Written by PETA
It's so hot in the city, you'd think I'd be making another batch of lemonade—but I've got a hankering for some Internet Soup. It's been a while since the last batch, so dig in!
Oof! I don't know about you, but I'm full after all that soup—and guac. This Special K needs a siesta. Until next time …
Written by Karin Bennett
The Pretenders' world tour landed in Salt Lake City on Sunday—and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Chrissie Hynde was happy to use the occasion to launch her PETA campaign urging McDonald's to require its suppliers to upgrade to less cruel slaughter methods. In addition to using her stage as a platform to advocate a McDonald's boycott and tossing campaign T-shirts to her audience, Chrissie unveiled her brand-new "i'm hatin' it" ad at a Salt Lake City McDonald's today. Check out some of the action below, and then head to KSL-TV to see how it played on the news:
That spectacular artwork you see there is soon to be on billboards across the country—starting with Chrissie's hometown of Akron, Ohio. Lucky Akron! First it gets its own vegan restaurant, now this awesome billboard …
Written by Amanda Schinke
I got my first vegan pancake recipe from Moby when his berry flapjacks were featured way back when in Seventeen magazine.
He could have stopped there, but it seems like Moby keeps coming up with ways to win my animal-loving heart.
In a recent blog entry, Moby goes the extra mile for animals and the planet by calling out "environmentalist" Al Gore over his refusal to ever mention that animal consumption is the leading cause of climate change. Moby says:
i asked al gore about why he didn't mention this in an 'inconvenient truth' (as animal production is responsible for more greenhouse gases than every car, bus, truck … plane, boat on the planet COMBINED). he answered honestly, basically saying that getting people to drive a hybrid car isn't that difficult. getting people to give up animal products is almost impossible. i appreciated his honesty. so i guess i'll be talking about climate change tomorrow, and i guess i'll have to mention the most inconvenient of inconvenient truths, that you can't talk seriously about climate change and global warming without looking at the role of animal production (animal production being responsible for 24% of greenhouse gas emissions and also the #1 cause of deforestation in the rainforest).
Gore should have named his movie Sorta-Inconvenient Truths if he didn't want to cover the environmental destruction that his meaty diet causes.
Written by Shawna Flavell
It's been a busy, busy week here at PETA. With so many different campaigns in full swing, we've had people out on the streets protesting the circus, and McDonald's, and the seal slaughter, and … phew. Why don't you just check out the pictures?
Written by Lianne Turner
It's the second-ever Win It Wednesday here at the PETA Files, and we have a fun one for you this week. To celebrate the launch of McCruelty.com, we're giving away "Unhappy Meals" to 10 lucky commenters. An Unhappy Meal is a lot like a McDonald's Happy Meal—it comes with toys, anyway—but our version also contains a super-sized order of reality at no extra charge. It includes a bloody chick who's so drugged up that he can't stand on his own feet as well as a cow whose throat was cut while she was still conscious—all inside a carton printed with the facts about McDonald's cruelty.
How do you win? Just leave us a comment letting us know what you'd say to Ronald McDonald if you could. I know you'd all like to give him a piece of your mind, but try to keep it PG-13 so that your comment will be approved. The 10 cleverest commenters will receive one of these limited-edition Unhappy Meals.
The contest ends on March 4, 2009, and we'll choose 10 winners on March 5, 2009. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Check back every Wednesday for new prizes. Good luck!
The good folks at the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages (CBHDC) teamed up with PETA members to hold a protest outside New York City's Central Park on Valentine's Day. They witnessed several disturbing incidents that illustrate a culture of inaction by ASPCA officers charged with monitoring the carriage industry and enforcing regulations. Read and weep:
CBHDC President Elizabeth Forel reports that one of the roads coming out of the park had a large pothole and that the drivers repeatedly drove their carriages over it. Elizabeth believes that ASPCA officers were within their power to bar the carriages from using the road, but, after numerous complaints, the only action that was taken was to put an orange traffic cone in the pothole.
Carriage drivers were so busy hurling abuse at the protesters and trying to videotape them that they came perilously close to becoming involved in serious accidents. According to witnesses, one driver drove his horse right into the traffic cone, which nearly caused the frightened animal to bolt. Shockingly, when protesters brought this incident to the attention of an ASPCA officer, he blamed the horse and refused to cite the driver.
Another driver was talking on his cell phone and almost ran into the cone. At the last minute, one of the ASPCA officers touched the horse's face in an attempt to divert him from the pothole (the horses wear blinders and can only see what's directly in front of them). This startled the horse, who veered sharply into the path of a car, which some witnesses believe may have struck the animal.
A veterinarian who attended the protest reported seeing areas on horses' skin rubbed raw by their harnesses. One lame horse mysteriously "disappeared" after protesters brought the matter to officers' attention.
Drivers repeatedly—one might even say routinely—ran red lights, but, again, the ASPCA officers did nothing. In fact, Elizabeth reports that the officers seemed more concerned with whether or not she had a permit for her protest (she didn't need one and they knew it) than they were with doing their jobs.
"The drivers do not take the ASPCA officers seriously," says Elizabeth. "If they did, they would show more respect for the law and would do as told. … They act with impunity—like they know they will not get a ticket no matter what."
Please click here to read more about the cruelty of the horse-drawn carriage industry and what you can do to help.
Written by Alisa Mullins
Lately, we've been stepping up our campaign to convince Lowe's to stop selling glue traps. In addition to our notorious "sexy mice" demos, we've designed a brand-new billboard, and today we're contacting officials in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Charlotte, North Carolina, to request prominent placement of the ad in their cities. We all know that the real villain here is Lowe's, but we hope that these billboards will educate the public about the cruelty of glue traps and convince people to use only humane methods of managing mice. Check out the billboard below:
Oh, and if you have any creative ideas about how we can target Lowe's next, leave a comment and let us know!
Written by Liz Graffeo
You might have noticed in your holiday travels that airlines have been cutting back on a lot in order to save money, which is bad news for people who depend on those dry-roasted peanuts and tiny packs of pretzels for mile-high sustenance. Some airlines, such as US Airways, are considering placing ads on their overhead bins to increase revenue. We think it's a fantastic idea and certainly much better than charging for luggage!
PETA has stepped up to the plate to offer an ad to US Airways and get this new option rolling. Here's a sneak peak at our new ad, featuring a cartoon by the wonderful Dan Piraro:
"Cages aren't for the birds. Let them fly free." Get it? Fly free? Airlines? Anyway, the cartoon may be funny, but the reality for caged birds is not.
We hope for the birds' sake that US Airways will accept our ad offer—and maybe no passenger will have to go without peanuts.
Eight years ago, we suspended our McCruelty campaign against McDonald's (by placing an indefinite moratorium on the campaign) after the company agreed to adopt some basic animal welfare measures. Since that time, we've worked behind the scenes with McDonald's to improve conditions for its animals … and we're hatin' what we're seein'.
What's got our (veggie) burgers broiling? Well, after having the better part of a decade to continue to improve conditions for animals, McDonald's has virtually nothing to show for it—especially when it comes to chickens.
In particular, we've been urging McDonald's for many years to require its U.S. chicken suppliers to switch to a less cruel slaughter method called "controlled-atmosphere killing" (CAK). McDonald's even produced a report way back in 2005 agreeing with us that CAK offers significant animal welfare benefits over the current slaughter method (which results in broken bones and causes birds to have their throats cut while they are still conscious), but the company has yet to make any of its U.S. suppliers switch to this better method.
So, the McCruelty campaign is back. That's right, we're throwin' down with the clown. And to help us kick things off right, rock goddess Chrissie Hynde joined us for a protest outside "The Rock 'N' Roll McDonald's" (you can't get more rock 'n' roll than Chrissie) in downtown Chicago, where we unveiled our new "I'm Hatin' It" McCruelty logo, complete with a hijacked version of McDonald's slogan. We also took the opportunity to do a little consciousness-raising by showing our new video, which reveals how chickens suffer at slaughterhouses that use the same slaughter methods as those used by McDonald's U.S. suppliers. Check out the photos below:
Look out, Mickey D's, it's on.
Written by Jeff Mackey
Our Valentine's Day gift to you. Enjoy!
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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