Written by PETA
The term "football hero" has become a standard part of the American lexicon, but many players prove to be anything but heroic. (I'm glaring at you, Michael Vick.) So we're delighted to see some football players in Hawaii doing right by animals.
The lights at Vidinha Stadium on Kauai can cause fledgling Newell's shearwaters to become disoriented, and in the past, they have caused the deaths of around 30 of the threatened seabirds—who breed only in Hawaii—each year. Now, to protect the birds, football games during fledgling season will be played on Saturday afternoons instead of Friday nights.
Many thanks to the Kauai Interscholastic Federation for stepping up for seabirds. No matter who prevails on the field, anyone who gives wildlife a helping hand is a champ in our book!
Written by Jeff Mackey
Chelsea Clinton is getting married this Saturday, and while everyone seems to be fascinated with the luxury porta-potties that are being rented for the occasion, I was more excited to hear about what's going to be on the menu at the reception. We've always known Chelsea to be a vegetarian, but Life & Style magazine is reporting that Chelsea is a vegan and that guests at her wedding will get to dine on fabulous vegan food!
To congratulate the soon-to-be newlyweds we've sent Chelsea and her fiancé a Tea for Two Teapot from Daisy Dog Studios.
Planning a trip down the aisle? Why not take a cue from Chelsea and say "I do" to elegant and ethical vegan fare?
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
This film educates its audience about polar bears—and the animals don't seem to mind that they're being spied on. Not so in the case of the video below: Shot by a giggling zoo visitor, it shows how polar bears suffer in captivity (so much so that some animals are given mood-altering drugs) and how naïve zoogoers misinterpret the animals' neurotic behavior.
The typical enclosure for a polar bear at a zoo is a mere one millionth the size of a polar bear's minimum home range in the wild.
And if the International Polar Bear Conservation Centre has its way, more bears will be taken captive. The center's plan is to seize polar bears from the wild in Manitoba and dump some of them at the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg and others at zoos around the world. The export of polar bears from Manitoba was stopped in the 90s after animals were found languishing in all sorts of places—even, as PETA discovered, in a Mexican circus. But now, some are determined to resurrect this cruel practice.
And others are determined to stop it: John Youngman, a lawyer and former president of the Zoological Society of Manitoba, wrote this enlightening commentary. Every sentence underscores how misguided the center's plan is, but I think my favorite point might be the following: "As for educational value, the only substantive thing a polar bear in captivity teaches kids is that it's okay to ruin an animal's life for our viewing pleasure." Or maybe it's this: "There is no 'conservation' value in capturing wild polar bears and putting them in zoos. Nor is there any known program for successfully rehabilitating orphaned or captive-born polar bears back into the wild."
Tell us which point in Youngman's piece you think hits the hardest, and if your local zoo houses polar bears, please ask it to phase them out. As long as there is a demand for keeping these animals captive, the industry will look for ways to abduct them from their homes.
Written by Karin Bennett
As they say in showbiz, "It's a wrap." I'm referring to the efforts of PETA and Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest to convince Dodge officials to show that they care about animal "actors" like Suzie, a young chimpanzee who appears in the company's recent ad.
As soon as we learned about the ad, we contacted Dodge's president and CEO, Ralph Gilles, with details about troubling training methods that can include abuse delivered via fists, sticks, and clubs. We also shared information from chimpanzee expert Sarah Baeckler's undercover investigation of a Hollywood training facility. Dodge officials were quick to decide to edit Suzie out of the commercial. And just like that, Dodge joins Travelers Insurance, AT&T, and Europcar, companies that have pulled or altered ads with great apes in just the last month after being contacted by PETA.
There's still reason to be concerned about Suzie's safety: An anonymous whistleblower from the set of Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva contacted PETA after witnessing a trainer allegedly pulling on Suzie's hair and ears and yelling so loudly and threateningly that little Suzie cowered and tried to hide. The episode featuring Suzie aired on July 25.
Now we'd like to direct you to "Action!"—for animals, that is. First, please head over to Dodge's Facebook page to thank the company for being responsive and behaving responsibly in editing Suzie out of its campaign. Then urge Lifetime Television to promise not to exploit chimpanzees for any future television shows.
A big chicken exploiter, that is. While boxing fans debate whether undefeated welterweight Floyd Mayweather Jr. is too yellow to step into the ring with Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, there's no question that PETA members are seeing red after a video surfaced of Mayweather cheering at a bloody cockfight in Puerto Rico. Cheering!
After watching this video, I'd love to see PETA's pal "Sugar" Shane Mosley knock some sense (and maybe even some compassion) into Mayweather in a rematch.
Cockfighting has been outlawed throughout the U.S., so if you suspect that this illegal activity is happening in your neighborhood, contact local law-enforcement authorities immediately.
All K-9 officers have an inherently dangerous job, but when you're a canine K-9 officer, being cooked to death shouldn't be among the perils you face. Yet dogs—including police dogs—die every year after being left alone in cars on scorching summer days. An officer may enter a building to interview a complainant or to respond to an emergency call. The officer leaves the car running with the air conditioning on full blast, but in some instances the engine dies—and because the department has failed to fit the car with a warning device or auxiliary system, so does the dog. Already this summer, police dogs in Tennessee, Florida, and Alabama as well as a U.S. Customs drug-sniffing dog in Texas have suffered prolonged, panic-stricken deaths in patrol cars while their human partners stepped away.
PETA wants to prevent more deaths, so we've sent law enforcement agencies across the U.S. urgent information about heat monitoring and warning systems. Ideally, of course, dogs would never be left unattended in vehicles. But if police work should leave an officer with no other choice, these devices can save a dog's life—by sounding an alarm, paging the officer, starting the car's engine, rolling down a window, or popping open a door when the temperature inside the car begins to reach dangerous levels.
You, too, can help prevent animal 9-1-1s by ordering PETA's free "Too Hot for Spot" action kit. And remember, if you do see a dog who's been left in a hot car, take action: Call local police or humane authorities right away. While you're at it, ask your local police department to post an advisory to all K-9 officers.
Written by Paula Moore
Obesity rates are climbing across the country, with one exception: Washington, D.C., is the only area in the U.S. to see a decline in the adult obesity rate. Some people may cite Michelle Obama's healthy eating challenges for D.C.'s flab-less makeover, but it seems that PETA's work to encourage the city's residents and visitors to adopt a vegan diet is having an impact. Check out other ways PETA is getting involved in D.C.:
In addition to having more than 60 stands for our vegetarian/vegan starter kit around D.C., PETA also organizes more than 15 animal rights outreach events per week. There have been patriotic vegan food giveaways outside gross, flesh-filled barbecues; volunteers have served vegan food to the homeless; PETA's "cow," "chicken," and "pig" mascots have handed out free vegan recipes; we've dispensed more than 250,000 pieces of animal rights literature over the past year; we've put up banners; and that's not all. We are also promoting buying cruelty-free products, stopping NASA's cruel monkey tests, and helping make D.C. free of fur, leather, wool, and silk!
Written by Katie Arth, PETA's D.C. area organizer
Speaking up for animals is a full-time, 24/7 job. Just ask Pamela Anderson.
As we told you earlier this month, when Montréal officials blocked the launch of Pamela Anderson's sexy new vegetarian ad campaign for PETA, she instead unveiled the ad during her previously planned news conference for the Just for Laughs festival.
Pam and PETA are grateful to Restaurant Globe for hosting the impromptu pro-veg event, but while she was there, Pam noticed that the restaurant serves foie gras. So when she wrote a thank-you note to Restaurant Globe, she added a plea, explaining the extreme cruelty that's involved in foie gras production and asking the restaurant to remove the "delicacy of despair" from its menu.
This is why Pam is an honorary PETA director—she never misses an opportunity to help animals. So if you ever notice foie gras on a restaurant menu, just think, "WWPD?" ("What Would Pam Do?") Then talk to the manager or owner, explain how foie gras is made by force-feeding geese sometimes to the point of causing their internal organs to rupture, and politely ask that the restaurant stop serving foie gras. Geese—and Pam—will be thankful!
... in her latest movie, The Extra Man. Sure, she's had lots of meaty movie roles, but it's Katie's latest nonmeaty (it's not a word but it should be) casting as a dedicated vegan that has us jumping up and down on the couch. The quirky indie flick revolves around the relationship between Holmes' character, Mary, and Louis, the carnivore who's crushing on her (played by Fast Food Nation's Paul Dano). Mary works for an environmental magazine, and we all know that there's no such thing as a meat-eating environmentalist, so it all makes sense!
You can check out Katie in all her vegan glory when the movie opens on July 30. Don't miss it!
Via Ecorazzi
Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth
Here's "The Situation": Sexy Jenni "JWoww" Farley of Jersey Shore fame has launched her new clothing line, Filthy Couture. No word yet on whether or not it'll include Snookits, but PETA members everywhere united in a resounding fist pump when JWoww's camp confirmed that Filthy Couture is free of fur and exotic skins.
Perhaps this headline will be coming soon to a newspaper near you: "PETA Implants JWoww in 'Rather Go Naked' Campaign." Would you like to see that become a reality?
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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