Written by PETA
It's a hazy day here on the Right Coast. As I watch leaves fall and steam rise from my soy mocha, the mood is set for a lazy (yet highly skilled) meander through gossip rags for fun stuff. Here are my faves:
Thanks for stopping by! Catch you next time, and don't forget to hug all your vegetarian friends.
Written by Missy Lane
When we heard about New York Governor David Paterson's proposed excise ("sin") tax on full-calorie soda, we were confused. Sure, there are calories to be had in the all-American high fructose corn syrup, caramel coloring, and artificial flavoring cocktail, but does it compare to, say, meat?
To help set Gov. Paterson straight, we're sending out some of our ridiculously cute "Tax Meat" pigs to the Governor's pad today to help him consider some other products to place on his naughty list this year. The politically active pigs will circle the Governor's home in a convertible with signs reading, "Battle the Budget and the Bulge: Tax Meat."
After all, a can of fizzy goodness with more grams of sugar than I care to consider may be linked to obesity, but eating meat is linked not only to obesity but also to strokes, diabetes, heart disease, and several types of cancer, among other conditions and ailments. And with the financial outlook as bleak as it is, nobody needs the added burden of long-term medical treatment for costly conditions caused by risky dietary choices such as eating meat, when they could bank on their health by going vegetarian instead.
Written by Sean Conner
Ever notice how bad begets bad? Well, in the world of animal abuse, folks often have a way of getting themselves hurt and even killed when trying to do the same to other animals. Besides the obvious "eat meat and die" connection, we at The PETA Files have seen quite a few instances of folks more creatively or elaborately harming or endangering themselves over the years—including large-scale property destruction and truly ironic animal attacks.
With that in mind, I bring you our Top 10 "Payback Is Hell" moments of 2008:
10. While striking his dog with a gun to make him release a bone, a man managed to shoot himself. Granted, I don't think there's any safe place to point a gun, but letting the "business end" face you as you swing it like a club? Wow. Maybe he'll think twice about hitting his dog next time—if he, ya know, survived.
9. What happens when you anger a 10-foot python who's been stuck in a cage for a long time? An intern at a Venezuelan zoo found out when he decided to play with the snake during his night shift. Turns out that snakes are fond of strangling and swallowing their prey (someone really should put that on Wikipedia).
8. Some people shoo wasps away with their hands. Others think it's fair play to go after them with lighted torches. One monk learned that when you play with fire, you (and your entire temple) might get burned (to the ground).
7. While tracking a deer whom he had shot and was in the process of killing, a hunter apparently misjudged a cliff's edge and fell off.
6. A New Jersey man tried to kill insects in his apartment with bug spray, but the propellant chemicals in the spray seemed to have some unforeseen consequences. He succeeded in killing many bugs, but probably not so much because of the poison as because of the explosion, which destroyed 80 percent of his apartment.
5. Though the purpose of "sea kitten hunting" is to dig a hook painfully into another being's skin, one guy seems to have misread the how-to manual and managed to drive the hook into his own hand.
4. Have you ever seen bears who were forced to perform in captivity and felt sorry for how helpless they look? Well, it turns out gigantic land mammals with sharp, sharp teeth aren't always that helpless—as demonstrated by the fatal attack that a bear at Predators in Action wild animal training center made against a trainer.
3. Why don't we allow children to drive? Because it's dangerous. Why do we allow children to kill animals with loaded firearms? Good question. Though some folks argue that children can be trusted with firearms if trained properly, I don't think that helps the two men who were allegedly shot by one eight-year-old boy who had reportedly been taught how to use a deadly weapon to hunt animals.
2. After being jailed on burglary charges, a man was attacked by another inmate who chewed off a part of his ear (ewww!). What are the odds that something so disgusting and awful would happen to someone? To top it off, what are the odds that it would happen to a man who had previously been charged with cutting off a dog's ears?!
1. Proving that using a .44 Magnum to kill mice is not a good idea, a trailer park resident managed to shoot herself and a bystander while trying to fire at a rodent who was simply trying to share her space. Is anyone else stunned that two accidental injuries occurred? PETA's humane mousetrap, on the other hand, has never hurt a living soul.
I guess it just goes to show that what goes around may actually come around, so please make wise decisions when interacting with animals—you might have to answer for your actions.
Do you have your own "payback is hell" story, in which someone's misdeeds to an animal don't go unpunished? If so, comment below; we'd all love to hear it!
With shopping season in full swing, PETA volunteers and campaigners are out there braving the cold. Check out photos of some of our recent attention-getting demos below:
In Massachusetts, PETA's "Grim Reapers" descended on Donna Karan's storefront and dragged bloodied furs through the streets of Boston. Taunting the heartless designer to "bring out her dead," they urged shoppers to never buy animals' skins. Who, after all, would be caught dead wearing Rudolph?
As the circus dragged its beast wagons into Charlottesville, Virginia, one of PETA's sexy "Tiger Ladies" posed caged, nearly naked, and painted head-to-toe with stripes to let locals know that wild animals don't belong behind bars. Some may say she's naughty, but we know it's Ringling who's actually getting the coal this year.
Other PETA activists held a demo on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee, urging holiday shoppers to buy alternatives to exotic animal skins. Snakeskin bags, shoes, and jackets all come with a high price—paid by the animals who are ripped from their jungle homes and skinned alive. If someone on your "good" list likes the look of animal prints, check this out for more information on compassionate, fashionable alternatives to cruelty to animals.
Feeling filled with holiday spirit and want to get involved? Fire off a letter to Ringling, Donna Karan, and other cruel companies that exploit animals for profit, and let them know that they "better watch out"—PETA activists are coming to town. And remember, 'tis better to give than to receive, especially when your gifts will save lives!
Written by Liz Graffeo
Country superstar Emmylou Harris' life has really gone to the dogs—and she wouldn't have it any other way. Devoted to lending a hand to down-and-out dogs, the down-to-earth music legend once rolled up her sleeves to help PETA build doghouses for cold and lonely dogs who were trapped at the end of a chain.Now she's taking her canine cause to the airwaves. In a new series of radio PSAs, Emmylou encourages people to spay and neuter their animal companions and take them inside rather than keep them chained outside, longing for warmth, safety, and companionship.
Why is Emmylou fixated on getting animals fixed and out of the cold? Homelessness is not just a human problem. U.S. animal shelters must put nearly 4 million dogs and cats to death every year because of simple math: There are too many animals and not enough worthy adoptive homes. Millions more animals are condemned to a sad life of loneliness, isolated outside with no exercise or attention. Wintry weather means extra hardship for "backyard" dogs. Chained dogs often have nowhere to go to escape the cold and snow. They suffer from frostbite, exposure, and dehydration when water sources freeze. Listen to her PSAs here:
Dogs don't deserve to be given the cold shoulder. This winter, exercise some Emmylou-style empathy: Practice your ABC's and declare a "winter watch" for animals who live outdoors. Click here to download Emmylou's chained dog PSA and click here to download her adoption PSA.
Written by Amy Elizabeth
You may have heard about the incident this weekend in which an Iraqi reporter took aim at President Bush … by throwing both his shoes at him. The footwear was flung during a news conference in Baghdad, where Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki were just about to sign a security pact. Bush called it "a way to gain attention," which is why we've got an attention-grabbing idea of our own (without the projectiles, of course).
PETA has decided to gain some attention for an important issue by collecting more footwear to send to President Bush to decry his recent gutting of important regulations in order to benefit factory farms. Yes, that's in addition to his recent attack on wildlife protection regulations. Bush's changes would let factory farms continue polluting the earth with the waste that the animals create while they are stuck in those vile, feces-filled, cramped sheds. The bill allows factory farms to burn the waste instead of sending it off to an incineration firm. The waste disposal can be better regulated in the hands of incineration firms instead of being left to the notoriously dirty factory farms. Burning factory farm waste creates yet more air and water pollution, which affects the habitats of any living beings near the farms.
PETA has a better idea: Reduce the number of animals who create the waste in the first place! If you recall our recent undercover investigation of an Iowa pig farm, you'll know that pigs and other animals raised for food live in awful conditions, often spending their entire lives in cramped cages where they are abused before being led to the slaughterhouse. If farmers would simply stop breeding more animals, all these things could be avoided.
Written by Lianne Turner
Elephant inmates, that is.
Two recent studies comparing the health of wild elephants to that of captive ones just concluded that—golly jeepers—free-roaming animals don't fare very well if they're kidnapped from their mothers and kept for life in cages—excuse me—"zoo exhibits." You see, 8,000-pound elephants physically require exercise, including being active for up to 18 hours per day (sometimes covering as much as 30 miles of open wilderness in a herd of closely-knit family members). It turns out that they frequently experience fatal side effects when they are reduced to pacing around enclosures that are typically just a fraction of an acre of unnatural habitat (or a couple of acres if they're really lucky). Imagine life in the circus, where elephants are kept in shackles almost every hour of their life, standing in feces and urine, swaying from one foot to the other.
Here are a few of the not-so-happy findings:
Strangely, Steve Feldman, spokesperson for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) said something about these findings not applying to US zoos, as the studies were conducted in European zoos. Really? Try telling that to the 63 elephants who have died at AZA-accredited facilities since 2000—more than half never reached the age of 40. And with AZA's pathetic space recommendations for elephants, which are about the size of a 3-car garage, elephants in the U.S. commonly develop deadly foot problems and arthritis.
The point, to state the obvious, is that stealing animals and using them for exploitative entertainment is outdated, unnecessary, and—hello?—wrong, and these studies give scientific evidence of it. No matter how eloquently zoos attempt to justify keeping animals in captivity to make a profit, caging elephants (or any wild animals, for that matter) is just flat-out indefensible and should be abandoned.
Now that the Olympics are over, it's impossible to turn on the TV or open the newspaper without seeing something about the Democratic National Convention. What's going to happen, what's going to be said, who's going to be there …
Well, we'll tell you who's there—the PETA pigs, that's who!
Our pigs don't have anything to say about any of the candidates, of course—they're tackling a global issue: meat!
The pigs—who are circling around the convention center and picking up passengers in their cherry red convertible—are calling for a federal excise tax on meat. (Look out for them next week as they cruise around the Republican National Convention!) Why? Well, there's a "sin" tax on cigarettes, alcohol, and gasoline. Why shouldn't there be one on meat, which is bad for both your health and the environment?
Our Senior VP Dan Mathews (who, as we know, is fond of wearing costumes) is among the protesters. He sums up the reason our pigs are calling for a 10-cents-per-pound tax: "The impact of the meat trade is as devastating to our health as the tobacco and alcohol industries put together—and even more so to the environment. Slapping a tax on meat would save countless lives—and not just those of animals."
Check out our pigs below—and if you're concerned about the health and environmental consequences of eating meat, check out GoVeg.com for a free copy of PETA's "Vegetarian Starter Kit"!
Written by Amanda Schinke
OK, ever since we mentioned our proposal to take over a SeaWorld and turn it into a virtual-reality marine-mammal theme park, some people have been a bit, well, skeptical.
Obviously, these folks aren't familiar with PETA and our unique blend of determination and outside-the-box thinking. Long story short: Never say "never" to PETA people (and that includes our wonderful members and supporters).
Anyone who doubts that we are serious—and, really, we're a little hurt, Sea World PR man—might want to check out a new animal-friendly show touring the U.S. called "Walking With Dinosaurs." It features enormous "live" dinosaurs roaring and stomping around the arena, chasing each other, foraging, and protecting their young. Imagine a life-size T. rex towering over you. Using animatronics, lighting, and sound effects, the show is thrilling family-packed audiences.
Unlike the animals currently trapped at SeaWorld, these robotic Barneys voluntarily put on an amazing 90-minute show. Machines don't get bored and anxious between performances or miss their "natural" environment, but marine mammals—who would naturally swim hundreds of miles per day, eat a diverse diet, and form complex relationships—spend their lives swimming in listless, lonely circles.
If they can already do all that with fake dinosaurs, then our SeaWorld overhaul should be a piece of cake (or maybe a cupcake), right? Like one of those aquarium screensavers—and if you're jonesing for an aquarium, that's the way to go—taken to the extreme. It's win-win: The animals are free to do their thing, and you don't go home smelling like chlorine.
Written by Jeff Mackey
People of all different backgrounds, ethnicities, races, and religions have discovered that vegetarian food tastes delicious and is good for our bodies, the environment, animals, and … yes, our souls!
Take South Los Angeles, for instance—not exactly the veggie mecca of the world. But this inner-city community heavily populated by African-Americans has seen a rise in the number of black-owned and -operated vegetarian restaurants. Owners say that the threat of obesity and other diet-linked health ailments is motivating local black residents to search for healthy options and alternatives to animal products. Restaurants like Vegan Village Café, Stuff I Eat, and Rahel's are catering to the growing interest in plant-based food.
It still might be a while before vegetarianism takes over the world, but the addition of so many new vegetarian restaurants is definitely helping! And stars like Russell Simmons, Erykah Badu, and PETA's "Sexiest Vegetarian" winner Kevin Eubanks are urging African-Americans and everyone else to choose a cruelty-free, healthy meal that won't harm the body or any other living creature.
In fact, many African-American celebrities have recently teamed up with PETA to combat the fast-food industry's attack on African-Americans. Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker, basketball legend John Salley, civil rights leader The Rev. Al Sharpton, and many more are part of this important movement. Check it out here, and watch John Salley's vegetarian testimonial below:
Written by Jennifer Cierlitsky
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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