Did Anne Hathaway purposefully schedule her wedding just before World Farm Animals Day? It's possible, since the committed animal advocate celebrated her nuptials with a vegan feast. To commemorate both World Farm Animals Day and Anne's big day, PETA is sponsoring a steer named Peter, who resides at The Cow Sanctuary in New Jersey, in Anne's name.

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Peter was just a calf when PETA investigated the filthy Pennsylvania dairy factory farm that he was living on. Cows on dairy farms must be repeatedly impregnated in order for them to produce milk, and their female calves are sentenced to the same fate as their mothers. But dairy farmers consider male calves to be useless byproducts and typically sell them for veal. That would likely have been Peter's fate, but after our investigation, we got cruelty charges brought against the farm and were able to purchase Peter and another male calf, Jerry, and send them to the serene Cow Sanctuary.

Right photo: © Kencredible

The calves were in terrible shape. Peter had pinkeye and ringworm and was infested with lice. After being confined to a pen in which he was drowning in urine and feces, his legs were so weak that he couldn't stand.

It took a lot of veterinary care and a lot more love, but Peter recovered and blossomed into an outgoing, confident steer. From the beginning, he looked out for Jerry, who was left disabled from the calves' ordeal. Peter is very affectionate, and he eagerly awaits his daily chin scratches.

What better day than World Farm Animals Day to recognize Anne Hathaway, a woman whose kind diet spares countless animals and inspires others to follow in her footsteps?

It's also the perfect day to protest cruelty on factory farms by going vegan. Order your free vegetarian/vegan starter kit here!

As I'm sure you are already aware, today is World Farm Animals Day! It's a good time for all of us to remember the pain that many farmed animals go through every day for human consumption, but it's also a good time to remember the joy that animals bring to our lives. In light of this holiday, we are hosting Kentucky Fried Cruelty demonstrations all over the country to encourage people to think about how their meal choices affect the environment—and the pain that meat-based diets inflict on farmed animals.

We're hoping that the demos today will really make people think, but it's not the first time we've donned chicken suits and sat in scalding tanks to make the public aware that KFC tortures birds and that chickens are intelligent, wonderful animals who feel pain and fear for their lives just like dogs and cats.

Please check out our slideshow of KFC demos from around the world and leave a comment to tell us which is your favorite picture! If you haven't yet, please order a copy of our "Vegetarian Starter Kit." World Farm Animals Day is the best time to take that first step!

Written by Christine Doré