Hamsters were put into a plastic bag and bashed against a table. Animals were cruelly killed, abusively handled, and forced to live in severely crowded, filthy conditions. The findings of PETA's undercover investigation of Sun Pet Ltd.—a supplier of animals to stores nationwide, including PETCO and PetSmart—are so shocking that it's no wonder that so many of you have been calling and writing to these companies concerning their ties to Sun Pet (and thanks for doing so).

Now PETCO is responding, using form letters and automated phone responses that stretch the truth like an old-fashioned taffy pull. Let's have a look at the form letter:

PETCO is quite aware that this is the fourth PETA undercover investigation of its animal sources—after North American Pet Distributors (NAPD), Rainbow World Exotics, and U.S. Global Exotics—and that every investigation found factory farm conditions, filth, crowding, deprivation, neglect, cruelty, and slow, painful death. Yet PETCO continues to do business with these mills and hasn't put a stop to its suppliers' abuses.

For more than eight months this year, a PETA investigator worked undercover inside University of Utah animal labs, where she documented the miserable conditions and daily suffering of dogs, cats, monkeys, rats, mice, rabbits, frogs, cows, pigs, and sheep. Today, The Salt Lake Tribune ran a story about the investigation, including the response from Tom Parks, the university's vice president for research. The response is (not so) stunningly callous: "None of the things she alleges are substantive. It's a remarkably banal list of ordinary events in an animal-care facility."

Here's a list of the things the university considers "banal"—part of an "ordinary" day in the "animal-care facility":

• Cutting the spinal cords and tender eyes of rabbits and tying off the nerves in the paws of rats to study pain
• Buying homeless cats from animal shelters, drilling holes into their heads, and injecting their kittens' brains with harmful chemicals
• Cutting into the chests of dogs from animal shelters and implanting medical devices for deadly heart experiments
• Drilling holes into monkeys' skulls, confining them in tiny cages, and keeping them constantly thirsty so that they will "cooperate" in experiments in exchange for a few drops of water
• Inflicting mice with tumors the size of golf balls that covered the animals' bodies

Brain injections, desperate thirst, tumors, and holes in skulls: just another banal day in the lab, right?

We have filed complaints against the university with the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local law-enforcement officials, and you can take action to help animals at the University of Utah too.

Written by Logan Scherer

wqed / CC

As horrible as the findings were, our undercover investigation at Aviagen has proven to be the gift that keeps on giving—giving out indictments to those we caught on video abusing animals, that is.

Quick review: A PETA investigator went undercover on Aviagen's turkey factory farms in West Virginia and gathered evidence that workers broke turkeys' necks, stomped on their heads, and shoved feces and feed into turkeys' mouths. This evidence led to the first-ever indictments for felony cruelty-to-animals charges for abusing birds, and the first-ever cruelty convictions of turkey factory-farm workers.

Aviagen's farms are spread out over multiple counties in West Virginia, which means that workers were subject to prosecution in each county where they abused or neglected these intelligent, sensitive birds. The first indictments were handed down in Greenbrier County, and now further felony indictments have been issued in Monroe County against Walter Hambrick and Scott White. White was already convicted in Greenbrier County of the cruelty he committed there, and he went to jail. Hambrick—whose charges in Greenbrier County are still pending—now faces three more felonies just a few minutes down the road.

Of course, it's easy as (eggless, nondairy) pie to stop contributing to factory farm and slaughterhouse cruelty—like the kind at Aviagen, Belcross, AgriProcessors, Pilgrim's Pride, and too many others to mention—simply by going vegetarian.

Written by Jeff Mackey

Yesterday was a big day for the dairy industry. People across the nation were getting their first peek into what dairy farming actually looks like as media outlets covered PETA's recent, revealing undercover investigation into the putrid living conditions and the abusive treatment of cows on one Land O'Lakes supplier's factory farm. At the same time, PETA was dropping in on the first day of the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin.

A couple of passionate ladies were on hand at the Expo to let attendees and passersby know that the dairy industry is dreadful for cows and disgusting for humans. Our undercover investigation revealed that cows at milking stations were caked in feces and urine. It also showed that many of these gentle animals had untreated abscesses that sometimes burst and oozed pus as cows were being milked.

After hearing stories like these, people in Madison were quick to take home copies of our "Vegetarian Starter Kit." Why don't you do the same?

Written by Shawna Flavell

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:

• Warning! Seals can literally cute you to death.
• Kiddies catch E. coli from petting zoo. Animals unnaturally held captive. Why is this still appealing?
• "Clucking" mad at KFC? I bet that's why this chicken wanders through its drive-through.
• The real Scorpion King creatively atones for his sins. Love this!
• Sesame Street reps tofu! The revolution is here!
• Lacking imagination and compassion, yet another "Elmer Fudd" accidentally shoots himself.
• Hug a Vegetarian Day is right around the corner. Show some love, y'all!
• This is both creepy and thought-provoking.

Thanks for stopping by! Catch you next time, and don't forget to hug all your vegetarian friends.

Written by Missy Lane

posh24 / CC

You may have read about PETA friend and former Miss USA Shanna Moakler and her ex-husband, Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker, taking their kids to the circus a couple of weeks ago—but that was before she saw the recently released footage from our undercover investigation at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. As Shanna explains:

Well said, Shanna! Readers, if you haven't yet seen the video Shanna mentions, head on over to RinglingBeatsAnimals.com to watch it and find out what you can do to help stop animal abuse at Ringling.

Written by Amanda Schinke

This is it, people! The circus industry is built on masking animal torture as family fun—and it's time to force that industry to crumble. As you may know, this week PETA broke our latest undercover investigation into Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. With the powerful footage obtained by our investigator, we are closer than ever to seeing animals freed from the living hell that is life in the circus. Can you imagine being stolen from your mom and chained for an average of more than 26 hours at a time, sometimes for as many as 60–100 hours straight, only to be beaten and forced to perform day after day?

My friends, you're in a position to help end their suffering. How, you ask? For starters, watch the video. Second, sign this petition and forward it to all your friends via every social networking site you're on. (There are even links at the bottom of the petition to help you do it.)

And finally, my personal fave—get your booty on the street and protest like these hipsters!

Just think—this could be you!

Standing up for animals is fulfilling, to say the least. Believe me. So get on out there, y'all!

Written by Missy Lane

You can't pick up a newspaper (or browse a news blog) anymore without seeing an article lamenting the state of the economy—especially when it comes to unemployment. The question on everyone's mind seems to be, "Are there any jobs available?" Sadly, the answer in the meager want ads seems to be a resounding "No."

But there's hope, people! One place, at least, is still hiring. Thanks to the exponentially increasing interest in animal rights (just look at the reactions to our new undercover investigation), PETA has been fortunate enough to be able to expand its workforce.

This video makes excellent points about PETA's mission, but I would like to add a few more reasons why working for PETA is the best job in the world*:

1. When somebody offers you a snack, there's no need to say, "Thanks, but is it vegan?" (It is!)
2. At PETA, every day is "Take Your Dog to Work Day." (If only Sir Dracula were up to making the trip to the office.)
3. When I tell people what I do for a living, they invariably ask me if I've ever gone naked for a protest. What a conversation-starter!
4. On a related note, two words: naked celebrities.
5. And, of course, there's the fact that you're helping to fight animal abuse around the world—and that's no small thing.

Convinced? I thought so. So head on over to check out our current job openings and give us a holler—we'd love to hear from you.

Written by Amanda Schinke

*According to a recent study, the worst job in the world is that of a lumberjack. PETA has no lumberjack positions. Coincidence? Or evidence of how awesome PETA is?

marketplace.publicradio / CC

A few days ago, I wrote about how animal testing in the U.K. is on the rise. It struck a chord with a lot of PETA Files readers, who were outraged that animals continue to be killed in cruel experiments, despite the availability of more effective, non-animal methods. The very first person to comment on the blog was Carla*, who said:

The rest of you echoed her response.

Because this is an issue that resonates with so many people, I thought you might enjoy reading this article in the U.K.'s Guardian, written by human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. Tatchell attacks the recent Home Office report head-on and calls on the U.K. government to work diligently to rid the nation of crude animal experiments. The entire article is available after the jump.

Written by Shawna Flavell

Our recent undercover investigation, which revealed exactly what happens to horses abandoned by the coldhearted racing industry, has been picked up by a variety of news outlets, but we were particularly glad to see this piece featured on ESPN's Outside the Lines:

Maybe now more sports fans will recognize that horse racing is anything but sporting—especially for the thousands of horses who meet tragic ends every year—and perhaps they'll join us in calling for an end to these abuses.

Written by Jeff Mackey