Written by PETA
When you're friends with Pamela Anderson, it seems like anything is possible … even snagging tickets to one of the hottest events in Canada.
After delivering our petition against the seal slaughter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Dancing With the Stars beauty graciously gave her tickets for Sunday's Olympic closing ceremony to PETA's seal mascot. While Avril Lavigne, Alanis Morissette, and Neil Young performed, our seal was busy educating Olympic fans from across the globe about Canada's upcoming seal slaughter.
Written by Logan Scherer
I was already stoked about PETA's Marketing Department's upcoming move to Los Angeles, but after watching this exclusive footage of PETA peeps at Cruzer Pizza—the city's all-vegan pizzeria—I'm ready to get on the next flight and finish the construction of our new office myself. Check out the epic culinary journey of Royale, our Twitterer and veganista extraordinaire, and Lauren, our celebrity marketing coordinator, who went behind the scenes to help choose the ingredients in Cruzer's new "PETA" pizza.
Free of cholesterol, trans fat, and cruelty, the vegan pizza at Cruzer has 33 percent less fat than do pizzas made with dairy ingredients. And the only torment involved is that it makes those of us here on the East Coast salivate. So if you're in the area, stop by Cruzer Pizza and make sure to order the PETA (a portion of the proceeds is donated to us)!
With the seal slaughter just a few weeks away, PETA has brought in our buxom bombshell, launched our pietition, and delivered a sweet message to the masses. Now we'd like to celebrate what you have done to try saving thousands of baby seals. That's why we're giving away our "Save the Seals" T-shirt and water bottle to three lucky winners:
Ready to sport this compassionate gear? After you've signed our Facebook petition, tell us how you've stepped up to raise awareness of the plight of seals. The three readers with the seal-saving achievements that rouse us the most will each get a T-shirt and a water bottle.
Enter by posting your one-of-a-kind stories of kindness in the comments section. The contest ends on March 17, 2010, and we'll pick the winners on March 19, 2010. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Good luck!
Three-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas is proof that one man can double-team fur industry cruelty. First, he bared it all in his "Ink, Not Mink" ad, and today he hosted PETA's fur-coat giveaway in Washington, D.C., where donated coats were handed out to the homeless:
Only those who can't afford to buy coats to keep them warm have any excuse to wear fur. Do you have any skins that you'd like to shed from your wardrobe? Donate them to PETA, and your old fashion faux pas could help a person in need or become bedding for an orphaned animal.
What do breeders breed—besides dogs with crippling congenital defects?
Canine racism.
PETA U.K. recently unveiled its new "Boycott Breeders" ad just in time for the Crufts Dog Show—an event that, like the Westminster Dog Show in the U.S., encourages the false and dangerous belief that some races breeds of dogs are superior to others.
About one in four pedigree dogs is born with painful and life-threatening genetic defects—including hypothyroidism, demodectic mange, epilepsy, cataracts, allergies, chronic ear infections, and hip dysplasia—all of which have been handed down through generations of inbreeding and selective breeding. And pedigree dogs aren't the only animals who suffer because of the breeding industry. Every time a dog is purchased from a breeder, another who has been awaiting adoption in an animal shelter, longing for a home, dies. It's a fact: Breeding purebreds in a world in which millions of animals are homeless is pure heartlessness.
We weren't surprised when we heard that SeaWorld hired animal pimp "entertainer" Jack Hanna to defend its abuse of marine mammals as well as SeaWorld's abysmal record of injuries and deaths of both trainers and animals. This is the same man who called Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey "the finest circus in the world," after all.
Hanna—who actually compared whale trainers to astronauts (?!)—has his own long and sordid history of exploiting animals at the expense of the safety of the animals and the humans around them. The baby animals Hanna regularly turns into unwilling performers are unweaned infants who were torn from their mothers shortly after birth. His traveling wildlife are subjected to the crippling stress of large crowds and are trapped in an unnatural, alien environment.
Hanna's antics perpetuate the misguided notion that dangerous and exotic animals are desirable "pets," yet even an "animal expert" such as himself can't take the wild nature out of the animals he carts around. His "pet" lion bit off the arm of a 3-year-old. A chimpanzee he brought to a church, bit off a 5-year-old girl's finger. A fox he displayed on Good Morning America severely bit the host's finger, and a baby cougar he brought to a conference bit a politician on the chin. By using animal suppliers and assistants with poor records of animal care, Hanna supports individuals and organizations who have been cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violations of the Animal Welfare Act.
Hanna + SeaWorld = double the suffering for animals. Want to tell these abusers to "Hit the road, Jack!"? Urge SeaWorld to end its use of marine mammals immediately.
Tamara Ecclestone, daughter of Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, has the ideal formula for success: compassion, intelligence, and beauty. Tamara—who bared it all to reveal the naked truth behind foie gras for PETA U.K. last year—recently bought one of her father's favorite pubs. Her first order of business as restaurateur? Banning foie gras from the menu.
And the kindness doesn't stop there. Ecclestone has fired off letters to all Formula 1 team sponsors, urging them to ditch foie gras. Virgin Racing, Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing, Allianz SE, and Michael Schumacher's team, Mercedes GP, all gave her assurance in record time that they wouldn't serve the cruel dish at their events. "I'm absolutely thrilled to be an ambassador for [PETA U.K.'s] campaign to stop the sale of foie gras – something I call 'torture in a tin' because of how ducks and geese are force-fed to produce it," says Tamara.
This past weekend's weather may have snowed in New Yorkers and sent Hawaiians running for the hills, but pouring rain in both Orlando and San Diego didn't slow down PETA demonstrators outside SeaWorld amusement parks. Armed with wellies and warnings, they delivered urgent messages about SeaWorld's ticking time bombs.
Experts agree: Whales like Tilly, who grabbed and killed his trainer in front of horrified SeaWorld patrons last week, should not be crammed into tiny tanks and trained to perform tricks for their dinner. These marine mammals are 6 tons of frustration and misery, and it's really only a matter of time before tragedy strikes again. SeaWorld's cruelty to Tilly and other captive orcas is bad enough, but the corporation's refusal to stop cashing in on the whales is also irresponsible and dangerous.
As for me, I've only seen orcas once, and that was from deck of a ferry boat in Seattle. They were leaping out of the Puget Sound, and the whole scene took my breath away. Like anyone else who's ever spotted these magnificent animals living as nature intended, I know that their sad lives at SeaWorld is nothing like it.
Written by Karin Bennett
When we heard about the fur that was featured in the William Rast runway collection—backed by Justin Timberlake—at New York Fashion Week, we all said, "WTF?!" (Why the fur?!) The mother-loving chart-topper would support the beating, electrocuting, and drowning of animals for a fashion line that has previously used only faux? It just didn't make sense—which is why we asked J.T. himself if there would be fur in the William Rast retail collection.
Well, Colin Dyne, the CEO of Justin's fashion house, just confirmed to PETA that there will be no real fur in the collection, just some fake fur fringe on some of the shoes. His response made it pretty obvious which collection we'll be (sexy) backing in spring. Phew.
"I think they should just shut them all down. I've never been a fan of places like that."—Matt Damon on SeaWorld
This weekend, Damon joined Bob Barker and tons of other stars who are speaking out against SeaWorld after yet another trainer was killed by the imprisoned orca Tilikum.
The only ocean-dwellers we want to see perform? Matt Damon and his Ocean's franchise co-stars. Add your voice to the thousands who have already told SeaWorld to release its animals to sanctuaries immediately.
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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