Chances are that by now, you've seen the red-hot viral video of the Utah jazz band New Hot 5 playing music to entertain a herd of cows while on a trip to France. If, like me, you've always thought that "The Utah Jazz" was a strange name for an NBA team, the charming sight of these cows gathering to listen to "When the Saints Go Marching In" might change your mind.

Inspired by the band's act of kindness to these arts-loving animals too often viewed merely as raw materials for hamburgers, PETA came up with five hot new reasons to make music for cows instead of eating them:

1. Unlike the chattering, smoking, drink-swilling crowds at nightclub gigs, cows really pay attention when you play for them.
2. Cows know where to find the best grass—for grazing, that is. (What did you think we meant?)
3. Cows never shout out requests for "Freebird" (although chickens might).
4. Music is good for your heart, while meat is a disaster for your cardiovascular health.
5. Cows will never approach you after a show and try to slip you a demo tape by their cover band, "The Moo Fighters."

Sounds like it's time to dust off the old saxophone. But while PETA can't help you master chord progressions, you'll find plenty of help here to kick the meat habit for good!

Written by Jeff Mackey

How would you celebrate your 58th birthday? If you're the indefatigable Chrissie Hynde, you would start a new band (JP, Chrissie & the Fairground Boys), put out a new album (Fidelity!), and develop a new eco-friendly clothing line (Fairground Luck).

Coming from Chrissie, the clothing line will of course feature T-shirts, skinny jeans, pleather jackets, handbags, and boots with a rocker-chick vibe and will be 100 percent vegan.

"Like most women, I love fashion and clothes," Hynde told Women's Wear Daily. "Everybody will be able to find everything they love in a nonleather version. Fashion should be fun."

No word on when Fairground Luck clothing will be appearing in a shopping mall near you, but Fidelity! hits online stores today, and we have a couple of copies available for some lucky PETA Files readers. Post a comment below telling us why you think Chrissie is the coolest, rockingest, sassiest animal defender ever to pick up a guitar, and the two comments that make us want to run out and protest with Chrissie will win the CDs.

The contest ends on August 27, 2010, and we'll select the winners on August 30, 2010. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Good luck!

Written by Alisa Mullins

Try to prove you're a man by stabbing a bull with banderillos, and you might end up with his horn in your cojones.

If this happened more often, maybe the rest of Spain would follow in Catalonia's footsteps and ban bullfighting.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

The results for PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian contest just came out, and it seems that we left one sexy gal off the list! In a recent interview with the Phoenix New Times, Ke$ha reveals that her compassion for animals includes a meat-free diet.

When asked why she adopted a vegetarian diet, the pop sensation and party girl of the year replied, "I just love animals, and I'm an advocate for animals' rights, and my family has rescued dogs from all over the world. I don't believe in animal testing. If you see me in fur, it's always fake. Sometimes you see me wearing skulls, but those are all from roadkill."

Ke$ha gets it—if you love animals, don't eat them. Maybe her animal-loving ways will rub off on Rihanna during their summer tour.

Written by Shawna Flavell

China's fur farms—which supply more than half of the finished fur garments imported for sale in the U.S.—are among the world's most barbaric. So writer Andy Best and local Shanghai artist Kaine Lv have turned up the volume on the Chinese fight against skins. The two DIYers recently teamed up with music promoter Split Works and rallied Shanghai's underground music scene to produce the city's first-ever PETA Asia photo shoot.

To celebrate the milestone, Best and Lv hosted an anti-fur concert at Yu Yin Tang—Shanghai's hottest rock venue—headed by indie sensation Candy Shop.

Best, Lv, and Candy Shop are proof that the grassroots approach to taking action is the fastest way to turn heads. We can't wait to see what the resourceful, compassionate folks in Shanghai come up with next to battle fur.

Written by Logan Scherer

Keeping on top of the media sensation that is Daniel Angerer's "Mommy's Milk Cheese" is like trying to chase an out-of-control toddler. The compassionate concoction has some skeptics who claim that the only thing that goes with this food is whine, but the fromomage has also attracted some intrigued fans.

Famed foodie and critic Gael Greene tasted it and declared the flavor "quite bland, slightly sweet, the mild taste overwhelmed by the accompanying apricot preserves and a sprinkle of paprika. It's the unexpected texture that's so off-putting. Strangely soft, bouncy, like panna cotta." But over at the Today Show, one unsuspecting eater found no difference between mommy's cheese and animal-derived cheese. The sneak-attack taste-test starts at 7:34:

PETA's on board with human breast-milk cheese, and no one makes the argument better than the lactating lady herself, Lori Mason, who said, "People are eating milk from a cow or a goat or a yak or whatever and the milk from those animals feed their young just like the milk from humans feed their young. And while adults of most species aren't meant to eat dairy or drink milk, we do. So if anything, it's less of a stretch to eat human's milk. … It's the most nutritious thing on the planet for humans."

Written by Logan Scherer

As one of America's toughest trainers, The Biggest Loser's Bob Harper is hardcore. He's taken 100 pounds off a man in a mere seven weeks (remember Rudy?), breaks contestants down and builds them back up during Last Chance Workouts, and gives us the skinny with his Trainer Tips on NBC. Now he's focused on challenging the country to a 24-hour vegan cleanse.

Bob's latest tweet reads, "Your Challenge today is to go the next 24 hours, starting now eliminating ALL animal products. Good for your heart AND the environment!!"

Go vegan? But how? Well, in the famed words of Bob himself, "Just stop talking and do it!" Or, you know, a vegetarian/vegan starter kit works just as well.

Written by Christine Doré

©StarMaxInc

Ryan Gosling is the heartthrob with a heart of gold—and now he's got a message for the Golden Arches: Stop scalding chickens to death in defeathering tanks. The Oscar-nominated actor just fired off a letter on PETA's behalf to McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner asking him to adopt a less cruel slaughter method. Controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK), which McDonald's European suppliers already use, would eliminate the worst abuses currently faced by chickens who are killed for McNuggets.

Ryan himself said it best in Half Nelson: "The only constant is change." By changing to a more humane slaughter method, McDonald's would evolve and show the world some compassion for animals. If you could say anything to McD's, what would you tell them?

Written by Logan Scherer

http://www.flickr.com/photos/92833011@N00/ / CC BY 2.0

While vegans are busy fighting for animal equality, members of the U.K. Parliament have been pushing for vegan equality. Under a proposed landmark law that has been passed by the House of Commons and is currently under consideration in the House of Lords, U.K. vegans would officially be granted the same freedom of expression that the government currently gives religious groups. The Equality Bill—drafted by Harriet Harman, the leader of the House of Commons and the minister for women and equality—would require public institutions such as schools to actively consider how their policies affect people whose beliefs affect their day-to-day choices.

With this push to end discrimination, the next logical step for British citizens is clear: Join PETA U.K. and help put an end to every brand of prejudice.

Written by Logan Scherer

The title says it all really. The country sensation took her rightful place alongside country’s biggest stars this week in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Congratulations, Emmylou, for this well-deserved honor, and thanks again for everything that you do for animals.