PETA has been after candymaker Mars Inc. for funding deadly animal testing, and now caring consumers have one more reason to think twice before they buy Mars products. (I certainly know what candy I'm not buying for Halloween this year!)

Mars Petcare US has just announced a voluntary recall of all dry pet-food products produced at its plant in Everson, Pennsylvania, between February 18 and July 29, citing potential contamination with salmonella.

This huge recall affects 31 states and includes brands such as Pedigree, Ol' Roy, and others. Salmonella can cause serious infections in animal companions and, if there is cross-contamination, in humans as well.

Here is a list of the affected products and other urgent information for animal guardians. Please make sure your pet food isn't on the list, and follow the important instructions provided in case you've purchased potentially contaminated food. Questions about the recall can be directed to Mars at 1-877-568-4463.

It seems like déjà vu … cruel company conducting experiments on animals produces dog and cat food that hurts the animals in our own homes … Iams recall, anyone? Check out our quick refresher course on how Iams tortures animals and why many veterinarians, animal shelters, shops, and animal guardians are boycotting Iams.

PETA keeps an up-to-date list of cruelty-free pet-food companies here. When you purchase food from these companies, you can do so with a clean conscience—that's always a good thing!

Posted by Carrie Ann Harris

It’s a new dawn, people. A fresh, vibrant world full of hope. The storm clouds have dispersed and the sun is shining on a happier future, where anything is possible…

On a trial basis, in the fine city of Philadelphia, 7-Eleven is offering vegan sandwiches.

To celebrate this glorious news, and to help make sure this trial is a big success, PETA dispatched our lovely lettuce ladies to the city last week to offer samples of the tasty meatless sandwiches (varieties include "chicken," "steak," and mock egg salad) to passersby. ‘Cuz that’s just how we roll. Check out the pics, and if you live in Philadelphia, be sure to give the sandwiches a try. Word on the street is that they’re pretty damn good.

Oh, brave new world that hath such people in it.

This week's Deflocked is one of my favorites so far. I've never understood how companies that sell meat products can use images of happy, smiling animals in their packaging and marketing materials. You'd think they'd want to avoid conjuring up images of cute chickens frolicking and generally having a nice time when they're trying to get you to purchase a body bag full of their remains as a light snack. But the mental disconnect that a lot of people have between their love for animals and their understanding of what meat is made out of is so strong that some folks can feel all warm and fuzzy about an adorable cartoon chicken in an ad for chicken nuggets and just never even think about how fundamentally disturbing that is.

Incidentally, there's a great blog that's devoted entirely to this topic called Suicide Food, which is definitely worth browsing through. And for an example of a chicken who's actually outraged about the whole nugget situation instead of blithely accepting his gruesome fate as if it were the happiest day of his life, check out this little guy.

As usual, Jeff Corriveau says all these things a lot funnier than I do (and with a lot less ink). Here's DeFlocked.

Click for a larger version

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

Are you as psyched as I am for Live Earth this weekend? Mad props to the organizers of this amazing event, which is actually nine concerts rolled into one huge global event to draw attention to the global warming crisis facing the world. What an undertaking . . .

Now don’t get me wrong, anytime Snoop Dogg and Snow Patrol play the same event, I’m all for it, no matter what the cause. But let’s be real here. Because the meat industry emits massive quantities of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, selling meat at Live Earth would be like selling cigarettes at an anti-cancer fundraiser. And that’s exactly the message we sent in a letter to George Zoffinger, the guy in charge of Giants Stadium, the venue for the US portion of the event. Check out the letter here.

While it might be an Inconvenient Truth, for some at first, the reality is that what people eat is far more important than anything else they do—like, more important than switching from a Hummer to a Prius even—in determining greenhouse gas emissions, so making the concert venue vegetarian for the day is really the least the organizers can do. And the single most important step any of us can take to alleviate global warming is to simply go vegetarian.

In any event, enjoy the show, and if you’re looking for something to keep you awake while Madonna and Sheryl Crow perform, check out our “Live For the Earth” contest to win a $50 iTunes gift card.

Richard Linklater's Fast Food Nation opens tomorrow. Just like the book, the film promises to get a lot of people thinking about whether they really want to be eating stuff that shady corporations have made out of processed animal parts. This makes me happy, because it's like someone else is doing my job for me. In fact, I think I might just take the day off tomorrow.

To celebrate the release of the film, we sat down with Richard Linklater and members of the cast, including Paul Dano and Esai Morales, for some exclusive interviews. We also made this extremely addictive Fast Food Nation game, which has slowed productivity around the office to a crawl. Check it out. Then find someone you love, or—failing that—someone you feel you can stand to take in a movie with, and go watch Fast Food Nation tomorrow night. It’s going be pretty damn good.

Casey Affleck and Tom

So we had this big Thanksgiving dinner in L.A. yesterday evening, and, as so often happens with fancy PETA events that involve celebrities, I wasn't invited. The dinner was hosted by CSI star Jorja Fox at a PETA member's house, and among the guests were Alicia Silverstone, Casey Affleck, James Cromwell, Kevin Nealon, Emily Deschanel, Diane Warren, and The Simpsons producer Sam Simon. The guest of honor at the feast was a turkey named Tom, who got along famously with Alicia Silverstone and sat on Jorja Fox's lap (much as I would likely have done if anyone had thought to send me an invite). Check out the video of the event, with plenty of pics after the jump. The best part is Kevin Nealon talking about his "Thanksgiving wad." Pure genius.

Garden Protein's vegan turkey cutlet

Oh yeah, and this is what they ate. It doesn't sound too bad at all:

Plated 4 course dinner:

1. Crispy Chive "Cheese" with Baby Arugula, Fuji Apples and Roasted Beets
2. Creamy Pumpkin Soup with Cinnamon Spiced Croutons and Crispy Sage
3. Stuffed Vegan Turkey Cutlet with Cranberry Dressing, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy and Green Beans
4. Poached Pear and Chestnut Cream Tart

Click here for more pics.

Tofurky

Thanksgiving is a special time for my family. Every year, just before the holiday, we gather in my parents' living room to swap stories, reminisce about Thanksgivings past, and desperately try to figure out what suckers are going to invite us to their family Thanksgiving this year. Because there's no way in hell my Dad's going to be doing any cooking, and I have a very strict policy against doing dishes when I'm on vacation. This year we have our sights set on the Papageorgiou family. They have a nice house in D.C., and preliminary reports indicate that they make excellent cranberry sauce. The one thing we do provide for our chosen hosts though is a frozen Tofurky for them to cook, so I can do my vegan thing in style. Along with the Thanksgiving football games, the Tofurky is the highlight for me of an already kickass holiday. I really, really like Tofurky.

Manoles Papageorgiou

Turns out I'm not the only one. As of January 1, 2006, Turtle Island foods (the geniuses responsible for Tofurky) have sold 882,310 Tofurkys. They're currently holding a contest on their site to see who can guess what that number will be by January 1, 2007. The person who comes closest will win an Evader electric scooter, and all you have to do to enter is send your guess to info@tofurky.com, or fill out the form here. We're also holding our own contest with Turtle Island to give away a free Tofurky Feast, so you might want to check that out too. I'm apparently not allowed to enter that one because of some stupid "conflict of interest" crap. Maybe if you win, you can invite my family over for Thanksgiving this year.

Related Links

Turkey Terror!
Turtle Island Foods
Take the Thanksgiving Pledge