A reportedly "startled" elephant kicked a circus trainer or groom so hard that he was thrown 20 feet and died of his injuries at the scene. The attack occurred backstage at a Shrine Circus performance Friday evening in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

The elephant involved is believed to be an African elephant named Dumbo, who was captured in Africa in 1985 and belongs to Terry Frisco. PETA has previously caught Terry's brother, Tim Frisco, beating elephants behind the scenes.

No word yet on whether circus mouthpieces are attempting to claim that the elephant was "playing" with the trainer, but if a "startled" elephant can be this dangerous, imagine the damage that a really angry elephant can inflict. It makes the video that we told you about last week—in which a trainer with the Liebel Family Circus holds a toddler in one hand as she uses a bullhook in the other to jab an elephant—all the more harrowing.

This isn't the first time that an elephant has lethally lashed out at the guy wielding the bullhook, and it almost certainly won't be the last. Circuses rely on an abusive training regimen that starts with beatings and intimidation from the time that elephants are still babies and doesn't stop until they've performed their last headstand. Is it any wonder that some of these gentle giants eventually get fed up and fight back?

PETA has been trying to convince the Shriners to stop using animal circuses as fundraisers for years to no avail, despite the fact that their circuses are connected to a growing list of dangerous and deadly incidents involving wild animals. Last year, two elephants performing at the Murat Shrine Circus in Indianapolis, Indiana, knocked down a mobile staircase during elephant rides, resulting in a dozen children being treated by paramedics. In 2005, a trainer was stomped to death by an elephant used in a Shrine Circus in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 2002 and again in 2003, elephants bolted from the Shrine Circus tents and went on rampages in Wisconsin and Michigan, respectively. It's sad to think that this tragic list of deaths and injuries has failed to make the Shriners come to their senses.

Update: Recent news reports are claiming that Dumbo was trying to protect the groomer whom she stomped to death. But this happens every time someone is bludgeoned or stomped to death by an elephant or an orca: Those who profit from keeping the animals miserably bound in chains or confined to small pools always say that the animal was playing or trying to protect the person. The public should stand up and say, "Enough! We are not that gullible!" These animals are extremely intelligent. They know when to be gentle, and they know that you don't protect or play with human beings by smashing them into the ground or the bottom of the pool. After a lifetime of being told, "Do this, do that," being hurt with electric prods and bullhooks, and having their food withheld unless they stand on their head or tail, they crack.

There may be a crazy number of flavors at West Hollywood's Millions of Milkshakes, but this afternoon, everyone was lined up for the one-and-only "Pamela Anderson":

The Dancing With the Stars (DWTS) cha-cha-challenger ducked out of her busy rehearsal schedule today to personally introduce a heavenly vegan vanilla, pineapple, and coconut creation named in her honor. Pamela, who never turns down an opportunity to shake things up for animals, insisted that the concoction be completely dairy-free in order "to prove that one can create a truly delicious treat without having to rely on any animal products in the process."

Since I couldn't make it to Millions of Milkshakes in person, I know what I'll be doing Monday. I'll get some Tofutti and blend my own "Pamela Anderson," and then I'll lean back and toast DWTS' most compassionate contestant as she wows millions of viewers again. Sound good?

Written by Karin Bennett

jurvetson / CC by 2.0

Ingrid E. Newkirk's need for speed has just become street legal. That's right, for all of us environmentally conscious, animal-friendly speedsters, Fisker Automotive's top-of-the-line 2010 Karma sports car is what we've been waiting for. The Karma is the world's first luxury plug-in hybrid, and the available Eco-Chic option—which includes an interior made of bamboo-based fabric instead of leather as well as wood sourced from fallen trees, trees burned in forest fires, or trees brought up from lake bottoms—was obviously created with PETA supporters in mind.

And with the ability to go from zero to 60 in 6 seconds flat, whoever's lucky enough to ride in the passenger seat is going to have to make sure to wear a seat belt (and probably brace against the dash).

Written by Logan Scherer

Ever notice how bad begets bad? Well, in the world of animal abuse, folks often have a way of getting themselves hurt and even killed when trying to do the same to other animals. Besides the obvious "eat meat and die" connection, we at The PETA Files have seen quite a few instances of folks more creatively or elaborately harming or endangering themselves over the years—including large-scale property destruction and truly ironic animal attacks.

With that in mind, I bring you our Top 10 "Payback Is Hell" moments of 2008:

10. While striking his dog with a gun to make him release a bone, a man managed to shoot himself. Granted, I don't think there's any safe place to point a gun, but letting the "business end" face you as you swing it like a club? Wow. Maybe he'll think twice about hitting his dog next time—if he, ya know, survived.

9. What happens when you anger a 10-foot python who's been stuck in a cage for a long time? An intern at a Venezuelan zoo found out when he decided to play with the snake during his night shift. Turns out that snakes are fond of strangling and swallowing their prey (someone really should put that on Wikipedia).

8. Some people shoo wasps away with their hands. Others think it's fair play to go after them with lighted torches. One monk learned that when you play with fire, you (and your entire temple) might get burned (to the ground).

7. While tracking a deer whom he had shot and was in the process of killing, a hunter apparently misjudged a cliff's edge and fell off.

6. A New Jersey man tried to kill insects in his apartment with bug spray, but the propellant chemicals in the spray seemed to have some unforeseen consequences. He succeeded in killing many bugs, but probably not so much because of the poison as because of the explosion, which destroyed 80 percent of his apartment.

5. Though the purpose of "sea kitten hunting" is to dig a hook painfully into another being's skin, one guy seems to have misread the how-to manual and managed to drive the hook into his own hand.

4. Have you ever seen bears who were forced to perform in captivity and felt sorry for how helpless they look? Well, it turns out gigantic land mammals with sharp, sharp teeth aren't always that helpless—as demonstrated by the fatal attack that a bear at Predators in Action wild animal training center made against a trainer.

3. Why don't we allow children to drive? Because it's dangerous. Why do we allow children to kill animals with loaded firearms? Good question. Though some folks argue that children can be trusted with firearms if trained properly, I don't think that helps the two men who were allegedly shot by one eight-year-old boy who had reportedly been taught how to use a deadly weapon to hunt animals.

2. After being jailed on burglary charges, a man was attacked by another inmate who chewed off a part of his ear (ewww!). What are the odds that something so disgusting and awful would happen to someone? To top it off, what are the odds that it would happen to a man who had previously been charged with cutting off a dog's ears?!

1. Proving that using a .44 Magnum to kill mice is not a good idea, a trailer park resident managed to shoot herself and a bystander while trying to fire at a rodent who was simply trying to share her space. Is anyone else stunned that two accidental injuries occurred? PETA's humane mousetrap, on the other hand, has never hurt a living soul.

I guess it just goes to show that what goes around may actually come around, so please make wise decisions when interacting with animals—you might have to answer for your actions.

Do you have your own "payback is hell" story, in which someone's misdeeds to an animal don't go unpunished? If so, comment below; we'd all love to hear it!

Written by Sean Conner

Update 12/22/2008: Donna Karan has announced that her fall 2009 lines will be fur-free and that she has "no plans" to use fur in the future! Read more.

I'm not quite sure what Sag Harbor Village, New York—a self-proclaimed "spiritually oriented" town—is thinking by welcoming Donna Karan into their peace circle. But they have, and they are allowing her to set up shop near the wharf. So amongst the yoga shops and raw-food eateries, there will soon be Urban Zen, DK's yoga-inspired store, which plans to sell DK's fashions, amongst other things. Catch the details here.

The nagging question on deck is: Why would someone so relentless in the promotion of fur and the killing of innocent animals for their skins have any interest in associating herself with yoga and its quintessential beliefs? One just doesn't seem to go with the other. Yoga is, after all, a spiritual awakening and a practice of love and nonviolence. (Forgive me for getting all "hippie" on you, but it is.)

Somehow, I just don't think the practice of yoga will cleanse the karma of a desperate, bunny-butchering fashion designer who continues to use real fur in her collections when there are so many great alternatives out there. There's no violence in yoga, DK. And there definitely isn't any peace for animals who are skinned alive and anally electrocuted for your clothes. However, we do have a suggestion for you to turn your bad karma good: Stop killing animals! I know, you've never heard that before, right?

—Jen

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky, Membership Correspondence Coordinator

InklingBlog / CC

Here’s the quote, which came after a Chinese reporter asked the increasingly irrelevant Stone what she thought about the recent earthquakes in China:

A lot of bloggers have been justifiably outraged by her insensitivity to a national tragedy, though given her vocal support for turning anything that so much as meows into, say, a lapel pin, I can’t say that I’m all that surprised at her inability to empathize with the suffering of others.

Which raises a couple of somewhat disturbing questions: 1) Isn’t it just a wee bit dangerous for someone who’s responsible for the excruciating torture of countless foxes, rabbits, and unsuspecting viewers of Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction to be talking about karma? And 2) If karma really does catch up with her after this, will that mean that her days of dragging that dead beaver out in public will be finally at an end?

‘Cuz that’d be a real disappointment for her five remaining fans.

-Jack

OK, so maybe he wasn't really arrested. But either way, Yosuke the parrot ended up in police custody earlier this month after being rescued from a rooftop near Tokyo. Doing his best stool pigeon impersonation, he didn't talk to the cops. Yosuke was eventually transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital, where he started talking to the vet that cared for him.

Interestingly enough, what he said was his full name—Yosuke Nakamura—and address. The vet checked up on the address and found that it was inhabited by the Nakamura family, which gladly welcomed him back home.

It's not much of a logical leap to assume that Yosuke feels emotions, has desires of his own, and has a meaningful investment in his happiness—as all animals do.

You can see CNN's full story about Yosuke here.