Written by PETA
Alarms went off at PETA when we learned that filming for Tom Cruise's upcoming movie, Knight and Day, included the use of live animals to recreate Pamplona's infamous and cruel Running of the Bulls. The Mirror reports that seven bulls used for the production in Spain escaped and injured two women.
We hope that Mr. Cruise will share our concerns when he learns how animals suffer in the annual Running of the Bulls. As human runners and spectators gouge the bulls with sticks and pull their tails, many bulls slip on the pavement and/or slam into buildings, breaking their horns and legs. In their desperate attempts to escape their tormenters, bulls sometimes gore and trample people. As if that weren't enough cruelty, bulls later dragged into the bullrings are repeatedly stabbed and bled to weaken them by bullfighters who sever the animals' spines while the animals are fully conscious.
Will Tom Cruise do as we've asked and use his influence and help bulls by encouraging producers to cut the scene from the film? I believe that PETA's effort is definitely a Mission ImPossible. What do you think?
Updates will follow.
Written by Karin Bennett
I thought that getting Tom Cruise to squirm uncomfortably during the premiere of The Jay Leno Show would be the program's most misguided attempt at "fun." Wrong.
Apparently, Jay Leno's stint as a teenage employee under the Golden Arches got execs at NBC and McDonald's thinking that the talk show host should feature a month-long promo for the fast-food giant on his new program.
With the news that McCruelty is slated for some prime-time exposure, out came PETA's "chickens." They greeted audiences lining up for yesterday's taping of The Jay Leno Show with news that McDonald's refuses to adopt an improved slaughter method called "controlled-atmosphere killing" (CAK). McDonald's American suppliers still use an archaic killing method that causes countless birds to suffer broken wings and broken legs, have their throats cut while they're still conscious, and be scalded to death. Even McDonald's own advisers agree that the company should eliminate the worst abuses by switching to CAK, which is already used by McDonald's European suppliers.
Ever the optimists, we're crossing our fingers in the hope that Mr. Leno will use his influence to convince McDonald's to help billions of birds.
Stay tuned for updates.
So check it: Last year, Giorgio Armani told Time magazine, "I spoke with the people from PETA, and they showed me some materials that convinced me not to use fur." All well and good right? I mean, who could wear fur—let alone mass produce it—after seeing where it really comes from!
WRONG!
Armani's fall collection includes (gag!) fur coats for babies (so, so wrong), floral-printed fur coats (don't try and dress up what it really is), fur-hemmed skirts (no thank you!), and fur-trimmed jackets (hell to the no). As you can imagine, we're going postal up in here. But instead of disrupting his shows during Fashion Week in Milan last week, PETA is aiming higher—at the stars, in fact.
PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews, in all his fabulousity, hit 'em where it hurts …. TomKat anyone?!
Check out the full text of Dan's letter to Tom and Katie below, and make sure to leave a comment to tell us what you think.
PETA is sending similar appeals this week to Kristin Chenoweth, Glenn Close, and Heidi Klum, all of whom wore Armani to the Emmys on Sunday. Ew, right?
September 23, 2008Tom Cruise and Katie Holmesc/o Jeff RaymondDear Tom and Katie, Greetings from PETA, where we've always admired your fur-free personal style. Because you are among the most highly visible wearers of Giorgio Armani, we are obliged to alert you to a distressing situation that has arisen with the company. We've been in talks with Armani for the past few years, asking the designer to drop fur. We showed his senior design team PETA's four-minute video—which documents how animals on fur farms are strangled, electrocuted, and skinned alive—and a few months later, Armani told Time magazine that his meetings with PETA, "convinced me not to use fur." Unfortunately, he's gone back on his word; his new collections are full of fur.Most shockingly, his collections include fur coats for babies and kids. Please be vigilant about any packages that Armani sends for Suri, as they could include bunny fur from his toddler lines. We imagine that Suri, like other children, has a natural affinity for animals, which is why we find it shocking that Armani is not only breaking his fur-free promise but also trying to lure children into fashion derived from skinned rabbits. We also ask that you please use your considerable influence with Mr. Armani to urge him to keep his word and leave fur out of future collections and that you consider wearing fashions from some of the fur-free designers such as Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, and Stella McCartney. Thank you very much for your consideration. Sincerely,Dan MathewsVice PresidentPETA
Written by Christine Doré
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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.