Written by PETA
According to a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, three out of four Americans will be overweight by 2020, causing disease rates and health care costs to expand almost as quickly as Americans' waistlines. Also this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study concluding that only 26 percent of U.S. adults eat vegetables three or more times a day.
Coincidence? Not likely. Meat, cheese, eggs, milk, and other animal-derived products are loaded with saturated fat, calories, and artery-clogging cholesterol. Veggies, fruits, grains, and beans (aka "vegan food") tend to be low in fat, so they fill us up without filling us out. That could be why meat-eaters have three times the obesity rate of vegetarians and nine times the obesity rate of vegans.
Maybe this will be the wake-up call that convinces many Americans to take charge of their health by trading in beef for beans and going vegan.
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
If you don't want people to start chanting, "Fatty, fatty two-by-four, can't fit through KFC's door," you might want to put down that drumstick and pick up some Gardein buffalo wings instead. A recent study of hundreds of thousands of Europeans revealed that the more meat people ate, the more weight they gained over time—and chicken is the big culprit.
This is important to tell everyone: Researchers found that the people who were most likely to gain weight were also those who ate the most chicken, followed by processed meats and red meat.
Researchers at Imperial College London in the U.K. found that people who ate more meat gained about a pound a year on average, even if they consumed the same amount of calories as people who ate less meat. And most meat-eaters eat far more calories than do vegetarians or vegans. And predictably, the more meat people ate, the more weight they gained. For every additional 8.8 ounces of meat that people ate daily, they packed on about four and a half extra pounds over five years.
"Our results suggest that a decrease in meat consumption may improve weight management," wrote the study's authors in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Hurry—surf on over to GoVeg.com and order a copy of our vegetarian/vegan starter kit today, before you end up looking like this.
Written by Alisa Mullins
A priest at an Anglican church in Toronto found herself at the center of a very unchristian row over the concept of human supremacy after allowing a dog named Trapper to eat communion bread.
When Trapper and his guardian, Donald Keith, visited the church last month, the Rev. Marguerite Rea invited Keith to take communion; while conducting the rite, Rea gave Trapper a communion wafer as well. While to Keith and many of the church's parishioners this was simply a kind and inclusive gesture, one upset observer left the church after filing a complaint with the Anglican Diocese of Toronto.
Rea has since apologized, but she shouldn't have to! She should be applauded for recognizing that animals are included in God's infinite love—something that compassionate people of faith already understand and others should hear. As another Anglican priest, the Rev. Andrew Linzey, has said, "Animals are God's creatures, not human property, nor utilities, nor resources, nor commodities, but precious beings in God's sight."
If you're a practicing Christian, please show respect for all God's creatures and order a vegetarian/vegan starter kit today.
Written by Jeff Mackey
A PETA Asia public service announcement (PSA) that's currently airing on prime time TV in the Philippines is generating quite a bit of buzz (you'll get the pun when you watch the PSA) because it features the late Philippine president Corazon Aquino—along with other world leaders, including Nelson Mandela, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mohandas Gandhi—"speaking" about peace and justice. But there's a twist. Check it out:
The ad was released in observance of International Justice Day and will be airing in the Philippines through the end of July. PETA Asia hopes that it will inspire viewers to give a voice to the voiceless.
What do you think? Does this PSA leave you howling or hooting or ...? Please show it to everyone you know. You can show it in a classroom, in an office, or online (by putting a link to it on your e-mail).
Congress is considering a bill to reform the way that this country tests and manages toxic chemicals, and PETA has submitted testimony.
Because the legislation seeks to require more chemical testing, it will lead to vastly increased suffering of animals in laboratories if it's passed. That's why it's vitally important that you tell your congressional representative to make sure that the final bill requires the use of modern, effective non-animal research methods and scraps cruel and archaic chemical tests on animals.
The Toxic Chemicals Safety Act, H.R. 5820, incorporates some major reforms. Even though the EPA has acknowledged that non-animal testing methods provide more accurate results, the current bill would force the agency to run plans to implement non-animal tests by a committee of government officials that is widely recognized as a major obstacle to the development and use of new non-animal methods in the U.S. We need reform, but it must be the right kind of reform—change that improves public safety and protects animals against unnecessary suffering.
Animals in laboratories have no time to lose—please speak up right now to save their lives!
Update: If you missed the broadcast (or it didn't air in your neck of the woods) you can check out No Country for Animals here.
Tonight, our northern neighbors will get a big dose of animal rights when No Country for Animals airs on television. We haven't seen it yet, but we're optimistic that the documentary, which was cowritten, coproduced, and narrated by Global National anchor Kevin Newman, will give Canadians valuable information about cruelty to animals in their country and the many ways that they can alleviate it. I'm hoping for Food, Inc. meets I Am an Animal with a Canadian flair. What do you think?
Regarding No Country for Animals, Newman says, "We looked at the percentage of animal abuse cases that get convicted in Canada: 0.01 per cent. I can't think of another crime where 99.9 per cent of people charged with it get off. So, something is wrong with the law. It hasn't changed since the Criminal Code was written in the 19th century and it treats animals as property, as having no more rights than a table."
The documentary airs today at 10 p.m. Eastern time, so check your local listings! Watch it tonight with friends and family or anyone else you can find—and then share your review in the comments section below.
Written by Karin Bennett
For years, PETA has been appealing to the leaders of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to do away with three roadside zoos in Cherokee, North Carolina, where bears are forced to live in concrete pits and cramped cages. Almost a year ago, we accompanied animal advocate Bob Barker to make a personal appeal to Principal Chief Michell Hicks, but even Bob was rebuffed. And despite our having presented the U.S. Department of Agriculture with reams of evidence that these cruel conditions violate the federal Animal Welfare Act, that agency has yet to act.
So we're changing our approach. Our private and public appeals to release the bears haven't convinced Cherokee leaders or federal officials that bears who pace back and forth, walk in circles, cry, whimper, fight with one another, and beg visitors for food are under extreme psychological and physical stress. But maybe if we hit the Cherokee leaders in the wallet, they just might rethink their decision to keep these animals in pits. So we are erecting four billboards on highways leading to Cherokee Bear Zoo, Chief Saunooke Bear Park, and Santa's Land imploring travelers to drive right past these awful tourist traps.
Please let the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians know that your vacation plans will take you right past Cherokee until the bears are retired to a sanctuary.
Written by Jennifer O'Connor
Hurrah! Hard work pays off: The Catalan parliament in Spain has voted to ban bullfighting! It was clear that no other outcome was possible after officials were presented with the signatures of 180,000 people who don't believe that bulls should be stabbed to death for entertainment. According to a 2009 Gallup survey, 76 per cent of Spaniards have no interest in attending or supporting bullfights, and public condemnation of this bloody spectacle is growing worldwide. Cities and towns all over the world have taken positions against bullfighting, joining Spain's Canary Islands, which voted to ban bullfighting back in 1991.
Earlier this month, PETA U.K. and the Spanish animal rights group AnimaNaturalis joined forces to give the bulls a say—check it out.
Saucy Spanish entertainer Charo is also jumping for joy in the wake of this news, as she has been working to end bullfighting for years. "I'm more proud to be Spanish today than on any other day of my life," Charo said. "This shows that the new generation in Spain wants to lose this barbaric tradition. And I look forward to doing the cuchi cuchi at PETA's gala in September to celebrate!"
Charo recently joined forces with PETA to fight bullfighting. You can join Charo in speaking out against bullfighting by asking Spain's Prime Minister to ban the cruel blood sport throughout the country.
This week's "Win It" Wednesday prize just might be our most scentsational ever: The big winner will receive a bottle of fragrance of his or her choice from A Perfume Organic—and sample sets will go to three runners-up. Ah, if ever there were a time for virtual scratch and sniff ...
For your chance to win, simply describe the "Sweet Smell of Success"—not the movie—the compassionate action that you took to help an animal, an action that was particularly meaningful to both the animal and you. Here's my example: Years ago, I became a "nosy neighbor" who helped an old, ailing "backyard dog" out of a miserable, neglectful situation. Sheba found relief, and I realized that it's not enough to "wish away" an animal's suffering—one must take action.
The person who describes the most moving "compaction" (compassion + action = compaction) will win a perfume of his or her choice, and three others who offer rousing accounts will each win a sample pack.
The contest ends on August 11, 2010, and we'll pick the winners on August 13, 2010. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting.
Good luck!
Proper permits in hand, PETA Asia conducted a vegetarian awareness demonstration in Amman, Jordan, on Sunday. Braving the searing heat and the crowds of onlookers, PETA Asia Lettuce Lady Amina Tariq proved that she was truly a hero for animals—the event lasted only a few minutes before police officers dragged the lovely lady of leafy greens into a police car and detained her at police headquarters for more than three hours.
The Quran states that animals are communities and nations unto themselves; they are more than just resources for us to use. But on factory farms, animals are treated as nothing but machines. They are confined to tiny spaces and are routinely debeaked, dehorned, castrated, and branded—all without painkillers. During slaughter, many animals are still kicking and crying out as their throats are cut. "Halal" should be synonymous with "humane," but an investigation of a Halal slaughterhouse in India found that animals have been skinned and have had their limbs hacked off while they were still alive—methods that would clearly make the meat taken from these animals haram (forbidden).
Inspired by Amina? Do the right thing for your health, your spirit, and animals by taking our pledge to adopt a vegan diet.
Written by Shawna Flavell
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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