When former English soccer player Michael Owen ran his leg of the Olympic torch route, he got some help from a special guest—a dog up for adoption at a London animal shelter. The now-famous dog, named Rory, may not be homeless much longer.

Marathoner Michael Arnstein is also giving animals props at the Olympics—he fuels up only on vegan foods. 

Legendary basketball player John Salley will soon be flashing his charming smile all over Detroit. He is just one of the faces of the "Real Vegans" billboard campaign, by nonprofit VegMichigan, which aims to show people how easy and healthy vegan eating can be.

In fact, it's so easy and healthy that vegan eating is heading to the final frontier. NASA announced plans for an all-vegan menu for its astronauts who are setting out for a mission to Mars in 2030.

Bob Barker is sending three elephants on the journey of their lives. The longtime PETA friend is flying Iringa, Toka, and Thika from the Toronto Zoo to the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in California, where they will get to retire in spacious comfort.

It was a flight of a different sort that had America's Next Top Model alum Natasha Galkina speaking up for animals this week. After she read about PETA's campaign to get United Airlines to stop shipping monkeys to be tortured in laboratories, she tweeted her disgust at the airline, adding to the chorus of animal-friendly voices on Twitter:

Twilight actor Nikki Reed celebrated her 24th birthday in Las Vegas—and gave animals a reason to make merry, too—with a birthday party featuring vegan sushi rolls, salads, and chocolate cake from Red Velvet Café. Many happy returns, Nikki!

Be sure to check out The Vegan Vine wines, now owned by NBA legend and PETA pal John Salley. (Aren't all wines vegan? Au contraire.) John reminds us that being a vegan is "the best damn way to eat" (and drink!) "period."

Mary Zilba of The Real Housewives of Vancouver can be counted on never to be silent when it comes to animals in need—and the "No Fur" T-shirt that she's sporting in this picture seems to prove it:

Two famous folks have opened their homes to animals without one—former President George W. Bush adopted a stray cat he named Bob, while actor Jenna Elfman added a rescued puppy to her family—and both received special thank-you packages from PETA.

Some of the biggest names in comedy are raising funds to support PETA's work in Hollywood's hottest ticket, Stand-Up for Animals. (Get your tickets here.) No wonder so many celebrities were all atwitter about it:

To keep up with what the stars are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter.

Orlando Magic center Dwight "Superman" Howard recently revealed that his favorite movie is Finding Nemo. (Pause for the resounding "aww" as readers imagine this 6' 11" Defensive Player of the Year watching the animal-friendly animated classic.)

sportsillustrated.cnn / CC

While that's great all by itself, Howard has also reportedly said, "Fish are friends." Dwight, we couldn't agree more, and we hope that your kind words will inspire fans and other athletes to realize how awesome sea kittens are.

Maybe Dwight's next step will be to consult John Salley about fish-free cuisine …?

Written by Christine Doré

Now that the World Health Organization has declared the swine flu outbreak "a pandemic," I'm going to predict that PETA's "flu prevention" mask will sneak past blinged-out cell phones as the must-have accessory this summer. I have a feeling that fashionistas and health officials all over the world will soon agree with me.

Despite denials issued by big pig farms and the change in the name of the illness, funnyman Jim Carrey hit the nail right on the head when he said, "There wouldn't be a swine flu if we treated the pigs better!"

PETA's swine flu mask will serve as a reminder of that.

Written by Karin Bennett

John Salley is the first man to win four different NBA championships with three different teams, the man who helped lead the Bulls to their record 72-win season, the current host of the Best Damn Sports Show Period, an actor in one of my favorite movies of all time and … alright, I'm gushing. We'll just leave it at this: This dude is a pretty big deal.

John's going to be in Chicago today, talking to hundreds of kids about the amazing things his vegetarian lifestyle has done for his game, both on and off the court. And to give the kids a taste (literally) of what he's talking about, John and PETA are going to be giving away free veggie burgers from Chicago's Soul Vegetarian East. I don't think I could be more jealous!

If you're in the area, stop by and try getting an autograph (and a burger) for me. If not, no worries: We'll have pictures from the event for you tomorrow. Until then, check out John's vegetarian testimonial:

Written by Shawna Flavell

Here are some photos from the event:

This little guy got a lesson and a lift!

After the talk, a lot of the kids were overheard saying that they don't want to eat meat anymore.

97.1 The Ticket / CC

When PETA told basketball star John Salley of an opportunity to help elephants in Chicago—the city that he helped lead to multiple victories while playing for the Bulls—he jumped at the chance.

There's currently a piece of legislation before the Chicago City Council that would ban chaining elephants. So John fired off a letter to the City Council asking it to vote "Yes" on the legislation. Salley says, "Passing this ordinance would send a powerful message to our children that mistreating other beings for entertainment is wrong. Like other cultural institutions that have caused extraordinary and unnecessary suffering (e.g., slavery, child labor, segregation), the unethical treatment and cruel chaining of elephants is an American tradition that should be relegated to the history books." So as John states in his letter, let's hope that the city of Chicago will seize the opportunity "to take the lead in this noble cause." After giving us our president-elect, the city has the chance once again to make history. Come on, Chicago!

Posted by Melissa Lane

Quick—who was the first NBA player to win championships with three different teams? If you said John Salley, then ... you read the title of this post. Bravo. But you know what else John Salley is? ... right. A vegetarian. That was in the title too. You know, you really could help me sell this bit a little. Anyway ...

John Salley—who earned his nickname, "The Spider," from his long-limbed defensive prowess—is the latest celebrity to star in PETA's vegetarian testimonial series. Today, the PSA will be launched at the John Muir Middle School in Los Angeles, California, where John is giving a talk to hundreds of students about his vegetarian lifestyle and PETA is providing free veggie burgers for one and all. Turtle Mountain also provided the school with 500 soy ice cream sandwiches for the event! Check out the PSA below:

When we filmed the ad a while back, I got the chance to sit down with John and pick his brain a bit. We got the important stuff out of the way when he told me that he grew up a Celtics fan—I always knew I liked the guy. He first went veg in 1991, after his fifth year in the league (he was a Detroit Piston at the time, but please don't hold that against him). John says that after making the switch, he lost 10 pounds and was still stronger than anyone else on the team (Laimbeer, I'm looking at you). From there, he went on to win powered-by-tofu NBA championships with the Bulls in '96 and with the Lakers in '00, adding those rings to the two he already won with the effing Pistons. Check out the full Q&A below:

Seventeen years later, John's still going strong, hosting The Best Damn Sports Show Period on FOX, pursuing an acting career, and oh yeah, helping to save animals with PETA. So the next time someone asks you, "Aren't vegetarians worried about not having enough vitamin Q?" or whatever, just say, "Actually, we're more worried about not having enough fingers for all our RINGS, yo!"

Here are some photos from the launch event:

Posted by Dan Shannon