E-mail, text, and BBM all you want, but sometimes there's nothing quite as powerful as an old-school letter. Our proof: This 8-year-old's plea to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to do something that makes a difference for animals (like ending the seal slaughter!) is enough to restore anyone's faith in snail mail. Click on the letter to read the whole thing:

Inspired to write your own missive to Harper? Do it write away!

Written by Logan Scherer

During the photo shoot for her "Save the Seals" ad, vegetarian U.S. Olympic snowboarder and charity superstar Hannah Teter said, "[W]hen I saw that PETA was involved in saving the seals, I just was like, 'YEAH!'"

Well, Hannah, you had us shouting, "YEAH!" yesterday when you took home the silver medal for women's half-pipe. With two Olympic medals under your belt, we can't think of a better person to represent our country, animals, and compassion!

Written by Logan Scherer

Because TV stations in Victoria, British Columbia, have rejected PETA's anti–seal slaughter public service announcement, we've decided to go mobile with our campaign by placing a Bluetooth transmitter outside three of the city's high schools. The transmitters will automatically send PETA's ad to students' phones (and those of lucky passersby) to educate them about the imminent seal massacre that continues to tarnish Canada's reputation.

The upcoming extra-curricular activity comes just a week before tens of thousands of young seals are scheduled to be slaughtered in the name of "fashion." Join the compassionate people who have already called on the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic Games to use its clout to help save the seals.

Written by Logan Scherer

Remember PETA's 2007 undercover investigation of Rainbow World Exotics (RWE), a hellhole in Hamilton, Texas, that supplies PETCO and PetSmart stores with little hamsters, gerbils, and other critters? Before going public with that investigation, we sat down with three PETCO corporate representatives (one of whom was a vet) and showed them heartbreaking footage of a worker who was castrating rabbits and bleaching their wounds, a manager who was stomping hamsters to death, live animals who were being tossed in the trash, a cockatoo who was starving and dying, and more. We were sure that PETCO would want nothing to do with RWE after seeing the footage of all this misery. Boy, were we wrong. PETCO (as well as PetSmart) stood by RWE, refused to sever ties, and insisted that things there were not so bad. We are quite sure that the animals would disagree. Up until now, we thought that we knew how low this massive pet-store giant was capable of stooping.

It turns out that we were wrong.

On Tuesday, PETCO put out a news release saying that it had "stepped up" and was "calling all small animal lovers" to "adopt" "more than 2,000 recently rescued animals" who are being held in the company's Dallas-area stores—animals who were among the 26,000 critters who were confiscated from yet another hellhole supplier, U.S. Global Exotics (USGE), after a PETA investigation uncovered horrific conditions there. USGE was a supplier to RWE. Many of the animals seized from USGE were ultimately bound for PETCO stores.

In the news release, a PETCO rep actually proclaimed, "We were appalled by the tragedy at U.S. Global Exotics …." That's rich! But not as rich as PETCO—the company made more than $2.5 billion in 2008 by selling animals from massive mills like RWE and USGE. And according the release, it looks like the company was poised to make a pretty profit off this "adoption" deal. All the money to be made from the adoptions and the application fees for the animals was set to go to the PETCO Foundation, while all of the money from the pet supplies a new parent needs to properly care for an animal would have lined the pockets of PETCO's CEOs. The money would not have gone to the thousands of animals from USGE who need homes. No, that responsibility falls on the shoulders of PETA and other nonprofit organizations that have been working around the clock to get these animals out of harm's way and to provide them with the basic necessities of which they have been deprived.

Veterinarians and humane agents found thousands of distressed animals confined at USGE, including hamsters and chinchillas who were packed into crowded crates without food or water. Such shipments arrived weekly, usually from the Netherlands, containing animals who would eventually end up for sale at pet stores such as PETCO and PetSmart.

This chinchilla was confined with no room to move in one of the dozens of shipping crates found on the day of the seizure at USGE. Part of a massive weekly shipment of mammals from the Netherlands, these animals had been trapped in shipping containers for at least two days without food or water.

Housing containers at USGE were not much different from shipping crates. USGE crammed dozens of hamsters into one litter pan, leaving them to fight and compete for space and other basic needs such as food and water—of which the animals were routinely deprived.

PETA's investigator took this photo in USGE's mammal room just five days before the surviving animals were finally rescued. Cannibalism, dehydration, starvation, and death were daily occurrences at USGE—an unavoidable consequence of the pet trade that is perpetuated by companies such as PETCO and PetSmart.

After PETA made a few phone calls, we were able to get the animals—including anoles, geckos, toads, snakes, iguanas, hermit crabs, long-tailed grass lizards, mice, hamsters, and frogs—removed from PETCO's clutches. We were promised that they would be placed with reputable groups. PETCO told local media that it was "extremely disappointed" after this absurd plan was halted (we bet!).

These animals are now safe, but PETCO's exploitation of animals will continue as long as the corporate giant continues to buy and sell animals. So what can you do? Tell everyone you know to chime in and demand that PETCO cease all live animal sales immediately!

Written by Daphna Nachminovitch, Vice President of Cruelty Investigations

Oh, PETA Germany and your seal-loving supporters, you had me at "Hallo."

It's not even Valentine's Day yet, but these dedicated demonstrators melted hearts (and snow) with their moving commitment to the tens of thousands of young Canadian harp seals who will soon be slaughtered for their skin. Show your love for the seals by wearing your heart on your sleeve this V-Day.

Written by Logan Scherer

With the Winter Olympics just a week away and all eyes turning to Vancouver, now is the perfect moment to draw attention to Canada's upcoming slaughter of tens of thousands of young harp seals. These sensitive animals are often less than 2 weeks old when sealers beat them, hook them in the eye, mouth, or cheek, and then drag them across the ice in order to steal their skins. The hope to finally end this bloody massacre and save these seals is literally pinned on the support of compassionate people.

So right now, PETA is giving one of our limited-edition pins to everyone who makes an online donation to help save the skins of seals and other animals (while supplies last).

Wearing your pin is an easy way to remind your friends of the massive slaughter that will begin only days after the world's athletes and TV cameras leave Vancouver. Where will you stick yours?

Written by Logan Scherer

In planning for the upcoming Winter Olympics, will the folks at NBC take a cue from the CBS executives who decided to run more advocacy ads during this year's Super Bowl? PETA is about to find out. We're asking the network to air our animated anti–seal slaughter commercial during the Olympics:

While NBC decides whether or not it will seal our deal, urge Canadian officials to stop the seal massacre immediately.

Written by Logan Scherer

Urban legend has it that Eskimos have 400 words for "snow," but how many do they have for "snowman"?

Unlike real snowmen, these guys thrived in the Ottawa Sun. Passersby couldn't stop looking and were delighted to get to know our blizzard buddies, who educated onlookers about the hundreds of thousands of baby seals who are shot or have their skulls crushed every year. With this year's Winter Olympics in Vancouver approaching, help Canada clean up its reputation by urging officials to end the seal slaughter immediately.

Written by Logan Scherer

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the seal slaughter:

Credit: Sea Shepherd

Yeah. We thought that it was awful too.

How can you help end this atrocity? Glad you asked. Click here.

Written by Christine Doré

This Sunday, March 15, is International Day of Action Against the Seal Slaughter. Why it's not on all the calendars between Purim and St. Patrick's Day, we'll never know, but, hey, we're doing our part to get the word out.

OK, so this event is big—international, even, as the name suggests. Animal protection groups of all sizes from all around the world have lots of things planned for Sunday. But you don't need nonprofit status to get in on the action. In fact, all you need is your own dang self—or just a group of your like-minded BFFs. Here are some entirely do-able ways to become an action hero for seals:

• You've probably already followed through on our action alert, but if not, this would be the time for it, don't 'cha think?


• If you're a Facebook fanatic, you can post our action alert to your page or sign our petition—and get your friends to sign it too.


• Think of someplace where lots of people will be on Sunday and set up a table there with information about the seal slaughter.


• Pick out a busy street corner or sidewalk—in front of a fur store, say—and hand out our attention-getting "Blood on the Ice" leaflets.


• Share our YouTube video with everyone you know.


• If you don't have time, but you do have money, donate some to us and support our work for seals and all animals.


• If you really want to get the message out loud and clear, host your very own demo against the seal slaughter! Don't worry, we've got your back! Click here to order a poster for your event and click here to order a seal mask. Take photos at your demo and e-mail them to our activist liaisons at ATeam@peta.org. We've got a guide that might help, too; you can check that out here.

And that's just for starters. For more ways to be an action hero for animals all year 'round, click the "Get Active" link at the top of this page and check out our Guide to Becoming an Activist—that is, if you're ready to become a superhero!

Written by Jeff Mackey