Animals in laboratories are often kept in barren cages. This monkey was observed during PETA's investigation into Covance.

Business as usual at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) has just cost the university a whopping $62,500. That's what KUMC has agreed to pay in fines after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) found 160 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. This means that KUMC has the distinction of forking over one of the highest settlements ever paid by a laboratory for violating animal protection regulations.

But the cost for the animals was much higher. Monkeys at KUMC were so traumatized that they pulled out their own hair and paced their cages ceaselessly—which is what monkeys do when they're forced to live in tiny, barren spaces without anything to do day after day, year after year, and when the lab staff can't be bothered to provide the psychological enrichment that's required by law. Animals were also denied adequate veterinary care and even pain relief after surgery.

The USDA's citations also confirmed what we uncovered about KUMC last year: Experimenters weren't even providing an adequate rationale for using animals, as the law requires. PETA filed a complaint last December with university officials because KUMC still cuts up pigs for surgery practice, even though more sophisticated non-animal methods are available. Nearly every other medical school in America, including Harvard and Stanford, ended the use of animals long ago for a very good reason: Practicing human surgery on animals is kind of like learning to fly a jet by riding a bicycle.

In April, PETA asked the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which funds many of the animal experiments at the university, to demand a refund of thousands of dollars of grant money that had been spent on experiments that violate federal regulations. There's still no word on whether NIH plans to add to KUMC's fiscal woes.

Written by Alisa Mullins

It's that time again! Every summer, our Lettuce Ladies station themselves at the U.S. Capitol to serve a free lunch in honor of National Veggie Dog Day. This year, our leafy lovelies were joined by model and smokin'-hot vegetarian Vida Guerra, who spiced up the event by wearing a red chili-pepper bikini as she handed out veggie chili dogs to congressional staffers. Although some legislators recently hand-delivered chili seeds to the arctic "doomsday" seed vault, our duly elected officials had probably never encountered peppers that sizzled quite like this before!

Click here for more photos.

Even Washingtonian wonks want to look and feel good, so we're glad to promote such a great way to improve fitness. Or as Vida put it, "In my business, looks can make you or break you, and nothing has helped me stay fit, trim, and energetic more than kicking the meat habit. The best way to safeguard your health, reduce your carbon footprint, save animals' lives, and look your very best is to go vegetarian."

Written Posted by Jeff Mackey

After finding out that a McDonald's restaurant in his hometown of Liverpool had plastered the walls with photos of him and the rest of the Fab Four, Sir Paul McCartney—who is known by all (except maybe the marooned fighter pilot on Gilligan's Island) as being a longtime and outspoken vegetarian—was less than glad all over.

Refusing to let it be, McCartney urged his fans to boycott the fast-food behemoth. Surprisingly, the notoriously tone-deaf purveyor of patties seems to have gotten the message, and the photos have reportedly gotten back to where they once belonged.

Maybe next McDonald's will agree to make improvements in the way chickens are killed for its restaurants. I'm sure Sir Paul wouldn't object to Meat-Free Mondays at McDonald's, either—or better yet, meatless meals eight days a week.

Written by Alisa Mullins

Fun in the sun means beach towels and bikinis, but forget your sunscreen and you'll be singing the sunburn blues. But there's no chance of that for the clever person who wins a basket of cruelty-free summer skincare lotions from Kiss My Face:

Want to win it? Just let us know what you are doing to help animals this summer. For my part, every time I visit the beach, I pick up each piece of litter I see so that animals don't end up ensnared like this.

So what about you? Have a go and let us know how you are helping animals in your neighborhood or on your summer vacation. The contest ends on July 28, 2010, and we'll pick the winners on July 30, 2010. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Good luck!

Written by Karin Bennett

scnow / CC

Every day, PETA receives reports from across the country detailing hideous acts of cruelty to animals for which law enforcement officials have no leads. Very often, PETA will offer a reward for information leading to an arrest, knowing that witnesses who might otherwise never come forward could be enticed to offer information.

PETA recently rewarded a tipster who offered information about a case of cruelty to animals that occurred last fall in Dillon, South Carolina. Brace yourself for the details: While Teofilo Falaniko was ransacking Bonnie Bowens' home, he forced her dog, Penny, into the oven and turned it on. To ensure that Penny's frantic pawing at the oven door didn't allow her to escape, Falaniko propped a chair against the door. When the elderly woman arrived home later that day, she and police discovered that her beloved dog was dead in the oven.

Because our tipster came forward and reported hearing Falaniko bragging about his heinous crime, Falaniko was arrested and charged. He was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison on burglary and cruelty-to-animals charges. Would Falaniko have been caught without the tipster's information? Who knows? But I get chills when I consider how many more victims—four-legged and two-legged—this violent criminal might have gone on to attack had he not been convicted of Penny's cruel killing.

Written by Karin Bennett