Are you ready for (cue ominous music) … Snakes on a Train?

No, it's not the sequel to that (in)famous Samuel L. Jackson film—although it is the title of a straight-to-video rip-off. In this case, it's a new PETA campaign that is sure to get some attention for reptiles killed for their skins.

What Are Your Hands Holding?

PETA is asking the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) for permission to launch its new "Snakes on a Train" campaign on the T, featuring realistic-looking rubber snakes wrapped around subway poles and handles, as well as a slogan on the windows that reads, "Snakes Make Your Skin Crawl? Shed All Scaly Belts and Bags! Watch Video at PETA.org":

Snakes: (c) iStockphoto.com/Eric Isslee - Train:(c) DDholer

PETA hopes to scare commuters out of their snakeskin boots, shoes, purses, and belts. In order to make snakeskin accessories, these reptiles are nailed to trees or posts and skinned alive. Their mutilated bodies are discarded, and it sometimes takes hours for them to die.

How You Can Help Snakes

If you wouldn't want to hold on to a snake during your commute, why would you want to have their dead flesh wrapped around your waist, feet, or personal belongings? Let's shed exotic skins for good.

Ask anyone on the PETA staff and they can tell you about lots of people—even hard-nosed, stalwart, meat-eating relatives—who've seen one little video clip and changed their minds about turkeys. Help everyone opt for that delicious Tofurky instead of a slice of contaminated dead turkey by cuing up one of our funny little PETA Thanksgiving public service announcements (PSAs) to provide helpful insight into why a cruelty-free feast is the way to go.

While fashion designer Victoria Beckham, aka "Posh Spice," has vowed that none of her collections will ever include a stitch of fur, for which we thank and praise her, she has been silent on the subject of whether or not her new handbag collection will contain the skins of crocodiles, snakes, and other reptiles killed for fashion. And with the fashion diva's New York City runway show coming up this weekend, even the New York Daily News called her out for keeping mum on PETA's inquiries.

Alligator:© Dean Perrus/Dreamstime.com, Handle:© Luminis/Dreamstime.com, Zipper:© iStockPhoto.com

In a recent letter to Beckham, PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews described the horrors of the exotic-skins trade as shown in a PETA video narrated by Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix and described how farmed reptiles are beaten over the head before being skinned alive. Snakes are either nailed to trees or poles by their heads or have water forced down their throats to loosen their skin before they, too, are skinned alive.

Beckham has stated that her bags adhere to the guidelines set forth by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), but PETA explained that CITES aims only to prevent a species from going extinct and has nothing to do with the atrocious ways in which animals are confined and killed.

Bags, belts, shoes, and watchbands made from high-fashion pleather abound, so there's never been a better time to give leather and exotic-animal skins the boot. In the meantime, we'll keep doing our best to get Posh to dump the croc.

Written by Alisa Mullins

Could be because it’s almost the first day of summer. Nah, it’s definitely PETA’s Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrities of 2011 contest. Voting has begun to help us narrow down the 100 male and female nominees to our top five in each group who make our little veggie-loving hearts skip a beet beat.
 

 
So, which hunk of Bocacake gets your vote? Bill Clinton or a Beatle? Joaquin’s sexy smile or Jared Leto and those baby blues?  Could it be a bi-coastal competition of funny man Russell Brand against easy-on-the-eyes Casey Affleck?

And which veggie vixen will walk away with the top prize? Will it be the battle of the A-team, Aimee and Anne? Or could it all come down to the Kristens – Wiig and Bell? Maybe the inventor of sexy, Pamela Anderson, will stage a coup?
 

Let us know who you think we should name the finalists! This year, for the first time, voting will take place on Twitter using the hash tag #sexyvegceleb, but you can also use the voting page. Let us know who you think we should pick by June 17 and stay tuned for the swoon-worthy finalists. 
 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Yesterday was the official first day of summer, but PETA's Web site has been scorching for days, thanks to our Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity contest. We're into the final heat—voting ends this Wednesday, June 23—so if you haven't weighed in, don't let those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer get you just yet. Put the pedal to the metal and vote now to help us choose this year's Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity. Here are some of the current frontrunners:

• The caring king of six-pack abs, celebrity fitness trainer Bob Harper
• The delightfully raunchy star of Get Him to the Greek, Russell Brand
• Dashing do-gooder and Twitter founder Biz Stone
• The brash and beautiful comic who can make just about anyone blush, Sarah Silverman
• The gorgeous songbird who makes caring people giddy with Glee, Lea Michele
• The elegant vegan environmentalist* and star of Bones, Emily Deschanel

I know it's tough to choose just one man and one woman, but if I can do it, so can you. My personal faves: The Howard Stern Show cohost with the infectious laugh, ravishing Robin Quivers, and the achingly handsome actor Joaquin Phoenix. Now go cast your vote for two sexy veggie celebrities to help us decide the Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity of 2010.

Written by Karin Bennett

*We all know that you can't be a meat-eater and call yourself an environmentalist.

Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe– and Grammy-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix is talented, compassionate, and heart-achingly handsome. (I assure you, it's a harmless crush.)

Joaquin, who is vhegan—right down to his pleather gladiators—has narrated our exotic-skins video in the hope of inspiring both shoe aficionados and luxe footwear designers to shun exotic skins, à la Nike, Cole Haan, H&M, and Overstock.com.

He's also penned letters to Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin in which he points out that many snakes, alligators, lizards, and crocodiles are skinned alive by people who believe that the practice makes leather more supple. Snakes can remain alive for up to four days after they are skinned.

There are enough skin-free styles to inspire any shoe fanatic and handbag addict to give skins the boot. I personally can't get enough of the offerings at MooShoes. How do you satisfy your need for skin-free kicks?

Written by Karin Bennett

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vizzzual-dot-com/ / CC BY 2.0

You might already know that Spiderman's Tobey Maguire is vegan, as is Oscar nominee Woody Harrelson, Golden Globe–winner Joaquin Phoenix, and Ultraman Rich Roll. And you may remember that fitness trainer Bob Harper and the NBA's Amar'e Stoudemire both rely on animal-free cuisine to promote peak physical form.

Now The Boston Globe has introduced its readers to "hegans"—as in "he" plus "vegan" equals "hegan." Many hegans are middle-aged, and they all seem to be unassuming fellows who—in their individual pursuits of longevity, improved strength and energy, weight loss, or decreased risk of killer diseases such as cancer and heart disease—have all quietly embraced vegan lifestyles. They may also have read that vegan diets are the best for making sure that their kids have a planet to inherit, or they don't like the idea of eating Babe for breakfast. According to Rip Esselstyn, veteran firefighter, triathlete, and author of The Engine 2 Diet, "Real men eat plants.''

We absolutely agree—and so do the red-hot hunks in our 2010 Sexiest Vegetarian Next Door contest. After you've cast your vote, tell us: Will you use the term "hegan" to describe men who eat only animal-free foods—or are you inclined to stick with "vegan"?

Written by Karin Bennett

I think it may be time for a Gladiator, Quills, and Walk the Line marathon this weekend, because two-time Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix has taken time away from promoting his upcoming films We Own the Night and Reservation Road to write to Australian Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran about the cruel treatment of sheep by the Australian wool industry.

Phoenix focused his letter on the two worst abuses sheep face in Australia: mulesing and live export. In case you’re not familiar with these two terms, here’s a quick explanation. Mulesing is a painful procedure in which gardening shears are used to cut skin and flesh from lambs' backsides without any painkillers. It is a crude and cheap effort to reduce maggot infestation, even though humane methods exist. Every year, millions of Australian sheep discarded by the wool industry are shipped to the Middle East and North Africa. They are crammed onto multi-tiered ships where they suffer amid the waste of thousands of other animals for weeks on end. Many suffer and die from smothering, starvation, heatstroke, injuries and disease. Each year, tens of thousands of animals die en route—almost 40,000 sheep died in 2005 alone.