In 2007, because of intervention by PETA, criminal convictions were won in numerous cases in which animals were killed, injured, or starved; hunting events were canceled; shelters were built and veterinary care was provided for neglected horses; living conditions and euthanasia methods were upgraded in animal shelters; and shelter and improved living conditions were procured for lonely backyard dogs all over the U.S.

After negotiations with PETA, the following retail chains stopped selling glue traps—devices that rip patches of skin, fur, and feathers off animals’ bodies as they struggle to escape and that cause trapped animals to suffer for days until they die of dehydration: Duane Reade, Supervalu, Brooks, and Eckerd (the last two were later bought by Rite Aid, which has also stopped selling the cruel traps). Including Walgreens and Safeway (from whom we received the same commitment last year), this means that glue traps have been pulled from more than 21,000 stores!

PETA helped develop nonlethal programs for controlling pigeon populations at West Virginia’s Capitol building, the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, and an apartment complex in Mesa, Ariz., as well as in the business district of Hollywood, Calif., to replace methods such as shooting and poisoning.

X-Men superhero Famke Janssen starred in our ad urging people not to chain or cage dogs, and top-ranked cyclist Levi Leipheimer and dancer and model Dita Von Teese introduced our compelling ABC (Animal Birth Control) campaign to help people understand that every puppy or kitten born means one home fewer available to a homeless animal.

PETA and the lawyers at Schiff Hardin obtained a preliminary injunction and order of contempt against the Georgia Department of Agriculture for licensing shelters that use gas chambers that can take up to 30 minutes to kill animals; Georgia state law requires shelters to use the painless method of sodium pentobarbital injection. The agency capitulated and began enforcing the law.

A PETA undercover investigator worked at PetSmart stores in Arizona and Connecticut, exposing the company’s appalling neglect of sick and injured animals. Small lizards continually fell through cage floors and died, birds often died from improper care, hamsters regularly died of intestinal disease, and fish dried up and died from being transported in too little water. PETA has called for a boycott of PetSmart until it stops selling animals.

After a dogfighting operation was discovered at football star Michael Vick’s property in Virginia, PETA held numerous protests and sent letters calling for action to the NFL, to companies for which Vick was a spokesperson, and to the local prosecutor. Vick was suspended by the NFL, his ad contracts were canceled, and he was sentenced to 23 months in jail. His codefendants received similar sentences and were also banned from owning dogs for three years after their release, a provision PETA specifically requested.

PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk’s new book, Let’s Have a Dog Party!, was released to great reviews. Sharing inspiring and creative ideas on how to maximize a dog’s happiness, Newkirk shows readers how to celebrate their dogs every day of the year!

“PETA’s spokespeople are typically among the most impressive activists at shareholder meetings. … PETA’s representatives tend to be calm, clear spoken and reasonable—genuinely interested in making progress with a company by initiating a dialogue, rather than slinging mud. In the long run, that’s bound to be a more effective technique.”

—Randy Cepuch, author of A Weekend With Warren Buffett and Other Shareholder Meeting Adventures, May 14, 2007