Photo by Sage Ross, CC by-sa 3.0

Citing research showing that feeding antibiotics to animals on factory farms in order to promote growth "is not in the interest of protecting or promoting public health," the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is recommending that farmers stop routinely mixing antibiotics into animal feed.

Unfortunately, just because the FDA—along with about a gazillion (give or take a zillion) other health experts who are alarmed by the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant "superbugs"—recommends this, it doesn't mean that factory farm operators are going to meekly flush their arsenal of magic bullets down the drain. After all, the reason why antibiotics are fed to animals on factory farms is to keep them from dying in the filthy, crowded conditions that farmers force these animals to call home. Factory farms are prime breeding grounds for potentially deadly bacteria such as E. coli, salmonella, and campylobacter, and the conditions are so putrid that millions of animals die within a matter of weeks before they are even sent to slaughter, despite being shot up with drugs. Imagine how few would survive without them.

So expect factory farm operators to fight tooth and nail to avoid giving up their pharmaceutical cocktails—because the only alternative is to improve conditions on factory farms or … gasp … to stop raising animals altogether.

While Big Ag continues to play Russian roulette with public health, you can get started kicking the drug habit today by ordering a copy of our free vegetarian/vegan starter kit.

Written by Alisa Mullins

It takes guts to challenge the multi-million-dollar-a-year industry that you've made your living from, but award-winning filmmaker and provocateur Chris Palmer has thrown open the curtain on what really happens during the filming of wildlife shows, movies, and documentaries in his new book Shooting in the Wild: An Insider's Account of Making Movies in the Animal Kingdom. His book reveals how corners are cut, animals are harassed, and scenes are staged all in the quest to catch the "money shot." Palmer, who admits that he himself engaged in some unethical practices while filming, is uniquely suited to expose what really goes on behind the scenes.

One of Palmer's targets is the late Steve Irwin, aka the Crocodile Harasser Hunter. After Irwin died, PETA took some heat for honestly pointing out that the entire premise of his show was based on harassing wild animals. Palmer validates our contention, reminding readers that Irwin invaded animals' homes, netted them, taped their mouths shut, removed them from their natural environment, and used them as living props.

Order a copy of this revealing and thought-provoking book right away, and for loads of other great reads, visit the PETA catalog.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor