Yesterday was a momentous day for animals living on farms in Michigan, where Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a bill into law that phases out veal crates, battery cages, and gestation crates on farms across the state!

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Michigan farmers have been given three years to phase out veal crates and 10 years to get rid of gestation crates and battery cages. This means that farmers will no longer be allowed to immobilize calves in crates that are so small that the animals can barely take a step in any direction. Pregnant pigs will no longer be forced to live in their own excrement in a space too small to turn around in, and hens will get a chance to stretch their wings.

The news comes just a day after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill making it illegal to dock cows' tails in California, where gestation crates, veal crates, and battery cages were banned last year. Now that Michigan has become the seventh state to ban gestation crates, the fifth to ban veal crates, and the second to ban battery cages, we're hoping that laws improving conditions for animals on factory farms will continue to take the nation by storm.

Of course, the best way to prevent animal suffering is to adopt a vegan diet, stat.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

Cruelty is sickening—in any language.

Two PETA Europe members who recently fell victim to swine flu set out to show the people of Brussels that no one is immune to the diseases that are bred on factory farms—not even those who wouldn't dream of eating animal flesh.

These two lovely (and now recovered) ladies crammed themselves into tiny "gestation crates" to illustrate the fact that the cramped, filthy conditions on factory farms are breeding grounds for swine flu and other deadly viruses and bacteria.

What's the best way to shut down disease-incubating factory farms? Stop supporting them: Go vegetarian.

Posted by Heather Drennan

In July, thousands of pigs lost their lives when a factory farm in Alberta, Canada, was ravaged by fire. Our friends at Canadians for the Ethical Treatment of Food Animals (CETFA) obtained photos of the aftermath, which show that before succumbing to smoke inhalation, the panicked pigs frantically trampled each another in a futile attempt to escape.

Pregnant sows, trapped in gestation crates, tried desperately to jump out of their stalls or squeeze through the bars. Instead, they died in their cramped prisons. Many of them suffered from ruptured bellies, and their unborn piglets were killed.

On poorly regulated factory farms, where so many animals are crammed together in confined spaces, fires are all too common, and they cause the horrible deaths of thousands of animals.

Please head over to CETFA's Web site right now and support that organization's initiative to prevent the deaths of animals in factory farm fires.

Posted by Jeff Mackey

Smithfield execs, who live high off the hog—actually, it's more like about 27 million hogs—have just decided that they cannot keep their promise to phase out gestation crates over the next 10 years.

Smithfield states, "Due to recent significant operating losses incurred by our Hog Production segment, we have delayed capital expenditures for the program such that we no longer expect to complete the phase-out within ten years of the original announcement."

These gestation crates that Smithfield is dragging its feet on phasing out are called "iron maidens" after medieval torture devices, and for good reason—sows kept in them cannot turn around, and their muscles atrophy. Over time, pigs kept in these horrid conditions develop sores from lying on filthy concrete and go insane from the confinement.

Consider that just three years' compensation for Smithfield's directors would more than cover the cost of a complete crate phase-out. Smithfield's claim that it can't spare pennies a pig to improve these animals' living conditions makes Ebenezer Scrooge look like a philanthropist and erodes any trust the company hopes to build with its consumers or with PETA.

Once again, animal welfare has taken a backseat to corporate profit. Smithfield can rest assured that we'll be at its annual meeting this August, making sure that pigs are heard.

Posted by Karin Bennett

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They say, "As Maine goes, so goes the nation.".

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

Our fearless campaigners have been hard at work exposing cruelty to animals—and sometimes quite a bit of themselves—all across the country!

A Lowe's in San Diego received a visit from a bikini-clad "mouse," who lay in front of the store on her own glue trap. In case you didn't know, Lowe's still sells hideously cruel glue traps— the kind in which animals can suffer for days before succumbing to starvation, dehydration, suffocation, and shock.

Meanwhile, PETA demonstrators have been visiting cities in Iowa and Nebraska to show the eating populace exactly what factory farming means for animals with these eye-catching gestation crate sculptures. It's hard to buy ham and Spam when you are crying!

Finally, our "tiger" visited some cities in the southeastern U.S., where she sat in a cage to demonstrate the cruelty of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Shreveporters were especially interested to see our tiger, because the last time PETA came to their town, the demonstrators were dragged off by the police! This time, law enforcement officials behaved themselves. Our tiger also captured a lot of attention in Little Rock!

And, while we're on the subject of Ringling Bros.—we heard that Hansons Windows, a home repair company in Michigan, was offering free circus tickets. No, that's not the great news—the great news is this: When we wrote to the folks at Hansons Windows and explained to them how animals in Ringling circuses are beaten, forced to perform tricks, and kept in chains or tiny cages for most of their lives, the president of Hansons ended the promotion!

Kudos to Hansons Windows for making the compassionate choice—and kudos to our campaigners for the great demos!

Posted by Amanda Schinke

Though our "Meet Your Meat" video has always been successful at reaching people, wouldn't it be so much more effective if people had to watch it right before they went shopping for groceries? For shoppers at an Albertsons grocery in San Diego yesterday, that's just what we arranged.

Shoppers entering the store were greeted with two lifelike statues of pigs in gestation crates, allowing them to see firsthand the cruelty that pork, ham, sausage, and bacon purchases support. The statues illustrate the way that sows who are used for breeding are crammed into tiny, isolated metal crates—much like a jail cell fitted around their bodies—for months at a time. This is just one part of the life of hell that is guaranteed to pigs on factory farms, as a recent undercover investigation has shown.

Why Albertsons in San Diego? Assuming you haven't been living under a rock (where did that expression come from?), you've probably heard of California's "Proposition 2," which will appear on the state ballot this November. It includes many items related to space allotment (read: cage size) which would improve the plight of factory-farmed animals—picking up where the sorely lacking federal Animal Welfare Act left off.

Of course, even if you're not registered to vote in California, there's still something you can do to help—don't eat animals, duh!

Posted by Sean Conner