In case you've missed the more-or-less nonstop coverage of the Pope's visit to the U.S., here are some pics from his recent appearance in DC. Some of my colleagues were on hand to remind attendees that being a good Christian means being kind to all beings. Which is a sentiment that Pope Benedict has backed up himself, speaking out very eloquently on the cruelty of factory farms.

Seems like there’s been quite a bit of naked going on lately, especially with all the work that went into putting together this year’s glorious State of the Union Undress, but these images—from a recent anti-fur demonstration in Barcelona—are way too good to pass up. Dozens of activists gathered to draw attention to the cruelty of the fur industry on Monday, and the results are just incredibly compelling.

Check out the photo gallery here.

And there’s a nice piece about the event here.

Alright people, fun’s over. You had your day with Joel talking about soy nog and “smiles”. Now it’s time to get back to work. Today we will be going over the finer points of whether a coherent liberationist ethic can be constructed from strictly utilitarian arguments (or whether some sort of deontological consequentialism is necessary to round out the debate), and throughout next week, I will be doing a series on recent addenda to the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act. There will be a quiz on Friday to make sure everyone takes it all in.

Now, here’s a picture of the serious work I was doing yesterday while Joel was goofing off back at the office. We spent the afternoon outside the British Embassy in DC to remind the British Ministry of Defense that the “world is watching” while they continue to needlessly slaughter black bears for their ceremonial hats. Apparently this required that we remove all of our clothes and paint our naked bodies like flags. Hey, I just do what I’m told. The demonstration was a blast—we met some great activists, some friendly photographers, and some very bewildered passersby, and I think the pictures came out really well. Check em out.

A bunch of flags

Brattleboro, Vermont, is well-known for its “unique” public nudity laws, so a couple of brave PETA members went down there last week to test them out with a “Bare Skin, Don’t Wear Skin” demonstration. Check out the great pics below, and, as soon as you (a) turn 18 and (b) get home from work, click here to check out the demonstration from, um, behind.

All day today, PETA protesters and hundreds of members of the public stood outside the U.S. District Court in Richmond, Virginia, to call for vigorous prosecution of Michael Vick and the three other men charged in this horrific dogfighting case. Although this story is the first glimpse for many people of exactly what dogfighting is all about, the real tragedy here is that the kind of abuse detailed in Vick's indictment is as widespread as it is horrific. In the last year alone, PETA has responded to more than 14,000 calls and e-mails regarding other dogfighting and individual cruelty-to-animals cases. It's great that there has been so much outrage over this case, and we're certainly going to keep pushing to make sure that it is treated with the utmost seriousness by the courts—as well as by Vick's sponsors and the NFL—but the next step is going to be getting policymakers and law enforcement officers to treat all cases of dogfighting and animal cruelty the same way that they have been prosecuting this case, which happens to be under scrutiny from the media.

The good news is that this is already beginning to happen on the federal level. According to a press release from Senator John Kerry's office today, the senator has announced that he is "introducing legislation to finally eliminate dogfighting, which has been targeted by federal and state laws but by all accounts is more popular than ever." A copy of the proposed bill can be found here, and you can read our thank you letter to Senator Kerry and expression of support for the bill here.

Welcome to Day 7 of the Michael Vick dogfighting indictment. PETA is still being inundated with calls and emails about the case, and we’re still working round the clock to make sure that the NFL and Vick’s sponsors send a real message to fans about the cruelty of dogfighting, rather than just sitting around to see what will happen next. I’ll have some more updates for you in a little while, but in the meantime, here are some great photos from today’s PETA demonstration outside Falcons HQ. You can be certain that there’s more where that came from.

Ohio State Buckeyes fans out there will recognize the man on the left of this first photo—Bill Long, the QB for the Buckeyes in the 60s who led them to a national championship in 1968, is a longtime animal activist who’s been working this whole week in Atlanta on this campaign. Bill, you’re amazing.

In Other Vick News

Read PETA’s letter to the NFL Player’s Association

MSNBC covers the story

Falcons owner expected to take action (finally)

Tell the NFL to “Sack Vick”

About an hour ago, PETA campaigners and activists converged on NFL HQ in New York to urge Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL to suspend Michael Vick in light of his recent indictment for alleged involvement in the horrific cruelty associated with dogfighting—including allegations that he was killing dogs by hanging, slamming them to the ground, drowning, and electrocuting them. Surrounded by reporters and TV news crews, more than 75 activists lined the streets in front of the NFL building, holding signs reading “NFL: Sack Vick,” handing out stickers and leaflets to passersby, and making it abundantly clear—just in case Goodell hasn’t figured it out yet—that the NFL’s weak response to Vick’s case is unacceptable.

The massive turnout at this demonstration should be indication enough to Goodell that his decision to allow Vick to play in spite of these disturbing charges is going to be a major PR headache for the NFL, to say the least. Here’s what PETA President Ingrid Newkirk had to say about the NFL’s “wait and see” attitude in a statement to the media yesterday:

“Forget that unless space aliens were on Vick's property putting up an invisibility shield, it is impossible that Vick didn't know (let alone sponsor a fighting dog), that the house he built included designs for dog training facilities and that his relatives were fighting, kenneling, training, housing training equipment, and killing dogs there. There was a time when people under fire for corruption let alone criminal cruelty, resigned. That honorable moment has passed because of the Almighty Dollar. If he won't do the right thing by stepping down until this is resolved (and I'll put a sporting bet on his conviction), the NFL should suspend him. Is the new America only about money or do we still cling to some values? In the courts he may be innocent until proven guilty, and that's fair and fine, but in professional or political life, we have to have a higher standard than "hey, keep raking it in until we see if he gets off.”

The protest was covered on ESPN, and you can watch an interview with PETA’s own Dan Shannon that took place during the demonstration here.

I’ll let you know as soon as there’s more news, but in the meantime, you may want to get your very own “Sack Vick” T-shirt. Love it.

Burberry, still reeling from PETA UK's little visit to their London store last week, got another unpleasant surprise this afternoon when four activists showed up at their 57th Street store in New York. Here's how it went down, according to one of the campaigners who was there:

Two activists went in the store with posters while 2 more waited outside with their bloody fur coats inside out and tucked under their arms. The 2 activists inside were picked up by security (literally) and removed from the store, but not before one activist managed to get inside the Burberry store window and start spreading fake blood all over…

Meanwhile, on the outside, the protesters spread fake blood all over the window display, summed up the finer points of the fur issue for passersby with chants like "Burberry tortures animals!" and (for the visual learners in the crowd) used TVs strapped to their bodies to show footage of animals being skinned alive for their fur. Check it out:

More pics after the jump.

Yesterday morning, PETA UK showed up at Burberry's flagship store in London, chained themselves to the doors, and hung around until the cops showed up. The BBC picked up the story, which you can check out here, and there are plenty of pictures for everyone. Check it out.

More pics after the jump.