As intense heat continues to plague many areas throughout North America, PETA is calling on people to protect their dogs and cats by letting them inside and by taking dogs for short walks (never jogs) only during the coolest part of the day.

Dozens of dogs have already died or had close calls in hot cars this summer. If you see a dog who is showing signs of distress inside a car, get help right away. Even if the windows are partially open and the car is parked in the shade, a dog in a hot car can suffer brain damage or death in just 15 minutes. Look for the dog's owner, and call humane authorities and the police. If no one responds quickly, you may need to take steps to save the dog yourself. (If so, stay by the car until the police arrive!)

Chained dogs also suffer during heat waves, especially when they are denied access to water and continuous shade. Alert authorities immediately if you see a chained dog without shelter or access to water (both are required by law) or in distress. If officials are slow to respond, offer the dog cold water or ice cubes.  

When you are driving, be aware that wild animals may cross roadways more frequently in search of water sources, so be on the lookout and stop to help animals who appear to be injured.

Robbie LeBlanc

Merciless heat adds to the suffering of animals trapped on factory farms and in roadside zoos and circuses. PETA has received reports of thousands of animals who have died while crammed together in sweltering, windowless barns. And no one would want to spend the summer chained inside a hot boxcar or trailer and being dragged across the country from one performance to another.

Please offer a helping hand to animals in need, and stay away from businesses that profit from their suffering.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Thanks to the generosity of a kind PETA Vanguard Society member who was horrified after learning about the plight of bears at three miserable roadside zoos in Cherokee, North Carolina, PETA has been able to erect a billboard on busy Interstate 40 during the height of summer vacation season. The ad warns tourists that visiting Cherokee Bear Zoo, Chief Saunooke Bear Park, or Santa's Land, which all confine bears to barren concrete pits and pens, is not only cruel but also dangerous.

Please let the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Matthew Pegg know that Cherokee won’t be on your travel itinerary until the bears are retired to a sanctuary.
 

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

 
After years of campaigning by PETA, Zoocheck Canada, and local residents, provincial authorities in Alberta, Canada, have finally ordered a decrepit roadside menagerie called Guzoo Animal Farm to close its doors.
 

 
Numerous reports have documented that hundreds of animals—including tigers, cougars, dogs, a lynx, and a baboon—were living in feces-filled cages and cramped pens, denied adequate food, water, and shelter from the elements. "Grossly substandard and filthy," wrote a Calgary zookeeper in one report. "A disgrace to the people of Alberta and those who care about animals," said a retired Toronto zookeeper in another. In 2007, a report documented more than 100 violations of the already minimal provincial standards for zoos.

Animals in other decrepit roadside zoos still need your help—animals like Ben the bear and others at the Jambbas Ranch in North Carolina. Please ask officials to follow Alberta's lead and shut down the menagerie for good.

 
Written by Jennifer O'Connor

Top advertising agency BBDO New York, a recipient of PETA's Humane Ad Agency Award, doesn't want fellow "mad men" even to think about abusing animals. So it has come up with an ingenious way to stop ad writers from using great-ape actors in ads before they've even started. The agency put an auto-correct program on its thousands of agency computers that gives users pause when they type the words "ape," "chimp," "monkey," or "gorilla." Watch the video below to see what happens.
 

After PETA told BBDO that ape actors are torn away from their mothers as babies, physically abused, and dumped at miserable roadside zoos when their short careers end, the agency took our Great Ape Humane Pledge and is encouraging all other ad agencies to do the same.

You can help, too, by not supporting companies that still make a buck off animals' backs. 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Yes, you read that right. The upcoming movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the eagerly anticipated sequel to Planet of the Apes, has done the original one better. Unlike Planet of the Apes, no great apes were used in the production of the sequel—it relies entirely on computer-generated imagery (CGI). As seen in the just-released trailer, the movie’s lead ape character is actually actor Andy Serkis, who, through the magic of CGI and motion-capture technology, is turned into the chimpanzee leader, Caesar.
 

A riveting image from The Rise of the Planet of the Apes.                  © 20th Century Fox

 
The spectacular digital effects are courtesy of Weta Digital, the Oscar-winning team behind Avatar, Lord of the Rings, and King Kong (whose director, Peter Jackson, earned a Proggy from PETA).

Chimpanzees and other great apes used for entertainment are torn away from their mothers as babies and physically and psychologically abused during training. When they reach adolescence and become too strong to control, they are often dumped at miserable roadside zoos, as was the fate of Chubbs, one of the chimpanzees used in the Tim Burton-directed Planet of the Apes.
 

Chubbs went from Hollywood to hellhole.

 
Rise of the Planet of the Apes has a new director, Rupert Wyatt, who wanted to make the point that in this age of advanced realistic CGI technology, there is no need to use great apes in films. Here’s hoping that other studios will take note.

You’ll definitely want to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It sounds like a great contender for another Oscar for Weta, and perhaps a PETA Proggy Award too.
 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

nab / CC

Bob Barker never imagined that he'd be writing a blog post for CNN at the age of 85—but he's determined to help free a group of bears who are languishing in desolate concrete pits on an Indian reservation in Cherokee, North Carolina. Bob met with the Tribal Council in July to plead for the bears' release, and he has now turned to the blogosphere to get others involved:

Please join Bob by contacting Principal Chief Michell Hicks of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and urging him to close Cherokee's bear pits immediately.

Written by Liz Graffeo

popsense / CC

My most beloved game show host—no, not that one—Bob Barker has once again stepped up to the mic to speak up for animals.

Yesterday, Bob met with Principal Chief Michell Hicks and members of the Tribal Council for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to plead for compassion for captive bears in Cherokee, North Carolina, who languish in desolate concrete pits and cages in roadside zoos. After Bob saw firsthand the deplorable conditions at one of these tourist traps (he was denied entry to the other two), he urged Principal Chief Hicks to release the miserable bears to a sanctuary in California.

Although no promises were made at yesterday's meeting, PETA won't rest until the black bears are retired to sanctuaries. After all, according to Cherokee legend, black bears are the keepers of dreams. No doubt all of these imprisoned bears are dreaming of their own freedom.

Written by Karin Bennett

In March, we let you know that three lions and two tigers who had been held captive in Kansas in what was essentially a junkyard had been released and put into the care of authorities. In case you've repressed memories of what these animals were subjected to for years, here's a reminder:

PETA first learned of the big cats' plight in May 2008. After working on the case for nearly a year, we were finally able to secure their release from this decrepit prison. Because it would never be possible to release the animals into the wild, we immediately launched a search to find them suitable homes. The Detroit Zoo (a progressive zoo that accepts wildlife in need) stepped forward and offered to house all three lions, while the CPT Sanctuary in North Carolina gave the tigers a place to roam. The contrast with their former dilapidated cages is striking.

Check out Nitro resting under a tree in his new secluded, wooded enclosure.

After Nitro was moved into the sanctuary, staffers discovered that he may be partially blind. In order to help him adapt, they will add various scents and substrates to his enclosure to help him locate the boundaries of his new home.

After 30 days in quarantine, the lions have moved into their new habitats.

The lions now have space to roam around and a series of vertical rocks and ledges where they can hang out and survey the landscape. Even better, the Detroit Zoo recently announced plans to double the size of its enclosure, allowing the lions more expansive terrain and enabling the zoo to provide the animals with the psychological enrichment that they deserve.

Written by Liz Graffeo

Each spring, zoos churn out baby animals like banks churn out big holiday bonuses for executives—but Average Joe and Jane don't grumble about tiger cubs. They simply coo at the babies.

Leave it to a PETA member wearing a tiger mask and holding a cardboard sign reading, "Pittsburgh Zoo Made Me Homeless," to bring home the point: Zoos should stop breeding animals and instead reinvent themselves as "rescue zoos."

This fellow may be sitting, but he's also standing—standing up for exotic animals, that is. Tens of thousands of tigers, bears, and other exotic animals languish in shoddy roadside attractions, back yards, and basements because the authorities who seize them have no place to put them.

Our "tiger" welcomed dozens of visitors to learn about how zoos are cruel to animals both inside and outside their facilities. After reading our leaflets, the security guards nodded their heads in agreement.

Written by Karin Bennett

webshots / CC

You don't have to answer that. But answer this: What do you get when you cross a lemur, a monkey, and an alligator named Bob? If you're Arlin Valdez-Castillo—you get angry skin lesions and a humdinger of a lawsuit. According to court documents, in 2004, Ms. Valdez-Castillo, a housekeeper at a Hampton Inn in Miami, allegedly developed zoonosis (a disease spread from animals to humans) after cleaning hotel rooms occupied by lemurs, spider monkeys, a parrot, and a five-foot long alligator named Bob. I kid you not.

Part of a traveling zoo hired by Busch Gardens, Bob and his buddies allegedly left lots of dander, urine, feathers, and feces for Ms. Valdez-Castillo to clean up. After falling seriously ill, she was hospitalized for two weeks with skin lesions all over her body, which doctors attributed to coming into contact with exotic animals. Five years later, she still has recurring lesions and a painful infection that has spread to her nervous system. But wait, there's more: Ms. Valdez-Castillo also claims that she was kidnapped by two men who took her to a cemetery and warned her to drop the lawsuit (I'm thinking that Valerie Bertinelli should play her in the Lifetime movie).

So what did lawyers for Busch Gardens have to say about all this? It's Valdez-Castillo's fault that she was allergic to the animals. In other words, stop bitching and take a Benadryl. Honestly though, how much sympathy can you really expect from a corporation that carts animals around to "entertain" at basketball games, schools, and other events? After all, animals used in roadside menageries and traveling zoo exhibits are deprived of just about everything that is natural to them. Their lives are a constant cycle of traveling in cramped cages and being gawked at, poked at, and mishandled by noisy crowds. Not to mention the fact that animal exhibits are public-health disasters waiting to happen. We're talking tens of thousands of cases of salmonella and E. coli from casual contact with animals every year!

So, what have we learned? Let's see—steer clear of all animal exhibits and hotel rooms with monkey crap on the carpet.

Written by Amy Elizabeth