After 18 months of protests, thousands of calls and e-mails, and appearances outside Brookstone stores by our giant "frog," Brookstone has finally decided to pull a cruel product called the "Frog-O-Sphere" from its shelves!

PETA started campaigning against the tiny plastic frog prisons after receiving complaints from Brookstone customers and after a whistleblower reported that frogs and snails housed in the tiny 4-inch-by-4-inch plastic boxes were neglected, deprived of veterinary care and adequate food, and kept in filthy water. The whistleblower told PETA that when frogs became obviously ill and "unsaleable," they were moved to the stores' storage rooms, where they often wasted away and died.

PETA's undercover investigation of Wild Creations—the company that came up with the idiotic idea of throwing two frogs and some gravel into a container smaller than a shoebox and leaving them there for their entire lives—revealed filthy conditions and deadly neglect. In some cases, frogs were so hungry that that they chewed each other's legs off.

juhansonin/cc by 2.0

Brookstone joins Magic Beans, Target, and other retailers that have stopped selling these cruel products, but Coach House Gifts is still selling frogs in "EcoAquariums" to make an easy buck. In one shipment to Coach House Gifts, 37 out of 40 frogs died after they were left in a container so long that they suffered from heat prostration. Please take a moment to urge the company to stop selling its deadly EcoAquariums.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

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I ♥ Target. In addition to the mega-retailer carrying cruelty-free cosmetics and stylish, skin-free kicks, Target recently made the decision to save the lives of hundreds of frogs.

When PETA found out that Target was selling a miniature aquarium called "Planet Frog"—a tiny, plastic prison that's very similar to Brookstone's "Frog-O-Sphere"—we reached out to the corporation's execs. We told them that biologists and wildlife specialists believe the mini-aquariums are cruel and inadequate for frogs and can be hazardous to children's health, exposing them to diseases such as salmonellosis, sparganosis, and psittacosis. We also pointed out an alarming stat: Since May 2009, at least 85 people from 31 states have become ill after exposure to water frogs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Hmm … National retailers start selling frogs in tiny tanks. People all across the country get sick from exposure to water frogs. Coinkidink? Methinks not.)

We asked Target to stop selling "Planet Frog," and they agreed to do just that—easy peasy. No need to send out the troops, call on our celebrity friends, or launch a letter-writing campaign.

Brookstone execs could learn a lot from Target about how make a responsible, compassionate decision without weeks of hand-wringing. Will you ask them to follow Target's lead?

Written by Karin Bennett

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When I was eight years old, I swore off aquariums forever after my dozen or so guppies committed suicide in the middle of the night. Rather than remain in a crowded, dirty tank, they leaped to their slow, suffocating deaths on the carpet.

The guilt that I carry around because of those poor fish has recently been rivaled by my anger and sadness at learning that Brookstone stores are hawking the "Frog-O-Sphere," a tiny aquatic prison that comes stocked with two African frogs and a snail (called "the janitor").

Brookstone tells its customers and employees that these frogs only need to have their water changed twice a year and to be fed twice a week. I can only imagine that those frogs will try to jump out of their cruel confines the first chance they get, so that they don't starve to death or die from poison.

Brookstone is offering a one-year warranty on the lives of the frogs, who can survive for five to 15 years in the wild. I guess that when the snail dies, the customers (and the frogs) are SOL—"the janitor" gets chucked into the garbage. And when customers place a complaint with the company, Brookstone offers up lame reasons why the Frog-O-Sphere is fine for these animals—reasons like "This species of frog will not out-grow the aquarium," and "when in the wild the African Dwarf Frogs generally live in a very small area of a pond or a stream." Then the company sends 'em 10 bucks.

PETA is squaring off with Brookstone, and we need you to write polite letters to the company urging it to join Magic Beans, "Tarjay," and other retailers that have stopped selling similar products prisons.

For anyone who insists on owning a portable, inexpensive, low-maintenance "aquarium," I have two words: "Koi Pond."

Written by Karin Bennett

A little while back, longtime PETA member and superstar intern Mark Wiesenfeld discovered that Target was selling foie gras online, along with a book about the barbaric product written by one of the owners of Hudson Valley Foie Gras—the folks responsible for many of the nightmarish scenes caught on tape in this investigation.

As soon as we contacted the company to let them know about the cruelty behind this product (produced by force feeding ducks until their livers become diseased and engorged) they immediately pulled both items from their site. As you may be aware, there are quite a few corporations that kick up a great big fuss when it comes to making ethical changes in their business (I’m looking at you, KFC), so Target’s prompt action in this case is commendable, and we’re extremely grateful for it.

People tend to hear a whole lot about some of the edgier stuff PETA does (the naked demonstrations, the provocative ads, the quirky videos), but—although it may not make the news—we spend a lot of our time working behind the scenes with big companies to encourage them to make changes that will help animals, so it’s great to have this opportunity to talk about that important aspect of our work. Target’s decision is part of a growing trend among institutions that are taking steps to distance themselves from hideously cruel products like foie gras, and with more and more companies adopting this progressive attitude, we’re getting very close to a time when it will be banned outright in this country.

For more information about the cruelty involved in making foie gras, and to take a pledge never to eat the stuff, please click here.