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Today, Benton County law enforcement officials seized more than 400 dogs from a puppy mill owned by 66-year-old Ella Stewart in what they are calling "one of the worst cases" of animal abuse the state has ever seen.

All the dogs reportedly require medical treatment for a variety of ailments, including malnutrition, overgrown nails (which can cause painful foot injuries), and urine burns.

Urine burns! That's because all these pups were found living in makeshift crates (including shopping carts) that were caked with feces and soaked with urine.

You can bet that this isn't an isolated incident. Puppy mills, from which almost all pet stores buy their dogs, are breeding grounds (no pun intended) for disease and neglect. The animals who are unfortunate enough to be housed in these hell holes are viewed as commodities, not as living beings who require exercise, love, and care. They are crammed together into cages that they can barely turn around in, they are fed barely enough to survive, and when they suffer from injuries, their wounds go untreated.

So, the next time you're in the mood to bring a cute, dreamy-eyed pup home, don't support the Ella Stewarts of the world. Stop by your local animal shelter instead.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

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Canada produces 85 percent of the world's maple syrup, and the maple leaf is known throughout the world to represent Canada. And, unlike seal skins, which have been banned throughout the U.S. and Europe, Canadian maple syrup is a product found in many grocery stores and kitchen pantries. A boycott of this iconic product will send a strong message to the Canadian government that people living both in and outside the country will not stand by while baby seals are beaten and skinned in front of their bellowing mothers.

The Canadian government has claimed that it continues to support the seal massacre for economic reasons. By boycotting maple syrup, continuing to hold demonstrations around the world, and targeting the upcoming 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, we will send the message that continuing the massive commercial seal slaughter will hurt Canada's economy far more than it helps it. Every time someone takes PETA's online pledge to boycott Canadian maple syrup, we will send a copy directly to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Canada's Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day so that they realize how hard their continued support of the seal slaughter is hitting them in the wallet.

Canadian officials may turn a blind eye to seals' immense suffering, but the outcry against the seal slaughter echoes around the globe. Many compassionate Canadians have already spoken out against the slaughter, and PETA hopes that, as this year's slaughter draws to a close, Canadians will rally to defend their international reputation and tell their government once and for all that they will no longer stand by as this bloody massacre takes place in their country.

As a pancake and seal lover, I'll be buying only American maple syrup until Canada comes to its senses. Won't you join us?

Posted by Karin Bennett

• First up, the great animal escapes (so far) of 2009.



• Gordon "Jerkface" Ramsay gets owned by David Letterman. (skip to minute seven for the good stuff).



• On a lighter note, Sockington, the Twittering cat, is my homeboy.



• Speaking of cool cats on Twitter, we've got 20,000 of you as friends now!



• Well it's about time! KFC is no longer permitted to use the word "eat" in advertisements.



• It's like an undercover Sea Shepherd movie.



• Swine flu sucks—but it's nothing compared to having people kill and eat you and your friends.



• Good-looking West Point senior, triathlon champion, aaaaand vegan? Allow me to introduce Nick Sterghos.



• Animals are sentient, moral, and self-sacrificing beings. Read it here. Wipe the tears from your eyes, then forward it to Gordon Ramsay fans.

Posted by Missy Lane

Our campaign to convince Lowe's to stop selling glue traps is stuck in high gear. Recently, a woman dressed as a mouse stuck on a glue trap stopped traffic in Yakima, Washington.

Then PETA member Stewart David requested that state officials in North Carolina investigate Lowe's bogus claim that its glue traps somehow "anesthetize" captured animals.

And in Charlotte, North Carolina, Lowe's shareholders gasped at the sight of our "dying mice," who were struggling to escape a giant glue trap beside a sign reading, "Lowe's: Stop Torturing Animals!"

Maybe pressure from shareholders will convince Lowe's to finally join Rite Aid, Safeway, CVS, and other big names that have taken the torture devices off their store shelves.

Posted by Karin Bennett

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We're generally not fans of anything to do with swimming with dolphins (unless it involves a boat and scuba gear out in the middle of the ocean). That's because hotels and aquariums that offer people the chance to "swim" with dolphins really mean that you get to sit with a dolphin in a swimming pool—a pool that is essentially the equivalent of a bathtub to an animal who would naturally swim dozens of miles a day. In addition to the criminal lack of exercise and mental stimulation, captive dolphins are suspected of being driven mad by the sound of their sonar, which constantly bounces off the tank walls.

But thanks to Animal Makers, kids with cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome, and other developmental disorders will get a chance to interact with "TADs" (therapeutic animatronic dolphins) that move and even make squeaky dolphin noises at a new facility that is being built in Florida.

Kids get to play with really cool life-like robots, dolphins get a break. It doesn't get any better than that.

Posted by Alisa Mullins

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Consider this—right now, the following is happening around the world:

• Baby seals are being shot and beaten on the ice floes off Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada while their helpless mothers watch and mourn.
• Also in Canada, mother bears are in danger of being shot—leaving their cubs to starve to death—so that their fur can be used to make pointless ceremonial caps for The Queen's Guards in the U.K.
• Animals on fur farms are being packed into tiny cages, going insane from stress and captivity, or being poisoned, electocuted, or even skinned alive.
• Elsewhere, wild animals—or perhaps your cat or dog—are caught in cruel steel-jaw traps, terrified and in anguish.

But while those winter coats are forgotten about for a few months, there are some people who will still have fur on their mind this summer, including the entire nation of Israel. Israeli Knesset Member Nitzan Horowitz has introduced the world's first nationwide bill to prohibit the fur industry. If it becomes law, this bill would prohibit the production, sale, and importation of all fur products throughout Israel. Very cool news for a hot season!

Check out PETA Asia Pacific's site to encourage continued support for this historic bill. And if that just whets your appetite for some serious warm-weather fur-fighting, check this out too.

Posted by Jeff Mackey

Wherever American artist Andrew Krasnow displays his maps, cowboy boots, and American flags, controversy is hot on his heels.

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Why all the fuss, guys? Using human skin donated to medical science to make a nice pair of boots is a use of flesh that we should all throw our weight behind!

While the photos of his work (which he says is intended to question American ethics and values) might make you a wee bit queasy, Krasnow's creations are far more humane and understandable than leather jackets, snakeskin belts and baby-alligator–skin purses (their small heads included). Those turn my stomach because—unlike the folks who donate their bodies to science—cows, snakes, alligators, and other animals did not sign up to have their skins ripped from their bodies.

Krasnow's next show has been commissioned by the U.K. Human Tissue Authority. Hopefully, the protesters howling outside the show will stop to consider the skins used for their own belts and bags.

Posted by Karin Bennett

Thanks for all of your wonderful comments on this Win It Wednesday. The winner of The Engine 2 Diet is Stacey. Congratulations!

Beach season is fast approaching, and we're all scrambling to lose pounds and tone up before hitting the sands. Looking to slim down fast the healthy way? Well, firefighter Rip Esselstyn's 28-day, plant-powered diet plan, The Engine 2 Diet, offers easy tips and recipes that'll have you rocking that bathing suit in no time.

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How do you win? Tell us about your motivation to drop pounds for the summer. Planning a vacation to Barbados? Going to a high school reunion? Let us know with a comment below, and someone will take home an autographed copy of Esselstyn's book The Engine 2 Diet.

The contest ends on June 10, 2009, and we'll choose the most motivating comment as the winner on June 12, 2009. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Check back every Wednesday for new prizes. Good luck!

Posted by Lianne Turner

Yesterday, Nicola McLean—model, star of I'm a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here, and all-around hottie—teamed up with our friends over at PETA Europe to wish the dastardly European department store Selfridge's an "Unhappy Birthday."

Nicola, flanked by two other models, burst out of a cake in front of Selfridges' Oxford Street store despite the inclement weather. The ladies simply sizzled in yellow bikinis (a nod to the store's centenary Big Yellow Festival celebrations) as they urged the chain to remove cruel foie gras from its shelves.

"While Selfridges celebrates its centenary, ducks and geese who are force-fed for foie gras die before their first birthday and have nothing to celebrate," says Nicola. "I won't be shopping at Selfridges until they stop selling foie gras." You say it, girl!

You can join Nicola in the campaign against the foie gras–peddling store by clicking here.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

So long, So You Think You Can Dance?!

Tonight at 9 p.m. EST, I'll be watching the series premiere of ABC's animated sitcom, The Goode Family. Mike Judge, creator of King of the Hill and Beavis and Butt-head, is bringing vegans to primetime. The entire Goode family, including the dog, Che, is vegan, and you can bet that their obsessive efforts to be politically correct will create some awkward and hilarious scenarios.

If you can't laugh at a reflection of your own efforts to be green—mine include raising two perfectly happy, healthy vegetarian dogs who don't attack their friend, Frank the cat—what can you find humor in these days?

Posted by Karin Bennett

Since Vermont is America's top producer of maple syrup, we figured that the state capital was the best place to launch our international boycott of Canadian maple syrup. Of course, Vermonters have always had a soft spot for their state's delicious syrup, but now there's yet another reason for all consumers to buy only American syrup—it's cruelty-free! Check out the pictures from the demonstration:

PETA's "seal" wielded a hakapik (the weapon sealers use to kill baby seals) and was given the chance to take out his aggression toward sealers on a 6-foot-tall bottle of gooey Canadian "maple syrup."

The blood-red contents of this bottle are symbolic of the real blood spilled by Canadian sealers during their annual slaughter.

We definitely won the fight against this massive bottle of syrup, but we still have more to do to help end the Canadian seal slaughter for good—so urge your local restaurateurs to boycott Canadian maple syrup now!

Canada has ignored calls from around the world to stop the seal slaughter, but we're hoping that a plunge in maple syrup sales will get the government's attention. So, as one compassionate Vermonter so accurately screamed out his window as he drove by the demonstration, "Vermont syrup saves seals!"

Posted by Liz Graffeo

PETA is poised to take the mic on Wednesday to speak in behalf of chickens at McDonald's shareholder meeting in Oakbrook, Illinois. We're all set to grill CEO Jim Skinner and plan on asking him to change the way that his restaurants' suppliers slaughter birds by switching to controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK), a less cruel slaughter method.

For years, we've tried to convince McDonald's to require its suppliers to use CAK, which would eliminate some of the worst abuses suffered by the millions of chickens who are turned into McNuggets every year. But despite our efforts, the company still refuses to implement CAK.

After the meeting at 12 noon, we'll lead a protest at a nearby McDonald's restaurant, during which two PETA members will soak in "bloody" water to draw attention to the fact that many chickens at slaughterhouses that supply McDonald's are boiled alive in scalding-hot water.

If you live in the Chicago area, feel free to join the festivities!

Posted by Karin Bennett

Say what?

Because this is obviously a parody of that, PETA's legal team sent a letter to Carol Gross explaining why we will continue our efforts to protect seals from the bloody slaughter by selling merchandise bearing our protected spoof logo.

We might be open to striking a deal, though. If the Olympic Committee were to help us convince the Canadian government to stop allowing hundreds of thousands of baby seals to be slaughtered annually, maybe we'd agree to quit parodying the Olympic logo.

Posted by Karin Bennett

Why maple syrup?

Canada produces about 85 percent of the world's maple syrup, an industry that rakes in around $C213 million each year. Our newest campaign encourages restaurants and grocery chains to boycott Canada's multimillion-dollar syrup industry. By persuading businesses to sign our pledge, you'll be letting the Canadian government know that the country is going to get a serious hit in the wallet unless it declares an end to the seal massacre.

If your local eatery is already using American maple syrup, pour it on thick (it's safe to use Aunt Jemima and Log Cabin too) and thank the owner that no seal blood was spilled for your breakfast or brinner.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

There was no love lost between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings as they battled on the ice last night in game three of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but there was love in the stands during intermission when Jason Levy asked his girlfriend, Nicole Hughes, to marry him.

But wait—there's more! While the couple's special moment was rolling live on the stadium's huge screen, Jason surprised the audience when he held up a sign reading, "McDonald's Breaks Birds' Wings and Legs."

Jason jumped at the perfect opportunity to tell thousands of people that the fast-food giant refuses to alleviate the suffering of the chickens killed for its restaurants by adopting an improved slaughter method called "controlled-atmosphere killing." Currently, birds killed for McDonald's are grabbed by their legs and slammed upside-down into shackles, and many are still conscious when their throats are cut and they are immersed in scalding water.

So, to sum up: First, PETA Foundation staffer Alex Bury and her then-fiancé Jack Norris got hitched at a KFC restaurant in Toronto to celebrate the introduction of a faux chicken sandwich at most Canadian KFC outlets. Then, Jason Levy spotlights McDonald's cruelties to birds in his marriage proposal.

Anybody else have any ideas for the "fast-food cruelty nope-tials" (ouch) tour?

Posted by Karin Bennett

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In an effort to demonstrate the toxicity level of a shampoo, TV host Lisbeth Koelster poured shampoo into an aquarium and, lo and behold, almost all the guppies were poisoned to death.

I'd say that's about as far from protection as you can get.

Of course, the journalist's lawyer argued that the charges were erroneous—I guess sea kittens don't warrant protection? "Fish are killed by suffocation in industrial fisheries and we throw live lobsters into boiling water," he said, "but we don't press charges against fishermen or restaurant owners."

Well! If that doesn't just give us ideas ….

Posted by Amanda Schinke

The swine flu epidemic has hit Asia—and so has PETA Asia-Pacific's intrepid team of biohazard-suited protesters. They gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Manila to point out the fact that factory farms are breeding grounds for deadly diseases such as swine flu and avian flu.

Thanks for the guard detail, boys! We'll take it from here.

[Heavy breathing] "Luke, I am your father. Stop eating meat, Luke."

Want to help prevent another swine flu outbreak? Click here to send a message to your Congressional representatives. Oh, and don't forget to go vegetarian.

Posted by Lianne Turner

Heads up, Pittsburgh: A menagerie of costumed wolves, rabbits, foxes, and other fake fauna are about to converge on your city.

And no, it has nothing to do with PETA.

Actually, it's all about Anthrocon—the world's largest "Furry" convention. OK, so if you don't know what a Furry is, I know you're dying to ask. In a nutshell, a Furry is a person who is totally into animal anthropomorphism (assigning animals human traits). I mean totally into it. We're talking loving fictional animal characters so much that they often wear mascot-like costumes of their fave animals (think Crayola-colored cheetahs in cargo pants).

Which is where PETA came into the picture. Don't get me wrong, we weren't trying to harsh their mellow. We just wanted to make sure that convention-going "Fursuiters"—as they like to be called—weren't parading around in the pelts of real animals. Here's the letter we sent to them:

Their response?

Dear Shawna:

Real fur is frowned upon at all furry conventions, in the same sense that leaping in front of speeding locomotives is frowned upon at comic book conventions.

Yours truly,

Samuel Conway, Ph.D.
Chairman and CEO
Anthrocon, Inc.

Posted by Amy Elizabeth

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Bandion-Ortner invited Pamela to meet with her after the bombshell's letter urging the minister to stop stifling free speech made front-page news. See, the Austrian police are trying to classify all animal rights groups as "criminals," despite the fact that very few engage in illegal activities. In her letter, Pamela made compelling points against such blanket persecution, noting that the Austrian government seemed to be behaving more like a dictatorship than a democracy. The minister assured Pam that she'd monitor the situation—and that there would be no witch hunt on her watch. Then she stood beside the blonde babe and smiled as staffers snapped away with their cameras.

Pamela and PETA's Dan Mathews then high-tailed it to the Life Ball, where Pam wriggled into her bikini and opened the festivities.

Posted by Karin Bennett

Click for a larger version

To check out the archives of past strips, click here.

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Instead of just feeling bad that meat production leads to more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the vehicles with engines in the world combined, these good folks decided to act. They'll get things rollin' with their city employees and then spread the good behavior on to school children come September.

Delighted at this news, PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk penned some letters of encouragement to a few cities stateside in an effort to nudge them forward in the fight against climate change. This simple step—not eating meat for a day—literally saves hundreds of lives.

Care about the planet? Check out the many reasons why "meat's not green" on our YouTube channel, then go on and give a vegetarian diet the old college try!

Posted by Missy Lane

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Teaching kids that cruelty to animals is acceptable can have a long-lasting and deadly effect. Remember "Son of Sam," Jeffrey Dahmer, and the "Boston Strangler"? These individuals, like most serial killers, each had a history of abusing and killing animals. So, we've sent several network TV stations a letter requesting that they remove hunting and fishing programs from their Saturday morning line-ups, on the basis that those programs glorify violence toward animals and should certainly not be airing at a time when children could stumble upon them.

To paraphrase good ol' Bugs, "What's up with that, Doc?"

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

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Here's a little refresher: Over the course of the six-week trial, reams of evidence were trotted out to support reports that Ringling keeps elephants chained for an average of more than 26 hours at a time, sometimes for as many as 60 to 100 hours straight, and that elephants often suffer from bleeding wounds after being struck with bullhooks. Former Ringling employees testified about the horrors they witnessed while on Ringling's payroll, which included seeing an elephant who was violently beaten for a solid half hour.

The judge is still weighing his verdict, but in the meantime, Ringling is on trial in the court of public opinion. Kudos to Today for helping us expose Ringling for the sleazy animal-abusing con artist that it is.

Posted by Alisa Mullins

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In January, after a U.S. Department of Agriculture report on Vick's dogfighting activities revealed that Vick had enjoyed placing family pets in the ring with the pit bulls he'd bred, raised, and trained to fight, PETA called on NFL Commissioner Goodell to require that Vick undergo a full psychological evaluation before any decisions were made about the future of his football career.

Until Michael Vick undergoes the rigorous psychiatric tests now available to determine his ability to experience remorse, there's no way to establish whether he will reoffend. Someone who trained dogs to torture and kill one another for sport, who drowned and hanged dogs who wouldn't fight, and who laughed while watching his own family dogs fight for their lives as they were maimed and finally killed does not deserve to be rewarded with a multimillion-dollar contract or be given the privilege to serve as a role model to millions of children. PETA will not take anything off the table when it comes to any team or league that may sign Michael Vick.

In the meantime, PETA has increased our efforts to get other athletes on board to speak out against dogfighting. Houston Rockets forward Ron Artest, mixed martial arts fighter Tito Ortiz, and world welterweight champion "Sugar" Shane Mosley, who shot an anti-dogfighting ad for PETA this week, have all spoken out against this cruel and illegal blood sport.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

Thanks for all of your wonderful comments on this Win It Wednesday. The winners of the vegan chocolate bars are Heather, Saucy, and Mary L. Congratulations!

Raise your hand if you're a junk-food junkie. Yeah, me too. Candy, chips, fried stuff—whatever your fix is, we're all in this together.

Luckily for those of us with a major sweet tooth, Go Max Go Foods has a brand-new line of chocolate bars that mimics some popular candies—but without all those unhealthy animal products, trans fats, and hydrogenated oils. But wait, it gets better: You could win a chance to taste-test them yourself!

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How do you win? Leave us a comment about your favorite vegan junk food. Check out this list if you need help with ideas. Three winners will win a pack of all four candy bars from Go Max Go.

The contest ends on June 3, 2009, and we'll choose the three most mouthwatering comments as the winners on June 5, 2009. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Check back every Wednesday for new prizes. Good luck!

Posted by Lianne Turner

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A new study has revealed that North American mockingbirds can distinguish one person from another and that they single out persistent intruders for retribution. Regular encroachment on their territory is met with screeching, dive-bombing, and sometimes even a swift graze across the heads of intruders.

All that just for getting a touch too close to their nests? Imagine what vengeance mockingbirds would cook up if we stuffed them into cramped, filthy cages and barns, like factory farmers do to chickens and turkeys.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

The "duck man" is at it again. Last year, around this time, a news story about Washington banker Joel Armstrong, who caught ducklings as they leapt off an overhang, made the rounds on the Internet. This year, mama duck—dubbed "Amelia Duckheart" by bank staff—chose the same not-so-great place to hatch her brood, and Joel leapt into action again.

For a little over a month, Joel had been watching the nest, which is located on an overhang outside his office window.

Over the weekend, this year's brood hatched and found themselves in the same ugly situation as last year's—they were faced with having to jump from the dangerously high ledge down to the ground where their mother sat waiting.

Being an old hand at this, Joel was able to catch each duckling in mid-leap. He then escorted Amelia and her babies to the nearby Spokane River as a crowd of admiring bystanders cheered them on.

Talk about lucky ducks!

Posted by Jennifer Cerlitsky

The bigwigs in Washington didn't approve our permit to set up a hog farm on the steps of the Capitol, but you'll still be seeing PETA in D.C. this summer. Starting yesterday, our Animal Liberation Project display is going to be a fixture on the National Mall all season long.

With the recent leak of alleged torture photos to media outlets, our Animal Liberation Project display—which makes the connection between the injustices that people have suffered throughout history and the abuse and exploitation that animals suffer every day—couldn't be more relevant. These newest images of abuse include those of a man covered in feces and another man hung upside-down.

Sound familiar?

Being hung upside-down is something that billions of chickens endure before they have their throats cut.

The parallels definitely don't stop there. Check out these images from yesterday's unveiling of the display:

We're set up right across from the Natural History Museum, so if you'll be in D.C. this summer, be sure to stop by.

Interested in volunteering for the Animal Liberation Project in D.C.? Just leave a comment below and we'll be sure to get back to you.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

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J.T.'s good looks, southern drawl, and sickeningly friendly disposition pegged him as the token "nice guy" this season—but it was always hard for me to figure out how much of his charm was real and how much was a sneaky trick to win $1 million.

After all, cattle ranching is directly connected to cruelty to animals, life-threatening diseases, and the destruction of the environment, so it's pretty obvious that any real "nice guy" would never make ends meet by exploiting cows.

J.T., now that you've got a chance at early retirement, how about letting the cows on your ranch retire as well? If you ditch the cattle farm and opt for a humane lifestyle, you'll prove that you truly are a nice guy. Plus, you'd definitely get my vote for PETA's 2010 Sexiest Vegetarian Next Door competition.

Posted by Liz Graffeo

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Expletives aside, Lily's concerns show her sweet nature (her pooch is a rescue), and we're impressed with her sensitivity to animals. She did decide to go on a safari instead of to a zoo, after all. We're sure that Lily knows that zoos are nothing more than concrete jungles, where animals are held prisoner in tiny enclosures day in and day out, and that the animals resort to abnormal, repetitive behavior to alleviate the mind-numbing boredom of confinement. The animals are also stalked constantly by hordes of families, flashing cameras at the ready, all wanting to get a glimpse of the action. No wonder Lily empathizes with them.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

PETA's naked "snakes" have been spotted recently on both coasts, drawing attention to the cruelty inflicted on scaly species who are killed for their skins. Not since Rebecca Romijn slinked around in painted-on scales as Mystique for the X-Men trilogy have people found reptiles so alluring.

In New Haven, Connecticut, many appreciative Yale students were drawn in by this sultry snake. One woman was so moved that she penned a poem about the display.

Media buzzed around our demo in Santa Cruz, California, as crews from The Santa Cruz Sentinel, Metro Santa Cruz, KSMS-TV, and Inside Santa Cruz lined up to interview the demonstrators, who pointed out that animal skins are not "eco-chic."

Our sexy "snake" and a team of supporters braved the cold rain to bare the facts—that snakes and alligators suffer when they're skinned alive for their hides.

Thanks to everyone who's helping to tip the scales in favor of kindness over killing.

Posted by Karin Bennett

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Shockingly, even though rats and mice comprise more than 95 percent of the animals used in experiments, they are specifically excluded from the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), the only federal law that protects animals in laboratories. According to the U.S. government, in its infinite wisdom, rats and mice (as well as birds and "cold-blooded" animals) are not "animals." (It's nonsensical, we know.)

That's why PETA has been doing end-runs around the worthless AWA by going straight to the companies that are required to test their products and pointing out the benefits of using effective and humane alternatives. We also monitor the various government agencies' testing programs and object every time we learn about a proposed test on animals that is redundant or for which non-animal alternatives are available. By doing this, we have been able to get dozens of tests on animals stopped (or the number of animals used greatly reduced), which has saved tens of thousands of animals' lives.

We think it's about time that our elected officials thought about rats and mice, don't you? Send a message to your members of Congress demanding that rats and mice be treated like the sensitive animals (not vegetables or minerals) they are.

Posted by Alisa Mullins

Maxim just released its "Hot 100" list, and apparently the editors understand the appeal of kindness toward animals. The list isn't just a "who's who" in hotness—it's a "who's who" in compassion too.

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Number one on Maxim's list is Olivia Wilde, who always gets House fans' pulses racing. While she plays a naughty doctor, she still knows how to play nice with animals. You guessed it, Maxim's number one is vegan!

Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power, gets her audiences purring with her sultry voice and gorgeous looks, but we're happy as a kitty in catnip over the fact that she helped us promote spaying and neutering.

How much hotness can one woman dish up? Eva Mendes is the answer! Need more proof? Check out her sexy "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" ad. Eh, what'd I tell ya?

Stunning Charlize Theron is as compassionate as she is talented—just ask her dog.

Audrina Patridge's sunny smile could light up Las Vegas—but it's her heart (which has a gigantic soft spot for animals) that we're interested in.

Millions idolize blonde beauty (and Sexiest Vegetarian contest winner) Carrie Underwood, and we can't say we blame them.

Tricia Helfer's luminous looks and love for animals are otherworldly.

The evidence is in: There's no trace of a doubt that Roselyn Sanchez's steamy anti-fur ad is muy bonita.

The reason we're happy that ravishing Joanna Krupa graces magazines all over the newsstand? She refuses to compromise her values and never wears fur.

Posted by Karin Bennett

Why has Cheers star Kirstie Alley packed on 83 pounds after her widely publicized diet as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig in 2007?

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She told People magazine, "A vegetarian would probably be eating vegetables. But to me being a vegetarian meant I'm going to eat enchiladas with no meat, and I'm going to eat lots of bread, lots of carbs."

Hey, Kirstie: put the slimy, butter-slicked fork down! Vegans are, on average, 10 to 20 pounds lighter than meat-eaters are, so we promise you'll see results!

If Nia Vardalos can drop 40 pounds by kicking cheese, Kirstie surely would slim down if she said, "Bye, bye, butter!" and gave vegan fare a shot. To help her in this endeavor, a copy of Skinny Bitch is on its way to her, courtesy of PETA.

Posted by Karin Bennett

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In that same "spin in haste, repent at leisure" memo, Smithfield claimed that "there is no evidence that any of the people affected had contact with pigs." But, as we reported last month, several news reports indicate that La Gloria—a Mexican village near the enormous Smithfield-owned Granjas Carroll factory pig farm—is home to the first confirmed case of swine flu and may have been ground zero for the outbreak. Apparently, the family of Judy Trunnell—who was a pregnant special education teacher in San Antonio, Texas—has seen those reports too.

To get an idea of just how foul and disgusting Smithfield's Granjas Carroll factory farm is, check out these photos, which were reportedly taken there.

Right now, we still don't know for sure where the swine flu outbreak originated or how it spread. Hopefully, this lawsuit will shed some light on that.

Posted by Alisa Mullins

"Hold the cheese, please!"

Nia Vardalos, star of the smash movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the upcoming film My Life in Ruins, dropped 40 pounds simply by repeating those four little words at every meal.

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Nia attributes her skyrocketing "Wow!" factor to her dairy-free diet. She told People magazine, "I broke up with cheese. … [C]heese keeps calling me and trying to get me to meet at a cheap motel but I'm really committed to just staying single for awhile."

Drop dairy to shed flab and help cows? It really can be that simple.

Posted by Karin Bennett

PLEASE NOTE: There's a picture below that is very disturbing, but for people who are concerned about animal suffering and homelessness, it's important to face the tragic reality of the overpopulation crisis and its consequences. Animals can't afford to have people look away.

Her name was Big Girl, but there was almost nothing left of her. She was so still, so slight, and so cold to the touch that field workers thought that she was already dead. But the tiny 6-month-old pit bull was still alive. Barely.

Big Girl never knew the love and care that we wish every dog experienced; by the time we arrived, she had endured prolonged, incomprehensible agony. When we found her collapsed on the ground, she weighed less than the chain she was tied to. She had clearly been starved—she was a pile of bones and had raw, mostly hairless skin with absolutely no body fat. A veterinarian later told us that Big Girl's stomach contained nothing but dirt, leaves, a piece of corn cob with two kernels on it, and a piece of dry, caked fecal matter. Big Girl had been left to suffer for so long that she had begun to decompose. Four different generations of maggots were eating away at her body. When we gently peeled her off the ground, she moaned. She could not see us or hear us, but we hope she knew that we were there to help her.

We sent Big Girl off to heaven with kind words and a gentle lethal injection. We wished we could have ended her misery much, much sooner. Those who condemn open-admission animal shelters and organizations like PETA for having to euthanize sick, injured, dying, and unwanted animals must look closely at the source of the overpopulation crisis—people who breed animals, those who neglect and abuse them, and consumers who choose to buy animals from breeders and pet shops instead of adopting from their local animal shelter.

No one hates the ugly reality of euthanasia more than the shelter workers who hold the syringe. Sometimes, especially when animals have known no kindness and are suffering, the best that we can offer an animal like Big Girl, Asia, and others is a painless and dignified release from a world that showed them no love or compassion.

P.S. The man responsible for Big Girl's horrific condition (as well as that of another dog, who suffered from a vaginal prolapse) was charged and convicted for the condition of both dogs, and he was prohibited from owning animals.

Posted by Jeff Mackey

Wow! Voter turnout for our annual "World's Sexiest Vegetarian" contest, just days old, is huge! On the ladies' side, it's scorching Ginnifer Goodwin, star of HBO's Big Love and the hit flick He's Just Not That Into You, who's racked up the most votes so far. The vegan vixen seems to be everywhere lately, including the June issue of W magazine, where editors point out, "She's Just Not That Into Meat."

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Ginnifer told W Magazine: "I read about what actually occurs in the factory farming; I found out what it is that dairy cows go through and what horrible lives these animals lead. I actually broke down—there was a day of sobbing upon realizing what I had been supporting."

As for the fellas, Kevin Bacon—who appears in the upcoming New York, I Love You—is our smoldering frontrunner. He previously contributed an essay to PETA founder Ingrid E. Newkirk's One Can Make a Difference. And maybe, after all this time, people still haven't forgotten about his risqué roll in Wild Things.

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His vegetarian lifestyle includes visits to brother-in-law Rob Sedgwick's New York City vegan ice cream parlor, Stogo.

I raise my ice-cold Rice Dream (chocolate, of course) to Ginnifer and Kevin. I admit that, as both a Big Love addict and ardent cow defender, I'm hoping Ginnifer snatches first place.

Posted by Karin Bennett

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Bolivia—yep, the same Bolivia that banned military training exercises on animals a month ago—recently passed a bill to ban all circuses that exploit animals from their country. After members of the Bolivian wing of animal rights group Animal Defenders International (ADI) went undercover and revealed that animals in circuses are confined to cages without room for them to move around and forced to stay crammed in those cages for the majority of their lives, the Bolivian public was outraged (as all people with hearts should be). Member of Congress Ximena Flores introduced the bill to get seedy circuses banned from the country, and the rest of the Bolivian Senate has agreed to the ban. As soon as President Morales signs the bill, it will be the law of the land.

Talk about progressive.

Bolivia is not alone in South American sympathy for animals used in circuses. Peru is leading the charge of other South American countries working to ban circuses. If the U.S. doesn't start playing catch up on all these animal rights issues, I think I might just pack my suitcase.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

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With that in mind, have you heard the news out of Maine? It's the sixth state to pass legislation significantly changing rights for state residents.

No, not that. I'm talking about this recent legislation, which bans the use of veal and gestation crates statewide.

That's right. As of January 1, 2011, calves will no longer be immobilized in tiny stalls for the production of veal, nor will mother pigs be trapped in gestation crates, on factory farms in Maine. Woo hoo!

And, of course, this follows news that U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine co-sponsored a resolution urging Canada to end the seal slaughter.

Maine's state motto is "Dirigo," which means, "I lead." When it comes to protecting animals, that certainly seems to be true!

Posted by Jeff Mackey

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While I'm no longer in NYC, I'll still be getting the chance to see a housewife in the flesh (and nothing else) very soon. Bethenny Frankel has agreed to pose for PETA's newest "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" ad on the roof of one of New York's iconic skyscrapers.

Bethenny—queen of sass, class, and vegan cookies (that’s right, she bakes vegan!)—will follow in the footsteps of Khloe Kardashian, Pamela Anderson, and Christina Applegate and bare some skin to draw attention to the suffering of animals who are killed for theirs.

Look out for the ad this fall. In the meantime, why not help Bethenny spread the word by wearing one of our popular "Mean People Wear Fur" T-shirts?

Posted by Lianne Turner

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On the show, judge Simon Cowell is known for being a little harsh when he gives the contestants a dose of the hard truth, but in reality he is full of compassion, especially when it comes to animals. Not only has he lent his celebrity to important campaigns in the past (like when he recorded a video message to remind people not to leave dogs in hot cars or when he has spoken out about the importance of spaying and neutering (and against fur), but now he's taken the time to sit down and chat with us about everything from his thoughts on Michael Vick to Obama's new White House pup, and much more. Check it out below and let us know what you think!

Do you think it's important to adopt a dog or cat rather than buying one from a pet store? Well, I mean, if I was buying a dog, I wouldn't buy it from a pet shop, I'd go to a rescue shelter. Or I'd go to a friend who couldn't take care. … It's not where the dog came from, it's the dog. … I get really annoyed when people start telling me about the make and the model of their dog like [for] a car. … A dog is a dog, no matter what background they've got. … Often, the mutts, the strays have got more personality than a highly bred pedigree.

Why do you think some people are obsessed with buying purebred dogs? They are plagued with physical issues, and some breeds are so popular that folks can't tell their own dogs apart from their neighbors' dogs. Well, I think the fashion accessory thing has become quite the thing here. You've got the rap and pop stars carrying around the highly bred dogs …. They think it'd be embarrassing to be seen carrying a mutt … when actually it would be endearing—people would think they cared more about the dog than their image. The other thing which is a problem, as you know, is they'll make movies about, you know, Chihuahuas, and thousands of people will go out and buy Chihuahuas like in the movie.

Right. And we're concerned that the same thing might happen now with the first family. What do you think about their Portuguese water dog? I think we've got to be balanced on this. I think—on a positive note, I think it's nice that they have made an issue of buying a dog for the kids. What I think would be great would be if they also took in a shelter dog, just from anywhere, to balance it. I'll even pay for the dog food!

The Westminster and Crufts dog shows are always controversial because they promote purebred animals when so many mutts are dying in animal shelters. What do you think of these shows? Well, again, I have two thoughts about them, because I think the vast majority of people who go and watch something like Crufts or who are involved are animal lovers, not animal haters. The problem (in the U.K. at least) is that we have elitism in the dog world, which does bother me, for who's to say what makes the perfect dog? The fact that these judges are saying that a bulldog who can't breathe properly is the proper way to breed a dog―that's just insane! Because, in their warped minds, that's what a dog should look like. I've got a show called Britain's Got Talent, where we have crazy dog acts, and I like those dog shows better. The dogs are having a blast, obviously having a great time.

We see a lot of dogs chained outside like bicycles, for life. What is your message to people who do that? That's disgraceful. The awful thing about what that person doesn't realize is that in the dog's mind, as he's being chained up … that dog has put his trust in the person who's chaining him. That dog would give up his life nine times out of 10 for the person who's chaining him up. … For a dog, under those circumstances, just to be left alone, starving to death, lonely and thirsty, is about as low as a person can go. You've got to have a really warped, disgusting personality to want to do something like that. That really disgusts me.

What makes you angriest when someone is cruel to an animal? I think the fact that they get an enjoyment out of it. I think the disrespect—a dog's sole purpose in life is to guard you, and it's your responsibility, and the dog will give up his life for you—would literally die for you—is unbelievable! It shows a really … like Michael Vick. He should never, ever be publicly supported again. Ever. If people really knew the gory details of what he was doing …. They think it was just a dogfight, but what do you do after the fights? The way they kill the maimed dogs ….

Right. And it came out last winter that Vick even threw his family pets into the fighting ring. That's not a human being―that's a sadist.

As you know, your image is posted on our mobile spay-and-neuter clinic, which rides around in low-income, rural areas of Virginia and North Carolina. People cheer when they see you on the van, and they bring their dogs out for their vaccinations. Thank you for that. Can you send some words to people who are having a hard time putting food on the table about why they shouldn't forget their dogs in these tough economic times? Well, I think that a life is a life, and I totally respect the fact that it's very easy for pampered celebrities like me to lecture, and sometimes I despise people like me because we don't do enough. But I can tell you that if you give an animal kindness, it will come back to you a thousand times over. … You get so much out of it, I cannot tell you. And for us, certainly, I am always willing to do—if I can help you financially, I will do that. If you need a donation anytime, we'll set it up straight away. Never hesitate calling me about that.

Did you know that several of your American Idol graduates have gone on to help animals? Carrie Underwood, Reuben Studdard, and Kellie Pickler are, for example, all vegetarians and are all on PETA's "sexiest vegetarian" list. If you know someone is good with animals, does that make you more inclined to be kind to them after they perform? Well, funny enough, there's normally something that connects me to them. Certainly with Carrie, the second she walked in, I sensed a real kindness about her, and I think it's part of her appeal. And to me, it just shows that you're a nicer person. So I'm not surprised to hear all of that, to be honest with you. I'll do more to encourage it. We'll put it on the questionnaire!

Doré. Out.

Posted by Christine Doré

Two things we at PETA never pass up: vegan ice cream and opportunities to educate others about the benefits of a vegetarian diet. (I call it giving them a "vegucation.")

Pro-life Catholic students and faculty at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., are in a tizzy about President Obama's scheduled commencement address on Sunday. So, of course, we're erecting two pro-vegetarian billboards this weekend at Notre Dame to remind both sides of the abortion debate that a diet free of slaughtered animals makes sense for everyone.

One person can enjoy better health and save 100 lives each year simply by going vegetarian.

Choose compassion over cruelty to animals and improved health over heart disease and cancer—go vegetarian!

Posted by Karin Bennett

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As the Vogue editor prepared to give a talk at the New York City 92nd Street Y about the "cultural impact" of her rag magazine last night, two PETA members disrupted the event to let attendees know about the ethical impact of Wintour's relentless promotion of fur.

As one fur foe unfurled a banner from the balcony reading, "Anna Wintour: Fur Shame," a second activist addressed the crowd, saying, "I apologize for the interruption, but I need to let you know that this woman is contributing to the suffering of millions of animals every year through her continued endorsement of the fur industry, even though she knows that the animals in question are beaten, anally electrocuted, and frequently skinned alive."

The protesters rabble roused until security escorted them out. We're hoping that the audience now realizes that Ms. Wintour's days as Vogue's editor should be numbered.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

This week, we approached the city of Ashland, Ohio, with a little business proposition after we learned of the city's efforts to find a more cost-effective way to run its curbside recycling program.

We sent the director of city services a letter offering to offset the program's costs by paying to place our Lettuce Ladies' "Vegetarians Do It to Save the Planet" ad on the city's recycling trucks:

With all the bottle-sorting going on in Ashland, its citizens might be interested to learn that they can cause far more damage to the Earth with the foods they eat than they can by chucking some bottles onto a garbage heap. In fact, the production of 1 pound of meat generates the same amount of greenhouse-gas emissions as does driving an SUV 40 miles. Of course, we're not suggesting that anyone stop sorting those bottles, but why not also try a meat-free diet that won't hurt animals or the environment?

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

Thanks for all of your wonderful comments on this Win It Wednesday. The winners of the OPI nail polish are Alicia Webster, Jamie Bevia, and Jill Brown. Congratulations!

It's flip-flop season, and it seems like everyone is busting out a fancy pedicure. I think I can safely say that we all want pretty feet without contributing to the horrors of animal testing, so it's a good thing (for us and for animals) that OPI nail polish is cruelty-free. For this week's "Win It" Wednesday, three of you can have fashion-forward tootsies on us.

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How do you win? Tell us about your favorite kind of animal-friendly footwear. Whether it's your vegan TOMS or your worn-out Chucks, we want to know. Three lucky people will each win a set of OPI nail colors from South Beach's spring collection.

The contest ends on May 27, 2009, and we'll choose the three most fashion-savvy comments as the winners on May 29, 2009. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Check back every Wednesday for new prizes. Good luck!

Posted by Lianne Turner

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That's Jimmy Kimmel's take on swine flu, as quoted in the New York Times.

And, if you're inclined to take a trip down Memory Lane, here's Jimmy Kimmel's take on PETA's Alicia Silverstone and Super Bowl ads.

We love Jimmy!

Posted by Shawna Flavell

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Now that Manny has been hit with a 50-game suspension for failing a drug test—allegedly because of an impotence treatment to counteract the, um, negative side effects of steroid use—Boston fans can rest a bit more easily knowing that the Red Sox made the right move shipping him off to L.A. last summer (Jason Bay slugging .667 through 32 games doesn't hurt, either). But we here at PETA are left wondering: Why would Manny turn to pharmaceutical "performance enhancers" when the best way to combat impotence is a healthy vegetarian diet?

Most people these days understand that the saturated fat and cholesterol in meat, dairy, and eggs clogs the arteries to your heart, leading to an increased risk of heart disease. But eating meat actually impedes the blood flow to all your organs—including the one that comes with a Y chromosome. And the best way to be sure that organ will continue to come through for you is to go vegetarian.

With that in mind, PETA is urging Manny to consider switching to a vegetarian diet so that he can continue to come through in the clutch without failing any more drug tests. You can read our letter here, and you can learn more about the performance-enhancing benefits of a vegetarian diet here.

Posted by Dan Shannon

When we heard that an elementary school in Windsor, Connecticut, was holding a yard sale to raise funds to spruce up its dilapidated playground, we saw a perfect opportunity pitch in—by paying to place our ads reading, "Tot teetering on obesity? Go Veg!" on the school's seesaws.

Our letter to the principal points out that kids who munch on chicken nuggets, fish sea kitten sticks, and pepperoni pizza face myriad health problems, including obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. For fat kids, our ad can turn recess, all too often a time of ridicule, into a chance to learn about how they can slim down and save their animal friends at the same time.

It's a no-brainer, really. When our paid ads are placed on playgrounds, everyone wins—schools, kids, and animals!

Posted by Karin Bennett

The number of people who are willing to stand by as the Canadian government allows seals to be slaughtered each year by the hundreds of thousands is decreasing fast.

Recently, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed U.S. Senate Resolution 84, calling for an immediate end to the annual seal slaughter. This vote comes less than a week after the European Union voted to ban the sale of seal fur in its member countries.

The most powerful leaders in the world have voiced outrage about this barbaric tradition, and their cabinet members are in full agreement. Even Canada's own senators have tried to introduce bills to end the slaughter.

WAKE UP, CANADA! The rest of the world is trying to open your eyes, and you've hit the snooze button too many times already.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

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More precisely, it is Moonlit Path, her horse, who is at the center of the dispute. Trainer Nicky Henderson has been charged with allowing the 6-year-old horse to be injected with tranexamic acid—a substance that prevents hemorrhaging and is banned on British racetracks. (The drug is allowed to be administered in advance of a race, but it must have cleared the system by race day.)

And why exactly would trainers need to prevent hemorrhaging? Could it be that racing puts such an extreme stress on horses' bodies that heavy internal bleeding and blood clots are common? You bet. Horses used for racing also often develop bleeding lungs and gastric ulcers from being forced to perform far beyond their natural physical limits. Oh, and let's not forget about all the horses who are raced to death.

PETA Europe is writing to the Queen to remind her that—drugs or no drugs—horse racing is a cruel "sport" that should be relegated to the history books.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

Each spring, zoos churn out baby animals like banks churn out big holiday bonuses for executives—but Average Joe and Jane don't grumble about tiger cubs. They simply coo at the babies.

Leave it to a PETA member wearing a tiger mask and holding a cardboard sign reading, "Pittsburgh Zoo Made Me Homeless," to bring home the point: Zoos should stop breeding animals and instead reinvent themselves as "rescue zoos."

This fellow may be sitting, but he's also standing—standing up for exotic animals, that is. Tens of thousands of tigers, bears, and other exotic animals languish in shoddy roadside attractions, back yards, and basements because the authorities who seize them have no place to put them.

Our "tiger" welcomed dozens of visitors to learn about how zoos are cruel to animals both inside and outside their facilities. After reading our leaflets, the security guards nodded their heads in agreement.

Posted by Karin Bennett

Not only is Owain Yeoman one of the hottest males ever to come out of Wales, he also stars in the hottest new show on TV and is married to the hot and humane Lucy Davis. (Who can forget the Office star's sexy teddy ad?) That said, you can only imagine how psyched we were when Owain signed on to do a pro-vegetarian print ad and PSA for us.

You can also imagine how psyched he was when dropping meat from his diet helped him drop a few unwanted pounds—a "tight-abs testimonial" to the slimming powers of a vegetarian diet.

Now, it doesn't take a mentalist to sense that you'd like to see a bit of Owain, so I'll leave you with these for-PETA-Files-eyes-only exclusive videos:

Posted by Amy Elizabeth

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Tons! No, we didn't mean it like that. Jessica knows what it's like to live in a fishbowl, and although she may not be the brightest bulb in the room, we're hoping that she might empathize with whales and dolphins who are forced to be on display their entire lives and cancel her upcoming performance at SeaWorld.

Considering her stint on the MTV reality show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica—and the relentless scrutiny that she's under 24/7—we think that Jessica might be able to relate to the whales, dolphins, and other miserable animals at SeaWorld whose every move is gawked at and snickered over as if they were on some bad reality TV show. At least, we hope she can.

Read the letter that we sent to Jessica via her papa, Joe, asking her to support the dolphins and to cancel her upcoming show at SeaWorld.

The deaths of three horses in two days of jumps racing at the Warrnambool Carnival in Victoria, Australia, has shocked so many Australians that jumps racing has been suspended indefinitely and may be banned in Victoria (it's already banned in all states and territories in Oz except Victoria and South Australia).

Supporters of Australian jumps racing, including racing minister Rob Hulls and Racing Victoria chief executive Rob Hines, are of course claiming to be concerned about safety. Warrnambool Racing Club's Andrew Pomeroy chimed in that the club had done "all it could" to make the course safe.

Apparently, "all it could" wasn't quite enough for Pride of Westbury, who crashed in front of the grandstand and suffered a broken neck; 8-year-old Hassle, who shattered a leg bone; or 9-year-old Clearview Bay, who also broke his neck when he fell after a jump.

We say go ahead and ban jumps racing, and then make its mouthpieces run several miles and hurl themselves over a few dozen hedges and fences in the horses' place. Now I'd pay money to see that!

Posted by Alisa Mullins

From our families to yours … we hope you have a great Mother's Day!

We've got a few other cards to choose from if you want to send an animal-friendly "Thanks!" to your mom. Check them out and let us know which you think is best.

The following is a guest post from peta2's Ryan.

Rory Freedman

Best-selling author Rory Freedman has already spared millions of animals from unnecessary deaths in slaughterhouses simply by promoting a healthy and cruelty-free vegan diet in her iconic book Skinny Bitch. But now she's taking her compassion to the next level!

You see, rather than buying her mom another meaningless foot massager or something this Mother's Day, Rory has offered to donate $5,000 to peta2 in her mom's honor—but only if you follow her example!

Here's how it works: Rory is going to match donors like you dollar-for-dollar, up to $5,000 total. So, for example, if you donate $20 to peta2, she will also donate $20 to double the impact! As Rory said in an e-mail to peta2, "Show your mom who you are and how well she raised you—that you know what is really important."

Thanks to Rory, your donations—no matter what the amount—will go twice as far to help us raise awareness and combat cruelty to animals raised for food, clothing, experimentation, and other industries.

Your support helps us win countless victories. From convincing top retailers such as J. Crew and Urban Outfitters to go fur-free to pushing for the first-ever felony charges of cruelty to factory-farmed birds, peta2 is changing how the world treats animals, but we can't do it alone!

Take Rory's challenge and have your donation doubled!

Posted by Ryan Huling

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When a cow named Molly escaped from a New York City slaughterhouse on Wednesday, she managed to get a mile away before she was corralled and brought to Animal Care and Control to await her fate—but don't worry! Fate was smiling on Molly. The lucky lady, whom some feared might be sent back to the slaughterhouse, has instead been sent to a farm sanctuary on Long Island, where she will be able to live out the rest of her days in peace.

Inspiring, no? Of course, we already know just how amazing animals are, but thanks to Molly, even more people are making that discovery—including none other than Barbara Walters! On The View Thursday morning, Barbara said that Molly's adventure has inspired her to lean even more toward a vegetarian diet—and that she'd be bringing her own veggie burgers to the next White House dinner.

This is, of course, awesome—although I do hope that the White House will be able to offer up something a little fancier! Hmm…maybe it's time to hook them up with our Fine Faux Foie Gras challenge…

Posted by Amanda Schinke

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1. Pigs snuggle close to one another and prefer to sleep nose to nose. They dream, much as humans do. In their natural surroundings, pigs spend hours playing, sunbathing, and exploring. People who run animal sanctuaries for farmed animals often report that pigs, like humans, enjoy listening to music, playing with soccer balls, and getting massages.

2. Pigs communicate constantly with one another; more than 20 vocalizations have been identified that pigs use in different situations, from wooing mates to saying, "I'm hungry!"

3. Newborn piglets learn to run to their mothers' voices and to recognize their own names. Mother pigs sing to their young while nursing.

4. According to Professor Donald Broom of the Cambridge University Veterinary School, "[Pigs] have the cognitive ability to be quite sophisticated. Even more so than dogs and certainly [more so than human] 3-year-olds."

5. Pigs appear to have a good sense of direction and have found their way home over great distances. Adult pigs can run at speeds of up to 11 miles an hour.

6. Professor Stanley Curtis of Penn State University has found that pigs can play joystick-controlled video games and are "capable of abstract representation." Dr. Curtis believes that "there is much more going on in terms of thinking and observing by these pigs than we would ever have guessed."

7. Pigs do not "eat like pigs" or "pig out." They prefer to eat slowly and savor their food.

8. Suzanne Held, who studies the cognitive abilities of farmed animals at the University of Bristol's Centre of Behavioural Biology, says that pigs are "really good at remembering where food is located, because in their natural environment food is patchily distributed and it pays to revisit profitable food patches."

9. Pigs are clean animals. If given sufficient space, they will be careful not to soil the area where they sleep or eat. Pigs don't "sweat like pigs"; they are actually unable to sweat. They like to bathe in water or mud to keep cool, and they actually prefer water to mud. One woman developed a shower for her pigs, and they learned to turn it on and off by themselves.

10. In his book The Whole Hog, biologist and Johannesburg Zoo director Lyall Watson writes, "I know of no other animals [who] are more consistently curious, more willing to explore new experiences, more ready to meet the world with open mouthed enthusiasm. Pigs, I have discovered, are incurable optimists and get a big kick out of just being."

These are just a few of the many reasons not to eat pigs. Click here to learn more about pigs.

Posted by Heather Moore

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People all over the world are calling for an end to the seal slaughter. This includes countless Canadians, like Senator Mac Harb, who had previously written to all members of the European Parliament asking them to vote against the Canadian seal hunting industry, calling supporters of the seal slaughter "barbaric."

While we are tickled that the Olympic Committee gave the inexplicably bloodthirsty Canadian MPs the smack down they so richly deserved, we felt the need to warn the committee that we are going to continue to do everything we can to call attention to the seal slaughter in the months leading up to the Vancouver Olympics. Check out our letter here.

Posted by Karin Bennett

Click for a larger version

To check out the archives of past strips, click here.

The always-logical Vulcans are ethical vegetarians—they don't even eat meat that has been replicated. Ring any bells? PETA recently offered a million-dollar reward for the commercial replication of in vitro meat, which could spare billions of animals from suffering and slaughter.

PETA Trekkies will be sporting their specially designed "Live Veg and Prosper" tees at theaters on opening night, putting an animal-friendly spin on the Vulcan greeting made famous by Mr. Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy, himself a vegetarian), "Live long and prosper." You can too!

Posted by Karin Bennett

It's started grilling dead birds, as opposed to frying them, and so it's encouraging people to "unthink what you thought about KFC."

I can only assume that it's referring to our thoughts about how unhealthy KFC is—which, admittedly, is one of the things I think about KFC. Of course, I mostly think about its awful animal welfare record, which it doesn't appear to be asking us to "unthink." (Possibly because, well, it's still awful.)

Give me a break, KFC. You can put a shiny "Healthy!" sticker on it all you want, but cholesterol-filled, artery-clogging flesh is still unhealthy, whether you fry it or grill it—and grilled chicken has been shown to contain carcinogens. I think I'll pass on the three-piece breast and thigh meal with an increased cancer risk on the side. Thanks anyway.

I can think of a better response to KFC's new grilled chicken—how about we grill KFC? Click here to write to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and ask it to investigate KFC's false animal welfare claims.

Posted by Amanda Schinke

Amanda Huhman and Libby Burks are a dog-loving duo who rallied their community and helped the Central Missouri Humane Society win first place in Zootoo's national shelter-makeover contest. The girls collared folks in parking lots to ask them to go online to support the shelter, papered the city with posters and fliers, did radio appearances, and gave speeches to civic groups in order to earn Zootoo's top prize of up to $1 million. The prize will allow the Humane Society to make much-needed changes to the shelter, including better ventilation so that disease doesn't spread, an isolation room for sick animals, a separate area away from the dogs for stressed-out cats, room to accommodate more animals, and attention to a drainage problem that flooded the building last fall.

For their dedication to a worthy cause, the girls have been awarded our Compassionate Kid Award, and peta2 is sending them animal-friendly shirts and stickers.

Amanda

Libby

Check out coverage from USA Today and the Columbia Daily Tribune about Amanda and Libby's big victory for animals. And tune in to their first episode of Animal Talk.

Posted by Karin Bennett

Thanks for all your wonderful comments on this Win It Wednesday. The winner of the Drinkwell Pet Fountain is Taylor Loscialpo, along with Poopy the cat. Congratulations!

As summer approaches, humans aren't the only ones drinking more water. Our feline friends are sweating too, even if it is only through their paws, and we have a fun way to keep them hydrated and happy: the Drinkwell Pet Fountain.

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In nature, wild cats drink from running streams, so why should their domesticated brothers and sisters have to drink from a stagnating puddle? This water fountain for cats keeps the water moving, which encourages persnickety kitties to drink more and helps them stay healthy.

How do you win? Tell us how your kitty companion changed your life for the better. The most heartfelt comment takes home the prize.

The contest ends on May 20, 2009, and we'll choose the most touching story as the winner on May 22, 2009. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Check back every Wednesday for new prizes. Good luck!

Posted by Lianne Turner

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In a blind taste test, participants were given five food samples that included foie gras, pâté, liverwurst, Spam, and dog food. They were then asked to pick which one was the Fido fodder. Of the eighteen participants, only three were able to identify the dog food!

Can I get a “woof, woof”?! And of course some help banning this cruel product ...

Posted by Amy Elizabeth

Turn to PETA's Vegan College Cookbook and take your pick of 275 delicious vegan recipes. No space, equipment, time, or kitchen skills? This cookbook squelches any and all excuses for sticking with that boring ramen routine!

Today marks the official release of PETA's Vegan College Cookbook, but over the weekend, peta2's own Starza Kolman and Marta Holmberg jump-started the hype by signing copies at the Norfolk, Virginia, Barnes & Noble.

Today is also Cinco de Mayo, so why not celebrate with a tasty, festive seven-layer dip? It's just one of the many delicioso recipes offered in the cookbook.

Seven-Layer Mexican Dip

1 8-oz. package vegan cream cheese

1 Tbsp. taco seasoning mix

1 15.5-oz. can vegetarian refried beans

1 cup guacamole

1 cup chunky salsa

1 cup shredded lettuce

1 cup shredded soy cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp. dried chives

1 small can sliced black olives

• Mix the "cream cheese" and taco seasoning. Spread onto the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate or other dish.
• Layer the beans, guacamole, salsa, lettuce, "cheddar cheese," chives, and olives over the "cream cheese" mixture.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Serve with tortilla chips.

Makes 8 servings

Posted by Karin Bennett

animals.nationalgeographic / CC

This vote adds to the pressure on Canada to end the seal slaughter. It shows that the EU Parliament recognizes the inhumanity of the annual massacre. The ban will undoubtedly deal a strong blow to sealers' profits—and that, in turn, will result in less blood on the ice.

The EU's decision is in line with the wishes of the majority of European citizens and all good people across the globe, including, of course, all Canadian citizens who are ashamed that their country is party to the bloody seal slaughter. Eyes now turn to the Canadian government: It has threatened to challenge the EU ban on trade in seal products at the World Trade Organization. Instead, it should be using its own laws to ban the seal slaughter.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

last.fm / CC

"Since becoming a vegetarian I've felt a new openness and lightness," he writes. He goes on to explain his objection to killing animals for food, saying, "Once a life is taken, that's it, it's over, it doesn't come back. To kill an animal is the end, the animal does not grow back and [he or she] is not replaced. There is no sense of gratitude that can equal the taking of a life." You can read the rest of Brian's vegetarian musings here.

Brian's not the only "veg-head" in the band, mind you! Guitarist Nick Zinner happens to be an outspoken vegan who provided the music for our infamous "Milk Gone Wild" commercial.

Everything I learn about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs makes me like them even more—and considering that I named my kitty companion, Dracula Mappington, partly after one of their songs, that's saying a lot.

Posted by Amanda Schinke

How anyone can still tune in to watch horse racing, especially after Eight Belles broke both her ankles and was euthanized at last year's Kentucky Derby? Well, some mint julep–sipping, tacky hat–wearing folks still do—and for them, this past week was another showcase of horse horrors.

1. Monday: Raspberry Kiss and Dr. Rap, two young Derby horses, were involved in a collision that resulted in a broken hip, and eventual euthanasia, for Raspberry Kiss.
2. Friday: Stormalory, who was projected to win the American Turf, suffered fractures and was euthanized.
3. Saturday morning: I Want Revenge, the Kentucky Derby fave, was scratched early in the day because of an ankle injury and is expected to be off the racetrack until at least summer.
4. Saturday afternoon: The Derby's projected winner, Friesan Fire, had part of his hoof ripped off right after the start but managed to finish the race, bleeding the whole way, 18th of 19 horses. (Somehow, I'm not surprised that Friesan Fire is trained by Larry Jones with Gabriel Saez as the jockey, the same duo who sent Eight Belles to her early grave last year.)

thedowneyprofile / CC
"He got hit real bad leaving the gate," Larry Jones said. "He's bleeding. If you see blood on the track, it's his."

All of the above occurred at just one track during just one weekend, but injuries and death are routine at racetracks.

Anybody want to guess what the upcoming Preakness and Belmont Stakes have in store for horses?

Posted by Karin Bennett

In PETA's new ad, Joel Gibb of Canadian indie band The Hidden Cameras announced that "Canada's Club Scene Sucks." and he's not talking about JELL-O shots.

Today, Joel and the band teamed up with PETA for a public unveiling of the ad in front of Queen's Park in Toronto.

The Hidden Cameras performed a short acoustic set, during which fans sang along to "Animals Belong Alone." The chorus goes like this: "We take and take, we know it's wrong. The earth belongs to animals, and animals belong alone." The performance must have been a good one, because a group of people at the park to protest the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka even joined in.

Talk about compassion bringing strangers together!

Click here to find out more about my new fave band, the Hidden Cameras.

Posted by Karin Bennett

Here are some photos from the event:

Credit: JeffJewissPhotography.com

Credit: JeffJewissPhotography.com

Credit: JeffJewissPhotography.com

cryptomundo / CC

Following the tragic death of Travis, a chimpanzee who formerly starred in Old Navy commercials, PETA approached Levi's and Old Navy's parent company, Gap Inc. (which also owns Gap and Banana Republic), to ask the companies not use apes in any future ads. Executives for both companies knew that their choice was clear once they learned that young apes who are used in commercials are ripped away from their mothers when they are only days old, trained by being beaten, kicked, and punched, and then discarded to live in filthy roadside zoos when they are too old and strong to handle.

Gap Inc. and Levi's join other progressive companies and organizations that have also signed our pledge, including Harris Teeter, SEGA, Honda, PUMA, Subaru, Keds, Yahoo!, and The Ad Council.

And, because we are never ones to let compassionate acts go unrewarded, we are sending both companies thank-you gifts for a job well done.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

The Montreal Canadiens' star enforcer, Georges Laraque, is brawny and brainy. He's vegetarian and steers clear of pigs, chickens, and other commonly consumed animals, a decision he made after seeing the animal-friendly feature film Earthlings. Not only that, but he teamed up with dozens of members of Concordia Animal Rights Association (CARA) this weekend to protest outside the North American Fur & Fashion Exposition of Montreal.

CTV News (CFCF), CJAD radio, and Montreal Mirror lined up to talk to the hockey star about the notoriously cruel fur industry.

Georges needed our PETA Logo tee in size XXL to cover all those muscles!

Posted by Karin Bennett

weblogs.baltimoresun / CC

PETA withdrew our offer to do a TV spot with Michael Vick last December when a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report on Vick's dogfighting activities revealed that he enjoyed placing “family pets” in the ring with fighting pit bulls and that he laughed as dogs ripped each other apart. PETA believes that this revelation, along with other factors in the report, fit the established profile for anti-social personality disorder (APD), so in January we called on NFL Commissioner Goodell to require that Vick undergo a brain scan and a full psychological evaluation before any decisions are made about the future of his football career.

What can I say? You can't believe everything you read.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

tottman / CC

Why 265, you ask? We included 263 headstones to represent the horses who have died on the track since last year's Kentucky Derby and whose names we know, one headstone for the approximately 832 other horses who have died but whose names are not known—because racetracks are so bad at reporting breakdowns and deaths—and one headstone for the approximately 12,000 thoroughbreds who are sent off to slaughter each year.

Churchill Downs is, of course, home to the Kentucky Derby and is where Eight Belles lost her life one year ago. Since the Eight Belles tragedy, Churchill Downs has made some reforms in the ways that horses are treated on its track, but banning the use of legal drugs to mask injuries hasn't been one of them. PETA is calling on the people who run the track to ban the use of all drugs in the week before a race. By bringing attention to the thousands of lost lives that don't make headline news, our display will hopefully inspire horse-racing officials to take action.

After all, by my calculations, the horse-racing industry has caused 13,095 horses to die this past year. That's enough to fill a cemetery plus some.

Update: Check out these pictures from the unveiling, then go browse more art by Dan Lacey, who painted the gorgeous picture of Eight Belles.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

Curious about the names of the horses who have died on racetracks during the past year? Click here.

babble / CC

We can tell you firsthand that Christina truly is beautiful inside and out. When she was 15, she learned about the horrors of the fur industry, and a few years later, she was caring enough to strip down for a PETA anti-fur e-card.

So congratulations, Christina! You deserve it. You are a beautiful person, with no lack of either passion or compassion.

Posted by Amanda Schinke

smi.ucr / CC

noun 1 a person who catches fish for a living or for sport.

or

noun 1 a person ignorant of, oblivious to, or indifferent to the fact that he or she is inflicting pain by catching, suffocating, stabbing, and gutting fish; someone who is hooked on cruelty.

In light of a new study revealing that fish feel and remember pain, PETA Europe has sent a letter to the folks at Oxford English Dictionary asking that they change their definition of "fisherman" to the rather more accurate version above (that's the second one, in case you weren't sure).

Because a fish sea kitten has a nervous system just as humans do, struggles against death, and has lips that are sensitive to the tearing of flesh caused by hooks, PETA Europe considers the Oxford English Dictionary's current definition of "fisherman" a little--ahem--insensitive. Don't you agree?

Leave a comment below with your suggestion for a new, more accurate definition of "fisherman."

Posted by Shawna Flavell

Bruce was able take a minute away from his vital work for animals to answer a few questions for The PETA Files. I'm hoping that you find his responses as motivational as I did (be sure to check out the most memorable campaigning answer—it's my favorite).

Here Bruce is in his own words:

Your dedication to animal rights is inspiring. Where do you look for inspiration? To activists in the field, holding down full-time jobs and still finding time to leaflet, hold demonstrations, keep "Vegetarian Starter Kit" stands stocked, write letters to the editor, post links to videos online, and so much more.

What's one of your most memorable campaigning stories?My wife, Alka Chandna, and I used our Christmas vacation in 2003 to do a string of anti-KFC protests. On Christmas Day 2003, we dropped off big bags of coal at the homes of KFC's CEO, president, and senior VP for public affairs because they'd been naughty to animals. An over-zealous police officer arrested us for trespassing, even though we were just walking up to the door—like Girl Scouts. The guy was screaming at me about trespassing, and I kept saying, "There's no sign saying we can't be here, we're just knocking on his door to ask him to be nice, rather than naughty, this year." The entire thing was caught on the squad car's video system, and the officer was wearing a microphone, so I have a video of the arrest, and it's just too funny. This was trespass number one, so it's the equivalent of a minor speeding ticket. The guy was behaving like Rambo over the equivalent of going 56 in a 55 zone.

If you had the power to change one person's stance on animal rights whose would it be and why? I'd change Bill Gates into a hardcore animal rights activist, so that he would dedicate most of his billions to promoting animal rights. Everyone agrees that causing animals to suffer needlessly is immoral. Of course, eating or wearing animals is absolutely needless. All we really need to do is get people to live according to their values—to be consistent. But we need to educate people so that they think about this reality, and if we had billions of dollars to dedicate to the cause, we could create a vegan U.S. in a very short period of time.

What's one campaigning moment that made you want to say FML? I have a selective memory that focuses on the positive and forgets the negative, so Ingrid calls me Bruce Poppins. Anyway, I can't think of anything other than glorious campaigning moments. Even when things go wrong (like when our Japanese intern who spoke almost no English ended up in the back of a squad car at a demonstration—she was subsequently released without charge), I tend to find that funny rather than dispiriting. I ran into a tree on my bike commute into work today and got a massive gash under my eye and on my shoulder, and all I could think was, "I sure am glad I still have my eye."

Is your family supportive of your animal rights activism? What would you say to someone who feels his or her family isn't supportive? My family is very supportive. I would say not to worry about your family. So many people spend inordinate amounts of time trying to change their family, even when it's clear that they are not going to change. Two things: 1) every action has an equal and opposite reaction. It's only natural that if you're pushing your family, they may push back, for a variety of reasons—they feel judged by you, they don't understand how you could make such a big change without them, whatever. Once you stop focusing on them, you may find that your family finds it easier to pay attention and come along, because once you stop pushing, they stop pushing back. 2) If you convert one person to vegetarianism, you save 100 animals per year, whether that is a family member or some stranger on the street. Take the energy you would have spent on your family and go convert 10 other people who aren't pushing back instead.

How hard is it to find vegan food on the road? What cities do you like or loathe because of their food options? I mostly eat from grocery stores, and I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, mixed nuts, bananas, and bags of pre-washed greens. I can find that stuff anywhere. The only place where I know the restaurants at all is D.C., where I've lived for most of the past 20 years, and I don't know too many here.

If you weren't working for animal rights, what would you be doing? Teaching disadvantaged kids in the inner city or running a homeless shelter (which I did for six years before I joined PETA) or working for Doctors Without Borders or some other global relief organization.

What is the most valuable piece of advice that you could give to someone who wants to start getting active? One person can make a massive difference, and that's deeply empowering—if you convince one person to adopt a vegetarian diet, you've just spared 100 animals per year from misery that is beyond our worst imaginings. A few hours spent leafleting, one letter to the editor, one good conversation, one vegetarian hotline bumper sticker on your car—there are so many things you can do, little and big, that will mean life or death for thousands of animals. Do it!

Looking for a bit more Bruce in your life (after that interview, aren't we all)? Head on over to our Action Center and listen to him on PETA's podcast. Oh, and then buy his book.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

We can never resist a good birthday party … and neither can our friends over at PETA Europe! Yesterday, Selfridges—a European department store that continues selling foie gras despite public outcry—celebrated its 100th birthday, and PETA Europe, along with former Miss UK (and current vegetarian) Brooke Johnston, joined the party by unveiling Brooke's new "Selfridges: Force-Feeding Is Cruel" billboard.

PETA Europe's touring billboard is slated to make the rounds of Selfridges stores across the UK this summer.

Brooke was on hand for a force-feeding protest too.

Happy birthday, Selfridges! While your employees were inside gorging on birthday cake, somewhere ducks were being force-fed until their internal organs ruptured.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

Sometimes, Mother Nature isn't entirely on our side when it comes to outdoor demonstrations. Luckily for us, caring citizens don't let a little rain stop them from getting the word out about animal abuse. Just check out all these pictures that were sent to us this week:

Rain check? Not for these seal lovers!

We'll come in out of the rain when the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of baby seals stops.

Is that a banana, or are you just happy to see me?

I'm thinking the rain only made this demo sexier.

Not to rain on your parade, but ... Oh, sorry, it's too cheesy, even for me. Just boycott McDonalds, OK?

Thinking about getting active for animals? Well, don't let a gray day stop you! Check out PETA's Action Center and then hit the streets.

Posted by Lianne Turner