Written by PETA
News flash: Virtually all scriptures encourage kindness and compassion. In any holy teachings—from the Bible to the Book of Mormon—you'll find language that encourages kindness to animals. With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that there are ties between Mormonism and vegetarianism.
Considering that today is Pioneer Day (it's sorta like the Fourth of July, but only for Utah and … not on July 4), Chris Foster—founder of the group Mormons for Animals—is encouraging Mormons to practice kindness to animals in accordance with their faith.
"The Mormon doctrine is strongly pro-animal. And it's strongly opposed to any kind of cruelty to animals, including mistreatment and killing when it is not necessary," Foster told local media outlet KCPW. "Unfortunately, Mormon culture didn't quite live up to that." Might this be because some people still opt to eat animals, despite the endless array of non-animal alternatives that everyone in modern society has access to?
I could restate this all day, but here's the basic idea: be truly kind, not selectively kind.
Posted by Sean Conner
This all came into question when a team of researchers in Japan (where almost everything but drinking water is prepared with fish) found a volatile chemical from perspiration on clothes worn by older participants in a sleep study. When U.S. researchers did a separate exercise study that didn’t use chronic fish-eaters, they did not come across this same compound. Analyzing both sets of data, researchers found that older study participants' sweat had more "stinky smell"—from metabolizing excess unsaturated fatty acids from the fish—than younger participants' sweat did.
To put it succinctly: Please don't eat fish, lest you grow up to be a smelly old person. (And if you do become such a person, please refrain from working out on the elliptical next to mine—you know who you are!)
So if you can't be motivated out of compassion for the sea animals who suffer immensely as they are hauled up from their aquatic homes to decompress or "drown" in the open air, please give up fish for the sake of the assisted living staff who will have to scrub your body some years from now.
Please, the fish—and the sponge-bathers—are counting on you!
The September issue of Vogue will no doubt be full of the usual "fashions" and more animal skins than the Queen of Mean can count on her two grubby hands. But what will not be in the issue, at least not in the U.S. edition of Vogue, is the usual hefty number of advertisements.
According to this story, last year's Vogue had 50 more advertisement pages than the 2008 edition will have. Translation: dollar signs are not in season.
Earlier this year, we even offered financial help to Aretha Franklin so that she could keep her house—granted she hand over the furs. And now we’re trying to help bail Anna out. If she would like to accept one of our advertisements to help her fill those empty pages, we’re here. Perhaps our beautiful Eva Mendes ad? Or, maybe our racy Joanna Krupa ad or even our sexy Imogen Bailey ad! How about a little memorial of Anna Nicole Smith?
In the past, our ads have not been welcome at Vogue. Anna is far too friendly with the fur industry which anally electrocutes animals and bodies wrapped in fur skinned off the backs of fully conscious animals to accept them, but perhaps the downturn in the economy will mark the upswing of the moral code at Vogue?
Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky
Greetings, true believers! If you're like me, your batarang is all up in a bunch this summer with all the amazing comic-book movies coming out. Between Iron Man, The Hulk, and now The Dark Knight (which opens today), it's like we've died and gone to nerd heaven. So in the spirit of the superhero season, check out PETA's official list of the Top 10 Animal-Friendly Superheroes of all time!
9. Black Panther—As the leader of the African nation of Wakanda, the Black Panther has banned the evil White Gorilla Cult from his country. Members of the cult seek to gain power by killing one of Wakanda's rare white gorillas, bathing in their blood, and eating their flesh (um, gross). The villain known as Man-Ape gained his superpowers by doing exactly that—incurring the wrath of the Black Panther and becoming one of his greatest foes.
8. Superman—In a one-shot "PSA comic" entitled "Superman: For the Animals," Supes rescues a kitten from being thrown off a bridge by a group of kids named (seriously) Ballser, Charlie, Donuts, and Eightball and, in the process, teaches everyone a valuable lesson about not picking on anyone weaker than you—including animals.
6. Thor—In the Ultimate Avengers animated movie, we find Thor out at sea with a group of activists protesting whale slaughter. If only his fellow Norwegians in the real world got the picture that whaling is a thing of the past!
5. Batman—Think of the Caped Crusader, and the first thing that comes to mind is his cape, of course. Animal lovers reveled when they learned that Batman's cape was made of cruelty-free pleather—not leather. This superhero batvocate made pleather cool again, and PETA loves him for it.
4. Beast Boy—Everyone's favorite Teen Titan also happens to be vegan (and not just because he's been hanging out on peta2.com like pretty much every other teenager). You would be, too, if you had the metamorphic ability to turn into any animal and therefore had a little compassion for the ones that get eaten.
2. Wolverine and Jean Grey—In X-Men Unlimited #44, Wolverine catches three neighborhood boys in the act of torturing and killing animals for kicks—and offers to return the favor on behalf of his furry friends. Using her psychic powers, Jean Grey instead makes the boys experience in their minds the pain and suffering that they caused to their innocent victims. In the next issue … Colonel Sanders!
1. Wonder Man—In Civil War: Frontline #5, part of Marvel's epic Civil War story arc, Wonder Man is interrupted on his way to an important function by two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents looking for answers about a mysterious aquarium store bombing (read the book). The important function? A PETA banquet. 'Nuff said.
Excelsior!
Posted by Dan Shannon
Today Canada, tomorrow the world (insert maniacal laughter here). We were totally spent from doing a victory dance over our recent KFC campaign triumph in Canada, but we've rested up and now we're ready to get back to kicking the Colonel's bucket. Continuing our Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign in other countries, including the U.S., we're not going to let up until KFC cries uncle and agrees to make some serious changes to the way its suppliers treat chickens.
Speaking of our campaign, we were recently reminiscing—while recovering from our V dance—about all the actions we've taken against KFC. We couldn't decide which one was our fave, so we thought we'd ask for your input. I'm partial to the completely unappetizing but utterly inspiring, demo-licious Bucket of Blood. Then again, Pam Anderson's video is pretty cool. See why we need your help? Check out our list below, and vote for your favorite by leaving us a comment.
1. PETA staffer changes his name to KentuckyFriedCruelty.com2. Pam Anderson video3. Super Chick Sisters video game4. The Rev. Al Sharpton's video5. Bucket of Blood 6. 'Crippled Chicken Crosses the Road' demos7. KFC sign generator8. Kentucky Fried Cruelty: The Movie9. Colonel Sanders headstone10. Kentucky Fried Cruelty HQ
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.
Follow PETA on Twitter!