When PETA caught wind of Air Canada's financial woes, we flew into action with a tempting offer that could help keep the company flying sky high and save thousands of seals from being slaughtered on Canada's ice floes each year. PETA V.P. Dan Mathews will meet with an Air Canada representative on September 11 to discuss giving the Air Canada planes that fly between Canada and the U.S. a makeover—by wrapping them in our anti–seal slaughter ad. Check it:

In April, we asked US Airways to deck out a few of the planes that it flies in and out of Vancouver, home turf of the 2010 Olympics. Though that proposal was rejected, we haven't given up. Got any high-flying ideas about where we could place this ad next? Share your brilliance below.

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

fedcan / CC

Those poor folks in the airline industry have been hit from all sides in recent years, from heightened security after 9/11 to ever-higher fuel prices. Now, there's more bad news for airlines from our neighbours to the north (for the geographically-challenged, that would be Canada—and did you notice how I spelled "neighbours" with a "u," like proud veggie Bryan Adams and other Canucks do?). The Canadian Supreme Court has just ruled that airlines have to provide an extra seat—free of charge—to morbidly obese passengers.

While the airlines may see this as a blow to their bottom lines, we hope they'll think of it as an opportunity instead. To wit: Bring back the veggie meals! And not just as an option, but for all passengers.

You see, adult vegans are, on average, 10 to 20 pounds lighter than adult meat-eaters. So by putting veggie food on those seatback trays, the airlines can help keep their frequent flyers slim and healthy—and free up more seats for paying customers, as we suggested to the powers that be. You can see our full letter to Air Canada here.

Of course, even if you're not traveling by air this holiday season, it's good to know that there's a way to keep from carrying extra pounds into the new year. To learn more, check this out.

Posted by Jeff Mackey

Caught on tape: In 2005, PETA sent an undercover investigator into Covance’s primate labs

A little while back, we received shipping documents indicating that 22 5-month-old beagles had been shipped from New York to Tokyo in the cargo holds of Japan Airlines planes. More disturbing still, we learned that the company shipping the beagles was none other than animal-experimentation conglomerate and notorious animal torturer, Covance Inc. In case you're not aware of our history with Covance, this is the same company that was revealed to have been hideously abusing monkeys and other animals after an 11-month PETA undercover investigation in 2005.

The company—whose reaction to the 2005 investigation was to use its lawyers to try and strongarm PETA and PETA Europe into removing the footage from the Web—was eventually cited for numerous violations of the Animal Welfare Act. In a separate case, five Covance facilities were cited by the USDA for instances of animal abuse, including deliberately starving a dog and depriving her of veterinary care. These guys are the world's largest breeders of dogs for experimentation, and you can bet that there were more horrors in store for the dogs made to suffer through the 28-hour-long trip in a Japan Airlines cargo hold. A Covance promotional pamphlet recently obtained by PETA shows dozens of beagles in rows of cages, with the tagline "Helping to bring miracles to market sooner."

Thanks to Covance, it's too late for these particular beagles, but we're asking Japan Airlines to follow the lead of Air Canada and other compassionate airlines by refusing to transport dogs and other animals to vivisection laboratories in future. No responsible business should associate with monsters like Covance, and we're working very hard to ensure that Japan Airlines gets that message. If you'd like to help out, you can write to the airline's CEO through this form.