The terrible destruction in Pakistan is a chilling reminder that disasters can strike anytime and anywhere. More than two weeks of relentless monsoon rains have left at least 1,600 people dead and millions more homeless, and health officials are concerned about the spread of cholera. Animals are even more poorly equipped to survive … Read more »
A bear owned by notorious Ohio animal exhibitor and convicted felon Sam Mazzola has mauled a 24-year-old man to death. PETA has campaigned against Mazzola’s cruel act for years as he took bears on the road and charged people to “wrestle” them or have their photos taken. His act left injured people and property damage … Read more »
Reading Edward O. Wilson’s novel Anthill has given Joan Rivers a new respect for ants. Here’s what she told People magazine: “Those poor ants work 24/7! And when they fight other ant colonies, to look bigger they stand on pebbles. ‘I’ll show you—I’m getting up on this grain of sand.’ … They work their whole … Read more »
Is that a real fur vest being worn by dog rescuer Shelly Bookwalter on Last Chance Highway, Animal Planet’s great new show about a trucking company that transports homeless dogs in the South to new homes in the North? Inquiring minds need to know, and the word we received from an Animal Planet … Read more »
It’s a boy girl kitty! Nicole Richie’s household recently grew by one when a stray cat showed up on the celebutante’s doorstep. “[S]he was so skinny and I could tell she was starving. I couldn’t resist,” wrote Richie on her blog. After a nice square meal, the kitty, now called Tabitha, was “as happy as … Read more »
Gerardo L. Paez, a former postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) School of Veterinary Medicine, spent years using taxpayer money to breed puppies to have a gene that causes progressive retinal atrophy, a degenerative eye disease that culminates in blindness. During one study, 3-week-old beagle puppies were killed after they had their … Read more »
Come November, Missourians will have a chance to shed the dubious distinction of being known as the nation’s puppy-mill capital thanks to Proposition B, a ballot initiative that will allow voters to decide whether or not to ban breeding operations with more than 50 dogs and to require large-scale breeding operations to provide dogs with … Read more »
Last week, PETA’s Community Animal Project (CAP) received a call for help from an indigent man whom we had already provided with a doghouse and spay surgery for his own dog. The man had tried, without success, to nurse back to health two sickly dogs whom he had found by the side of the road … Read more »
It’s been barely a week since the fabulous Pamela Anderson rolled up her sleeves and opened her wallet to help PETA rescue nearly 50 dogs from overflowing Gulf-area animal shelters, and she’s already back in action—this time, she’s helping PETA rescue a special group of cats. Pamela is helping pay for veterinary care … Read more »
When Michael McLeod pleaded guilty to shooting and killing his Norfolk, Virginia, neighbor’s dog, Rex, because he was annoyed at the dog’s barking, he may not have thought he’d get a long prison sentence for cruelty to animals. But he was facing Circuit Court Judge Karen J. Burrell, a self-described “judge who has compassion for … Read more »
If you’re a regular PETA Files reader, you probably already know about the physical and psychological problems that plague specially bred (meaning inbred) dogs. Labrador retrievers commonly suffer from hip dysplasia, cataracts, and retinal degeneration. German shepherds are prone not only to hip dysplasia but also to spinal paralysis, epilepsy, and blood disorders. Bulldogs … Read more »
On Monday, we blogged about the risks posed to animals who are stowed away like luggage in the cargo holds of planes. On Tuesday, those warnings became a heartbreaking reality for seven puppies who died after being shipped from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Chicago in the hold of a commercial airline. Shipping animals as … Read more »
Some of the gruesome scenes in the upcoming horror movie The Last Exorcism might make you lose your lunch, but at least you can take comfort in knowing that Ashley Bell’s onscreen vomit is … vegan! Ashley, who plays the demonically possessed Nell Sweetzer, told Nylon magazine that the film’s director called her up to … Read more »
As promised on Friday, here are photos from Pamela Anderson’s trip to New Orleans to walk and give treats to the dogs PETA is transporting from crowded animal shelters in oil-ravaged Louisiana to Virginia for adoption: Photo credit: Luca Pizzaroni Pamela decided to adopt two of the dogs on the spot and named … Read more »
Pomakis / CC by 2.5 Very scary new stats released by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that dogs with short muzzles (such as pugs, bulldogs, and boxers) make up about half of all dogs who have died in airplane cargo holds during the past five years. Veterinarians surmise that “respiratory issues” are to blame … Read more »
