Written by PETA
One person's tired old trench coat can be another's fashion statement, which is why it's no wonder that eco-friendly and budget-conscious shoppers everywhere are turning to thrift stores and vintage shops.
So PETA is working with the Lucky Dog Thrift Shop in Nashua, New Hampshire, to make certain that all its customers "Understand Secondhand."
Informative tags will be placed on all of Lucky Dog's fur, wool, silk, down, leather, and exotic-skins items so that would-be buyers will understand that the making of such articles involved animal suffering. We'll also be sending similar tags to activists to share with local thrift stores in college towns across the country.
Make no mistake: PETA opposes all exploitation and slaughter of animals by the fashion industry—past, present, and future—but we also realize that in today's eco-conscious culture, people might be reluctant to throw away clothing items that aren't beyond repair. Similarly, others might want to purchase sweaters and coats secondhand so that they're at least not contributing to the suffering that goes into manufacturing new items for today's department stores. PETA urges purchasers of secondhand furs to make sure others know that such garments are vintage and not newly produced products of pain.
With the "Understand Secondhand" tags, people can make informed shopping decisions—and maybe they'll opt for those cute retro canvas sneakers instead of the leather loafers after they learn about the cruelty of the skins trade.
Written by Karin Bennett
Break out your victory dance because lawmakers in New Hampshire have voted to ban dog racing! Once the Governor signs the bill into law greyhounds in the Granite State will be spared the stone-cold cruelty of broken legs, long hours in cramped kennels, heatstroke, and heart attacks and of being abandoned, starved, shot, or sold to laboratories when they are no longer able to run.
BTW—the word on the street is that Rhode Island will soon follow suit. We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, please urge the remaining states that still allow greyhounds to be exploited for profit and amusement to ditch dog racing.
Via GREY2K USA
Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth
This week, we received a tip that Brookstone's district managers and vice presidents were gathering in the Manchester, New Hampshire, area, where their headquarters is based, for corporate meetings and store visits.
While they were going over new store layouts and new bonus packages for selling killing as many frogs as possible, our larger-than-life "frog" was following them wherever they went. Our frog wanted to remind them of the one thing that Brookstone executives have clearly left out of their training manuals: compassion.
We even followed them to the restaurant where they ate dinner!
We're not going to let Brookstone forget about the thousands of frogs who are dying on their store shelves, while shipped across the country, and in the homes of people who do not have the ability to care for them. Until Brookstone ends the sale of Frog-O-Spheres at its stores nationwide, it can consider our "frog" its permanent shadow.
Written by Liz Graffeo
It's a hazy day here on the Right Coast. As I watch leaves fall and steam rise from my soy mocha, the mood is set for a lazy (yet highly skilled) meander through gossip rags for fun stuff. Here are my faves:
Thanks for stopping by! Catch you next time, and don't forget to hug all your vegetarian friends.
Written by Missy Lane
Back in December, we spread some holiday cheer with news that a greyhound racetrack in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, had closed. Today we are celebrating Independence Day for all greyhounds used in racing in New Hampshire, because the last two dog tracks in the state have stopped racing greyhounds!
Greyhounds in the Granite State will now be spared routine racetrack horrors, which include long hours in cramped kennels, broken legs, heatstroke, and heart attacks, and being abandoned, starved, shot, or sold to laboratories when their racing days are through. Break out the bubbly and join us as we toast this victory.
One state down, nine to go …
It should be no surprise to regular readers of this blog that we keep an eye on happenings at KFC, so this caught our eye: According to news reports, the manager of a KFC in Manchester, New Hampshire, received a hoax phone call from someone who claimed to be from KFC's corporate offices and told her to test the fire-suppression system. When she did so, she and two staffers preparing sandwiches were coated with a chemical powder that is a respiratory irritant. Authorities were summoned, who took the unfortunate trio to the hospital for decontamination.
Just a couple of observations:
Written by Jeff Mackey
It's with deep regret and sadness that we announce the passing of Paul Harvey—a man who for decades used his voice to speak up against the injustices suffered by animals.
As America's most listened-to radio personality, Mr. Harvey formed a connection with his audience like none other. His quirky delivery style and fascinating tidbits drew in a loyal audience of more than 25 million listeners.
Mr. Harvey used his popular radio show to call attention to cruelty to animals on numerous occasions, earning him a PETA Humanitarian Award and my unending admiration. Mr. Harvey often told his listeners of the cruelty, redundancy, and worthlessness of animal experiments and spoke out forcefully in support of animal rights activists. Fearlessly opinionated, he criticized the Boy Scouts and the military for killing animals in survival exercises and educated public about the cruelty inherent in circuses.
One of our fondest memories is the day he denounced the National Institutes of Health for funding a researcher who gave baboons hallucinogenic drugs and shocked them until they went into convulsions, resulting in brain damage. His determination to open his listeners' eyes to the gut-wrenching facts about testing on animals changed millions of minds and saved countless animals' lives.
While Mr. Harvey's powerful voice is now silent, the people he touched will continue to spread his message of compassion for animals.
Written by Kathy Guillermo
For years, scientists have been pushing fertility drugs to help increase the chances of conceiving, but can boosting one's "baby chances" be as simple as eating more greens? Well, blow me down, it might be! Results from a major Harvard University study suggest that going vegetarian may increase fertility.
To help spread this baby-mama buzz, we've created our own labor of love: a billboard touting vegetables as an essential dietary component to rev up the body's procreation potential. Those strategically placed veggies speak for themselves.
We hope to run the billboard in New Hampshire, which has one of the lowest birth rates in the nation.
Written by Jennifer Cierlitsky
Movie fans can have a White Christmas (if they like sentiment) or a Black Christmas (if they like horror). Music fans can enjoy a "Blue Christmas." Now, fans of animal protection can have a Grey Christmas—as in greyhounds.
That's right. What could be a better gift this holiday season than to learn about the bankruptcy and closure of another greyhound racing park, this one in Hinsdale, New Hampshire (just two left in New Hampshire now! Come on team, let's stop them both next!). More than a half-century of animal abuse in Hinsdale—first horses, then dogs—will come to an end. Who wouldn't want to find that under the tree? (Or, better yet, for eight nights over Hanukkah!)
Now, some of you may be thinking, "What's the big deal? Don't greyhounds love to run?" Here's the 411: Dogs who are used in races spend most of their days stuck in cramped cages or kennels and suffer other abuses, just for a few minutes on a track during a race. Thousands of greyhounds are killed each year before they ever touch a racetrack, and many more will be killed when they fail to "perform." Injuries and sickness, including broken legs, heatstroke, and heart attacks, claim the lives of many more.
In fact, few dogs make it to the supposed "retirement' age of 4 or 5, and only a fraction of the discarded dogs are placed in homes through greyhound adoption groups. The rest may be killed or sold to laboratories. To learn more, check this out. So yeah, still think they "love to run?"
The Hinsdale closure comes after the park had already cut back on the number of racing days due to "falling attendance." Clearly, people are getting the picture about dog and horse racing and staying away. Yet some folks are trying to prop up the racing industry by putting slot machines at tracks to lure more people. Um, hello? Wouldn't it make more sense to just open a casino and do away with racing altogether (as the good people of Massachusetts recently approved).
Let's end dog- and horse-racing. 'Tis the season!
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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.