cbs3springfield / CC

That sentence in the Central Valley Business Times says it all. California state proved it was full of animal-friendly folk when Prop. 2 passed last year, and now lawmakers in the state have just signed a law that will make the docking of cows' tails illegal starting this January!

During our recent undercover investigation on a Pennsylvania factory farm, our investigator witnessed tail-docking on a number of occasions. The tails of cows were removed by "banding"—which means that circulation to the tail was cut off using an elastic band, which caused the cows' tails to slowly lose blood flow and die. Once the tail is necrotic and lifeless, it is snapped off by a farm worker. Tails act as natural flyswatters for cows, who have no other way to chase off insects or stop them from biting. Once the cows on this farm had their tails removed, they still tried in vain to rid their bodies of flies, who were rampant in the manure-slicked barn.

Tail-docking is just one of the many horrendous abuses inflicted on animals on factory farms and is a practice that even the notoriously hypocritical AVMA opposes.

Cheers to the California legislature for taking this important step.

Posted by Jeff Mackey

Literally. Mississippi state representative W.T. Mayhall Jr. has been all over the news recently after introducing a provocative bill that would bar Mississippi restaurants from serving obese people. I’ll refrain from commenting on whether such a bill would be a good idea, but if they are going to consider such things, we have a suggestion for an amendment: instead of royally pissing everybody off by refusing to serve overweight people altogether, PETA is proposing that restaurants be required to serve only healthy vegan meals to consumers who are struggling with their weight. As PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich says, "Vegan meals like hearty vegetable casseroles, bean burritos, and pasta with mushrooms, tomatoes, and green peppers not only are satisfying but will slim you right down too." You can read our letter to the state rep here.