The number of cases of swine flu and E. coli is on the rise, reminding us that the dangers of factory-farm–bred pathogens and meatborne illnesses have become impossible to ignore. The most recent E. coli outbreak, which killed two people and sickened dozens more, has been traced directly to the New York–based ground beef producer … Read more »
A beluga whale named Nico died this week at SeaWorld San Antonio, where he was being temporarily housed while the Georgia Aquarium underwent renovations. This marks the third time in the last three years that a beluga whale from the Georgia Aquarium has died. drake.marin.k12 / CC The cause of Nico’s death has … Read more »
mediabistro / CC Purrrrr. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to make disabling declawing cats illegal, and other California cities are set to vote on similar measures this week. Painful and traumatic, declawing is really 10 separate amputations in which the last joint of every single toe gets cut off along with the … Read more »
If you can, pick up a copy of this week’s New Yorker. There’s a review of Jonathan Safran Foer’s new book, Eating Animals, along with a photograph of a very powerful painting by artist Sue Coe—the same painting that Coe gave to PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. Ingrid is not ashamed to say that she … Read more »
Thanks for all of your wonderful comments on this Win It Wednesday. The winners of Eating Animals are Kim, Jenna, Brandon, Alyson, and Rachel. Congratulations! To say that every person who picks up the latest book by bestselling author Jonathan Safran Foer walks away illuminated wouldn’t really be stretching the truth. Eating Animals, Foer’s first … Read more »
As an obsessed fan of The Biggest Loser, I just about jumped out off the couch last night when America’s toughest trainer Jillian Michaels walked onscreen wearing PETA’s ever popular “Fight Breedism” T-shirt. For the whole first half of the show, while the contestants were filming in Washington D.C., Jillian rocked the compassionate … Read more »
On Sunday, the U.K. newspaper The Sunday Times ran a great article about a recent undercover investigation conducted at a Hampshire laboratory that tests Dysport—a wrinkle-erasing drug similar to Botox—on mice. The investigation was conducted by our friends at the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, and among the most disturbing findings of the … Read more »
On Saturday, a bat found his or her way into the San Antonio Spurs game. (Some speculate that the animal didn’t just fly in by accident.) The bat, of course, did what anybody would do in such a terrifying, unfamiliar situation—try to get the heck out of there—which, naturally, delayed the game. Until, that is, … Read more »
Oh, South Park. So irreverent, yet poignant! Consider last night’s Whale Wars parody, in which Stan takes Captain Paul Watson’s place in the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and steps up the conservationists’ campaign in a way only possible through cartoon violence. (Yes, there were explosions.) Amidst the world’s rightful outcry at the injustice of whaling, … Read more »
I know we just talked about Natalie Portman yesterday, but let’s face it, she’s kinda magical. How magical? Enough to make a steakhouse go vegetarian—at least for one night. It all went down on last night’s episode of Top Chef. (Warning: Spoilers ahead for those who haven’t seen it yet.) Like my fellow PETA Files … Read more »
That would be PETA supporters Emily McCoy and Emily Lavender (aka adorable fuzzy seal), who shook things up a bit at the fall conference of the Fisheries Council of Canada. Check out the look on the face of the woman in the foreground. Why were these two nice ladies attending a conference for … Read more »
It’s true: Dollar General cares—about its customers’ concerns and about animals. After we received complaints that Dollar General, which has thousands of stores across the U.S., was selling hideously cruel glue traps, we wrote to the bargain retailer. In our letter, we described how animals who get stuck on glue traps can suffer for days … Read more »
hollywoodismyhood / CC Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker is vegetarian once again, and as he explained in an interview with Radio Big Boy, “almost full blown vegan.” We’re pumped for Travis’s evolving compassionate lifestyle (and we’d like to point out that “Full Blown Vegan” would be an excellent album name). It’s also great that he’s getting … Read more »
When I was in high school, I took a peanut butter sandwich with me for lunch every day. Every. Single. Day. For four long years. My mother probably thought I was being stubborn just to annoy her, but the truth is that even before I stopped eating animals, I couldn’t stomach the cafeteria’s nauseating (and … Read more »
In a news item that dates back to late August but was just reported on in Sunday’s Boston Herald, a half dozen staff and students at Harvard Medical School became ill after they drank coffee from a vending machine that had been laced with sodium azide, a preservative that is commonly used in laboratories. The … Read more »
