Written by PETA
Please click here to let Les Moonves know that encouraging kids to kill animals is a new low for him (which is saying something), and that he needs drop these lousy stunts right now, no matter how good they may be for his ratings.
Not all of Oscar De La Hoya's fans were as happy about the pics of the world-famous boxer prancing around in fishnets and a mini skirt as we were here at PETA. But as soon as we saw the photos—which have been dutifully circulating the celebrity blog circuit this week after the good folks at x17 broke the story—we thought he'd be just perfect for our Fur Is a Drag campaign. You can read PETA's letter to Oscar below. We just can’t figure out why his management is so upset about the whole thing—men as diverse as Rudy Giuliani, Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, and Jamie Foxx have donned a dress without any adverse effect to their careers. Don't you think Oscar would be a knockout on the catwalk?
Dear Oscar,The controversy surrounding the cross-dressing photos of you could be turned around to do some good. One of PETA’s most amusing ongoing campaigns is called Fur Is a Drag, which has involved parodies of fur fashion shows, featuring cross-dressing models sporting donated furs which are spattered with paint and accessorized with cruel leghold traps. We’re planning our next Fur is Drag runway parody for this December in New York, to be hosted by drag sensation Lady Bunny, founder of the Wigstock festival. Might you consider walking the catwalk? You’d be a real knockout. Maybe we can help turn this scandal from a sow’s ear into a silk purse—with matching pumps. Sincerely,Dan MathewsVice PresidentPETA
I love me some Nellie McKay. She just released her new album, Obligatory Villagers, yesterday, so I wanted to give it a quick shout out. Nellie never misses an opportunity to talk about her love of animals and what people can do to make the world a better place for them, and here’s what she had to say when she sat down with the uber-hip peta2 posse recently:
Tell us about the new album, Obligatory Villagers.
It's a rumbus opus, a ragtime sonata. It's about the times we live in.
What animal rights issues are you most passionate about?
Every outrage deserves attention. In terms of scope, ending factory farming & our relationship to animals as food is key, because from there, victory in other areas is inevitable.
Do you think schools should be required to offer students alternatives to dissection? Why?
Schools should not only offer students alternatives, they should completely remove dissection & vivisection from their curriculum. Knowledge without compassion is useless.
Do you have any dissection horror stories from your school days that you'd like to share?
In fourth grade we campaigned to remove formaldehyde jars entombing small animals from the science room. We circulated petitions & met w/the principal & made the teachers really nervous. The jars were removed.
Why did you choose to become a vegetarian?
I was fortunate enough to go vegetarian w/my parents. The sight of caged & suffering animals in animal rights literature elicited an instant response of sadness & anger. Kids have a natural empathy w/ animals.
What's your favorite vegetarian dish?
My Mother's vegan fish & chips w/ brown beans is always on the top of the list.
Any advice for people who want to get involved in animal rights but don't know how to get started?
The biggest thing you can do for the animals, the earth, & humankind (including yourself) is to switch to an animal-free diet. It may not be easy, it may not be instant, but start & watch the world change for the better.
What's up next for you?
I'm working with the Coalition to Preserve Community to prevent Columbia University from demolishing eighteen acres of Harlem to construct a new campus. Among their development plans is a level-3 biotech lab, which would almost certainly include animal research. And of course, I mention ColumbiaCruelty.com wherever I go.
KP was my boss for the first year that I was at PETA, back when I was an editor for the organization myself and spent my days obsessing over em-dashes, misplaced modifiers, and dangling participles (OK, I still obsess over those things, but in those days it was actually useful to someone), so I'm very excited to announce that she's writing a new blog for PETA, which will be focusing on how to keep your canine companion happy and healthy, with an emphasis on weird hippie stuff like holistic medicine and chiropractics. In all seriousness, the blog is a ton of fun, and it's a great resource for anybody who loves dogs—and if you're into alternative medicine, there's probably gonna be a good deal of that for you too.
So head on over to KP's Dog Blog when you get a chance, and let her know what you think. Also, if you have time, I’d be very grateful if you could scour every word of the blog—and if you can find any grammatical errors (even just, like, a comma out of place), report them back to me.
Three dogfighters knocked out of the ring (or should that be pit) early! Two more of Michael Vick's alleged accomplices entered guilty pleas in Richmond today, and there is no doubt that Michael Vick is huddled with his attorneys, deciding whether or not he will follow suit early next week.
According to The Houston Chronicle, "A statement of facts signed by Taylor as part of his plea agreement placed Vick at the scene of several dogfights and linked him to betting. Taylor said Vick financed virtually all the "Bad Newz Kennels" operation on Vick's property in Surry County."
If Vick is ultimately tied to betting on these dogfights, it is likely to trigger a lifetime ban from the NFL under the league's personal conduct policy, which does not look kindly on illegal gambling. Does anyone else think it might be a good idea for the policy to include a similar stance against charges of electrocution and drowning?
PETA was present at the hearing, and I've posted some images for you below.
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
For those who don’t know, I am a big Peter Dinklage fan. He won me over in The Station Agent (if you haven’t seen this, add it to your Netflix list pronto, seriously) a few years ago and I’ve been keeping up with his career ever since. So I was glad to see him getting huge props from super-critic Roger Ebert for his new movie, Death at a Funeral. Ebert said that Dinklage “…is becoming my favorite go-to actor for any movie that needs someone to go to. [H]e has that ability to make you brighten up and take notice, because with such a person on the screen something is bound to happen. Dinklage can look handsome in that menacing way that suggests he’s about to dine out on your fondest hopes and dreams.” Not bad, coming from the guy who can make or break a movie, depending on his choice of two simple words: “thumbs up” or “thumbs down.”
Dinklage is also in the next Narnia movie, due out next April, but to hold you over until then, check out the “veggie testimonial” he shot a few months back.
And speaking of veggie testimonials, the next one in the hopper is so funny that an intern actually had to leave a meeting yesterday because she couldn’t stop laughing. Stay tuned for more on that soon. . .
All you heavy metal fans will probably want to throw devil horns in the air, because long-time vegan and Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler just got in touch with us from the road to let us know how he feels about KFC. Here’s what he had to say about the Colonel’s treatment of our feathered friends: “Life is God’s or natures’ greatest gift. All life should be treated with respect and dignity. I am sure most people would be horrified at the way K.F.C. treats its chickens. People have a choice in what they eat, but those chickens do not have a choice in the way they are treated. If people let K.F.C. know of their concerns, then hopefully the chickens will be treated ethically.”
And for those of you who need a little Sabbath fix to get you through the rest of your day, here you go.
One of Barker's many accomplishments to help prevent animal suffering was to enact a ban on his show of giving away fur coats as prizes. He wanted to have no part in promoting something as horrible as fur, and The Price Is Right was fur-free right up until Barker's retirement. The good news that we just received this week, after writing to the show's producers to make sure that things were going to stay that way, is that the show's new host, Drew Carey, and the team behind The Price Is Right, share Bob Barker's anti-fur stance 100 percent. Here's the note they sent us:
"The Price Is Right," the show will honor Bob Barker's rule not to give away fur coats as prizes. 'The Price Is Right' is very proud that we were one of the first shows to realize, through Mr. Barker, that glamorizing fur coats as prizes must stop."
Right on, guys—we wish you the best of luck with the new show.
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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