Many of you have joined PETA and PETA India (as well as Paul McCartney) in calling for the release of Sunder, the horribly abused baby elephant who was held captive in spiked chains in a dark shed at the Jyotiba Temple in Maharashtra, India. Despite assurances from the government that Sunder would be taken into protective custody, the authorities fear retaliation from the temple trustees if they seize him, and now the little elephant has been moved not to a sanctuary but into a heavily guarded factory compound where no one can see him. PETA India has stepped up pressure for Sunder's release, including holding this demonstration outside the office of the principal chief conservator of forests, sending a message that he could hardly have missed:

Our friends in Mumbai report that they've been fielding calls from people who are exasperated with the government's inaction and eager to see as much attention as possible brought to Sunder's predicament until he is released. Stay tuned …

What You Can Do

In the Americas, many elephants are also held captive and abused by circuses—please help set them free.

PETA is always saying that we wish people would put themselves in the place of animals. But if they won't, we'll do it for them. The founder of PETA and our affiliates worldwide, Ingrid E. Newkirk, let herself be hitched with a bit in her mouth to a horse-drawn carriage in order to help PETA India show Mumbai residents that they wouldn't like it if the horseshoe were on the other foot.

Ingrid let traffic at a busy intersection watch her struggle to pull the carriage, called a "Victoria," just as horses often do. But unlike horses, she didn't have to worry that if the load proved to be too heavy, the cart driver would yank on the spiked bit in her sore mouth or whip her mercilessly to make her force a few strained steps out of her trembling legs. And what do the horses get for their effort? They are denied adequate food, water, and rest and are kept in filthy, damp stables infested with biting insects. Many never receive any veterinary care in their entire lives.

And horse-drawn carriages aren't just dangerous for horses. Passengers and people standing nearby are often injured when horses collapse from exhaustion, get frightened and bolt, or collide with other vehicles.

A growing number of cities in India and around the world have banned horse-drawn carriages, and PETA India is working to make Mumbai the next. Stateside, you can join the campaign to get abused horses off New York City's congested streets. 

When we planned a demonstration involving people lying on what appeared to be bloody meat trays outside a slaughterhouse, we knew that it would be a poignant display. But even we had no idea just how intense it would turn out to be.

The smell of freshly butchered flesh that permeated the air around the John Morrell & Co. slaughterhouse was nauseating on that sweltering day in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. But that wasn't the worst part. The slaughterhouse was directly across the street from a stockyard, and we could hear the pigs screaming. Their unceasing cries shook us to the core.

The townspeople who drove by us certainly got the message—they were faced with the gruesome image that accompanied the smells and screams that they always tried to ignore as they passed. One slaughterhouse worker even came out to ask, "Are you all vegetarian?" When we answered that we were, he said, "I don't blame you."

Today, wherever you are, please be the message that people can't ignore.

The animals are not silent. We must not be, either.

The grisly photos of Nakai, an orca imprisoned at SeaWorld who has a dinner plate–size gaping wound on his lower mandible that he likely sustained when another orca attacked him, have sparked nationwide outrage.

As PETA alleged in its complaint to government regulators, SeaWorld confined Nakai to a small tank with other orcas with whom he was not compatible, in clear violation of the Animal Welfare Act, and then tried to cover up its orca abuse following the attack by claiming that Nakai injured himself on the side of the pool. A huge, impassioned crowd gathered outside SeaWorld San Diego, where Nakai is kept, to let residents know to steer clear of the marine-mammal prison. 

If the response they got is any indication, the protesters were preaching to the choir. People who were stopped at red lights waved and cheered their support and took leaflets with them. And there were so many honks from the passing cars that advocates who were giving interviews to the throngs of reporters had to keep starting over.

People all across the country are telling SeaWorld to get out of the cruelty business. Urge The Blackstone Group, which owns SeaWorld, to retire its marine mammals to sanctuaries.

It was just another evening in Hollywood—the sun was sinking in a gold-and-orange blaze, throngs of tourists were posing for photos on the Walk of Fame, and some of my PETA colleagues and I gathered to spread the message that McDonald's suppliers mutilate conscious chickens.

Although a couple of teenagers who hovered around Ozzy Osbourne's star assured me that they could beat up anyone who gave us any trouble, most of the more than 300 passersby who took our leaflets were sympathetic. In fact, even the bus passengers wanted our leaflets—a convenient bus stop provided the opportunity for a certain enthusiastic (and tall) staffer to hand leaflets through the bus windows. 

You can help by telling McDonald's to require its suppliers to use a less cruel chicken-slaughter method, lest the stretch of sidewalk in front of this Hollywood location give new meaning to "Walk of Shame."

Written by Heather Faraid Drennan

From plane flyovers to 18-hour tub-ins, people are saying "enough" to SeaWorld's exploitation of orcas, bottlenose dolphins, and other animals. And now, even if you live nowhere near Orlando, San Antonio, or San Diego—where SeaWorld forces marine mammals to spend their entire lives in tiny tanks—you can still make a difference for animals if you RSVP to our virtual protest on Facebook and participate in it on June 18.

SeaWorld, which owns most of the captive orcas and bottlenose dolphins in the U.S., has a hideous history of animal exploitation. Marine mammals suffer for years in tanks that are only a few times larger than their bodies. They are never able to swim freely, feel the ocean current, or enjoy life in a closely knit pod, and they die far short of the life span that they would enjoy if they lived in the ocean where they belong. And the park's death toll is staggering, counting not only orcas such as Taima, her mother, and her stillborn calf but also humans, including the trainer who was killed by Tilly the orca in February.

If you RSVP for the Facebook event now and update your Facebook status with a comment about SeaWorld on Friday, you and all the friends you can muster can show park officials that their deadly attraction belongs in the history books.

Spread the word to your friends and family: Never buy a ticket to SeaWorld.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

Good news: Canada's annual commercial seal slaughter ended last night—and more than 80 percent of the seals who had been marked for death were spared this year.

Thanks to a huge PETA push and the hard work of caring people like you, worldwide demand for seal fur is plummeting. We worked to get the European Union to ban the sale of seal products, and the U.S. Senate unanimously passed U.S. Senate Resolution 84, which calls for an end to the annual slaughter. There are few places left for sealers to sell these wretched pelts.

But we must keep up the fight until Canada stops the slaughter altogether, and that means year-round pressure! PETA has big plans to do just that. And you can help by staying active online and in your local community. Let's stop this barbaric massacre forever.

Written by Paula Moore

PETA's presence was felt by Australian wool producers who are attending a weeklong international trade meeting in San Francisco. Yesterday, 120 protesters made a striking appearance as they gathered outside the conference building and denounced industry executives for allowing wool producers to abandon their commitment to ending the bloody and painful practice of mulesing this year.

Leading designers and retailers around the world—including Gap Inc., Timberland, Abercrombie & Fitch, Limited Brands, Liz Claiborne, HUGO BOSS, and Perry Ellis—have pledged to move away from wool that comes from mulesed sheep or have instituted an outright ban on it.

Shoppers can make a difference by turning their backs on wool altogether.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

Notorious animal abusers might rethink a visit to Norfolk, Virginia—home of the world's largest animal rights organization (PETA!). When Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus rolls its elephant-beating act into town, our Norfolk office holds a lively and unmissable protest to make it known that the animal circus isn't welcome here—or anywhere! Check out yesterday's great turnout from PETA's opening-night demo. We'll be at every show to cheer the plummeting attendance figures. Please take a second to speak up for the animals who suffer for the saddest show on earth by urging the USDA to revoke Ringling's exhibitor license.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

Last night's crowning of the Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Show was bested by two protesters who informed the crowd that every time a dog is purchased from a breeder, another dog dies in an animal shelter:

The 15,000 audience members collectively gasped at the shock of the unexpected interruption, but the facts are much more startling: People who are deliberately breeding animals even when U.S. animal shelters must put 3 to 4 million dogs and cats to death every year are callous, profit-hungry, cruel shoo-ins for worst in show.

Written by Logan Scherer