If you've suffered through having your heart broken (and who hasn't?), you know it feels like you want to die. But if your heart actually were to (physically) break, you really could die. So as Valentine's Day nears, PETA is placing this digital billboard in two locations in Montgomery, Alabama—a state with one of the highest rates of heart disease in the nation.

Why do vegetarian hearts have an edge over carnivorous tickers? A recent study found that vegetarians are 32 percent less likely to suffer from heart disease. In fact, staying away from all the saturated fat and cholesterol in meat, dairy products, and eggs gives vegans a significant advantage in avoiding a range of life-threatening diseases, including cancer, strokes, and diabetes. 

And when your healthy heart starts beating in rhythm with that special someone's, it's good to remember that vegans also get a boost in their love life because we're less susceptible to sexual dysfunction. So whether your heart needs Cupid or a cardiologist, there's one prescription: Go vegan! 

When we planned a demonstration involving people lying on what appeared to be bloody meat trays outside a slaughterhouse, we knew that it would be a poignant display. But even we had no idea just how intense it would turn out to be.

The smell of freshly butchered flesh that permeated the air around the John Morrell & Co. slaughterhouse was nauseating on that sweltering day in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. But that wasn't the worst part. The slaughterhouse was directly across the street from a stockyard, and we could hear the pigs screaming. Their unceasing cries shook us to the core.

The townspeople who drove by us certainly got the message—they were faced with the gruesome image that accompanied the smells and screams that they always tried to ignore as they passed. One slaughterhouse worker even came out to ask, "Are you all vegetarian?" When we answered that we were, he said, "I don't blame you."

Today, wherever you are, please be the message that people can't ignore.

The animals are not silent. We must not be, either.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

In case you've ever wondered what meat looks like before it's processed, here are some calf and goat remains spotted outside a restaurant in Queens, New York.

Lost your appetite? Try this instead.

As it turns out, people are genuinely taken by surprise when they find out where sausage meat comes from, as evidenced by this amusing Portuguese video showing what happens when a fake butcher pretends to make sausage from scratch.

… by going vegan. Sure, we at PETA sing the praises of electric cars, but hybrid car owners who load bags of revolting meat and dairy products into their trunks need to start humming a different tune.

That's why PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman has written a letter to James Hunt, chief of Boston's Environmental and Energy Services, offering to buy space on the city's planned electric-car charging stations for PETA's "Meat's Not Green" ads.

The raising of billions of animals to become meat-lovers' main courses is a main contributor to environmental destruction—it's a leading source of greenhouse-gas emissions and causes water pollution and topsoil erosion. The meat industry runs on enormous amounts of fossil fuel and water—and the denials of those who ignore the fact that each package of meat represents immense, intense animal suffering.

Will PETA's ads grace electric-car charging stations in Boston? We'll keep you updated.

Written by Karin Bennett

AZRainman/CC by 2.0

Today we're joining thousands of bloggers from around the world who are participating in Blog Action Day, an annual event in which bloggers post about a common worthy cause—such as preserving water.

So let's dive right into the deep end by taking stock of how much water is wasted when animals are raised for food: 

• Nearly half of all the water used in the U.S. goes to raising animals for food.
• It takes more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce just 1 pound of meat, but it takes just 25 gallons to grow 1 pound of wheat.
• You save more water by not eating a pound of meat than you do by not showering for six months!
• It requires more than 4,000 gallons of water per day to produce food for a typical meat-eater but only 300 gallons of water to produce food for a typical vegan.

So what're you waiting for? Help someone you know take the plunge—persuade him or her to try a vegan diet today!

Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth

Leilani Münter is fast, hot, and compassionate. She recently revealed to readers of The Huffington Post that her love for animals inspired her to go vegetarian years ago.

Now we know why this red-hot racecar enthusiast went vegetarian—and why sexy actor Michael Dorn went vegan (unlike his Star Trek character, Worf, a spaceship-steering, raw meat–eating Klingon).

We're still wondering: What drives you to be a comely and conscious cook?

Written by Karin Bennett

Last night, Lady Gaga tried once again to shock the world, this time by wearing a "meat dress" during her acceptance of the Video of the Year award at MTV's Video Music Awards. Lately, Lady Gaga has been having a hard time keeping her act "over the top." Wearing a dress made out of cuts of dead cows is offensive enough to bring comment, but someone should whisper in her ear that there are more people who are upset by butchery than who are impressed by it—and that means a lot of young people will not be buying her records if she keeps this stuff up. On the other hand, maybe it was fake and she'll talk about that later. If not, what's next: the family cat made into a hat? Meat is the decomposing flesh of a tormented animal who didn't want to die, and after a few hours under the TV lights, it would smell like the rotting flesh it is and likely be crawling in maggots—not too attractive, really. The stunt is bringing lots of people to PETA.org to download a copy of our vegetarian/vegan starter kit, so I guess we should be glad.

A wonderful side note to mention, Ellen DeGeneres (who is vegan herself), presented Gaga with a veggie bikini and suggested she try that next time she wants to make a statement. Thanks, Ellen!

Written by Ingrid E. Newkirk

Officials in Montréal may have banned Pamela Anderson's pro-veggie ad, but thongs—I mean, throngs—of folks in Victoria came out to greet these two bold PETA babes and hear their take on the subject:

Two things are certain: They're hot, and they give meat the cold shoulder. The big question is, do you?

Written by Karin Bennett

Jennifer Dickert / CC by 2.0

On Friday, Valley Meat Co. of Modesto, California, recalled approximately 1 million pounds of ground beef because of possible E. coli contamination. Frightening? Yes. Shocking? Not if you take a look at the numbers.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), a typical steer will yield about 450 pounds of edible meat. Let's do a little math:

Also according to the USDA, cattle are usually slaughtered when they are around 2 years old. According to a New York Times article from 2008, a cow who is raised for beef can produce about 14.6 tons of manure each year.

Take a minute and process that—64,882 tons of waste! All of it carrying E. coli, a fecal bacteria. It seems inevitable that some of this nastiness would end up in the food supply at some point, doesn't it? Factory farming and the microorganisms it breeds are deadly to humans and animals, so how about reducing the waste by going vegan?

Written by Shawna Flavell