Written by PETA
It looks like James Bond himself, actor Daniel Craig, is a little confused as to what makes a good breakfast. While filming Quantum of Solace, Craig decided he was going to stick with the ideal of a traditional English breakfast, no matter what—so he had bacon shipped to him on location. In case you haven't heard, that location was Italy—and yes, the bacon came all the way from England.
Wow. You know you have a meat addiction when you have to get your pork products shipped internationally!
So to help him out, our friends at PETA Europe decided to send Craig a sample of the best faux bacon available. Fakin' bacon comes free of heart-clogging cholesterol and heart-stopping cruelty (like cutting off the teeth, tails, and testicles of piglets without giving them painkillers and slaughtering pigs while they are still conscious), so it's a win-win situation for any bacon lover!
And by the way, I'd also like to point out that eating meat has been linked to impotence. After all, cholesterol can clog arteries that lead to all organs, right? And that's one problem that the fictional James Bond would never come across.
Written by Amanda Schinke
After being jailed on drug trafficking and conspiracy charges, Michel Lapointe was released early from his incarceration in Montréal. Why? Because—no joke—he was too obese to fit into the jail's furniture.
Lapointe's lawyer argued that the prison's mattresses, chairs, and benches were too small for a man of Lapointe's size and therefore caused him to suffer unfairly. He pointed out that Lapointe increased in size from around 300 lbs. to more than 400 lbs. after his arrest, blaming the weight gain, in part, on the greasy prison diet. Well, we know of some prisons where this just isn't a problem.
To try to prevent this from happening again, we've sent a letter to the head of the prison inviting him to switch the inmates to an all-vegetarian diet, which would vastly increase the chances of keeping the inmates lean, healthy, and safely behind bars. The prison (and taxpayers) could save money on meals and reduce inmates' health care costs, and the public would sleep a little better knowing that criminals of all sizes are where they belong.
Sounds like a win-win to me.
Written by Sean Conner
Just in time for Thanksgiving and the release of the latest installment in Majesco's popular video game series Cooking Mama, PETA has launched a parody of the game called Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals, the Unauthorized PETA Edition.
If you're wondering why we're picking on poor Mama, it's probably because you've never played the original games. They are so heavy on dishes made from dead animals that the only things missing are the blood and the slaughterhouse. So in the name of accuracy and honesty, PETA decided to introduce a little horror into Mama's kitchen!
In the original Nintendo Wii and DS versions, players score points for assembling a meal (yup, it's that simple). That also applies in PETA's parody, but with this Thanksgiving dinner, players also must go through the motions of plucking the turkey's feathers, pulling out the bird's intestines, and cutting off the animal's head (we like to paint the full picture of what goes into a "meal"). We also added this really disgusting mini-game—no, seriously, this should really gross you out—where you have to stick food up a turkey's butt. It's amazing the things we can come up with!
And all the while, a demonic, cleaver-wielding Mama takes delight in the agony. But the good news is that if you beat the game you might be able to give Mama a change of heart and replace her bloodlust with a craving for tofu-turkey. Give it a shot if you think you have what it takes!
In addition to entertaining and educating (some people like to say "edutaining," but I just think that's lame) with the new Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals game, we're also encouraging players to contact Majesco to ask for a Cooking Mama game with all vegetarian recipes. We've already got the good news that Mama's next outing after Cooking Mama: World Kitchen will be a gardening game titled Gardening Mama (how did they come up with that title?!), but we want Mama to take her newly found love of veggies back to the kitchen too. While Mama kills animals, PETA saves animals.
Oh, and I think I forgot to mention that this game is the best thing ever. So play it now, or else ….
Written by Joel Bartlett
Michael Jackson is trickier to find these days than Waldo, but lucky for us (and for animals), we've got some mad detective skills. Do you really think any disguise would prevent us from tracking him down when animals are in danger? Heck no!
PETA's Captive Animal Rescue and Enforcement Department—otherwise known as CARE—shot off a letter to the artist insisting that he take responsibility for the giraffes he once owned at his Neverland Ranch property. You might remember that Jackson sold the animals who were living at his private zoo after the millions of dollars of unpaid debt that had piled up at his doorstep made him incapable of caring for them.
Four giraffes from the ranch were relocated to Arizona after being purchased by a couple who apparently intend to open a zoo. But since the beginning of the year, PETA has received numerous complaints from concerned citizens regarding the well-being of these giraffes. A former volunteer caretaker for the animals has reported that the giraffes do not receive adequate foot care. According to this person, the giraffes have been housed in small, 15 ft. by 15 ft. "temporary" enclosures since the day they were purchased over a year ago. And, with the exception of one giraffe—who reportedly was allowed to bleed for days after giving birth before the couple finally requested assistance—none of the animals have been seen by a vet.
We have reason to believe that one of these giraffes was born at the San Antonio Zoo. Unfortunately, our numerous attempts to contact the zoo to request that zoo officials arrange for the giraffes' lifetime care at a suitable facility have gone unanswered.
Now, it's time for Jackson to put his money where his mouth is and pay to have these animals, whom he once supposedly loved so dearly, transferred to an accredited sanctuary. These giraffes have been suffering for far too long. They deserve to live out the remainder of their lives in a clean, safe environment, where they will receive adequate food, shelter, and veterinary care.
Come on, Michael. It's bad, it's bad, and you know it.
Written by Jennifer Cierlitsky
Lindsay Lohan's tan turned noticeably paler tonight after an anti-fur activist showered her with flour at a nightclub in Paris. Lindsay was on her way into the VIP room on the Champs-Elysées just after 1 a.m. early Saturday when she had an entire bag of flour dumped over her head by a French fur foe who shouted, "Lindsay Lohan—fur hag!" Lohan has enraged animal lovers by appearing in at least two different fur coats in recent days, despite PETA's repeated pleas that she consider how animals suffer for every fur garment and stop wearing their skins. You can check out the pics from X17 here.
When Lindsay was named to PETA's annual Worst-Dressed List earlier this year, her entry read: "I Know Who Killed Me isn't just the title of Lindsay Lohan's latest bomb, it's the cry of the animals snuffed out so that this 'mean girl' can pose in their pelts. Lindsay, there's no road to recovery for the foxes who are anally electrocuted so that you can look skanky." She was also in the public eye last winter for allegedly stealing a $10,000 fur coat from a fellow partygoer.
PETA Europe's Robbie LeBlanc had this to say about Lindsay's run in with the French flour-tossing fur foe: "There is nothing remotely 'fashionable' about the torture and death of animals killed for fur. Lindsay Lohan might be able to ignore images of bloody animals skinned alive for their pelts, but we hope a dash of flour will help her rise to the occasion and forsake fur once and for all."
So come on Lindsay, drop the fur for good.
When we were first alerted to the atrocities that were being committed in the name of education at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in St. Kitts, we sprung into immediate action through our action alert, on the streets, and in important meetings. The students there were being forced to mutilate and kill hundreds of dogs and other healthy animals each year in unnecessary, painful procedures. Thanks to public pressure, Ross University announced shortly after that it would no longer conduct harmful, invasive, or terminal experiments on dogs—although, sadly, they would continue to do so on donkeys, sheep, and goats.
Well, I'm excited to announce that today marks another step in the right direction for Ross University. While PETA protestors demonstrated outside DeVry's shareholder meeting—DeVry being Ross University's parent company—PETA Laboratory Methods Specialist Shalin Gala met with the bigwigs inside. The CEO informed him that Ross University will no longer perform terminal surgeries, full stop. Personally, I'd like to think that the giant, friendly "sheep" who were hanging around outside the meeting had something to do with that announcement! That or the thousands and thousands of messages from compassionate people that Ross University has received.
Rather than settling on this step forward, we will commit to re-doubling our efforts against Ross University and DeVry's harmful experiement. It's great that healthy animals at Ross will no longer be killed, but invasive procedures—such as severing the nerves in donkeys' toes, cutting their ligaments, inserting plastic tubes through their noses and into their stomachs, surgically puncturing their abdomens, cutting their tracheas (or windpipes), and removing fluid from their joints—will presumably continue. Every little improvement helps, of course. But c'mon, Ross, catch up with the times and cut out the cruelty.
Here's hoping that Ross University will continue to improve and eventually stop animal tests altogether. Feel free to drop them a line and tell them what you think!
You remember Agriprocessors, right? You know, the kosher slaughterhouse whose practices turned out to be anything but kosher? The one that lost 76 percent of its employees in an immigration raid and that filed for bankruptcy last week?
Well, since Agriprocessors is (or, dare I say, was) the largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse in the world, the bankruptcy has led to a shortage of kosher meat. An article on www.israelnationalnews.com reports that, as a result, many Jewish Americans are eating more vegetarian meals.
Three of the five largest kosher beef slaughterhouses in the U.S. and the second-largest kosher beef supplier in South America are currently not operating. This is adding to the shortage and causing prices to escalate. In addition to troubles at Agriprocessors, operations at the nation's third-largest kosher slaughterhouse, North Star Beef in Minnesota, stopped several months ago after a fire, and the fifth largest facility in the U.S. (Local Pride, which we investigated in 2007 and is owned by the same people as Agriprocessors) stopped operations in October.
There's a solid case for Jewish vegetarianism in the first place, and the lawbreaking practices of Agriprocessors and its subsequent shutdown are even more reasons to have a vegetarian Shabbat. Many "meaty" recipes—even chopped "liver"!—can be made pareve (that's no meat, no dairy).
VegCooking.com, by the way, has a nice collection of Jewish recipes. I have personally made both the latkes and the stuffed zucchini and can attest to their yumminess. For more veganized traditional favorites, www.jewishveg.com is another great resource.
Mmm, vegan knishes … I might have to buy potatoes on the way home today.
A recent study suggests—that a certain sugar called Neu5Gc, which is commonly—and only—found in meat and dairy products, might actually increase the risk of infection from E. coli—that nasty bacteria that grows in animals' guts and is shed in their feces. E. coli can be deadly to human beings (remember the kids at Jack in the Box?). Slaughterhouses are filth pits, and that E. coli-ridden filth and feces often ends up on someone's hamburger or chicken breast. Children are particularly vulnerable if they are exposed to the bacteria.
In light of a recent E. coli outbreak in Vermont and this new finding about Neu5Gc, we've sent a letter off to the president of BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont. We are urging the health insurance company to lower health premiums for vegetarians—a change that can save money not only for vegetarians but the company as well. You can check out the full letter here.
Vegetarians are, on average, much healthier than meat and dairy eaters (E. coli outbreaks aside). Vegetarians have stronger immune systems, making them less susceptible to illnesses. And unless they are piling on the cheese and processed foods, they invariably weigh less. They are also 40 percent less likely to have cancer than are individuals who consume animal meat. And, as if that weren't enough, studies show that meat, eggs, and dairy products are all linked to osteoporosis, Alzheimer's, and even impotence. Yikes!
Nowadays, everyone is trying to save a buck. So, how about lowering health insurance premiums for people who choose a plant-based diet? After all, vegetarians generally require fewer health resources such as medications and doctor visits than do those who feed their bodies steroid-injected meat and pus-filled dairy "products"!
The following is the winning PETA article on Helium.com and was written by Amanda Day.
Factory farms' presence increased significantly over the past fifty years. Continued growth will cause further environmental damage. Factory farms also known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are defined by the Environmental Protection Agency as facilities that confine and feed livestock for 45 days or more in any 12 month period and the area is absent of grass and vegetation typical of natural conditions. Traditional, pastoral, American farms where animals graze and exercise their natural behaviors have been replaced by factory farms where animals processed for food live in filthy, cramped, unnatural conditions detrimental to animals and our environment. Factory farms' deplorable practices compromise our water, soil and air quality. They must be removed from our landscape.
Contaminated water is unpleasant, dangerous and responsible for endangering ecosystems and diminishing biodiversity. Fertilizer ingredients sprayed on animal feed including potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus naturally occur in our environment, but accumulation of these elements is hazardous. Excess amounts spill, leak and runoff into the ground, fouling water and encouraging algae to grow which depletes oxygen and kills fish and other aquatic animals. Factory farms' sizes make these occurrences frequent. Each incident jeopardizes species by rendering water and terrain uninhabitable. If factory farms continue to operate and expand, less water and land will be available for growing whole foods which can sustain a greater number of people using natural resources more efficiently.
Fertilizers represent only the beginning of factory farms' harmful affects on our environment. Manure and urine pollute the air and further taint already spoiled water and soil. Four gases mainly responsible for the stench wafting into our atmosphere are methane, ammonia, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide. All of these gases in excess are known to cause considerable health problems including eye, nose, and throat irritations, headaches, lack of coordination, nausea, liver and kidney damage, central nervous system complications and certain cancers. High levels of carbon dioxide released by factory farms prevent tissues and organs from absorbing oxygen triggering chest pains, fatigue and decreased concentration as well as vision and brain impairments. Odors and poor health often indicate air pollution. Climate changes ensue when these gases get trapped in our atmosphere due to the greenhouse effect.
Why such an excess of gas? Animals processed for food in factory farms increased about 60% within the past five decades. Increased animals means increased animal waste. Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, noted that consumers today spend about $110 billion annually eating four times the amount of chicken and three times the amount of beef and pork compared to previous decades explaining the continued growth and profitability of fast food establishments. Growing consumer demand for cheap meat and dairy products perpetuates the existence of factory farms on a global scale inhibiting governments' abilities to regulate and hold CAFOs accountable for environmental damage.
Farming methods practiced by traditional farmers had less of an impact on the environment than factory farms. Traditional farmers conducted business on a long cycle meaning they often raised livestock and crops simultaneously using a conventional fertilizer method, composted manure. Wealthy CAFOs operate on a short cycle focused on quantity. Even if animal waste were properly composted and utilized on nearby crops, the amount would be excessive. When lagoons, where animal waste is held, are not properly managed, waste leaks into our groundwater and emits high levels of gases into the atmosphere worsening global warming. The inability of traditional farmers to compete with CAFOs is partly the reason factory farms dominate our landscape.
Soil, water and air quality diminish as factory farm numbers grow. Fertilizers and animal waste contribute to environmental destruction while medications foster new bacteria. Factory farm managers use antibiotics to prevent outbreaks of sickness resulting from animals being confined in unnatural, cramped settings filled with their own excrement. As strains of bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, new bacteria strains develop and pose serious problems to our environment. A foreign introduction into any surrounding disrupts nature's equilibrium.
With a disruption of our environment's balance, conserving natural resources becomes even more crucial, but that is not what happens. The amount of energy required to manage CAFOs further taxes our polluted environment. "Beef production alone uses more water than is consumed in growing the nation's entire fruit and vegetable crops" [Motavalli, Jim. "So You're an Environmentalist; Why Are You Still Eating Meat?" AlterNet.]. A typical dairy farmer will use 150 gallons of water per day on each cow to wash and flush out the manure system. In addition to high volumes of water usage, land that could be used to grow crops for people is used to grow animal feed not to mention all the transportation required to ship animal feed and animals to be processed.
Companies have taken a captive supply and/or vertical integration approach to agribusiness. Captive supply is when a packing company owns contracts for cattle giving them a market advantage because they do not have to bid on cattle for slaughter in the open market. Vertical integration gives an even greater advantage because the company owns the entire process—factory farms, fertilizer manufacturing plants, feed sources, slaughterhouses, packaging and distribution centers as well as technology like genetic engineering and irradiation. These companies are modern day monopolies. To save our environment from further adverse effects of factory farms, they must be either preferably dismantled or held accountable for their negative impact on our environment.
Factory farms profit at the expense of animals and our environment. Their wealth and power influence government policies. We may not pay at the checkout line, but we pay when we visit the doctor for health problems directly correlated to factory farms' callous operations and with our tax monies to subsidize the meat and dairy industries as well as clean up their toxic waste. One way to combat factory farms' adverse effects on the environment is to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle. Consumers unwilling to give up animal products should purchase responsibly and write representatives urging them to enact harsher penalties for factory farms' spills, leaks and runoff disasters.
Update: Unfortunately, we've discovered that Maggie Gyllenhaal was, in fact, wearing real fox fur. You can watch the saga unfold on Ecorazzi.
On Tuesday, green gossip blog ecorazzi posted a photo of Maggie Gyllenhaal wearing, as they said, "what looks to be an entire forest of animals." Tee hee, ecorazzi!
But after some detective work, ecorazzi was able to determine that, fortunately, Maggie's vest was a faux-fur item offered by Louis Vuitton—not the collection of animal skins it appeared to be. Excellent—it would be a shame for the eco-friendly Maggie to make a public appearance in an eco-toxic dead skin!
You know what I love about this story? We weren't even the ones who started this whole thing—the photos of Maggie exploded all over the blogosphere, and everybody wanted to know if the fur was real or faux. We got a lot of calls and e-mails, too, from a lot of people who were all hoping that Maggie's outfit was faux.
It's really heartwarming to see just how many people react negatively when a celebrity is spotted in what appears to be fur. It really goes to show you that fur is dead in more ways than one—between the celebs who wear only faux fur and the stylists who have to resort to lying about the faux-ness of their fur, it looks like the Trollsens are the only hags who still think fur is a good idea.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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