‘True Blood’ Vampire Sinks Her Teeth Into the USDA Over Nosey

It wasn’t enough for True Blood‘s Kristin Bauer van Straten just to e-mail the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) about its failure to protect the crippled, suffering elephant Nosey, who’s still being forced to perform. When Kristin learned about Nosey from PETA, she called the USDA to demand that the agency immediately seize the elephant and let her retire at a reputable sanctuary—and she asked her Twitter followers to do the same.

In other celebrity news:

• Dogs will have something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving when FOX airs The Great American Dog-A-Thon—a Thanksgiving night special that will celebrate rescued dogs and encourage viewers to foster or adopt homeless animals. Hilary Swank will host the tribute, joined by Scarlett Johansson, Josh Duhamel, Miranda Lambert, Kristen Bell, Fergie, and Betty White.
• Model, musician, and Gene Simmons Family Jewels star Sophie Tweed-Simmons has launched her own fashion line for real women. And because real women don’t hurt animals, the line uses faux fur and faux leather exclusively. “I do not condone fur. There is no use for it,” Sophie said. “We aren’t shivering in caves anymore. We are modern women who have the consciousness to make the choice not to skin an animal. I understood when it was for survival, but now it’s a little ridiculous.”

• Is being kind to animals a requirement for the cast of Mad Men? Jessica Paré and Vincent Kartheiser are vegetarian, and Elisabeth Moss just adopted two stray kittens who were found near the set of her new indie flick, Listen Up Philip.
• If it’s starting to seem like the whole world is going vegan, that’s because it’s true. Chiseled Friday Night Lights, Parenthood, and Kingdom star Matt Lauria revealed in a recent interview that his body is plant-powered. The Late Late Show‘s Craig Ferguson is doing a vegan cleanse in order to lose weight. Stevie Wonder was spotted noshing on vegan comfort food at Evolve in Washington, D.C. And The Butler director Lee Daniels told reporters that he is “getting there” on eating completely vegan, and he’s thinking about opening a vegan soul food restaurant. Daniels will certainly have no shortage of customers.
• And it always makes us happy when stars send animal-friendly love our way on Twitter:

To keep up with what all your favorite stars are doing for animals—and to give PETA some love, too—follow @PETA on Twitter.