Written by PETA
When it comes to being an animal lover, Kellie Pickler is the real deal—she only wears fake fur. Eagle-eyed viewers of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve spotted the "Best Days of Your Life" singer in what appeared to be a fur coat. But Kellie's publicist just confirmed what we suspected—that the coat was from PETA's favorite furrier: Cincinnati-based Donna Salyers' Fabulous Furs, which makes the most luxurious faux furs available.
"One night I couldn't sleep, and I was up and just Googling random stuff, and I'm like, 'Hmmm, PETA,'" said Kellie in an interview with People magazine last fall. "I saw all the videos, and I just thought it was horrible. It's animal cruelty. A lot of it has to do with knowing what happens to the animals, and it really bothered me, and so I will not eat meat." Pickler says that she shared her decision to go vegetarian with close friend and PETA "Sexiest Vegetarian" Carrie Underwood right away. She said, "I texted Carrie and was like, 'You're never going to believe this!'" PETA hopes that Nashville's newest vegetarian (in addition to Underwood, Shania Twain and Emmylou Harris also eschew meat) will pose for one of its iconic ad campaigns this year.
Written by Michael McGraw
After years of breeding dogs that end up sick and short-lived (as was brought to light in a special BBC documentary), U.K. breeders are scrambling to change the very breeding standards that they touted a minute ago.
Following the BBC's decision to drop Crufts, the UK equivalent of the Westminster Dog Show, The Kennel Club in the UK has announced new breeding standards for 209 different breeds in an attempt to make the dogs healthier. For example, bulldogs will now be taller, leaner, and have smaller faces. But guess what? I think that I have a much more obvious solution:
Stop breeding dogs!
Mutts are usually far healthier than "purebreds," and millions of these angels are being euthanized every year because so many people search for the "perfect" bred dog. Breedism is sicker than the dogs it creates, and it is directly responsible for robbing shelter dogs of their chances to find happy homes!
The kennel clubs need to stop trying to sweep their abysmal code under the rug and drop the whole concept of breeding standards. Just pack 'em up and move 'em out already. The man who said, "[A] lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me," is being sworn in on January 20, and everyone needs to swear by mutts from now on.
Written by Christine Doré
Next week's historic presidential inauguration is being touted as the "greenest" of all time, so of course, we at PETA will be there in all our green glory!
Tomorrow, we'll already be on the streets of D.C. handing out fur coats to the homeless. Yep, you read that right. See, fur does nothing to raise a person's social status. On the contrary, only if you have nothing do you actually have any real excuse for wearing someone's cast-off fur. Next—to show our appreciation to all the fur-free folks attending the inaugural festivities in the cold—we'll be serving free hot soy cocoa in PETA cups printed with the message, "Thank you for not wearing fur."
If you'll be in D.C., keep an eye out for PETA staffers and members dressed as foxes, raccoons, and rabbits and wearing pins that read, "Be Fur-Free."(Yes, they'll pose for photos.) If that isn't enough excitement for you, the peta2 "not-a-nugget" chick, "cows," and "pigs" will also be working the crowds with signs reading, "Yes We Can: Go Vegetarian!" They'll also be handing out copies of our free "Vegetarian Starter Kit." Even if you don't spot a PETA mascot, you'll probably catch a pedicab adorned with PETA's anti-fur ads.
As you know, fur is anything but green, folks. It's treated with chemicals (to keep it from decomposing, ewww), and the production of the ugly stuff pollutes rivers and streams with tannery runoff. It also takes 15 times the energy to produce a fur coat than it does to produce a faux-fur one. Then there's the business of ripping animals from their natural environment and killing them painfully. We're thinking that if Styrofoam isn't allowed, then fur certainly has no place at the inauguration.
So, here's to a truly green inaugural celebration.
Also, if you would like to donate your "change of heart" fur to us, click here. We'll make sure it is put to good use: We send donated furs to animal sanctuaries so that rescued animal orphans can be comforted by them. We also cut them up for refugee children in war zones and use them in educational displays.
Written by Missy Lane
IndyACT—a Lebanon-based league of social rights activists—has launched a "Stop the Carnage" ad campaign dedicated to combating rising fur sales in the Gulf and Middle East. The ads tie responsibility for individual animals' lives (spelling out exactly how many animals are skinned for each coat) to a strong, clear message: If you buy fur, the blood of animals is on your hands.
Are you as surprised as I was to hear that fur was catching on in the Middle East? I mean, it's mostly desert. Apparently, though, the recent influx of wealth, couture, and western luxury to cities such as Dubai—where ice skating rinks and air conditioned malls are springing up faster than a guest on Jerry Springer—has lead to an increase in popularity for this cruel commodity. The new ads will hopefully encourage consumers to reject cruelty to animals. If you like the ads as much as I do, please give props to IndyAct by posting a comment below.
Thanks Osocio for the heads up! We love you!
Written by Liz Graffeo
I've got some exciting news for you! Well, exciting in the sense that a hideous sport has made an improvement that makes it a bit less hideous: The National Western Stock Show has banned electric prods!
The group SHARK gets a shout-out as big as the wide-open plains for persuading National Western to put an end to the use of the painful shocking device, which is often used on broncos to cause them to bolt from the gate. As you can imagine, frequent exposure to these electric shocks causes the animals considerable physical and mental distress.
The National Western Stock Show has also announced heftier fines for "jerk-downs"—the act of violently jerking a calf backward and roping the calf simultaneously. Competing rodeos have followed suit: Cheyenne Frontier Days and the Greeley Stampede have also banned electric prods. Now, if they'd just replace the broncs with mechanical bulls, we'd be as happy as a hog let loose in the tater patch.
Written by Jennifer Cierlitsky
OMG … this is the cutest, most fascinating video that I've seen in a long time. Prepare yourself for intense adorableness.
You are now officially armed with even more proof that animals are emotional, sensitive, and complex beings.
What might have been just another story of shoddy circus animal handling came to a karmic conclusion last week when a tiger trainer, Josip Marcan, agreed to pay nearly 1 million bucks to settle a lawsuit resulting from a huge traffic accident. The accident was apparently caused when one of Marcan's tigers escaped into the wilds of NYC—in this case, the Jackie Robinson Parkway—while traveling with the Cole Bros. Circus.
Demonstrating the spirit that has made the business of using and abusing animals in circuses the very definition of heartlessness, Marcan blamed everyone but his own whiny self. He called the injured drivers "reckless" and slammed the NYPD officers on the scene, saying "they just wanted to shoot the tiger."
Unfortunately, there was no happy ending for the tiger, Apollo, who was captured and returned to circus life.
Written by Jeff Mackey
The Academy of the Americas in Detroit has been in the news lately because it has been begging for donations of basic supplies … including toilet paper.
We can help! Remember our recent "Wipe Cruelty From Your Diet" demos? We'll, it turns out that we've got loads of toilet paper left over, so we're donating the TP with the great vegetarian message to the impoverished schools.
Remember, researchers have found that even elementary school–age children can begin to show signs of heart disease, such as hardening of the arteries, so the donation does the children a double favor.
Click here to read our full letter to the academy.
'Tis the season to fight fur full-force, and our unstoppable campaigners have been doing just that. They took their eye-catching demos to cities across the Pacific Northwest to show folks the fur industry's horrific practices.
Animals are left to languish in sickening steel-jaw traps for days. Often, they will force themselves to chew off the injured limb to free themselves in order to get back to their den to feed their young—only to bleed to death later. Those who are not "useful" are deemed "trash animals" and discarded to die.
Since the fur industry tries hard to keep its methods under wraps, you'd best believe we will boldly display it on street corners, in living color!
So, give it up for our fearless campaigners!
PS While we're on the topic, here are detailed instructions on how to rescue an animal from a steel-jaw trap.
Ah, awards season. My favorite time of year. Last night I watched the Golden Globe Awards on pins and needles, and I've already begun my countdown to the Oscars. But the best part of the Globes last night wasn't Sacha Baron Cohen making everyone squirm in their seats while he rightfully hated on Madonna—it was Mickey Rourke's win for his role in The Wrestler and his moving and heartwarming thank-you speech.
While Rourke thanked his co-stars, his agent, and, yes, even Bruce Springsteen, the most memorable part of his speech was when he thanked his dogs and said, "Sometimes when a man's alone, that's all you've got is your dog. They've meant the world to me."
Well said, Mickey! I think we can all relate to that. It's about time for the furry, loyal companions who give so much love and adoration to their guardians to get recognized.
Another animal-friendly winner we love from last night was Alec Baldwin for his role in 30 Rock. Although he's been in roughly 5 trillion films and TV appearances that have all been brilliant, he'll always be our own special star for his fantastic narration of "Meet Your Meat."
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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