Ladies and gentlemen, in this corner—fighting for animals—we have Strikeforce mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and pro boxer KJ Noons.

Mixed martial arts junkies (it's so addictive!) know that the MMA world champion never backs down from a good fight, and now KJ's taking on his meanest opponents yet—animal abusers.

KJ is a hell of a fighter (he's one of the top lightweights in the world), but he can't beat animal abuse all by himself. He's calling on you to help K.O. violence against animals. If you think that an animal is being abused or neglected, report it immediately. Want to hear more about what KJ has to say on the subject? You're in luck, because the busy brawler, who will fight live on Showtime on June 16, gave us this exclusive interview and was even kind enough to autograph some swag for us to give away.

Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth

Sue E / CC by 2.0

The Florida Marlins plan to spend millions on their new stadium, which is set to open in 2012. But they can save countless animals' lives as well as tons of money by rethinking plans to build two saltwater aquariums as part of the project.

Instead of exposing fish to the loud crowds, bright lights, and reverberations of a baseball stadium in an unnatural environment that will certainly have a negative impact on the health and well-being of the fish, the team should consider one of several innovative alternatives. We've asked the Marlins to explore the following possibilities:

• Artist-designed aquariums full of beautiful blown-glass animals offer unique and eye-catching displays.
• The stadium could feature a coordinated display of 16 high-definition plasma screens showing underwater footage of sea life. Footage using this technology (called 9X Media) is taken by professional divers and showcases the true magic and mystery of the seas—something that an artificial ecosystem simply cannot replicate.
• Finally, the Marlins could feature realistic robotic fish like those that the Bridge Marine Science Group in the U.K. plans to use to detect pollution in ports throughout Wales.

Considering all these fresh and innovative alternatives, there's no reason why the Marlins can't think "outside the tank." Let Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria know that you think our suggestions are home runs!

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

Victory Update: Following a year of vigorous campaigning, PETA has learned that government officials have grounded plans for a cruel and ineffective radiation experiment on monkeys. Learn more about this victory for monkeys.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is light years ahead of NASA in the compassion, technology, and common-sense departments. In a recent letter to Animal Defenders International, Jean-Jacques Dordain, the ESA's director general, stated that the ESA "declines any interest in monkey research and does not consider any need or use for such result."

So in other words, the European equivalent of NASA is saying that experimenting on monkeys is useless! That's pretty much exactly what PETA has been saying all along about NASA's cruel plan to fund an experiment in which as many as 30 squirrel monkeys would be blasted with radiation and confined for the rest of their lives so that researchers could observe the devastating results. The ESA recently launched its sophisticated Mars500 project, which includes a 520-day-long experiment on six human volunteers and simulates the conditions of a trip to Mars.

We're applauding the ESA's staunch stance against these archaic and inhumane experiments and are keeping the pressure on NASA. Just today, PETA members dressed as Trekkies protested at the debut of NASA's Star Trek Live stage show at the Kennedy Space Center to urge the space agency to let monkeys live long and prosper:

You can join the protest by contacting the Brookhaven National Laboratory and urging it to halt plans to irradiate monkeys for this NASA-funded experiment.

Let's hope that this pressure from Trekkies, taxpayers, and NASA's overseas counterpart convinces the agency to finally move out of the Dark Ages and into the Space Age by dropping cruel and crude animal experiments in favor of humane and effective modern technologies that are actually relevant to human astronauts.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

If you make a donation of more than $100 before July 31, not only will your generous gift be matched, you will also receive a signed copy of Ingrid E. Newkirk's book One Can Make a Difference: How Simple Actions Can Change the World. Here are the rules:

The following blog originally appeared on PETA Prime:

There are moments in history when individuals make a choice in concert with others, and that choice reverberates for decades. Groups often form in response to a challenge from one individual. Take Henry Bergh, for example, a man of the early 19th century who led people to band together to bring about anti-cruelty legislation. Or Ingrid E. Newkirk and her decision 30 years ago to found PETA, which has resulted in monumental progress for animals. And now, with the generous help of Bob Barker, PETA is looking for 1,000 people who will step forward for animals by July 31. Will you be among the ranks or otherwise help us meet his challenge?

As you may know, Bob Barker recently gave PETA $2.5 million to create a new nerve center for animal rights in Los Angeles. At the time that the Bob Barker Building was dedicated, Barker issued a challenge: He offered to donate an additional $2 million to match certain gifts to PETA—one of those gifts being new memberships. And that's where you come in, even if you already are a member.

PETA always has more opportunities to help animals than financial resources to carry out the work. The new Bob Barker Building isn't just about bricks and mortar. Just as PETA investigators go wherever change for animals is needed, PETA wants its staff members to be based wherever they can benefit animals the most. By relocating our International Grassroots Campaigns, Youth Outreach Campaigns, and Marketing departments to our new Los Angeles headquarters, PETA will have more space to grow and more power to carry out our mission. You can help us change the world for animals by supporting Bob Barker's challenge.

If you are not yet a member, please step forward now with a contribution of $16 or more and support PETA’s work to end cruelty and promote respect for all animals and Bob Barker will match your gift. We are trying to recruit 1,000 new members by July 31 to kickstart our fundraising goals. You can become a PETA member by clicking here. Your donation will make a great difference because PETA is efficient as well as effective, with almost 81 cents of every dollar going directly to programs that help animals—and in this case, Bob Barker will double your dollar!

If you are already a member, please help us by finding one friend or family member who will step forward now for animals and have their gift matched by Bob Barker. You can help by sharing this blog post via Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail or in any other way that you can think of to help spread the word.

All current members receive a one-year subscription to PETA's colorful and informative magazine Animal Times, which features great new vegan recipes, heart-warming stories about animals, and information on how you can help protect animals.

In the first three decades of PETA's existence, we've seen great progress, but there is still so far to go. Won't you seize this historic opportunity to build PETA's membership so that we can continue to expose cruelty and act to end it? Please help PETA meet Bob Barker's challenge and change the world for animals!

Written by Scott VanValkenburg

Take one look at British reality TV star Chantelle Houghton's new PETA U.K. ad and you'll want to nip meat-induced impotence in the bun:

Men who eat artery-blocking carcasses may have trouble with their love life, but if you go vegan, the only thing that you won't raise is your risk for diabetes, heart disease, strokes, and cancer.

Written by Shawna Flavell

Extended Stay Hotels is facing bankruptcy. Of course, the sag in the economy could be to blame, but I'd like to theorize that the hotel chain is struggling because people aren't spending enough time in bed. PETA has offered to pay Extended Stay to place an ad on hotel pillowcases to educate guests that removing artery-clogging foods such as meat and cheese from your diet can extend more than your next hotel visit.

The hotel chain is still sleeping on our offer, but we're hoping that it'll soon wake up and realize that this a win-win-win arrangement: The hotel chain gets a little help staying afloat, animals are spared nightmarish conditions on factory farms, and guests will finally have a use for those "Do Not Disturb" signs.

Written by Heather Moore

We're not ones to say "I told you so," but …

A new study has confirmed what we've known all along: Vegans and vegetarians have more empathy—for both animals and people—than meat-eaters do.

Researchers in Europe recruited vegan, vegetarian, and meat-eating volunteers and placed them into an MRI machine while showing them a series of random pictures. The MRI scans revealed that when observing animal or human suffering, the "empathy-related" areas of the brain are more active among vegetarians and vegans. The researchers also found that there are certain brain areas that only vegans and vegetarians seem to activate when witnessing suffering.

We've always thought that people who lack empathy may have something wrong with their brains. That's why we urged the NFL to give Michael Vick an MRI scan to look for evidence of clinical psychopathy, and it's why we sent U.S. Vogue editor and fur pusher Anna Wintour a certificate entitling her to a brain scan as well.

So, to sum up: Vegans are smarter, sexier, and healthier than meat-eaters, and they're more empathic too. If you haven't yet made the switch, what are you waiting for?

Written by Paula Moore

PETA Files readers already know that few "retired" racehorses live out the remainder of their days frolicking in rolling green pastures. Now, Washington Post readers know it, too, thanks to a great article that was published over Memorial Day weekend.

The article describes one of the many ugly sides of the horse-racing industry—the fact that with approximately 35,000 thoroughbreds born in the U.S. every year, there are thousands of horses who don't have quite enough speed and stamina to be champions. What becomes of these also-rans? Most are eventually sold at auction, where many are bought by "killer buyers."

While no horse slaughterhouses are currently operating in the U.S., horses are still being shipped to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico. Some retired racehorses—even Derby champs like Ferdinand and Charismatic—also wind up in Japan, where they may initially be used for breeding. But when they stop being moneymakers, they, too, may be slaughtered, as a PETA investigation at a Japanese slaughterhouse last year revealed.

You can help by contacting your U.S. representatives and asking them to sponsor the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, which would make it illegal to slaughter horses for consumption in the U.S. or to export them for slaughter.

Written by Alisa Mullins

No-holds-barred comic Sarah Silverman's stand-up may make some of her audience members blush, but compassionate people will cheer as they read about her childhood vegetarian revelations described in her memoir, The Bedwetter. And this week's "Win It" Wednesday prize is sure to make animal defenders do the wave—it's a signed copy of The Bedwetter, in which Sarah scrawled, "Woo-hoo, PETA."

We've got one book to give away, and you can win it by describing the animal-free feast that would make you "Woo-hoo!" right out of your seat. Spicy guacamole with blue corn chips and savory Mexican lasagne would do the trick for me. Try and top mine—the person whose mouthwatering vegan meal makes our bellies rumble the loudest will win the prize.

The contest ends on June 16, 2010, and we'll select a winner on June 18, 2010. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Good luck!

Written by Karin Bennett

Some people just can't take a little bit of constructive criticism. Over the weekend, a PETA supporter took to the stage at the National Space Society's International Space Development Conference to interrupt a speech by NASA administrator Charles Bolden. Today, we received a phone call from Gary Barnhard, executive director of the National Space Society, threatening to sue us if we released details of the microphone takeover to the media. Ground control to Major Tom?

Wondering what happened that the National Space Society doesn't want you to see?

Alarms everywhere are sounding over NASA's plan to spend squander $1.75 million in tax dollars so that a vivisector can subject as many as 30 squirrel monkeys to cruel radiation experiments and a lifetime of confinement in order to observe the devastating effects of radiation on the animals' brains and bodies. NASA apparently insists on strong-arming its way forward with these experiments, even though they may also violate NASA grant guidelines and federal regulations.

The results of NASA's planned experiments cannot be reliably applied to humans because of biological differences between species and the fact that astronauts are exposed to low levels of radiation over extended periods of time, as opposed to the single large dose that the monkeys will be given in a matter of minutes. In a recent column criticizing these experiments, a neurologist who is affiliated with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration stated, "[T]he experiments are poorly planned and a far cry from the real life conditions humans would be confronted with in space. . . . At best we will come away $2 million poorer with information that we won't know how to safely apply, and at worst, we will be misled by the results of this experiment in ways that can seriously jeopardize the safety of future astronauts."

NASA officials seem bent on proceeding with this cruel, wasteful experiment. So let's show them that our collective determination to stop it is stronger by tweeting, dialing, and e-mailing in defense of monkeys and decency today.

Written by Karin Bennett