mediabistro / CC

The September issue of Vogue will no doubt be full of the usual "fashions" and more animal skins than the Queen of Mean can count on her two grubby hands. But what will not be in the issue, at least not in the U.S. edition of Vogue, is the usual hefty number of advertisements.

According to this story, last year's Vogue had 50 more advertisement pages than the 2008 edition will have. Translation: dollar signs are not in season.

Earlier this year, we even offered financial help to Aretha Franklin so that she could keep her house—granted she hand over the furs. And now we’re trying to help bail Anna out. If she would like to accept one of our advertisements to help her fill those empty pages, we’re here. Perhaps our beautiful Eva Mendes ad? Or, maybe our racy Joanna Krupa ad or even our sexy Imogen Bailey ad! How about a little memorial of Anna Nicole Smith?

In the past, our ads have not been welcome at Vogue. Anna is far too friendly with the fur industry which anally electrocutes animals and bodies wrapped in fur skinned off the backs of fully conscious animals to accept them, but perhaps the downturn in the economy will mark the upswing of the moral code at Vogue?

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

Quick—what reason do people usually give for continuing to eat meat even after you've told them about all the awesome health, environmental, and animal welfare benefits of going vegetarian? If you said taste (as in, people don't want to give up meat because they like the taste), you win $1 million! Not really (sorry!), but it does mean that you've been doing a great job trying to get your friends and family members to take the cool vegetarian plunge—go, you!

Now, people who've explored veggie cuisine know that you don't have to give up anything in the way of taste or texture to go vegetarian, but guess what massive corporation is going to help spread that message to new audiences? If you said most KFCs in Canada, you don't win $1 million, but you are right (go, you, again!).

Most KFCs in Canada have just added a vegetarian chicken sandwich to the menu, and by all reports, the faux chicken is crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and delectably flavorful inside and out. YUM! (YUM! is actually the name of the company that owns KFC in the U.S., but they aren't serving it, dammit).

The company that coordinates the purchase of all chickens for Canadian KFCs has also entered into an agreement with PETA, which includes landmark animal welfare reforms that will substantially improve the lives and deaths of chickens killed for Canadian KFCs. And we at PETA have been so happy about this that we sent our Lettuce Ladies on a Canadian tour to pass out KFC's faux-chicken sandwiches to anyone eager for a taste. How's that for winningly fabulous, eh?

Here are some photographs from Montréal!

Posted by Grace Friedan

As I'm sure many of you are aware, circuses that use elephants and big cats in their acts are not on PETA's approved list! Circuses—including Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, for instance—use aggression, violence, and confinement to "train" elephants to perform asinine tricks. This often results in pain, suffering, and trauma. Some elephants go mad, while others become infected with deadly diseases, like a human strain of tuberculosis (TB). Quite a few suffer early deaths. (If this is the first time you're hearing that all is not glitter and glamour for animals in circuses, I think I've got some sad news for you about Santa Claus as well.)

However, while we PETA activists have become well equipped for tackling Ringling's lies to the public about their practices, up from the slimy depths slinks Carson & Barnes Circus.

Let me back up by telling you about Joy. She's from a group of elephants that the Illinois-based Hawthorn Corporation was forced to relinquish because of chronic Animal Welfare Act violations. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the elephants at Hawthorn accounted for 21 percent of known cases of TB in elephants, and it's likely that these elephants are infected with drug-resistant, latent TB. In fact, half of Hawthorn's 22 animal handlers tested positive for TB exposure.

While most of the elephants at Hawthorn went to sanctuaries, we fought the USDA tooth and nail to prevent Joy from going to Carson & Barnes Circus. An overreaction on our part? Heck no! One of our incredible undercover investigators exposed cruelty so vicious that it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. Elephants shocked with electric prods and repeatedly hit with bullhooks become so frightened that they trumpet and recoil from the trainer's vicious attacks.

This is the routine nightmare of elephants in their "care." They're tortured. Yet somehow these depraved animal abusers are still in business and were allowed by the USDA to acquire Joy with the understanding that they'd never use her in their traveling show or for any sort of public contact because the USDA determined that the Hawthorn elephants posed a danger to the national elephant herd and public health.

Then! Less than a year after they got Joy, Carson & Barnes turned right around and submitted a request to the USDA to use her anyway for "educational demonstrations and possibly for elephant rides." Here's the USDA's rather irritated response:

Yeah, these carnies really care about the animals, eh? They will stoop so low as to risk the health of Joy, other elephants, and little kids just to make a buck off elephant rides.

Boo-yah! Little C&B thought they run with the big dogs in janky dirty dealings? But remember what we told you the five fingers said to the face? SMACK!

Posted by Missy Lane

Al Gore admitted to an audience at a political blogger conference that he may, indeed, be bad for the environment and guilty of contributing to global warming. Why? Because he just can't seem to stop eating meat, which is more harmful to the global warming crisis (which Gore is known for being a teeny bit fanatical about) than all of the world's cars, trucks, SUVs, and planes combined!

According to Ezra Klein at Prospect.org, Gore said, "It is true that it would be healthier for us as individuals and as a planet if we consumed less meat. I acknowledge that. … I myself am a meat eater and maybe that's had some effect" (emphasis mine). How did he go from acknowledging that vegetarianism is better for individuals and the planet to saying that maybe his choice to eat animals has some negative effect?

Without committing to any changes in the present, Al Gore explains that he "plead[s] guilty" and that we must "walk before we can run." Seriously? He doesn't know how to walk the walk on this issue? Have we not been clear enough with this guy? We'd love to love you, Al, but please stop clinging to the one thing that is so devastating for the world while asking everyone else to drop their bad habits.

What's next, M.A.D.D. beer cozies sized to fit in your car's cup holder? Ugh.

Posted by Sean Conner

Remember that advertisement for the U.S. Army that said that folks in the Army do more before 6 a.m. than most people do all day? I was reminded of that when I reviewed some of the successes scored by the phenomenal PETA Asia-Pacific team. Check out what these superheroes for animals accomplished during a recent three-week span:

1. When PETA Asia-Pacific learned that Tanzania was going to ship elephants and giraffes to the Manila Zoo, a tiny, decrepit, and outdated facility that has nothing to offer animals except a life of deprivation, misery, and loneliness, they fired off a letter to Tanzania President Jakaya Mrisho Kitwete, pointing out that "[a]ll confined animals suffer from profound boredom—some so severely that it can lead to self-mutilation and self-destructive behavior." The president of the East African nation responded with compassion, halting the deal and saving many animals in the process.



2. Photo Credit: Gaspar Rodriguez

   When Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a war on hunger and inequity—while also saying that she would lead by example—PETA Asia-Pacific called on the president to adopt and advocate a vegetarian diet. The letter sent by PETA Asia-Pacific explained that animals raised for food consume nearly 1 billion metric tons of food edible by humans every year—enough to feed about half the world's population. President Arroyo took the time to respond to the letter, resulting in tremendous media coverage.


3. In protest of the grueling "death ship" journeys—in which sheep and cattle are forced to endure extremely crowded, disease-ridden ships with little access to food or water through all weather extremes—dozens of men and women from PETA Asia-Pacific and Animal Liberation NSW stripped naked and sprawled on the ground in a "die-in" on Sydney's Pitt Street Mall. The protesters lay on the cold pavement (it's wintertime in Australia—remember that hemisphere thing?) for 20 minutes under signs that read, "Animals Suffer and Die in Live Export." Check out the activists in action!


4. And leaving the most sizzling for last: Kobe Kaige (don't pretend you don't know that name!)—who has graced the pages of dozens of magazines, from Playboy and FHM to Stroke MX and Maxim, and who currently reigns as Penthouse's "Pet of the Year"—recently teamed up with PETA Asia-Pacific to draw some media and public attention to the cruelty of fur. Kobe—who posed fully nude amid a snowy set holding a sign that read, "Give Fur the Cold Shoulder"—helped save animals' skins by showing some of her own.

Posted by Grace Friedan

beedata / CC

1. North Carolina officials have filed six counts of misdemeanor cruelty to animals against a North Carolina man for acts documented in our 2007 undercover investigation of a Smithfield supplier's sow farm. The charges are for acts of dragging pigs by the ear, striking a pig in the face with a handling board, and gouging a pig's eyes with his fingers.
2. After talks with PETA, the New Hampshire Motor Speedway agreed to stop its plans to feature live elephants at a NASCAR race.
3. During a routine visit to a North Carolina trailer park, our Cruelty Investigations Department found two pit bulls suffering from severe puncture wounds and infections—neither of the dogs had been treated for their injuries. One of the dogs appears to have been used as a bait dog and lost both her ears. All 13 thin and miserable dogs—most living in mud pits—were turned over to PETA within four days. The bait dog had to have tubes put in her neck to treat the infection that had spread.
4. On the spay-and-neuter front, Our SNIP-mobile spayed and neutered 476 dogs, cats, and rabbits in the last 30 days! And our new ABC bus spayed and neutered 69 animals; most of the surgeries were done completely free of charge!
5. A butterfly release planned as part of a celebration of two merging Michigan hospitals was called off after speaking with PETA staffers. The butterflies, which had already been received, were taken home by a hospital worker who lives on a farm. The butterflies were released in a secure area.

Stay tuned for future victories!

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

Like the rest of the entire world, I went and saw The Dark Knight this weekend, and also like the rest of the entire world, I was impressed with this darker take on the Batman mythos. I'm all for having Heath Ledger win the Oscar, and my superhero-comic-loving-nerd-patrol side could gush for hours about the intensity of this movie. But my animal-protector soul had a serious problem with a few scenes. Batman beats dogs—who knew?? P'shaw! And to think we gave him a spot on our coveted Top 10 Animal-Friendly Superhero list!

While I love that The Dark Knight lived up to its name by exploring the noiresque Frank Miller-inspired themes of Gotham's protector, they didn't need to make Batman into a dogphobic man! Batman is an icon, a superhero genius that beats up gun-toting thugs using only his iron fist of justice—KA-POW! He looks damn good in pleather while owning the streets, yet in The Dark Knight, he was punching out dogs left and right. Sure, it was self-defense, but doesn't the man with the James Bond gadgets know anything about peanut butter treats and deflecting devices?

Because of this serious misstep for what's otherwise a masterpiece, we've decided to take all the write-in votes for Hellboy seriously, knock our batvocate pal off the list, and replace him with the kitten-cuddling man in red. Check out our NEW and improved list of the top 10 animal-friendly superheroes:

10. Hellboy—This superhero may be someone that would make you cross the street if he came your way (the red skin and horns might be a bit intimidating), but he's just a big teddy bear with a love for kittens (and many successful attempts to save them).

sfgate / CC

8. Black Panther—As the leader of the African nation of Wakanda, the Black Panther has banned the evil White Gorilla Cult from his country. Members of the cult seek to gain power by killing one of Wakanda's rare white gorillas, bathing in their blood, and eating their flesh (um, gross). The villain known as Man-Ape gained his superpowers by doing exactly that—incurring the wrath of the Black Panther and becoming one of his greatest foes.

7. Superman—In a one-shot "PSA comic" entitled "Superman: For the Animals," Supes rescues a kitten from being thrown off a bridge by a group of kids named (seriously) Ballser, Charlie, Donuts, and Eightball and, in the process, teaches everyone a valuable lesson about not picking on anyone weaker than you—including animals.

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5. Thor—In the Ultimate Avengers animated movie, we find Thor out at sea with a group of activists protesting whale slaughter. If only his fellow Norwegians in the real world got the picture that whaling is a thing of the past!

4. Beast Boy—Everyone's favorite Teen Titan also happens to be vegan (and not just because he's been hanging out on peta2.com like pretty much every other teenager). You would be, too, if you had the metamorphic ability to turn into any animal and therefore had a little compassion for the ones that get eaten.

marveldirectory / CC

2. Wolverine and Jean Grey—In X-Men Unlimited #44, Wolverine catches three neighborhood boys in the act of torturing and killing animals for kicks—and offers to return the favor on behalf of his furry friends. Using her psychic powers, Jean Grey instead makes the boys experience in their minds the pain and suffering that they caused to their innocent victims. In the next issue … Colonel Sanders!

1. Wonder Man—In Civil War: Frontline #5, part of Marvel's epic Civil War story arc, Wonder Man is interrupted on his way to an important function by two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents looking for answers about a mysterious aquarium store bombing (read the book). The important function? A PETA banquet. 'Nuff said.

Posted by Christine Doré

Colonel Sanders has finally met his heavily accessorized, bouffant-wearing, monster-sized match: Lady Bunny. The queen of all queens has teamed up with PETA to create an awesome anti-KFC billboard, which just went up in New York City. The larger-than-life female impersonator's ad advises tourists and commuters that the Colonel's "secret recipe" is cruelty to animals.

Lady Bunny joins other gorgeous pin-ups, including Pam Anderson and Imogen Bailey, who have protested the well-documented abuse of chickens who end up in KFC's deceptively pretty buckets of breast meat. However, only Lady Bunny can talk about there being "more than meets the eye" (regarding animal welfare, of course).

I've cocktailed at enough gay bars to know firsthand what happens "when queens attack"—and it ain't pretty. After all, who wants to upset a burly guy who has spent an hour squeezing into a size 3 dress and a pair of high heels?

Posted by Sean Conner

nab / CC

The deer have been using an ancestral woods path (which now goes through a small development) to reach what remains of the woods, where they sleep at night. Until, that is, one neighbor got all up in arms over some flowers that the deer allegedly had a nibble on (flowers, really?) and got a "nuisance kill" permit from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) to abate the "nuisance."

The neighbor has hired a bow hunter in full regalia, who has set up a tree stand and even deployed a decoy, a lure, to attract the deer to where he can shoot them. There are easy and simple things you can do to live in harmony with wildlife, of course, but it takes a heart.

Props to the other neighbors who are fighting back hard to have the permit revoked and were able to contact Bob Barker—not by some spectacular third degree of separation miracle, by the way: One of the neighbors operated on Mr. Barker when he fell ill in Washington. Mr. Barker shot off a letter to the DGIF, which you can read here

Like many neighborhoods, this community is experiencing wildlife up close because, sadly, these wonderful, capable, now almost homeless animals are being forced to search for food, shelter, and some plain old stimulation—in part because trees are being chopped down faster than you can yell timber just to make room for more strip malls, grocery stores, and, yes, even more Wal-Marts. Jump on over to HelpingAnimals.com for handy tips on how to humanely handle wildlife.

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

entertainmentwise / CC

It must be hard to reach that point in your life where whenever your name hits the media, it's preceded by the words "former supermodel." You might become upset enough to freak out on a plane or throw a phone at your maid. Why, it's enough to make you want to pull your hair out.

Fortunately for former supermodel (see, I told you) Naomi Campbell, her hair seems to be falling out all on its own. We recognized an opportunity for some good old-fashioned consciousness-raising. Here's PETA Europe's note to Ms. Campbell:

Posted by Jeff Mackey