So, after years of hard work by animal protection advocates exposing the extreme cruelty involved in these operations, some of the last horse slaughterhouses in the U.S. were shut down. But the folks in the horse-racing and horse-carriage industries still need to do something with the thousands of horses who are rendered useless to them every year due to old age or outright abuse. So they’ve been sending these animals across the border to Mexico, which has even more lax regulations for its slaughterhouses than the abysmal standards in the U.S.—and the results are positively gruesome.

The good news is that there’s a bill on the table that would ban the export of horses to foreign slaughterhouses called the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, and we’re pushing hard right now to help get it passed. You can click here to learn more about the act and write to your Representatives through our online form to ask that they support the new bill to protect horses.

Like most serious Redskins fans, I have sworn a solemn oath never to say something nice about a Dallas Cowboy, which—as you can imagine—makes this extremely difficult for me. But the unavoidable fact of the matter is that PETA is giving a much-deserved award to Leonard Davis, a Cowboys offensive lineman who went out of his way to rescue a stranded horse when he discovered the animal stuck belly-deep in mud near his home. Evidently, our heroic horse-rescuer noticed that the horse, Ranger, was stuck in a sinkhole across the street, rushed to fasten straps around the animal, then used his John Deere tractor to pull him free from the mud. Davis then hosed Ranger down, as neighbors and emergency responders looked on. To thank him for going above and beyond to save Ranger's life, PETA has given the Cowboys guard its “Compassionate Action” Award, along with a gift basket and a letter of appreciation. Leonard Davis, you're a badass. And now, just because I feel like it, here's a picture of LaVar Arrington ending Troy Aikman's career.

When I walked by my boss Ingrid’s office this morning and heard “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys” blaring, I knew something fishy was going on . . .

Well, toss your cowboy hat in the air, crank up “On The Road Again” and holler yee haw! Willie Nelson (Yes, THE Willie Nelson) and his daughter have been trying to close horse slaughterhouses in Texas for many years, and today their efforts and the efforts of everyone who was fighting right alongside them won out! The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that the old law on the Texas books prohibiting the operation of these hideous places is valid—meaning that the two remaining horse slaughterhouse in the state have to close! The only other option the horse butchers have is to try their luck in the Supreme Court, but I really don’t see that happening.

To celebrate, I’m throwing a huge party this weekend, and I just bought “Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys” to start getting pumped up for the big event.

I just love that Willie and his family have worked so hard to help horses. Thank you, guys!

Or should I say “Wer Wird Millionar?” That’s, like, German, because last night on the German version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, a contestant flew the PETA flag in a big way.

My friend Harald, who sent me the pics of his television set, said the dude is still going and will be on the show again Friday. Hopefully he wins mad euros.

Good luck German PETA dude! If you need a lifeline, feel free to call . . .

If you get that subject line, then you’re old enough to remember Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. I’m not ashamed to admit it, I used to kick it to Good Vibrations back in the nine one. And like the rest of the civilized world, I’ve followed Mark Wahlberg’s career over the years. Basketball Diaries, Boogie Nights, I Heart Huckabees, The Italian Job (with PETA pal Charlize Theron), and oh, let’s not forget the best picture of ’06, The Departed.

Anyway, as you can see, I’m a fan. So I was pretty bummed when The New York Times reported that my boy was spotted eating foie gras, which is so insanely cruel that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill banning it in California. PETA immediately wrote to Wahlberg asking him if he did in fact dine on the dish of fatty liver—that comes from force-fed geese who have pipes rammed down their throats for weeks before being slaughtered and served. His publicist replied right away saying, “Thanks, Mark did not eat fois gras, though it was on the menu as an appetizer,” which put the PETA posse at ease.

Thank God, because I really didn’t want to have to eBay my Entourage DVDs . . . or get rid of my Funky Bunch cassettes. Yes, cassettes. Give me a break, it was a long time ago.