Written by PETA
Joined by some fabulous Bollywood besties, PETA India celebrated its 10th birthday last week with a gala, at which vegan delights abounded and awesome melodies sounded. Hosted by superstars and longtime PETA supporters John Abraham, Hema Malini, Anoushka Shankar, Raveena Tandon, and Atul Kasbekar, the epic event featured performances by Ash Chandler and ishQ Bector, and lucky guests got the best goodie bags ever—cruelty-free chocolates and cosmetics included.
Happy birthday, PETA India!
Written by Logan Scherer
Have you been sitting around the house, wondering why your old chum, Sir Roger Moore, hasn't given you a ring lately?
Truthfully, me neither, but if you are ever given the chance to get on his good side, you should know that opting for foie gras over truffles will get you pulled from his next party's guest list.
In a recent article for the Daily Mail, Sir Roger writes about the horrors of the foie gras industry, in which birds are force-fed, often until their livers burst. "I refuse to speak to old friends who, even when they know how it is produced, are prepared to overlook the suffering for self-gratification," states Sir Roger. "My wife, Christina, feels just the same. No creature deserves to be treated as these birds are for our delectation."
Talk about commitment to a cause.
Want to know what else Sir Roger Moore is doing in support of PETA's campaign to get foie gras eliminated from menus across the globe? Check out the rest of the article here.
Written by Shawna Flavell
It’s no secret that first daughter Jenna Bush is a bit of a wild child and as you know, we here at PETA can get as wild as anyone. But when the Bush twin switched from MGD and bong hits to foie gras, Ingrid Newkirk pulled out her pen and let Dubya’s rebellious daughter know what’s up.
You can read Ingrid’s letter here.
Pamela Anderson and PETA prez Ingrid Newkirk celebrated a joint birthday party in Florida yesterday with a gigantic vegan birthday cake at Sublime restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. Asked how she felt about turning 40, Pam said ''I have no problem with being 40. … I think 40 is the new 20,'' which—I can't help but point out here—is easy to say when you look like Pamela Anderson. Happy Birthday, ladies! Check out the beautiful pics:
Just a few more little tidbits for you from the recent party that the influential political odd couple Mary Matalin and James Carville hosted for the launch of PETA VP Dan Mathews' new book.
Evidently, Mary—who is certainly no stranger to hosting big events—has never in her life received so many calls about what to wear to a party. I absolutely love the idea that all those Capitol Hill bigwigs were calling up anxiously the day before to find out where they could buy vegan shoes. Mary herself ended up going barefoot, just to be on the safe side, and as for James, well, James opted for hemp—announcing to the assembled partygoers, "I'm all hemped out like Woody Harrelson!"
Dan gave a speech about the history of animal welfare legislation in this country, which has been consistently bipartisan, with strong advances for animals coming from staunch conservatives just as often as card-carrying liberals, and to drive home the point, Mary observed that it was incredibly rare that she and James could host a party together—normally when she throws a bash for her republican pals, James hightails it out of there to take the kids to a movie, and vice versa (I bet those kids get to see a lot of movies).
Mary also pointed out something else that she and Dan Mathews have in common—they've both had the experience of having bologna thrown at them in Iowa. For the full context of that joke, you should check out Dan's book. If it can reconcile a crowd of hardcore democrats and republicans in Washington, you can bet it's well worth the cover price.
Click here for the full text of Dan’s speech.
If you haven't seen the PETA “Year In Review” video that was made for our annual New Year staff party yet, you should check it out. It’s a great snapshot of just a few of our accomplishments from 2006, and when I saw it at the party, I knew we had to get it on the Web ASAP. Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong ... As it turns out, our legal department has all these issues with us using music without permission—yadda yadda yadda. So we had to replace the song that was originally in it. Luckily my buddy Coulter is all musical and stuff, and he gave us a great song that I think works better than the original anyway.
Anyway, here it is: PETA’s 2006 staff party video*:
*Warning: this video does not contain gratuitous nudity. Sorry.
Everyone I've talked to who was at the Marc Bouwer show says that it was just amazing. It was full of celebrities, the media loved it, and Marc’s animal-free designs were beyond anything that’s ever been seen.
I promised you video, so here it is:
This was the first ever collection presented by a designer of this caliber who is 100 percent cruelty-free. Totally awesome.
Pretty much every media outlet was there, including AP, Reuters, The New York Times, and, well, everybody else who is anybody. These are a few of the comments from the press coverage:
"Texans who would rather wear faux fur—yes, there are more than you think—would have loved the Marc Bouwer show. Known for creating gorgeous red-carpet gowns, the designer unveiled real-looking faux chinchilla, tiger, astrakhan and mink furs.""With its “Imitation is life” tagline and PETA-approved cruelty-free fabrics, Marc Bouwer’s calculated opening looks—a series of gasp-inducing, and yet entirely faux fur coats—signaled a powerful statement that resonated throughout the remainder of his collection: the only skin you need to look glamorous in today’s fashion world is your own. "Marc Bouwer's collection was exquisite. The dresses were the highlight of fashion week thus far. It will be a feat of talent to out-do Marc's dresses."
My pals Jayasimha and Anuradha from PETA India have been busy little beavers this week, making sure the attendees of the Indian International Leather Fair (IILF) get an earful from the animal protection community, and they’ve held demos and press conferences of their own outside.
According to PETA India, 90 percent of all the leather exported from there comes from illegal slaughterhouses, which are completely unregulated and where the cruelty is beyond imagination. Despite the documented atrocities occurring daily at these hellholes, the Indian Council for Leather Exports says that it is premature to ask its members to source leather only from legal slaughterhouses. Wow, premature to stop breaking the law . . .
The kicker here is that nearly all Indian leather is exported overseas where it is made into everything from leather jackets and gloves to shoes and steering wheel covers, and it is almost always labeled as “Made in” the country where the final product is finished. So if you buy any leather products, there’s a decent chance that it came from India. And no, leather isn’t a byproduct of the meat industry—far from it, especially in India, where many of the cows are killed exclusively for their skins.
Sorry to get all preachy and heavy-handed in the blog, but this is just beyond the pale and it has to stop. Please don’t buy any leather and tell you friends and family to do the same.
Sermon over.
It’s already the talk of the fashion world gathered in New York for Fashion Week, and of course the media is all over it, but just in case you haven’t heard yet, PETA and Marc Bouwer are making fashion history today. This afternoon, PETA is hosting Bouwer’s show—the first ever collection by a designer that’s 100 percent cruelty-free. Not even any wool!In an industry that isn’t exactly known for its social conscience, Bouwer stands out as a very successful anomaly. He’s dressed A-listers galore including Mariah Carey, Oprah, Jessica Simpson, Heidi Klum, Jennifer Hudson, and so many others. Remember how amazingly hot Angelina looked at the Oscars? That was Marc:
We’ll have exclusive photos and video from the show soon, so check back in the next few days.
Good luck this afternoon Marc!
Forest Whitaker is on fire right now. The vegetarian actor, director, and producer has already bagged Golden Globe and SAG wins for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator and rumored cannibal (oh the irony!) Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, and he’s got my vote for the Oscar as well. And last night he absolutely rocked as a guest star on ER.
I’ve been a fan since The Crying Game, and it's great to see him getting some serious recognition for his work now, including his most recent masterpiece, this pro-vegetarian PSA he shot for us with his daughter, True. I posted this before, but, whatever, it's adorable. You should watch it again.
Anyway Forest, you deserve all the success you’re having right now. Your fans at PETA are especially proud.
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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.