealer was just C$200.

So, after you RSVP to our International Day of Action for seals, join the more than half a million people who have urged Canada to cancel the massacre.

Written by Logan Scherer

place2place / CC

$825 billion. That's a lot of stimulus package. And Congress says zoos and aquariums won't see a penny of it.

While that's all well and good (as zoos are no vacation homes for animals), we've come up with a proposal that's a win-win situation for some big zoos.

We have offered to provide a lifetime supply of fruit or a donation toward animal care of $1,000 for every animal if the zoos end their breeding programs and reinvent themselves as sanctuaries for exotic animals rescued from circuses, abusive owners, and roadside attractions. Or, a zoo can get our money or fruit if it becomes a modern "virtual zoo" with animatronics and video footage of wildlife instead of real captives. That way, the animals are happier and the zoo has less work, more visitors, and some funds.

Do you think they'll go for it? Click here to read our letter to the Denver Zoo, and then tell us what you think.

Written by Christine Doré

bartcop / CC

Hayden Panettiere's alter-ego on Heroes may be indestructible, but in real life, the actor has a soft spot for animals.

You may remember that Hayden is a vegetarian who fought for dolphins in Japan a couple of years ago. Well, the pint-sized star once again proved that she has a huge heart for animals by intervening in behalf of birds on the Heroes set. When some birds in a nearby tree disrupted filming, a member of the crew reportedly attempted to disperse them by blasting them with a huge leaf blower. That didn't sit well with Hayden, who apparently sprang into action, shouting, "What are you doing? How would you like someone to blow that thing inside your house?" She made such a ruckus that the crew had no choice but to move the scene to a different location.

Kudos to you, Hayden, for always standing up for what's right (and for kicking butt and taking names on my fave show). Milo, you'd best be good to our lady!

Written by Christine Doré

The Washington Post has just released an investigation into the shocking lack of progress that exists in U.S. government policies on animal experimentation. The Washington Post began its own investigation after PETA presented evidence of government negligence. As the article points out, hundreds of millions of animals in this country are still being killed in gruesome ways to test substances like Botox, even though there are modern, non-animal methods available. Part of the problem is a categorical failure by the agency that’s charged with reducing the use of animals in toxicity testing—the folks over at ICCVAM (who I’ve talked about a bit before on this blog)—to actually do their jobs. As the Post article puts it:

During the same period of time, ICCVAM’s European counterpart has recommended more than two dozen non-animal tests, and the U.S. continues to lag well behind Europe in adopting modern alternatives to animal testing, which—in addition to causing unnecessary suffering and death for countless animals—poses a significant threat to human health.

There is a bit of good news, though, in the form of a landmark report by the National Academy of Sciences, which indicates that the United States may finally be ready to start catching up to other nations by adopting modern testing methods. But this isn’t going to happen while groups like ICCVAM are allowed to stand in the way. We’re currently calling for a congressional investigation into ICCVAM's negligence, and asking that a new entity be created to oversee the implementation of the NAS recommendations. If you’d like to help out by contacting your members of Congress about this issue, you can do so through the webform here.

And definitely check out the Post article. This issue is monumentally important, but doesn’t get a lot of ink, so it’s great to see a publication like The Washington Post giving it its due.