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A fire that destroyed a single barn on a turkey farm in Richlands, North Carolina, killed 6,600 animals. The owners think that the electricity in the old building started the fire, which swept through the entire barn, burning to death every bird crammed inside it. The owners dug a mass grave for the bodies and intend to continue their turkey-farming business.

These birds died in a horrific way, but the future they faced wasn't much better. On turkey farms, thousands of birds are packed into dark, filthy sheds. Portions of their toes and beaks are cut off without any painkillers. They are genetically bred to grow as fast as possible, and many become crippled under their own weight. Turkeys are allowed to live just five or six months before they are shackled, have their throats cut, and are sometimes scalded alive in defeathering tanks—all to become a sandwich or centerpiece.

Don't let turkeys suffer and die for your next meal. Send for your free vegetarian/vegan starter kit today and enjoy the many benefits of a healthy and kind life.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

It's the time of year for giving thanks and sharing. And by "sharing," I mean "throwing" virtual pies at Butterball on Twitter.

Help us give this turkey-tormenting corporation a tasty surprise by tweeting some tart-tongued treats at them. Click on one (or all) of these scrumptious holiday flavors, and a tweet with a virtual pie in it will be posted:

Toss a "Trekkin' for a Peckin'" Pie.

Send a "Not Your Mommas Apple" Pie.

Hurl a "Don’t be a punk'(in)" pie.

Ready, aim...fire away! After you've completed this virtual pie-throwing task, your next mission is to bake the real deal for a dee-lish vegan Thanksgiving feast. That's a direct order from your taste buds.

Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth

I know what you're thinking: There's an upside to rising fuel costs? We won't see it at the fuel pump or in the grocery story, but perhaps there really is a silver lining—and not just for the Saudis and the speculators.

This isn't news to loyal readers of The PETA Files, but fattening and killing animals so that we can eat them is wildly inefficient, to say nothing of gross. It uses up a lot of grain and fuel. With the prices of corn—which makes up 60 percent of turkey feed—and fuel going through the roof, some factory farms and slaughterhouses have started cutting production.

A turkey slaughterhouse in Utah is putting operations on hold for three months, and the turkey breeders, turkey hatcheries, and other operations that supply turkeys to the slaughterhouse will be cutting back on production. Over one million turkeys—"smart animals with personality and character," in the words of Oregon State University poultry scientist Tom Savage—will be saved. Check out the letter that we sent to the farm today asking it to consider stopping turkey production all together!

Here are five more good things about rising fuel costs:

1. Squid fishers suspended fishing for two days to protest rising fuel costs. Don't let any dopey people shrug their shoulders and think, "So what?" When you can, show them this mind-blowing video about squids' satin-smooth seduction moves.
2. Later this month, 230,000 Japanese fisherman will strike over fuel prices. Sushi lovers fear shortages of tuna sushi and sashimi, but vegan sushi is delicious and doesn't require that the seas be fished until they're devoid of all life. Win-win.
3. A rash of gas thefts across the nation might inspire reward money for nabbing criminals caught siphoning gas. Crime is bad. Reward money for catching criminals is good.
4. With airlines now charging for checked bags and soda, there's speculation that they might start charging by weight, which could inspire more people to go vegetarian.
5. And leave it to our friends in Boulder, Colorado, to strip down to the basics and wheel out the fun with a caravan of naked bicyclists. The cyclists' message? Depending too much on oil is nuts.

Her new role in The Wackness is already getting rave reviews, and we couldn't be happier! The Rama's Screen review says, "Every year there's always one independent movie that premieres at Sundance Film Festival that goes on to be the year's most groundbreaking film worthy to compete with other Oscar worthy contenders and for this year, The Wackness is definitely it." Right on, Famke! Ya'll need to get your behinds to your most eclectic lil' indie theatre tomorrow to see this movie!

You probably remember that Famke showed that she deserved a halo and wings for her devotion to her dog Licorice. Both Licorice and Famke appeared in a PETA "Be an Angel for Animals" ad. In the ad, Famke reminded everyone to spay or neuter their companion animals and ensure that they receive proper veterinary care and get plenty of attention and exercise.

Thanks, Famke, for using your beauty in the most attractive way possible! We all wish you the best with The Wackness!

Posted by Robbie LeBlanc

Now imagine the spectators' surprise if the corner was rounded not by tortured animals but by Formula 1 racing cars. The mighty, 600-kilogram (1323-pound) masses of metal are operated by professional drivers who squeal their tires on the cobblestones and maneuver around corners so tightly that spectators are forced to scramble to safety. How freakin' awesome—and better—would that be?

Well, it turns out that that's what actually happened last weekend. Red Bull sponsored an event where two drivers, David Coulthard and Sebastien Bourdais, tore through the streets of Pamplona early on the morning of June 28. They finished the Red Bull Run with car demonstrations in the bullfighting arena and on a 1.2-mile track.

The best feature of this event was that—unlike what happens at that other Running of the Bulls—the drivers who gave chase weren't beaten before the race, and chemicals weren't smeared in their eyes. The drivers were paid, too. Oh yeah—and the drivers weren't stabbed to death afterward, either, which is nice.

You can check out all sorts of details and videos of the rockin' event here.

Posted by Sean Conner

evilbeetgossip / CC

So it was great to read on People.com this morning that the actress and producer is jumping headfirst into the blogging world. And by headfirst, I mean straight into the deep end of animals rights. Hey, we like a girl who gets right down to business!

She mentions her love for her dogs, nonprofit organizations, and Hole in the Paper Sky, a recent short film about the life of a man who is forever changed by the companionship he receives from a laboratory dog. Whether you've seen PETA's video about animal testing or not, Hole in the Paper Sky sounds like a definite tearjerker.

Anyway, Biel is MySpace Celebrity's feature icon, and here's her blog. So while she's mastering the whole blog-lingo thing, I recommend jumping on over there to see what she has to say.

And don't worry, Jessica. There are no blurkers here. ...

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

Our very own Pam Anderson has auctioned off her Dodge Viper. Why did she give up this super speedy racer? Because she cares more about real reptiles—and all other exotic animals whose skin is torn from their flesh for fashion. (Don't you love the alliteration bug that I caught today?) Pam has pledged to give the proceeds from the auction to PETA so that we can use the money to inform people who think that they might want a reptile-skin bag about how these amazing animals are treated when they're converted from captivating creatures to cruel clothing. (There I go again!)

Snake skin and alligator skin—heck, all animal skin—were designed for the original occupants' use only. Several thousand years of evolution went into making their scales and hides fit them beautifully—not some misguided fashionista who's going for the "I just got kicked off the island" look.

Posted by Sean Conner

It's a bird! It's a plane! Wait! It's a plane looking to help birds—chickens, to be precise.

Beachgoers flocking (geddit?) to Panama City's crowded beaches had something far more interesting to gawk at this weekend than women in skimpy bikinis, as an airplane hired by PETA flew overhead, towing a banner that read, "Boycott KFC Cruelty."

Now if you've been following PETA campaigns for the last, oh I don't know, 7 years or so, you'd know that this is a huge success considering we spelled all the words right this time around! Way to go, literate banner-manufacturers! (Yes, we got our money back when one banner company misspelled "dangerous")

After reaching a landmark animal welfare agreement earlier last month that will mean better living and dying conditions for all chickens killed for KFCs in Canada (the new faux fried chicken sandwiches offered at most Canadian KFCs are even causing us to celebrate that today is Canada Day), PETA is unleashing its "air force" to turn up the heat on Canadian KFCs' lousy, mean U.S. affiliate. Celebrities from Ryan Gosling and Pam Anderson to Sir Paul McCartney and Russell Simmons have all spoken out against KFC's extreme abuse of chickens, but this is the first time that an airplane has "spoken up" for chickens.

Check out this picture of our superhero for chickens in action!