As the nights get chilly, the thought of passing the evenings with friends and family in a nice, warm house sounds delightful … to mice. Like humans, mice are social animals who enjoy each other's company, and while you might not be so eager to enjoy theirs, you might have a little more respect for them after reading these fascinating mouse tidbits:

• Male mice compose complex, ultrasonic songs as part of their courtship rituals.
• Having wooed and won a partner, male California mice stay with her to help with the birth and first cleaning of the pups.
• Mice are smart. Wood mice make signposts out of leaves and twigs. And if there's a flood, a mouse might hitch a ride on a frog.
• Mice are clean and fastidious animals. They designate separate areas of their homes to use as dining rooms and bathrooms. 

If—despite their charm—you still don't care to share your home with mice, the best way to keep them out of your humble abode is to prevent them from getting inside in the first place. Seal mouse-size holes (mice can enter a hole the size of a dime), keep food in sealed containers, always clean up crumbs right away, and use safe, homemade deterrents like peppermint-soaked cotton balls. If you already have unwanted mouseguests, never use cruel glue traps, which leave the animals to suffer slow deaths from suffocation or dehydration. Instead, pick up a few humane mousetraps and set the mice free outdoors.

Written by Heather Faraid Drennan

A man who was spear-fishing off Anna Maria Island in the Gulf of Mexico found out what it was like to be speared by a fish when a shark bit his left thigh. By issuing a series of biting (geddit?) ads placed in the area, PETA is using this incident to remind Floridians that the deadliest killers in the water aren't sharks—but human beings.

Sharks aren't the only animals who have been striking back:

• A grizzly bear made sure hers was the last life an avid hunter ever claimed when she charged a pair of men who were hunting animals along the border of Idaho and Montana, killing one of them before she was gunned down. 
• A woman "hunting" mice inside her California trailer dropped her gun, sending a shot through her knee and her male companion's groin. The mice escaped.  
• An Indonesian man who left his seven dogs alone for two weeks without food or water returned to find that they had developed a taste for chow mein man.

Perhaps if animals always fought back, people might think twice about abusing them. It would save a lot of lives all around. And speaking of saving lives—maybe these surfers will always be spared from shark attacks in return for their compassionate actions.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

PETA's "do test" and "don't test" lists have been an essential part of shopping for millions of people for nearly three decades—and in all those years, we've never made a change to the way we list companies: They either conduct (or pay someone to conduct) painful skin, eye, and other poisoning tests on animals, or they don't. 

 
© Jessica Florence

Now, for the first time ever, we are launching a new category, called "Working for Regulatory Change." This new category recognizes manufacturers that only conduct tests on animals that are required by law and work hard to develop and lobby for the validation of non-animal tests. The requirements for making the list are as tough as boot camp. In addition to refusing to conduct any tests on animals that are not required by law and devoting substantial support and human hours toward the acceptance of non-animal methods, companies must lift the veil of secrecy and talk openly with PETA about what tests they conduct on which species and how many animals are used. And they have to do it every year.  

With such tough standards to meet, it's not too surprising that only one company is on the "Working for Regulatory Change" list so far: Colgate-Palmolive. Colgate has been transparent with the public and with PETA about what it does and why, and the company has had a moratorium on all tests on animals for its adult personal-care product line for more than a decade. In its last reporting year, Colgate conducted no tests on animals at all.

We'd never suggest buying products from companies that test on animals, but we also recognize that some companies have never spent one corporate dime on developing and validating non-animal test methods. We challenge these companies to follow Colgate's example and stop hiding and start working for an end to all tests on animals.

 Written by Michelle Sherrow

What do you get when you mix PETA, a company that tests on animals, and a roomful of eco-friendly executives? A round of applause, which is what happened when an animal advocate stood up during the Industry Water Award Ceremony in Stockholm and asked Nestlé Chair Peter Brabeck-Letmathe when its tea brand, Nestea, will stop carrying out painful and deadly experiments on animals and switch to cruelty-free non-animal testing methods.

A few weeks ago, Nestlé USA CEO Brad Alford got the same surprise inquisition at the Grocery Manufacturers Association Conference in Colorado Springs.

Experimenters working for Nestea have injected mice with toxic chemicals in order to give them diabetes, then force-fed them tea ingredients before killing them. In another experiment, mice were force-fed tea extracts and then had their leg muscles cut open before being decapitated. In still another test, mice bred to suffer brain damage and rapid aging were locked in dark chambers, and painful shocks were administered to their sensitive feet before the mice were killed.

Not only are these tests not required by law, the results also aren't even admissible as proof of tea's health benefits—the very reason that Nestlé claims it conducts the experiments. You can give Nestlé executives a surprise of your own by visiting PETA's new website, NesteaCruelTEA.com and e-mailing AlfordCEO of Nestlé S.A. Paul Bulcke and to ask them to call off the killing.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

This may be what you're used to thinking of as an anti-viv poster:

But nowadays, you're just as likely to see this as an anti-viv poster:

That's because PETA has a squadron of scientists who meet with government regulators, serve on expert working groups, put pressure on international corporations, publish in scientific journals, and make presentations at international scientific conferences like the one that took place in August in Montréal.

The World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences is the premier international conference on alternatives to animal testing. (Yes, we know that the "and" in the title should be "to" and have mentioned that to the organizers.) Even though animal experimenters attend the conference and peddle their wares and displays touting cruel experiments like force-feeding animals Jerusalem artichokes (seriously), there is also a lot of excellent information presented on non-animal testing methods and strategies.

Five PETA scientists presented displays and gave talks at last week's conference about ways to avoid using animals in endocrine testing, skin testing, and other tests. Our presentation on vaccine testing evidenced how PETA has succeeded in using a variety of pressure points to save thousands of animals from being used in cruel vaccine testing, including convincing the U.S. government to replace the use of pigs in painful erysipelas vaccine tests. Another PETA scientist addressed attendees regarding new non-animal technologies that can replace the use of mice in antibody production work. 

With close to 1,000 participants from more than 50 countries at the conference, PETA's scientists were encouraged to note how many companies and laboratories represented at the Congress are actively working on technology and testing methods that can reduce or replace the use of animals. Not only are these methods 100 percent humane, they are also less expensive, more effective, and faster than animal tests.

Exciting news out of Chennai, where the Animal Welfare Board of India has banned the use of glue traps to snare and (miserably) kill mice and rats, declaring, "Available evidence clearly suggests that the use of glue traps causes unnecessary pain and suffering to the rodents and is against the spirit of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act ...."

PETA's cruelty caseworkers can offer plenty of evidence of the "unnecessary pain and suffering" caused by glue traps—and not just to rodents. For instance, a recent call concerned a bird who had become helplessly mired in a restaurant's glue trap.

You'll be glad to know that things worked out OK for this little guy, whom we arranged to be taken to a wildlife rehabilitator, but for far too many animals, glue traps mean days of suffering before death by starvation, dehydration, exhaustion, or shock. In addition to being cruel, glue traps also spread diseases, which is why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends not using them.

The other good news to come out of this case is that the restaurant has seen the light and will no longer use glue traps. Still, a lot of folks could stand to follow the example of these restaurateurs (and India) by detaching themselves from pans of pain.

If you see anyone using glue traps, or if you'd like to see a glue-trap ban in your community, don't be shy—speak up! And if you have rats or mice visiting your business or home, learn to live peacefully and kindly with our smart and resourceful rodent neighbors.

Written by Jeff Mackey

People have been safely using toothpaste, dish soap, and other household products for generations, but that didn’t stop REACH, the European Union's massive chemical-testing program, from torturing and killing about 200,000 animals in tests on the ingredients in these products, among many other chemicals. A recent report by the agency that oversees REACH reveals that companies are ignoring the requirement to use every available alternative to experimenting on animals and are instead putting thousands of animals through suffering that most people wouldn't wish on their worst enemy.

According to the U.K.'s Daily Mail, "Among these 'unnecessary' tests were 188 studies on eye irritation carried out on rabbits; 336 skin sensitisation studies on guinea pigs or mice; 254 short-term toxicity tests on fish; and 33 genetic toxicity tests on mice."

PETA U.K. is calling out the government officials responsible for enforcing REACH by placing this ad in an influential European politics magazine, The Parliament, and asking Europeans to write to the European Commission.

In related news, PETA and its international affiliates have written to the European Chemicals Agency, which oversees REACH, demanding a moratorium on reproductive toxicity testing until a newly approved refinement―that can spare hundreds of thousands of animals―is in place.   

In the meantime, you can help animals on both sides of the pond by buying only cruelty-free products. Visit the PETA Living page for lists of companies that do and don’t test on animals.

 
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

kabacchi/cc by 2.0

For your Friday enjoyment, here are some of the sweetest and most gosh-darn amazing animals we could find.  

• These brainy crows owe their intelligence to a legacy of nurturing parenting. Are crow nannies in our future, perhaps? 
• Like humans, chimpanzees and penguins grieve the loss of a child or family member. 
• Prairie dogs have a language so advanced that they can describe humans down to the colors of their clothes. What Not to Wear: Prairie Dog Edition. 
• This cat prefers strawberries to mice. Has she been reading PETA's website?

Written by Michelle Sherrow

With the approach of cooler fall weather, some of you might be hearing the pitter-patter of little feet in your attic. That's because mice and other rodents often start moving indoors this time of year to escape the cold. If you don't mind sharing your home with these furry little refugees, give yourself a pitter-pat on the back and don't read any further: This week's "Win It" Wednesday prize—one of PETA's perennially popular humane mousetraps—will be of no interest to you.

For the rest of you, here are three easy steps you can take to humanely rodent-proof your home: 

• Seal any cracks and holes in walls and foundations
• Keep food and garbage in sealed, chew-proof containers
• Catch any remaining rodents with a humane trap and release them outdoors.

To score one of the aforementioned humane traps, post a comment below telling us about the creative ways you have humanely resolved conflicts with wildlife. Whoever leaves the response that most makes us want to smack ourselves on the forehead and say, "D'oh, why didn't I think of that?" will walk away a winner.

The contest ends November 3, and the winner will be chosen on Novemeber 5. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting.

If you don't win, never fear: You can still order one of our lean, green, mouse-nabbing machines at PETACatalog.com. 

Written by Alisa Mullins

Ten-year-old Bobby Connell has spent the last six months plagued by nightmares after witnessing Tilikum the killer whale batter SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau to death right in front of his eyes. Bobby's father, in a suit filed against SeaWorld, said his son "saw the look of horror and desperation on Dawn's face as she was swimming for her life. … He then saw Tilikum violently yank her down again to the depths of the pool."

The family sat in the front row during the show, and Bobby's mother later told reporters, "It affected all of us. I'll start crying while driving. I mean, we saw her face. She made it to the surface and she looked directly at us."

The Connells' lawsuit (and the one that will probably follow from Brancheau's widower) comes on the heels of a damning report issued by OSHA that cited SeaWorld for routinely putting Brancheau at risk of death by allowing her in close proximity to Tilikum, a frustrated animal who had already killed twice.

Please contact the Blackstone Group (which owns SeaWorld) and insist that it close the tanks before another animal or human dies or another child is traumatized for life.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor