According to Science News magazine, researchers have discovered the first known vegetarian spider in Mexico. A jumping spider who dwells and dines in acacia trees, Bagheera kiplingi (Kip, to his friends) is a fly guy who passes on the usual bug buffet for leafy snacks snatched from neighboring ants. That’s right—Kip is an itsy-bitsy pickpocket. … Read more »
Blind and sighted, man or macaque—we all celebrate in the same way. A recent study from scientists at the University of British Columbia and San Francisco State University shows that the “victory dance”—arms raised, chest puffed out—is an instinctive trait of all primates. You mean I have something in common with Michael Phelps? All right, … Read more »
You know those silly looking hats that the British Royal Guards wear? Did you know that they’re still made out of real bear skin—and that it can take up to one whole bear to make just one cap? And that the bears’ deaths are usually anything but quick, clean, and humane? Bears are ensnared, sometimes … Read more »
i76 / CC Six Flags had been planning to include a live Madagascar Hissing Cockroach–eating challenge as part of their Halloween “Fright Fest” festivities. So we wrote and explained that encouraging teenagers (or anyone!) to hurt and kill even the smallest life form “just for fun” can desensitize them to suffering in general. Besides, all … Read more »
paddleasia / CC Charles River Laboratories has finally had to own up to killing 32 monkeys under their “care.” The monkeys were baked alive when a thermostat malfunctioned; no alarm system was in place to alert staff to save the monkeys. Nobody even knew about the deaths until the following morning. Charles River’s announcement follows … Read more »
Staying up ’til the wee hours of the morning to catch your fave Olympians go for the gold in Beijing? That’s cool. But what’s even cooler is the fact that the best athletes in the world can be found in the animal kingdom, not the Olympic Village. If the Summer Olympics were open to all … Read more »
Yesterday, we mentioned an advertisement that we wanted to run in a Canadian newspaper in the wake of a shocking stabbing murder and possible cannibalism in Manitoba. Countless people have contacted us with their concerns, so we’d like to explain why we wanted to run the ad that no newspaper will touch with a 10′ … Read more »
So, Megan Webb has been crowned the 2008 West Virginia Beef Queen by the West Virginia Cattlemen’s Association, and PETA has sent her a letter making it very clear that we’ve got “beef” with the Mistress of Meat. We have invited the Beef Queen (I just can’t get enough of that title!) to take a … Read more »
As though it were a gruesome scene in a horror movie, a Canadian Greyhound passenger found himself in the hands of a highly disturbed man this past weekend while en route from Edmonton to Winnipeg. Passengers riding the bus reported that Vince Weiguang Li jumped on top of 22-year-old Tim McLean and began stabbing him … Read more »
There’s a lot of buzz on the interwebs about Eva Mendes’ Calvin Klein ad that showed so much skin, it’s been banned from U.S. television.I just wanted to remind the world that before Eva revealed her smoldering body for CK (a designer who WON’T use fur, by the way), she bared it all for the … Read more »
Snake charmers, fairies, and leprechauns…if you thought all three only existed in the pages of fairytales, here’s a surprise. Snake charmers have been and still are entrancing villagers into believing the myth that the sounds from their instrument can hypnotize a snake, who will “dance”—for money, of course. Sound a little slippery? That’s because it … Read more »
It looks like scientists do sometimes spend time on worthwhile projects and have now found that being caged, having your bone marrow sucked out, and being used for bioterrorism research is torture—no matter whom it’s being done to. A recent study showed that 95 percent of 119 chimpanzees who had been used for “research” exhibited … Read more »
Everyone needs to pay attention because this is getting a lot less hype in the media than the original story did. There’s scientific evidence to prove what PETA has been saying all along: The recent salmonella outbreak wasn’t all about tomatoes or jalapeños but rather contaminated water. Why is the water contaminated, you ask? Long … Read more »
Pam wearing a ‘Ban Horse Drawn Carriages’ button The big A is in the Big Apple this week, and she’s spreading a little love and gratitude for one man in particular: NYC Councilmember Tony Avella. Yes, the wonder woman of animal protection (aka Pam Anderson)—who is in town promoting her new E! television show Girl … Read more »
This was one of the dogs PETA Asia-Pacific found in horrible conditions. For many years, PETA Asia-Pacific has been trying to work with the government-run animal shelter in the city of Sanchong (and others in Taiwan) to improve animals’ conditions. Rather than improving over the years, the lives of animals housed there—some of whom used … Read more »
