A recent Pew Research Center poll found that 43 percent of American adults—and nearly 60 percent of those under 30 years old—oppose the use of animals in experiments. If I made my money addicting animals to drugs and then killing them or drilling holes into their skulls for sexual behavior experiments, I would take this news as a sign that I should quit my day job and start looking for another way to make a killing earn a living.

Apparently, this kind of clear thinking is in short supply at the national conference of the Society for Neuroscience. Instead of embracing modern, humane non-animal research methods, some members of the society met in Chicago yesterday to brainstorm ways that they can drum up support for archaic and cruel experiments on animals.

PETA held a demonstration outside the conference, and was joined by Dr. Larry Hansen, whom the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease just named one of the world's top 100 Alzheimer's researchers. Dr. Hansen is one of many progressive, forward-thinking scientists who realize that animal experimentation should be replaced.

More than 100 million sensitive, intelligent animals are experimented on and killed in U.S. laboratories every year. Take a minute to visit StopAnimalTests.com and find out how you can speak up for these animals.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

PETA Europe members were at The O2 arena in London yesterday to protest Ben Hur Live's use of real horses, camels, donkeys, chickens, falcons, and eagles forced to "perform" in the show's rock concert–like chaos of bright lights, loud noise, and commotion.

Animals forced to perform never find it entertaining. And for the more than 100 animals used in the European production of Ben Hur Live, "stage fright" has certainly taken on a very literal meaning.

We've all heard that animals used for circuses are beaten, chained for up to 100 hours at a time, and carted around the country in tiny boxcars without a semblance of a natural life, but being on stage is just as terrifying and unnatural, and as I'm sure you've probably learned, it often ends in tragedy for the animals and the audience.

Please tell everyone you know in Europe that Ben Hur Live is hell for animals before someone gets hurt, and urge your friends and family never to patronize shows that use live animals.

Posted by Heather Drennan

Sometimes seals are on Sarah McLachlan's shirt. Sometimes they drive tractors. Sometimes they're in Washington, D.C.

And, as it turns out, sometimes they block the entrance to the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City to protest Canada's seal slaughter while the country's prime minister, Stephen Harper, is inside at a meeting … and then they're taken away by the police.

© starmaxinc.com
This "seal of disapproval" let a crowd of people outside the hotel know that tens of thousands of harp seals are slaughtered in Canada each year.

© starmaxinc.com
This seal will live to protest another day. Baby seals whose skulls are bashed in during the seal slaughter aren't as lucky.

Take action! Tell Prime Minister Harper that the seal slaughter must end.

Posted by Amanda Schinke

And it's all because friends don't protest friends.

No, we haven't suddenly made amends with Anna Wintour. It's longtime PETA friend Charlize Theron who has us putting the kibosh on our protest plans.

Charlize will be on hand at Vogue's Fashion Week party on Thursday to sign copies of the magazine's September issue. But while Charlize may be gracing the cover of this notoriously furry magazine, the Oscar-winning actress wouldn't be caught dead in fur.

Credit: X17online

The PETA pal even wore our "Fight Breedism" T-shirt to her Vogue interview.

Don't worry—we'll still be making sure that ol' Anna hears from us. She and fellow fur fiend Michael Kors will be putting in an appearance at Wintour's "Fashion's Night Out" event at Macy's … and so will we.

Posted by Amanda Schinke

As promised, here are the photos from PETA India's protest yesterday outside the Calcutta Zoo. You'll probably remember the protest because of a certain police officer's arrest "Fail."

This protest is just one of PETA India's many actions to help animals in captivity—check out this latest ad.

Hmm … looks like somebody's out of uniform!

Posted by Amanda Schinke

I wonder who in today's day and age thought that bullock carts were still a good idea.

After teaming up with Bollywood celebrities to protest this inhumane use of bullocks, PETA India has now turned to a creative street-demo approach! In Mumbai—a traffic-congested, bustling rich city—the local kerosene companies (which are not poor by any stretch of the imagination) use bullocks to pull rickety carts heavily laden with kerosene barrels. Between shipments, the bullocks are also forced to stand for hours without any shade in the sweltering sun and are not given sufficient food or anywhere near the amount of water they need. PETA India has discovered that sick and injured bullocks are being forced to pull the extremely heavy oil carts through the city and that they do not receive any veterinary care.

Join PETA India—and the Bollywood humane set—and sign the petition asking Mumbai's controller of rationing to end this cruelty to bullocks. Also, check out these great photos from the PETA India demo

During our KFC Naked Truth demo tour, PETA campaigners encountered one bossy spectator—and he was a cop! Let me start by saying that our campaigners are trained, professional, and passionate (plus they know how to rock an eye-catching demo), and they always check local laws before every demo to make sure we abide by the city's regs. Colorado Springs was no different, yet a serious party pooper might be lurking behind every corner—a person who perhaps didn’t appreciate being forced to think about his or her meat consumption.

As the demo started, the ladies stripped down to bikinis and held a sign around their bodies (to create the illusion of nudity—I mean, what's hotter than a little mystery?) stating, "The Naked Truth: KFC Tortures Chickens." All was going well as the passersby received important literature and information about KFC (not to mention a visual that could get them through the rest of their day), but then the party got officially crashed when a particular police officer showed up.

Exhibit A:

Mr. Officious, the man with his back to the camera, threatened the girls with citations for public indecency and demanded that they drop their sign (excuse me?) so that he could see what they were wearing behind it. The girls assured him that all their naughty bits were covered, but the officer wouldn't take "No!" for an answer. He demanded that they follow him and get dressed behind a blanket, snickering all the while (he was snickering, that is!). The girls were polite and complied.

Exhibit B:

After the girls got dressed, they had their information taken down by the police and the whole shebang ended with the other officers telling the first officer that it wasn't a violation. Right—they knew that! The "bad cop" left, but one "good cop" stuck around a bit, took a leaflet, and said he would check out our Web site to see what this demo was all about. The demo still affected him ... score! Not to mention, the police action drew a large crowd of inquisitive folks (including a local KFC employee) who took our literature and became super interested in challenging their KFC ways.

Currently, PETA's legal eagles are reviewing the details and photos and deliberating about taking action on our First Amendment rights, so we'll let you know if anything more comes of this. But for now, I'd just like to say thanks to the Colorado Springs police—a lot of folks now know the naked truth behind KFC.

Posted by Christine Doré

Every once in a while, someone notices that women are featured in PETA's provocative ads and demonstrations more often than men are. It's not that PETA, as an organization, doesn't appreciate animal-loving, nearly naked men—it's just that usually the ads and demonstrations make more sense or will garner more attention to animal rights issues with women as the stars.

For instance, if young chickens were called "dudes," "guys," or "homeboys," I personally assure you that we would have called out the Broccoli Boys and there would have been a couple of male PETA volunteers at our recent scalding-tank reenactment demos (photos below). Alas, young chickens (the chickens killed for KFC are only about 45 days old when they are slaughtered) are called chicks. As are women. Global conspiracy or convenient protest idea? I can't say—but it is one thing we have to work with in the battle against KFC.

PETA's latest demonstration highlights that while chickens killed for KFCs in Canada will soon be killed using the least cruel slaughter method available, birds killed for KFC in the U.S. are still scalded to death. It costs KFC more money, and it's just plain cruel.

Here are some details from our news release (it's not that I'm lazy—I just thought it was already well explained):

Because the voltage levels of electric stun tanks in U.S. slaughterhouses are kept at only a fraction of the level needed to render chickens insensible to pain, birds are usually paralyzed but still conscious when their throats are cut. Government studies show that birds feel pain after being shocked, even if they can't move. According to the USDA, every year, millions of birds—who are conscious and able to feel pain—enter tanks of hot water that are intended to remove their feathers after the birds are dead.

Great demo, Colleen and Shawn. And happy birthday, Colleen! I'm sorry you share it with the gruesome twosome.

More photos, wonderful photos:

—Joel Bartlett

After much hype around Big Brown's quarter hoof split, with the spotlight on the trainer and the owner and everyone else surrounding this “pushed” horse, it seems that he was finally allowed to run what may well have been the first natural race of his life. And the result is he showed how he really feels: tired and lame. Big Brown’s jockey did the right thing and pulled him up, sensing that the horse just didn’t have it in him. History has been made.

Ten states already ban steroids, and the rest need to follow suit. PETA will be pushing for illegal and legal drug use to end and for horses to be allowed to be themselves. If money can’t be made honestly and comes at the expense of breaking animals' bodies and souls, then it shouldn’t be made at all. Please join us in urging Congress to properly investigate horse-racing cruelty by using this web form.

PETA demonstrators flooded the Belmont yesterday in huge numbers. Here are some pictures:

We've all been there—holding our signs, chanting our protest slogans, passing out our leaflets, and smiling and waving until we felt like the bloody Queen of England. And then some person who's having a bad day decides to take it out on you because you're an easy target.

He or she says something mean or stupid—or, ingeniously, both—and you need a comeback … fast. Here's the catch: Your comeback has to be polite. And since you're not going to change the person with one quick-witted quip, you need to try to engage him or her by making a quick point and then asking questions so that you can have a conversation about the issues. Seem like too tall of an order? Not at all! Check out our top 10 comebacks at a protest (to keep it simple, let's say it's a pro-vegetarian protest). Keep in mind, there's no "right answer." Basically, you want to open the person's mind to the fact that animals suffer terribly and he or she can do something about it.

1. Comment: "What do you think about abortion?"
   Response: "I believe in protecting innocent life. That's why I'm vegetarian. If people did to dogs and cats the sorts of things that are done to animals on factory farms, they'd go to jail for cruelty to animals. Did you know that there's no legal protection for these animals?"
2. Comment: "I like chicken!"
   Response: "I didn't give up meat because I didn't like how it tastes. I gave it up because I saw how horribly animals suffered for my plate. Have you ever seen what happens on factory farms?"
3. Comment: "If God didn't want us to eat animals, why'd he make them so tasty?"
   Response: "That's funny. [Sometimes you say something's funny when really it's the most unimaginative and stupid thing that a person could say.] But you know, there are a lot of things that are really delicious that don't require animals to suffer and die. Have you ever seen how much animals are abused on factory farms?"
4. Comment: "We've always eaten meat."
   Response: "That's true. [You don't lose anything by affirming someone else's beliefs and it may make the person more receptive to your perspective.] But there are many things that we've done historically that we no longer think are OK. We used to think that slavery was OK, that it was OK to treat women like second-class citizens, and that it was OK to beat children, but we don't think any of those things are OK today. In the past, we didn't really understand other animals, but the more we learn about other animals, the more we see that they're very much like us, especially in their capacity to suffer. Do you see what I mean?"
5. Comment: "Animals eat each other, so why shouldn't we eat them?"
   Response: "I see your point, but we don't really take our moral cues from other animals, do we? Some animals fight territorial battles to the death, some eat their young, and some kill their partners after having sex. We don't follow animals in those behaviors, so why would we follow the behavior of some animals to eat other animals?"
6. Comment: "It's a free country, and people should be allowed to make choices. If you want to eat tofu, that's fine. I want to eat steak."
   Response: You're right: It is a free country. We're just saying that people should make informed choices. The meat industry isn't bending over backward to let consumers know where their meat comes from, so we're here to offer that information. The meat industry doesn't want you to know that animals are packed together so tightly on filthy factory farms that they often can't turn around or spread a single wing or take a single step. They don't want you to know that these animals take their first breath of fresh air when they're on the back of a truck headed to slaughter. Did you know there are no legal protections for animals on factory farms?"
7. Comment: "The Bible gives us dominion over animals."
   Response: "That's true. [Even if you don't believe in the Bible, there's no reason to take on the person's faith along with their dietary habits.] But The Queen of England has dominion over her subjects, and that doesn't give her the right to torture and kill them. 'Dominion' doesn't give us a right to do what we want to animals; it means that we should have reverence for them and protect them. Does this make sense?"
   Alternate Response: "That's true, but God endowed animals with certain abilities that are totally frustrated on today's factory farms. Animals are taken away from their mothers at birth. They're crowded into sheds and cages so tightly that they can't take one step or spread one wing. Surely, God didn't want His animals abused so hideously. Do you see my point?"
8. Comment: "What about the screaming broccoli, you plant-killing hypocrite?"
   Response: "I hear what you're saying. But surely you'll agree that there is a fundamental difference between tearing up a head of lettuce and bashing in a dog's head with a baseball bat. The ability to feel pain requires a brain, a central nervous system, and pain receptors. All mammals, birds, and fish have these things; plants do not. Animals feel pain, just as we do. As far as we know, plants don't. Would you agree?"
9. Comment: "It must be really boring to eat only vegan foods."
   Response: "I thought it might be boring, too, when I first went vegan, but I was surprised by the great variety of vegan foods. These days, with so much demand for healthy, delicious, cruelty-free foods, you don't have to give up anything in the way of taste or texture to go vegan. Whether you're looking for veggie burgers and dogs, faux-chicken patties, faux dairy products … even faux shrimp cocktail—it's out there. And there's a world of cuisines based around grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables. If you like to cook, you should definitely check out VegCooking.com for hundreds of great recipes!"
10. Comment: "Where do you get your protein?"
    Response: "I worried about protein when I first went vegan, but then I learned that vegetarian Americans get 150 percent of their recommended daily allowance of protein. Protein is in so many foods—beans, grains, tofu, faux meats, soy milk, and also a lot of vegetables and fruits. Plus, do you really know anyone with a protein deficiency?"

—Grace

Posted by Grace Friedan, Researcher

Update 12/22/2008: Donna Karan has announced that her fall 2009 lines will be fur-free and that she has "no plans" to use fur in the future! Read more.

Donna Karan had a bit of an unpleasant surprise at the Yoga Journal Boston Conference on Saturday, in the form of naked PETA members doused in fake blood and crouched in yoga poses. Just our subtle way of saying, “Hey, DK, how about a little less with the nonviolence speeches and a little more with the not skinning bunny rabbits to make clothes?” Except, like without the confusing sentence construction.

The Boston Herald has the story.

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.