Yes, the Kristen Johnston, and yes, she is starkers on that plastic horse.

Two-time Emmy Award–winning actor Kristen Johnston, whom you will remember as the hysterical Sally on Third Rock From the Sun, stripped down for PETA's new ad targeting the cruelty of the horse-drawn carriage trade. In this gorgeous tribute to Lady Godiva—another fearless activist—Kristen urges us not to "get taken for a ride," because horse-drawn carriages are cruel, not romantic. Check it out:

Yours truly was lucky enough to attend the launch of Kristen's ad—because it was in New York, natch, where a bill is being proposed that would ban horse-drawn carriages! Kristen's beautiful ad is displayed on more than 100 taxi tops all over the city, so we decided to show them off in the most natural place—in Central Park, just across the street from where the carriage drivers wait to pick up passengers.

Kristen was very gracious about posing for the press, even hopping up on the hood of one of the taxis. She's a very classy lady, and was kind enough to take pictures with a few fans as well. One older lady was so excited when she saw Kristen that she went right up to shake her hand, and just beamed from ear to ear when she had her picture taken with the actress.

Kristen is just as funny in person as she is on screen, and it was a treat to work with her. She's also passionate about helping get the carriage horses out of their traces and off the streets—as are many people when they learn about the way the horses are abused. So once you're done staring at the ad, read more facts about carriage horses. And if you're a New York City resident, please contact your city council representative and urge him or her to support Councilmember Dan Garodnick's bill to replace the city's horse-drawn carriages with eco-friendly electric models of classic 1920s cars! How glam, right?

Written by Amanda Schinke

The moose-hunting, fur-wearing, pro-aerial-wolf-gunning governor is in the news again. On Thursday, Sarah Palin visited a turkey farm in Wasilla for the traditional pre-Thanksgiving turkey "pardoning." Now, most people probably don't think about exactly how the turkeys raised for Thanksgiving dinner every year meet their maker. But not to worry. Sarah has that under control. In this video, while responding to a reporter who asks about her post-election plans, Palin talks about how she wants to "promote a local business" and do something that won't "invite criticism." While turkeys are being slaughtered. Behind her. ON CAMERA.

Was that one of those "gotcha" questions, Sarah? Because it seems to me that showing the bloody reality of slaughter is just about the worst thing you could do to promote this business. Some people just won't want to eat turkey after watching—especially when this happened the day after PETA released new undercover video from the world's leading poultry-breeding facility. In that video, workers stomp on turkeys' heads, punch them, and bang their heads against metal scaffolding.

This is a country of people who love animals—in fact, numerous polls show that the overwhelming majority of Americans believe that farmed animals deserve protection from abuse. The more that people are confronted with the ways that animals who are raised for food suffer—from the moment they're born until the moment they're killed—the more that people will start thinking about giving vegetarian meals a try. And then the factory farming industry will need a bigger bailout than the "Big Three."

Written by Dan Shannon

P.S.—Sarah Palin should take a cue from our own "President Bush," whose turkey-pardoning this year really was a "mission accomplished."

We have a bit of a history with Donna Karan. This might surprise you (OK, so it won't), but we don't like it when people tell us they're going to stop using fur and then go back on their word. That's why we like to visit Donna—at her apartment, at her fashion shows, and even on her runways. Eventually, we figure, she'll stick to her multiple promises to stop using fur—especially if consumers boycott her designs.

And that, my friends, is why you might see our posters around Donna's office and apartment in Manhattan. The posters show a woman's foot pressing on a rabbit's neck beside the tagline "Where Does Donna Karan Stand on Fur?" You can check out photos below—we hope they'll convince even more people to boycott Donna Karan, bunny butcher, until she sticks to her promise and dumps the fur once and for all.

Photos: Swing Media

Written by Amanda Schinke

It's a chilly South Dakota afternoon. You and a friend are scheduled to help save turkeys from a horrible fate at the latest head-turning PETA demo, but your sexy pilgrim costumes have yet to arrive. How do you resolve this nail-biter? Do you (A) go home and have vegan hazelnut hot cocoa? (A cop-out, yes, but oh-so-scrumptious.) Or (B) take matters into your own hands and get all fashionista on it?

Well our down-for-the-count campaigners were certainly not to be put off by some teeny trifle like not having any supplies for their demo. Pshaw! Thinking fast and on their stilettoed feet, they trotted off to the nearest Target and whipped up these stylish numbers.

Impressive, n'est pas?

By the time the original costumes showed up, the turkey-defending tour-de-force was already in full swing! And, as you can see, suited up in their proper gear, our resilient campaigners are keeping it going.

So bonnets off to you pilgrim beauties. You've defended turkeys with your craftiness rain or shine—and all the while in heels! You can also see the pilgrims in action here.

Written by Missy Lane

Earlier this week, when PETA released our parody of Majesco's Cooking Mama video game series, we wondered how the game would go over with the folks at Majesco. We were extremely happy yesterday when we received Majesco's public response, which included the following:

Majesco even pulled Mama from the kitchen to get her thoughts on the matter. "I would never put rat in my Ratatouille," said Mama. "Like any accomplished cook, I create my recipes to appeal to a broad range of tastes and preferences. My only goal is to ensure you leave the table well fed."

Now that I know I have Mama's attention:

Written by Joel Bartlett

DailyHamster / CC

OK, so a bit of good news for bunnies. For years, PETA has been pushing PETCO to end the sale of animals in its stores. This week, the company finally announced that it will no longer sell rabbits in it stores. The phase-out begins immediately. By early 2009, the only rabbits at PETCO will come from animal shelters or rescue organizations. Mad props to the House Rabbit Society, whose efforts helped make this happen!

This is an important step in the right direction, because dogs and cats aren't the only animals left homeless in mass numbers by breeder- and "pet" industry–driven overpopulation. Rabbits are often bought on the spur of the moment—especially at Easter—by people who are unprepared for the huge responsibility of caring for them. By working with shelters and rescue societies to adopt rabbits instead of selling them, PETCO has joined a number of other companies that have already made the responsible decision not to add to the bunny overpopulation crisis.

But still …

PETCO, like PetSmart, continues to sell countless other animals who are bred, born, and warehoused in cruel animal mills such as Rainbow World Exotics (RWE). We met with PETCO last January before breaking our RWE investigation to show its representatives footage of the horrific conditions we found during our investigation at RWE. Though PETCO pledged to make some improvements, it continues to buy small animals from RWE.

RWE and other suppliers are so awful, and animal shelters and rescues are bursting at the seams with animals of all shapes and sizes. We hope that PETCO will continue to move in the right direction and soon stop selling all animals in its stores—and that PetSmart, Petland, and others will follow in PETCO's footsteps.

Written by Jeff Mackey

Babble / CC

This weekend in Miami, with friends from Ocean Drive magazine (which runs PETA ads free of charge), I attended the grand reopening of the swanky Fontainebleau Hotel. I was able to chat with vegan mogul Russell Simmons and had a word with fur offender P. Diddy, but the nicest surprise was hearing Gwyneth Paltrow explain that she regrets having posed in a fur stole in an ad for Tod's, which has appeared in magazines everywhere this fall. After I told her how out of character it seemed for an eco-friendly, pro-vegetarian friend of Stella McCartney to so publicly promote fur, gracious Gwyneth replied, without a hint of defensiveness:"That was awkward, and I'm glad you asked, because I do not wear fur at all. It was a daylong photo shoot on a boat near Capri, and there were all sorts of poses with all kinds of clothes—none with fur. During one set-up, a stylist came up from behind and draped a stole around my shoulders. I didn't pay much attention to it, and when I noticed it was fur I assumed it was fake fur but did not ask, so it's my fault. I was very surprised when they ended up using that one shot out of hundreds for the centerpiece of the Tod's ads. I know it's not a great excuse, but I hope you and your members understand."

I explained that something similar had just happened to Kate Winslet who was led to believe that the fur rug she posed on for Vanity Fair was fake, and the magazine publicly apologized when the issue became public. It seems that the fur trade is so desperate to push pelts into magazines that they have resorted to doing it on the sly.

At the end of our conversation, Gwyneth said that although she understands why fur gets so much attention, she thinks vegetarianism is something people should focus on more. She said that both she and her husband Chris Martin are pretty much vegetarian, saying, "We know it's the best diet for us and our kids, and of course for animals and the environment." I'm sending her a link to GoVeg.com. Who knows—maybe one day she'll use her lovely voice to speak up for PETA's "Meat's Not Green" campaign.

Posted by Dan Mathews

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

One of four men who was seen stomping on turkeys' heads

We have a brand-new investigation of a turkey factory farm, and we wanted to let the investigator introduce it to you himself. See what he has to say, then please check out the video.

The alarm clock on my cell blares out at 1 a.m. I twist in pain. It can't be time to get up yet. I hit the snooze button twice. Finally I roll over and rub my face with my hands, feeling the calloused-over blisters scratching my cheeks. The insides of my eyes and nose hurt from the dust that I could not wash out from the hours I worked yesterday in the barns where turkeys spend their entire lives.

They are crammed into pens, sometimes 600 or 800 to a pen. There are almost 8,000 turkeys in one barn. Each of these turkey farms has two or three barns. The dust inside the barns is sickening. I can’t even go in without a respirator mask. I cough and choke from not being able to breathe. I see the turkeys panting much of the time. I think about grabbing one of them and carrying her outside and putting her in the grass where she could breathe and walk freely. It is so sad that they are reduced to this miserable existence just to make some profit.

There are times when I have to hold back the tears. To see the workers torture these animals is infuriating. Today we are loading a truck with male turkeys who have been bred to weigh 80-plus pounds—the same weight as my 10-year-old cousin. I will spend the next four hours watching men slam them into cages on the back of a semi truck in temperatures near 20°F. I have seen these guys stomp turkeys’ heads on the concrete. The sound of cracking beaks and breaking bones makes me cringe, but I can show no emotion. I am forced to watch in silent pain as these innocent lives are being destroyed.

Turkey factory farms endorse suffering. They sell death. They make money on abuse. They do not want to show people what happens here. Everyone should know what happens here. I have spent two and a half months in hell so that people will know what it means to have a turkey on the table. Watch the video, and show people the truth. Make this world a better place by reducing pain and suffering. And please do not eat turkey this Thanksgiving.

It seems that some circus industry folks—including Feld Entertainment, Ringling's parent company—have donated more than $40,000to certain Chicago aldermen and their respective ward organizations in an apparent attempt to derail efforts to pass an ordinance to prevent some of the worst cruelty that is inflicted on elephantsin circuses. And—what do you know?—a large amount of that money went to the ward organization of the same alderman (*cough* Willie Cochran *cough*) who blocked the vote last week—long enough for Ringling to set up shop in the city.

Now, before our lawyers take a bullhook to me, I should add that there's no absolute proof that these donations are causing these aldermen to have, shall we say, a certain lack of enthusiasm for the ordinance. I'm just saying ….

Y'all do the math, OK?

My favorite bit in this story is this: "Feld spokesman Stephen Payne said he had 'no knowledge of' the campaign contributions." I mean, it's so easy to just lose track of hundreds of dollars, isn't it? Maybe it just slipped through a hole in their pockets.

Of course, anyone familiar with those sterling and upright folks at Feld (and, yes, I'm being sarcastic) won't be at all surprised by this latest apparent indication of their complete and utter lack of scruples. After all, this is a company that hired operatives to infiltrate and spy on PETA and other animal protection groups, illegally recorded conversations, removed confidential documents, and so much other creepy, slimy stuffthat I can't list it all here.

When we sued, Kenneth Feld, chair and CEO of Feld Entertainment, got off the hook by claiming that all the spying was done by his staff, and that he didn't know about it or all the money spent on it. Not a very observant bunch over there, are they? Trust me on this, though—PETA is paying very close attention to Feld, Ringling, and this ordinance.

Written by Jeff Mackey