You might expect to see gloomy angels descend to Earth during the end times, but yesterday in Oakland, California, two PETA angels were all smiles as they offered passersby a sweet treat ahead of California resident Harold Camping's predicted apocalypse. It was a flurry of halos, wings, and lingerie as our angels for animals handed out vegan cookies and nearly 500 vegetarian/vegan starter kits.

In addition to providing delicious vegan victuals to help make the eve of the rapture as pleasant as possible, the angels reminded passersby that eating animal products supports hell on Earth for animals. Pigs, cows, and chickens are raised in cramped, filthy conditions before being crammed onto trucks and dumped at slaughterhouses where they suffer slow, agonizing deaths as they are hung upside down by their legs and have their throats cut while still conscious. 

To make your last supper before the world ends a compassionate one, check out PETA's vegetarian/vegan starter kit. As one passing admirer said about our angels, "Vegan—is that what they are? I want to do that!" 

Written by Heather Faraid Drennan

PETA U.K. supporter Fauja Singh ran into the record books on Sunday when he completed the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon and became the oldest person ever to do so, at 100 years old. The "Turbaned Torpedo" credits his vegetarian diet, among other factors, with giving him the incredible stamina that propelled him into the Guinness World Records. This may be the best inspiration ever to get us off the couch and into some running shoes and is also living proof of why it's never too late to incorporate healthy, plant-based foods into your diet.

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Even if you don't plan to break any world records, a plant-based diet is a veritable fountain of youth: Vegetarians and vegans live an average of six to 10 years longer than meat-eaters do.

To follow in Singh's footsteps, take the 30-day vegan pledge today and urge others you know—of all ages—to do the same.

Written by Heather Faraid Drennan

No animals were arrested in the making of this protest, but yesterday in Zuccotti Park Liberty Square, a "pig," "cow," and "chicken" joined the Occupy Wall Street protesters to push for more corporate accountability. Our animals were at the center of a whirlwind of police, photographers, protesters, and intrigued passersby who stopped to read the animals' posters and pick up copies of PETA's vegetarian/vegan starter kit.

Bearing delicious vegan pizzas, the animals—representing 100 percent of the animals raised for food in the U.S.—brought attention to the fact that corporate greed is responsible for billions of animals' being treated like cogs in a meat machine rather than the intelligent, sensitive individuals they are.

On factory farms, pigs have their tails and testicles cut off without being given any painkillers; cows are fattened for slaughter on barren, filthy feed lots; and chickens are crammed by the tens of thousands into airless sheds, where their accumulated waste results in ammonia-laden air that burns their eyes and throats.

To opt out of the corporate abuse of animals, order your own free vegetarian/vegan starter kit and get busy breaking down the barricades to protecting animals, your health, and the planet.

Written by Heather Faraid Drennan

After reading these cheese facts, you won't smile when someone says, "Say cheese!" In fact, the thought of cheese might make your stomach turn. Speaking of stomachs, let's jump right into why eating cheese could make you heave:

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• Many cheeses are made with rennet, an enzyme that comes from calves' stomach lining. That's right—the pre-cheese gloop must pass through a simulated calf stomach to start things off. Kinda hard to stomach, isn't it?
• Cheese is crawling with bacteria—some of it harmless, some of it pretty icky. For example, the same family of bacteria that makes Limburger cheese smell so bad, brevibacterium linens, is what makes your feet smell so bad.
• Two words—spray mold. Cheesemakers spray the outside of soft, slimy cheeses like brie with mold to create a white rind. The next time someone tries to shove a brie-slathered cracker at you, you might want to say, "Hold the mold!"
• If you have to wonder what the pus content of something is, should you really be eating it? Cheese—like all dairy products—contains pus from cows whose udders get bacterial infections when the cows are treated like milk machines by the dairy industry.
• Cheese is loaded with artery-clogging saturated fat and cholesterol. Most varieties derive 70 to 80 percent of their calories from fat, while cream cheese is a whopping 90 percent fat. The good news is that yummy vegan cheeses like Daiya and Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese contain no cholesterol and slash the fat without sacrificing flavor.

And if all those reasons aren't enough to make your stomach turn, just think about the cows forced to stand knee-deep in their own feces and mud on factory farms, having their babies ripped away from them within days of birth so that humans can drink the milk nature intended for them.

So, if you're still eating cheese, what are you waiting for? Spare cows and your health by tossing that moldy piece of pus-laced stomach lining, and try some tempting vegan cheese options today.

Written by Heather Faraid Drennan

Whoa! Joey Lawrence rescued a dog from a local animal shelter while filming in Australia. He called his new family member "the most amazing little thing ever." Another shelter dog—a pit bull who was rescued from a trash chute—has inspired Newark Mayor Cory Booker to build a new state-of-the-art animal shelter. And to further fight cruelty to animals, the mayor's also a vegetarian.

The Rev. Al Sharpton has made the heavenly decision to cut meat almost completely out of his diet too. And Lady Gaga will have to cut meat out of her wardrobe when she performs for Bill Clinton at the Hollywood Bowl tomorrow. The former pres told David Letterman, "In deference to my diet, she'll be meatless that night."

Speaking of cruelty-free garb, The Veronicas sent flowers to Australian designer Rachel Gilbert to thank her for ditching fur.  

And just check out what these compassionate celebs had to say to their Twitter followers:

Written by Michelle Sherrow

All they need is love! Congratulations to Sir Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell who were married in an intimate ceremony at London's Old Marylebone Town Hall on Sunday.

After the nuptials, longtime vegetarian and PETA supporter Sir Paul and his new bride invited family and close friends to his St. John's Wood estate for a three-course vegetarian feast and two wedding cakes. The bride looked radiant in a dress designed by Sir Paul's daughter, Stella, who is leather- and fur-free and also a PETA supporter. 

While many hearts are surely breaking anew around the world at news of "the cute one" being taken off the market, we're happy that Sir Paul, who gives so much of his time to helping animals, has found someone special to give all his loving to.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

When Food Network chef Giada De Laurentiis asked her viewers what they'd like her to cook, they overwhelmingly requested more vegetarian meals. In fact, De Laurentiis predicts vegetarian meals will be the hot trend in 2012, and in preparation, she's been testing a variety of mouthwatering vegetarian concoctions. She says in a Food Network video that when her mother went vegetarian, "I sort of made it my mission to start coming up with dishes that wouldn't make you miss the meat." In the video, De Laurentiis shares her recipes for delectable dishes, including a zesty vegan curry bean dip:

To help get her creative juices flowing for developing more vegetarian delights, PETA sent De Laurentiis a copy of The Conscious Cook by vegan chef Tal Ronnen, who has cooked for the likes of Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres. The book is a wealth of information about delicious, versatile, and protein-rich faux meats that can be the basis for healthy plant-based meals.

To get a jump start on 2012's vegetarian food craze, pick up your own copy of Chef Tal's book, or browse the free vegetarian recipes on PETA's "Living" page right now!

Written by Heather Faraid Drennan

The late Steve Jobs may have been known for his signature black turtleneck, but it is for his green diet that he probably will be most fondly remembered by people who care about animals. The Apple cofounder, who died yesterday, was a vegetarian and a longtime health advocate who reportedly once handed out containers of carrot juice at Halloween.

We remember Jobs for so many innovative ideas, including Apple's iPhoto facial recognition software, which recognizes the faces of cats in addition to those of humans, reflecting the importance of companion animals in our homes and hearts. PETA also recently recognized Jobs for what he didn't do: He refused to sell a gruesome app on Apple's app store called iSealClub—which involved, as the name suggests, bashing cartoon seals over the head with clubs.

Let's also not forget that Jobs' Pixar film studio created heartwarming and thought-provoking movies about unlikely animal heroes, such as A Bug's Life and Finding Nemo, and he ended Disney's 10-year agreement with McDonald's to promote its films with movie-themed toys in Happy Meals after the entertainment giant merged with Pixar. As the vegetarian sharks in Finding Nemo said, "Fish are friends, not food." Finding Nemo's fish-friendly theme earned Pixar an award  from PETA, as did Jobs' other accomplishments that helped change animals' lives for the better. And if his movies or his lifestyle inspired even one person to become a vegetarian, he no doubt saved hundreds of animals' lives, and for that we thank him.

We invite you to post a message on the True Friends Memorial we have created to honor Steve Jobs.

The proliferation of restaurants that serve dog meat in Vietnam has created a lucrative moneymaking opportunity for thieves. "Dognappers" cruise neighborhoods on motorcycles, grabbing dogs in broad daylight and stuffing them into cages. If the owners give chase, it is not uncommon for the thieves to hurl bricks or shoot arrows at them, sometimes injuring or even killing them. Yet many of the same people who despise dog thieves still order dog meat in restaurants.

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Before we point the finger and call such people hypocrites, think of people in the Western world who have "pet" hens and pot-bellied pigs yet still eat fried chicken and ham sandwiches. They balk at eating animals they "know" but have no problem eating an animal they never met who invariably endured a miserable life on a filthy factory farm and ended up in a very scary place: the slaughterhouse.

To stop the cycle of violence against animals from Vietnam to Virginia and everywhere in between—animals we won't "get to know"—we must recognize them as individuals we can help by saying "No" to flesh foods.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

With a terse dismissal, the State Fair of Texas denied PETA's application to display our own version of a 4-H booth at the upcoming event. Fair officials must not want visitors to know that the cows, sheep, goats, and chickens 4-H participants have spent countless hours bonding with will ultimately make their way to a blood-soaked killing floor, just as most animals raised for food do.

Our four "H's" stand for "hellish for animals," "hazardous to the environment," "heart attack–inducing," and "hypocritical for teaching kids to care about only certain animals and to disregard others." We planned to screen Glass Walls and hand out free copies of our vegetarian/vegan starter kits.

I suppose that, to paraphrase Jack Nicholson, the State Fair of Texas can't handle the truth. But we think their patrons can—or at least their hearts can.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor