Ian with his favorite Tides player, Mike Cervanak, and fellow PETA employee Erin. Ian likes to eat veggie dogs at Tides games.

My buddy Ian, who is PETA's Animals in Film, TV, and Advertising Specialist—as well as the Norfolk Tides' biggest fan—asked me to post the following info as a favor to him.Here's what's up. It's crappy when advertisers use chimpanzees and orangutans in their commercials and you can help to stop it.When not "performing," most of these animals live in extreme confinement and are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them, including companionship with others of their own species and a spacious, enriching environment. I could go on and on about the cruelty—including how investigators have witnessed trainers punching chimpanzees, kicking them in the head, throwing rocks and mallets at them, and beating them with broom handles—but we have a whole web site for that.So if you're not already convinced that it's cruel to use chimpanzees and orangutans in advertising then please click here now. When we hear that a national company is exploiting chimpanzees or other exotic animals for their advertisements we contact them, explain the cruelties inherent in the Hollywood animal training industry, and urge them to drop the ad. Unfortunately, smaller local companies can manage to slip under PETA's radar unless someone brings the matter to our attention. That's where you come in.When you're sitting in front of the tube, be on the lookout for local commercials—you know, those poorly done ads for local car dealerships, law firms, furniture stores, and so on—that feature exotic animals like chimpanzees, lions, bears, etc. If you see any, e-mail Ian with details like the name of the company, what types of animals were used, and how they were used, and we'll jump all over them. Contact them yourself too and tell them you'll never support a company that exploits animals for a lame advertising gimmick.

Vick has admitted his guilt: Michael Vick has accepted a plea deal—with a likely prison sentence—to avoid additional federal charges related to a professional dogfighting operation, one of his attorneys says.We’re still awaiting details, but please know this: if a celebrity with Vick's money and teams of lawyers has to serve time for dog fighting, then anyone else who fights dogs had better head for the hills. When Vicks co-defendants entered their plea agreements on Friday, yet more details came out about the dogs being hanged by the neck until death. It is chilling stuff, so kudos to the media outlets who covered it without vomiting.This article by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, for instance, is very good in a tough to read way. Here’s a powerful excerpt:There is something you can do PETA is pushing the NFL to add cruelty to animals—in all its forms—to its "Personal Conduct Policy." This case has shown that NFL fans are just as disgusted by cruelty to animals as by any of the other antisocial behaviors outlined in the policy. Click here to contact the NFL now!

OMG. I’m so excited that I don't even know what to say about this one. I just got word from a friend who works in PETA’s LA office that Janice Dickinson, one of the best judges ever on ANTM (America’s Next Top Model, duh), and the star of her own reality show on Oxygen, just held a naked anti-fur demo on Hollywood Boulevard. The one and only Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency just instituted a "fur-free" policy, and to celebrate, Janice and her models took to the streets with signs reading "We’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur."Apparently, Janice had a meeting this morning with PETA VP Dan Mathews, during which he showed her this video of animals being killed for their fur. Well, it turned out that Janice was so horrified that she instituted a “no fur” policy for her agency on the spot. Details are still a little fuzzy, but I'll get you photos and video as soon as I can. In the meantime, check out this shot of Dickinson and some of her models for an idea of how amazing this demonstration must have been... And Janice, check out my shots on this blog and get in touch if you ever need a super hot boy next door type for anything.

InMag/Creative Commons

CrimeShareTV/Creative Commons

Remember the story about the vegan firefighters in Austin, TX? Well, now there's a police officer giving them a run for their money, literally.

In a bid to whip his fellow officers into shape, Sergeant Scott Cary started a department running team and went vegan. It’s a pretty cool story, and you can check it out here.And if you’re waiting on a doughnut joke, it's not gonna happen. As Scott says in the article, "The days of coffee and doughnuts are over. It's a latte with soy milk and a bagel."

Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Gerald Poindexter told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that "yes, indeed, we will prosecute" Vick and others on possible animal cruelty and dogfighting charges. This is, of course, good news—and something that we've been waiting to hear since so far Vick has only been facing federal charges.Poindexter went on to say, "The execution of these animals—and the manner in which they were executed—is startlingly offensive and demanding of prosecution."Dogfighting and animal cruelty are felonies in Virginia with animal cruelty charges holding penalties of up to five years in jail for each animal killed. So even with a plea bargain possible for the federal charges as early as Monday it's clear Vick's legal troubles are far from being over