Are there any Monty Python fans in the house? In one classic Monty Python sketch, John Cleese plays a self-defense instructor who insists—despite his class's protests—on demonstrating ways to protect oneself against attackers armed with various types of fruit.

Well, it turns out that he might have been on to something.

Last week's news was filled with food-related violence. First, in Michigan, Frederick McKaney allegedly hit a woman over the head with a frozen chicken. Then word arrived of a Maryland man who reportedly held up a convenience store with—what else? A banana! Somewhere, Graham Chapman is shaking his head.

All this violence is enough to make you worry that we're headed for a future filled with bumper stickers that read, "You'll take my French bread only when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers," and cop shows that feature officers who yell, "Drop the carrot sticks, and put your hands where I can see 'em."

So can we all agree that it's time to chill with the edible aggression? We've started the ball rolling by asking authorities to make sure McKaney is fed a vegetarian diet should he end up spending some time in jail, since everybody knows (right?) that animal abuse is connected to violence against humans!

So let's all take a deep breath and reach for tasty veggie fare to help end the violence inflicted on others—both human and nonhuman. Plus, going vegetarian helps you and the environment too! Though you might want to leave the bananas alone until you're a bit calmer.

Posted by Jeff Mackey

annoncesetanimaux / CC

Like most dogs, my hounds, Beau and Gus, love going for rides in the car (OK, Gus sometimes naps on longer trips). Now, it seems, carmakers are beginning to take notice—especially in Japan, where there are now more dogs and cats than kids younger than 15. So look for minivans to become as friendly to furry, four-legged "kids" as they are to more conventional rugrats.

The new Japanese Honda Freed, for example, has a floor low enough for even short-legged dogs to jump into the car. Here in the States, the Honda Element was chosen as the "Best dog car, ever" by (who else?) DogCars.com—for being easy-to-clean and resistant to nose-prints.

We may not all be able to go out and change cars, but now—at the beginning of vacation season—it's a good time to give some thought to the best ways to travel with our animal companions. PETA's Web site HelpingAnimals.com has a lot of great tips about how to enjoy a road trip with Rover—or how to take care of him while you're away.

Of course, if you do decide to take your furry friends along, be sure to plan ahead for pit stops—even without the heat of summer, cars can get way too hot for dogs and cats in no time at all!

Posted by Jeff Mackey

news / CC

PETA supporter and all-around smoking-hot animal advocate Imogen Bailey is joining the almost-global (thanks, KFCs in Canada!) campaign against KFC. PETA Asia-Pacific's supermodel buddy wrote a letter to Albert Baladi—managing director of Yum! Restaurants International South Pacific, the parent company of KFC in the Asia-Pacific region—asking him to adopt the same animal welfare plan that has recently been adopted in Canada by eliminating some of its suppliers' worst abuses of chickens. Imogen also urged Baladi to ask David Novak, CEO of Yum! Brands in the U.S., to make the same. In her letter, Imogen wrote:

As you might know, I once helped open a KFC restaurant in Gungahlin, ACT. However, if I knew then what I know now about KFC, I never would have taken part. I was shocked to learn ... that KFC has refused to demand that its suppliers eliminate the worst abuses suffered by the more than 850 million chickens raised and killed for its restaurants every year.

As the head of KFC in Australia, you have the power [to] improve the way that chickens are treated, and I hope you will take action to do so. Take it from me: No "chick" wants to be treated like a piece of meat.

Imogen goes on to discuss problems that were documented during an undercover investigation into a KFC supplier in Australia. The undercover investigator found chickens who were suffering from broken limbs and failing organs because of the animals' unnatural growth rates. The investigator also documented living birds forced to live amongst dead bodies in a long, barren shed.

KFC isn't the only animal issue close to this beauty's heart: She's also done some fantastic anti-fur ads and compelling (not to mention hot) ads that shine the light on cruelty to elephants and bulls. Check 'em out here! Animals—and everyone who had to pick their jaws up off the floor after checking out this ad—thank you, Imogen!

Posted by Sean Conner

firstshowing / CC

Tonight marks the release of another animal-free (and human-free) flick from the awesome folks at Pixar. The upcoming blockbuster WALL-E features a lonely robot on an abandoned planet whose only friend is a cockroach—portrayed in a very cute and cuddly manner without being anthropomorphized in the least. In this Entertainment Weekly article, the director calls him "our version of Jiminy Cricket"

The friendship between the main character and a cockroach really makes me wonder how much thought folks have put into how incredibly complex and resilient these little guys are and how to humanely control them as opposed to just killing them, which is futile because more will arrive later—and with a score to settle. Heck, you could get so awestruck that you snag a "Crow and Roach" T-shirt to wear out to the theater.

Beyond being pro-roach, the film also has a strong pro-environment message woven in, as WALL-E's "profession" involves compacting trash on the now over-polluted planet Earth. What more could you ask for in a children's movie? They seem to be advocating two hugely important causes and icing it off with the family- and animal-friendly tradition of Pixar. Be sure to grab the nearest 8-year-old and check this one out!

Posted by Sean Conner

It takes a lot to shock the public these days, but the fact that cruel incidents in the horseracing world are finally being taken seriously is just about doing the trick. Before Eight Belles' tragic death made the public realize that horseracing isn't all fun and games, drugging and heavy whipping just made up another day in the industry. But now, people are on red alert, and we're doing our best to continue exposing the horseracing industry for what it really is. Because of all this new attention, the industry is getting a good once-over from the public, Congress, and horseracing authorities, and skeletons just keep falling out of the closet.

On that note, let's talk about whipping, shall we? Now, don't get excited ... this isn't the fun kind. Whipping racehorses was banned in 1982 in Norway under the Cruelty to Animals Act. It's severely restricted in the U.K., and many jockeys there are asking for it to be completely banned. If you ever had any doubt that it should be banned in the U.S., check out this video:

The good news is that Jeremy Rose, the jockey in the above video, was recently suspended in Delaware for six months for "extreme misuse of the whip." You can read all about that here.

It's about damn time that these serious problems are being taken seriously! Here's to hoping that there's no future need for hideous videos and cruelty charges in "sports." Thanks for ruining my Friday, Jeremy! I hope you spend your six months in some serious deep thought.

Posted by Christine Dore

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Have you heard about that classy lady over in Brownsville, Texas, who was selling six Bengal tiger cubs in a Wal-Mart parking lot? Makes you wanna spit, doesn't it? Even if you have no idea what can become of one of these regal creatures in the hands of nefarious wildlife pimps, a simple guess should lead you to an unhappy conclusion.

"They buy them as babies," said the officer on the scene. "They don't realize it's going to get to be hundreds of pounds, eat an awful lot of food and become dangerous." I can picture Joe Schmo at home with his 6-month-old tiger now ... wow! Who knew a hyper-carnivorous alpha predator with 1,000 lbs. bite strength could eat so much? And wow, she's already way too big for a doghouse!

Sadly, it's actually become quite a trend to have a tiger, as 15,000 are kept as "pets" in the States. Since most of the shortsighted people looking to acquire an exotic animal on the black market don't happen to live in a 400-square-mile forest, when adopted into civilian homes, tigers face futures filled with malnutrition, loneliness, and captivity-induced mental illness. Now, while pondering to make the wonderfully progressive decision to write a letter or support a tiger sanctuary, if you want, you can still go ahead and spit.

Posted by Missy Lane

It's like a plot out of a cheesy Lifetime movie or, better yet, a sleazy episode of Maury Povich's talk show: Teen Girls Forge Pregnancy Pact. Man, now that would make a great headline. Oh, wait, it is a headline!

Yep, if you haven't heard yet, 17 Gloucester, Massachusetts, high school students may have formed a pact to get pregnant. And parents say teenagers can't follow through on anything....

Well, while everyone else is trying to figure out who did what or how or why—or whom, for that matter—we thought it'd be a good time to toss in our own two cents. Obviously, this town could use a little more sex education and a little less scandal ala the likes of Jamie Lynn.

So we thought maybe this sleepy fishing town could use a little "Sex Talk"—PETA style! Our PSA, which highlights the importance of spaying and neutering to prevent unwanted births—will air nationally during CNN's Anderson Cooper 360° show. Take that, unprotected sex!

As ill-conceived as the decision may have been for these girls to get pregnant, they at least had a choice, unlike the countless number of female cats and dogs left unspayed and forced to fend off every male animal for miles around when they go into heat. It's anything but a good time.

Hopefully, a little national attention will show that it's about as insane to allow cats and dogs to have litter after litter of babies as it is for teens. And, well, if it reduces the number of teenage girls getting paternity tests on The Maury Show, well, I guess that's good too.

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

kidzcraftz / CC

As you probably know, there are many problems with pet stores that sell animals, but now there's a new kid on the block: The Home Depot! The chain has started selling ladybugs and praying mantises by the bag as a method of deterring other insect species from taking over home gardens. Imagine a gardener going to the check-out line with a few bulbs, a watering can, and ... a bag of praying mantises!

Think this out, y'all: Insects plus confinement to a bag plus scorching summer heat equals a ton of bugs dying slowly from the heat. And hey, even if that logic is over your head, surely you agree that buying a heaping sack of bugs is a pretty messed-up idea, right?

Please go check out our action alert and shoot the folks at The Home Depot a brief message explaining the obvious.

Posted by Sean Conner

foe / CC

Wow, this is huge! Seriously, you may want to sit down for this one.

In a historic first, the Spanish Parliament is expected to pass legislation that will extend rights to great apes. Yes, you read that right. The resolutions bringing Spanish law in line with the recommendations of the Great Ape Project will not only outlaw experimentation on apes but will also make it illegal to exploit them for films and TV. Boo-ya! The new legislation has been approved by Parliament's environmental committee and has strong enough support that it is expected to become law within a year.

Woo-hoo! Way to go, Spain! Come on, America, what's the dealio?

By the way, if you want to do something for apes and other primates in the U.S. of A. (since we're not going to be able to get them all Spanish visas), be sure to tell your senators to support the Captive Primate Safety Act. Really. Go.

Posted by Jeff Mackey

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Recent news of the untimely passing of Tim Russert has struck a chord with a lot of people now questioning their own health. Doctors confirmed that the 58-year-old Meet the Press moderator died of a heart attack—a cause of death all too common in our country. Heart disease is actually one of the top three killers that our country faces, alongside cancer and strokes. And heart disease is commonly a symptom of poor diets, so it's a serious matter that should make everyone think twice about the foods they're choosing to put in their bodies.

Remember all those times your mother wouldn't let you leave the dinner table before finishing your vegetables? Well, she was on to something. We're not talking about the latest scientific discovery here—just the facts that have been around for a long time.

A vegetarian diet can have a profound impact on the health of the human body. Filling your stomach with plant-based foods instead of animal products eliminates the unhealthy saturated fat and cholesterol that come from consuming animals and animal byproducts, not to mention all the steroids pumped into the animals for unnatural rapid growth results.

We've received so many questions about heart health since Russert's tragic death that we sent off a letter to the editor highlighting just how beneficial a vegetarian diet can be—even reducing the risk of developing heart disease by 50 percent.

Go on over to the VegCooking Blog to find some truly delicious recipes that will make both your tummy and your heart happy. Homemade vegan shepherd's pie, anyone?

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

Quick—who was the first NBA player to win championships with three different teams? If you said John Salley, then ... you read the title of this post. Bravo. But you know what else John Salley is? ... right. A vegetarian. That was in the title too. You know, you really could help me sell this bit a little. Anyway ...

John Salley—who earned his nickname, "The Spider," from his long-limbed defensive prowess—is the latest celebrity to star in PETA's vegetarian testimonial series. Today, the PSA will be launched at the John Muir Middle School in Los Angeles, California, where John is giving a talk to hundreds of students about his vegetarian lifestyle and PETA is providing free veggie burgers for one and all. Turtle Mountain also provided the school with 500 soy ice cream sandwiches for the event! Check out the PSA below:

When we filmed the ad a while back, I got the chance to sit down with John and pick his brain a bit. We got the important stuff out of the way when he told me that he grew up a Celtics fan—I always knew I liked the guy. He first went veg in 1991, after his fifth year in the league (he was a Detroit Piston at the time, but please don't hold that against him). John says that after making the switch, he lost 10 pounds and was still stronger than anyone else on the team (Laimbeer, I'm looking at you). From there, he went on to win powered-by-tofu NBA championships with the Bulls in '96 and with the Lakers in '00, adding those rings to the two he already won with the effing Pistons. Check out the full Q&A below:

Seventeen years later, John's still going strong, hosting The Best Damn Sports Show Period on FOX, pursuing an acting career, and oh yeah, helping to save animals with PETA. So the next time someone asks you, "Aren't vegetarians worried about not having enough vitamin Q?" or whatever, just say, "Actually, we're more worried about not having enough fingers for all our RINGS, yo!"

Here are some photos from the launch event:

Posted by Dan Shannon

smh / CC

The recent scandals surrounding the horseracing industry sound more like a page out of a seedy novel than practices in what is wrongly identified as a national sport. Recent events have drawn mass attention to the practices of drugging horses to mask pain and unnaturally boost performance and whipping them to compel them to run and should result in handcuffs for the morally questionable trainers and jockeys involved. And two of those people, Rick Dutrow and Jeremy Rose, have recently come under fire.

Rick Dutrow is Big Brown's trainer, who was M.I.A. during the congressional hearings. It seems the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority found one of his horses, Salute the Count, with the highest level of clenbuterol (a bronchial dialator that also functions as a steroid) that the chief steward had seen in four years—more than twice the allowable level.

Dutrow is being suspended for a mere 15 days and will have to return the $20,000 that he made off drugging and racing Salute the Count at the race where he was tested. In his defense, he was quoted as saying that he uses this on many of his horses and has only once had a problem with it.

If that wasn't enough, jockey Jeremy Rose was recently suspended for "engag[ing] in extreme misuse of the whip" on his horse, Appeal to the City, according to this Blood-Horse article. I was not aware that there were proper and acceptable uses for whips on animals—only on humans.

Rose has been suspended (in Delaware only) for six months and will have to pay veterinary bills for the animal, which include treatment for hemorrhaging around his eye from being whipped in the face. Even though it's not as good as being permanently banned from contact with horses, Rose's relatively stiff sentence—virtually unheard of in the history of horseracing—shows that outside pressure is seriously having an effect on state regulatory bodies.

However, in the absence of an overarching federal body to oversee horseracing, the suspensions of Rose and Dutrow will only be effective in Delaware and Kentucky, respectively. They can still train, mount, drug, or whip horses elsewhere.

Posted by Sean Conner

tomorrowaustin / CC

Around Texas' capital city, a popular slogan on T-shirts and bumper stickers proclaims, "Keep Austin Weird." Well, if Austin's weird, who wants to be normal?

Case in point: This past weekend, Austin was home to the second annual veggie-hot-dog–eating contest, organized by iLoveMikeLitt. Now, last year, we bemoaned missing the first-annual (well, first-ever at that point) contest. So imagine how I feel about missing this year's event, since Austin's a mere three-hour drive from my home in Houston (slogan: "Houston's great—no, really!").

Somehow they managed to carry on without me, though. In fact, nearly 300 folks showed up—including Austin's famed vegan firefighters—to polish off 1,500 LightLife Tofu Pups, along with 14 gallons of vegan ice cream from Austin's own NadaMoo. In the solo contest, Spencer "Tree" Lockwood ate 21 hot dogs to narrowly edge out last year's solo champ, Colin "The Tim Duncan of Competitive Eating" Kalmbacher, whose sentiments captured the quintessentially Austin nature of the whole event:

What is more Austin than a bunch of vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores, all alongside each other, gorging themselves on hundreds of soy dogs for the sheer insanity of it?

Indeed. If you're an Austinite (Austinian?), be sure to sign up for the iLoveMikeLitt event newsletter so that you don't miss out on next year's contest—or other fun stuff like Vegan Arm Wrestling and Veggie Speed Dating. Those of us living in less "weird" places can still get in on the fun—I'm staging my own vegan hot-dog–eating party for the Fourth of July (though, so far, it's just me and my soy-loving hound, Gus). Our resident foodies have picked their favorites, but I'm interested to know what you'll have on the grill over the holiday. Fire it up!

Posted by Jeff Mackey

yahoo / CC

Move over bullfighting, hunting, and dogfighting—there's a new blood sport in town: Wimbledon Tennis. Yep, you read that correctly: The oldest tennis championship in the world—the home of manicured green grass courts and lily white uniforms—now has a blood-red body count. Don't go jumping to conclusions: It's not that PETA friend John McEnroe has unleashed his infamous temper on the court. No, the crime here is far more serious than a few choice expletives hurled at an intractable tournament official.

Hold on to your strawberries and (vegan) cream for this one—it seems that Wimbledon has hired sharpshooters to kill pigeons. And what crime did these pigeons commit to merit capital punishment? They pooped. More specifically, they pooped on some tables in an open-air restaurant frequented by media folks who cover Wimbledon matches. Now, I'm no expert in the area of pigeon control, but here's an idea: How about getting a few patio umbrellas? Call me Einstein, but I'd guess that my solution is a whole lot cheaper—in terms of money and lives.

And even if Wimbledon officials don't give a whit about compassion or public opinion, here's something else that they might consider: Their actions seem to be illegal, as in they're likely breaking the law. A U.K. law passed in 2006 prohibits "lethal control" of animals, except as a last resort. PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich had more than a few choice words for Wimbledon, but here are a few that we can print:

Since the use of marksmen to kill pigeons appears to have been carried out as a first, rather than a last resort, and not out of a concern for public health, but rather because the animals were deemed inconvenient by players, you appear to be in clear violation of the law.

Posted by Grace Friedan

Ever wondered how you could combine your love of animal rights activism with your need to pay bills and buy groceries? Were you aware that PETA will pay you to be active for animals? Check out this video message from Ingrid to see why you should work for the best damn lifesaving team around:

If you're interested, just check out our current job openings and send in your résumé!

Posted by Sean Conner

From the "turnabout is fair play" department—and from an Israeli Web site called PetKaput.com—comes a video that dares to imagine what would happen if some role reversal were to happen in the notorious Chinese fur trade. The result is somehow creepier than all the Saw and Hostel films put together—and yet weirdly funny too. Not David Cross or Amy Sedaris funny, but—well, I can't really explain it; you just have to watch:

Ouch! Admittedly, it's a little disturbing, but keep in mind that it's only animation, so no one was actually hurt in the making of it (unfortunately, the same can't be said for the video that inspired it).

Posted by Jeff Mackey

As arguably tasteless as he may be, Triumph the Insult Dog from the Late Night With Conan O'Brien show made some excellent points in his coverage of the recent Belmont Stakes. As I've pointed out before with humor articles and videos, they often sneak in a few insightful points about whatever act or industry they've set in their crosshairs. In the few moments when he's not busy insulting virtually every attendee of the Belmont Stakes, Triumph does just that.

The horseracing industry is just another instance of the same mentality behind dogfighting (although Triumph may have said so less eloquently). The difference is that horses are raced and killed out in the open.

Besides a chuckle, what I took away from this video was a sense of how unimportant horseracing itself is to the Belmont Stakes. Most of what I saw was just noticeably intoxicated people standing in the hot sun, cracking wise and goofing off. I've enjoyed (and been) this very spectacle at every low-cost local beer garden or outdoor concert I've ever stumbled home from. I don't recall once stopping to think how desperately the event needed horses running in a giant loop to complete the experience.

To see Triumph in all his potty-mouthed glory, check out the video here:

Posted by Sean Conner

OK, not quite. Actually, the International Cannes Film Festival is already over, for those of you not on the up and up with film awards. What I'm talking about here is the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, where two—yes, count 'em, two—of PETA's PSAs have made the short list for public service messages. Ladies and gentlemen, may we introduce "Buy One, Get One Killed" and "Sex Talk"!

Buy One, Get One Killed

Sex Talk

All right, so the videos have been around for a few months now, but they're definitely worth watching for a second, third, or 37th time, because, well, they're just that amazing.

This is a huge honor, and we're pleased and proud that both videos are receiving the recognition that they deserve and that spay/neuter advocacy is receiving the spotlight that it so desperately needs.

The animal overpopulation crisis is a growing problem and will only continue to grow if guardians don't do the responsible thing and practice animal birth control for their companion's health and happiness.

Now, about conquering that other film festival. ... Hey, there's always next year ....

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

wktv / CC

I'm very sad to say that George Carlin passed away last night. The Grammy and Emmy winner was truly an icon in the world of comedy and will be sorely missed by many for his humor and passion. One thing many of you may not be aware of is that Carlin frequently had animal rights messages in his work. One of my personal favorite Carlin quotes comes from his book Brain Droppings, in which he said, "And I think people have a lot of nerve locking up a tiger and charging four dollars to let a few thousand worthless humans shuffle past him every day. What a shi**y thing to do. Humans must easily be the meanest species on Earth. Probably the only reason there are any tigers left is because they don't taste good."

With his solid wit and enthusiasm, he brought a pro-animal message to many people who may not have received it otherwise. On the veg front, Carlin has said, "Eating meat is one thing, but this whole beef-rancher-manure-cattle-hamburger side show is a different skillet of sh** altogether. Each year, Americans eat 38 billion hamburgers. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of red meat. Cattle consume one half of all the fresh water consumed on Earth. The sixty million people who will starve this year could be adequately fed if Americans reduced their meat intake to just 10 percent."

Even though Carlin has passed on, his words will live on and we really appreciate his zeal and fervor for animals. "And yet, in spite of all these examples of creature mayhem, I will not strike a dog, I will not chase and taunt a bull around a ring, and I will not squeeze an animal's testicles just to give the yokels a better show," said Carlin in one of the many pro-animal excerpts from Brain Droppings. We'll always remember you!

In honor of George's extremely popular "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" and his passion for animals, we'd like to include our own list of "Seven Videos You Can Never Show on Television." The following list is a sampling of our many banned television ads:

Seven Videos You Can Never Show on Television
In Honor of George Carlin

1. Sexy Vegetables PSA
   Rude food. We promise that pasta and vegetables have never been this sexy or satisfying!


2. Wrong Meeting?
   Our award-winning animal birth control (ABC) ad, featuring one very controversial character


3. Buy One, Get One Killed
   A PSA that really puts the whole "responsible breeder" BS into perspective


4. Milk Gone Wild
   Your favorite video gone udderly wrong


5. Sex and the Kitty
   PETA's pro-spaying/neutering ad shows animatronic cats doing what kitties who are left "intact" do—have sex, that is


6. Sex Talk
   Another award-winning ABC ad, featuring one very interesting conversation you've probably never had with your parents


7. Sexy Sausage: Director's Cut
   High cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, hormonal imbalances, and other causes of impotence can be virtually eliminated (and even cured) with a low-fat vegan diet

Posted by Christine Dore

The Guardian, a U.K.-based newspaper, was recently "granted exclusive and unfettered access" to a super-secret primate testing facility at an undisclosed location and operated by the staff of an undisclosed university. This facility works on marmosets, drilling "tiny" holes in the monkeys' skulls and injecting "minute" amounts of "liquid toxin."

Basically, they—whoever they are—open monkeys' heads up with a drill and pour in some poison. But hey, don't worry about the monkeys—Guardian blogger James Randerson claims they aren't "noticeably affected" by the holes and poison in their heads.

While you can read the whole article here, I would suggest you better spend your time checking out what PETA Europe's Alistair Currie had to say in his response letter:

When James Randerson was shown around a primate laboratory (Report, May 31) did he ask why he was being shown this particular laboratory—and whether his "unfettered" access was the same as seeing what goes on in his absence? Undercover investigations into primate laboratories consistently reveal animal suffering far in excess of what he saw on this official tour, and the research conducted was itself far from typical—most monkeys in the UK are used in pharmaceutical toxicology research. Nor is the attitude of technicians or scientists the point. Whether they are or are not "caring", monkeys don't belong in cages, their brains are not ours to interfere with and this PR exercise was a cynical misrepresentation of a far uglier reality.

And if you're actively searching for a reason to be seriously frustrated for the rest of the day, The Guardian was nice enough to post this audio slideshow in which the tiny monkeys cling to the bars of their cages. Listen closely for the bit about how research staff consider themselves "compassionate professionals"—aren't you curious to know what their definition of a sadist is?

Posted by Sean Conner

One of the many tragic things about breeders (I’m talking about the bad kind here, not the awesome, rockin’ kind) is that their obsession with generating a manufactured, unnatural series of traits in the animals they manipulate inevitably results (as you might expect) in a whole slew of health problems for the victims (not to mention an untimely death for the homeless animals who won’t be adopted as a result). I’m about to drop some science on you here, so bear with me, but this list, of the top 10 over-bred dog breeds in the U.S., is a stark reminder of the sacrifices that these people think it’s acceptable for animals in their care to make so that they can tell their friends that their dog is the fluffiest, or the shiniest, or whatever the hell it is they talk about when they’re not leaving hateful comments on this blog or writing big checks to help the