Whips, cuffs, collars, bondage, and beatings: E.L. James’ best-selling novel reads like a circus trainer’s handbook. But unlike the consenting couple in the book, elephants in circuses don’t have a choice when it comes to being dominated. And if beating elephants into submission and forcing them to perform painful acts isn’t 50 shades of wrong, … Read more »
There’s big news today in a case that PETA has been tenaciously pursuing for some time: Consistent with the citations issued against SeaWorld in 2010, Administrative Law Judge Ken Welsch of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) found that SeaWorld is culpable for allowing its employees to interact directly with potentially dangerous orcas. … Read more »
How do you like to celebrate your birthday? How ’bout rockin’ out and helping animals? That’s what birthday boy Morrissey did: When his vegan tour stopped in San Diego, SeaWorld’s hometown, on May 22, the longtime animal advocate gave all of his bandmates PETA’s “SeaWorld Sucks” T-shirts to wear onstage. Joe Scarnici/FilmMagic Joe Scarnici/FilmMagic Any … Read more »
PETA has joined Animal Defenders International in filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for illegally issuing permits allowing the Ringling Bros. circus to export endangered tigers and elephants for use in its shows anywhere at any time for the next three years! How Do You Spell ‘Rubber Stamp’? F-W-S FWS … Read more »
On the heels of trainer Doug O’Neill‘s win at the Kentucky Derby with I’ll Have Another, The New York Times reported that in the past 14 years, O’Neill has had nearly that many violations for giving horses illegal performance-enhancing drugs. That O’Neill could be forcing horses to run when they shouldn’t may account for the … Read more »
Animal advocates’ voices are being heard loud and clear today, as PETA and eight other animal protection organizations have joined forces to keep Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from taking “The Cruelest Show on Earth” abroad—including to Mexico, where animal protection laws are virtually never enforced. Ringling’s Ridiculous Request Ringling applied to export … Read more »
PETA is calling for a U.S. Department of Agriculture investigation after D.J., a 15-year-old Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, was found dead on the floor of his tank at the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi. Trainers said that D.J., short for De Janeiro, was acting unusual and not eating the day before he died. He is … Read more »
Barbie has been fur-free and an animal rights activist for years. But America’s favorite doll has taken a dangerous turn, thanks to famous toymaker Mattel and infamous animal abuser SeaWorld. The companies have released a Whale Trainer Barbie, an ill-advised doll that would be more accurately called “Barbaric.” Fantaz | cc by 2.0 Not much … Read more »
Through her work on The Biggest Loser, Jillian Michaels is accustomed to saving lives. But for one horse, her help arrived just hours before he would have been sent on a journey to become hamburger. From the Winner’s Circle to the Kill Pen During a PETA investigation of horse slaughter, in which horses are taken … Read more »
Chelsea Handler is handling New York City’s horse-drawn carriage problem by writing to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and asking him to support a proposal to replace the abused horses with vintage-replica electric cars, which she donated $15,000 to help build. “As if [the cars] weren’t fabulous enough,” she writes, “they also get a 10-12 hour drive … Read more »
“As a lifelong Democrat, I never thought I’d lead an effort to defend the symbol of the Republican Party,” writes Alec Baldwin in a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Baldwin is sending Vilsack the video he hosted for PETA exposing Ringling Bros.’ abuse of animals and asking … Read more »
Yep, you read that right. We want to thank Kanye West for the shout-out to PETA in his new song, “Theraflu.” While the aptly named tune does make us want to reach for an over-the-counter remedy as Kanye opines about his inexplicable penchant for slinging tortured dead animals across his back, the song did make … Read more »
Forks Over Knives continues to change the way that America eats. Kristen Bell and fiancé Dax Shepard have both gone vegan after seeing it. Another awesome Kristin—Kristin Chenoweth—is throwing her support behind her Glee costar Lea Michele’s campaign to get horse-drawn carriages out of New York City. Chenoweth tweeted her disgust at seeing the miserable … Read more »
UPDATE: Horses and people who care about them can rest a little easier tonight. HBO has announced that it is canceling Luck and ceasing all production on the series! Even before filming on Luck started, PETA contacted David Milch, Michael Mann, and others associated with the production to suggest ways to protect horses, including the … Read more »
In the final chapter of a case we’ve been following for some time now, the Knoxville Zoo has agreed to pay a $9,000 fine stemming from the death of elephant handler Stephanie James, who was crushed by Edie, a female African elephant. The zoo was initially cited after PETA urged the Tennessee Occupational Safety and … Read more »
