Say it ain't so! Last week, we told you about our brand-new 'Got Autism?' billboard, which was intended to give the drivers of Newark, New Jersey, a little food for thought. The billboard drew a connection between milk consumption and autism in children. This week, the advertising company that was hosting our billboard has pulled the plug and the billboard has been removed.

It's pretty safe to assume that the ad is not being removed due to a lack of attention! Just the opposite—our message has garnered tons of feedback, including support from parents of autistic children who have seen noticeable improvements after removing dairy from their child's diet.

We wanted to share the thoughts of a few individuals regarding this campaign:

My son at the age of 2 ½ had not talked or interacted with anyone for a year…right after his MMR shots that he had at 13 months. I took him off of milk last November (when he was 2 ½) to see if it did anything, and he is now talking and playing and catching back up to where he should be (he is 3 ½ now). … It may not have been overnight, but the progress started just weeks after taking him off cows milk …. —Jaimie

I have a child with autism and I love this ad. The "got milk" ads with the disgusting white upper lip make me sick. We have been GFCF for 12 years. Milk equals sleepless nights and stomach pain. —L Land

I am not personally a vegetarian, but last year when we took my 4 year old son off of milk, casein all dairy, we started to see amazing changes in his behavior and speech. He still has Autism, but is no longer in a black hole of darkness. And we are not done fighting yet. I think people who say this does not work, well how do you know everyone is different. And as a mother of a child with Autism, I do not at all find this offensive I find it truthful, at least for us. —Danielle Manglis

Thanks for the continued support of the campaign! Even though the billboard has come down, the message is still loud and clear.

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

By now, you might have heard about Timothy Wayne Shepherd, the 28-year-old man who confessed last year to killing his ex-girlfriend and who is also charged with dismembering and barbecuing her—no, really.

While this story is shocking and terrible, it sounds awfully familiar. Oh, that's right! Last week on the PETA Files, we posted an entry all about barbecuing humans! It was a demonstration to get people to wake up and "meet their meat." In our demo, a woman had her body painted like charred flesh and lay on a mock grill while passersby gawked—forced to make the connection that those tightly wrapped, clean-looking meat packages in the grocery store once were living, breathing beings who felt pain when they were slaughtered.

In our case, the demo was thought-provoking and symbolic (flesh is flesh). In Timothy's case … it might have been a bit too real.

We're writing to the prison where Shepherd is being held. If he is convicted of the murder, he will receive a sentence presumably intended to prevent him from taking any more lives. Well, we certainly agree with this sentiment—and that's why we're asking Shepherd's jailers to stop the cycle of senseless killing by putting him on an all-vegetarian diet. We can never bring back the young woman who was the victim of Shepherd's crime, but we can try to prevent him from causing any more painful deaths.

Posted by Amanda Schinke

I am thrilled to announce the launch of the cutest campaign ever to exist: Save the Sea Kittens! In an effort to get people to think about fish in a whole new way, we decided to change their name for a while. If people had to order "sea kitten sticks" at a restaurant, I guarantee that the world would think a bit differently. Imagine that you open your menu and decide on the salmon—and then this image pops into your head:

Yeah, I think you'd go with a different menu item after that little reminder (might I recommend this dish if you're craving that flavor, as it's delicious and causes none of the cruelty).

It's easy to order and purchase meat when it's wrapped in neat, clean little packages, void of all the blood and pain that goes into creating it. Fish get an especially bad deal. People go fishing (a.k.a. sea kitten hunting) all the time without a care in the world—because fish can't scream and force people to think about the cruelty of their actions.

So we're changing things up a bit now and helping to give fish everywhere a voice. When people realize how fascinating (and adorable) fish can be, they might think twice. I took it a step further and dressed up my own sea kitten (which you can do, too, by clicking here). I'm pleased to introduce you to Ruth, my new swimmy lil' pal:

Isn't she grand? Probably the best sea kitten ever created—but you can try to prove me wrong. Dress up your own sea kitten and leave me a comment to tell me his or her name. We'll have ourselves a little sea kitten party up in here! In our new feature, we've pulled out all the stops. You can read sea kitten bedtime stories, grab your own sea kitten computer décor, and even take action to try and stop sea kitten hunting.

Enjoy!

Posted by Christine Doré

xinhuanet / CC

If you haven't yet heard, Mexico has recently started the "Vamos por un millón de kilos'' campaign to encourage all residents to lose weight. Well, we know a thing or two about lookin' fine and stayin' slim without all the grease and cruelty that meat-based diets offer. Check out our letter to President Calderón and let us know what you think:

His Excellency Felipe Calderón President of the Republic of Mexico

1 page via fax

Dear President Calderón:

On behalf of PETA, an international animal rights organization with more than 2 million members and supporters worldwide, I applaud your administration's "Vamos por un millón de kilos" campaign. May we add that the best way to help your citizens lose weight while improving their health would be to encourage them to choose a vegetarian diet? As you might know, consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products is linked to the major killers in the U.S. and Mexico—heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and strokes.

Animal flesh, milk, and cheese are packed with fat, calories, and cholesterol. It's little wonder that as Mexicans move away from a traditional Mexican diet high in healthy vegetables, grains, fruit, and beans and toward the typical U.S. diet, which is laden with fatty animal flesh and devoid of fiber, they are also following their neighbors to the north in packing on the pounds and becoming sick and prematurely incapacitated. Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that vegetarians are far less likely to be overweight than meat-eaters and far more likely to be in better overall health. They live longer and die less painful deaths. The American Dietetic Association—the largest group of nutrition professionals in the U.S.—reviewed hundreds of studies and concluded that vegetarians have lower rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer than people who eat meat. A healthy vegetarian diet provides all the nutrients that we need to thrive—without the saturated animal fats and cholesterol found in meat that cause weight gain and clogged arteries. In addition, every vegetarian saves hundreds of animals from the horrible cruelty of the meat industry, such as mutilation without any painkillers, intensive confinement, and violent slaughter.

To help kick off the "Go Vegetarian, Mexico" campaign, two of PETA's beautiful Lettuce Ladies would like to join you for an event at the National Palace to hand out delicious vegetarian fare—like tasty faux-beef tacos and soy-cheese and mock-chicken quesadillas—along with copies of our "Vegetarian Starter Kit." (The kit can be viewed online at SeaVegetariano.com.)

Please let me know when you would like to schedule this exciting event. Thank you for your consideration.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid E. Newkirk
President

Posted by Christine Doré

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

Grammy Award winner Bryan Adams is one heck of a hard-rockin' musician and a photographer extraordinaire to boot—this Renaissance man has even helped PETA with our own celebrity photo shoots. During his nearly three decades of entertaining the masses, his talents have garnered him 13 Grammy nominations; five Golden Globe nominations for songs he wrote for films, including the film Bobby; and three Oscar nominations. He's recorded hits such as "Straight From the Heart," "Heaven," and "Summer of '69"—a karaoke favorite 'round here!

He's also a vegan, and he's been one for quite some time—17 years to be exact! He says he gets the energy and endurance he needs to put on a rockin' show largely from the food he puts into his body.

Sadly, his tour isn't taking him to any U.S. venues this year, but you can check out his new veggie testimonial right here!

Yes, it's safe to say you won't find this Canadian scarfing down an unhealthy, cruelty-filled bucket of fried chicken. In fact, you might remember that the Kingston, Ontario–born rocker spoke out against most of the KFCs in Canada before the new animal welfare standards were adopted there. To adopt a cruelty-free diet just like Bryan's, you can order your very own "Vegetarian Starter Kit" right here.

Too bad you're not coming to the U.S. this go-around, Bryan, but we'll keep our fingers crossed for next time.

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

You know that we at PETA love to help out whenever we can, so when we heard about the extreme gas shortage plaguing the Southern states, we deployed our elite gasoline response team: the fabulous Lettuce Ladies. We've had these eye-catching demos before with great response (and even a hugely successful gas giveaway contest), but now, with so many gas stations running out of gas, the ladies are needed more than ever!

The Ladies have been touring the country wearing their signature lettuce-leaf bikinis. They've been giving away Tofurkey brand vegan sandwiches and free gasoline to anyone who would give it a try—all to call attention to the fact that factory farming causes more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the cars, trucks, trains, and planes combined. In fact, eating a single pound of meat is the environmental equivalent of driving 40 miles in an SUV!

So while drivers in Atlanta waited in those long lines to fill up their tanks, our Lettuce Ladies gave them vegan sandwiches to fill up on, too—and hey, who can argue with free sandwiches, right?

Posted by Amanda Schinke

Some PETA activists stopped by the World Beef Expo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to show them a thing or two about beef—namely, that all meat is murder.

Calling attention to the similarities between killing humans and killing animals for food, one of our activists lay on a "grill" on a busy sidewalk, her skin painted to mimic the charred flesh that some people still happily consume at barbecues. Meanwhile, local activists passed out free copies of PETA's "Vegetarian Starter Kit" to passers-by who asked for them—and you can bet a lot of people did!

Check our pics of the great demo below—and check out GoVeg.com for more info!

Posted by Amanda Schinke

Parents, heads up. Recent studies have suggested a link between dairy consumption and autism. Since many people don't know this, PETA is planning to run a billboard in Newark, New Jersey. Even though it won't please the billion-dollar dairy industry, parents have a right to know the truth about milk.

In a study at the University of Rome, researchers noticed a "marked improvement" in the behavior of autistic children who were taken off dairy products, but how dairy might worsen or cause autism is still unclear. Some suspect that casein (a component of cow's milk) harms the brain, while others suggest that stomach problems that are often caused by dairy products cause distress and thus worsen behavior in autistic children.

Not so surprising, considering that milk has already been strongly linked to Crohn's disease, certain types of cancer, and other serious health problems. But I digress.

Thankfully, there is hope. Testimonials suggest that some people with this devastating disease may be able to find relief by simply removing milk from their diet.

*The Newark area had the highest rates of autism occurrence among 14 states studied in one report.

Smokin'-hot Filipina model Alicia Mayer is teaming up with PETA Asia-Pacific once again. This time, the FHM cover girl stars in not one but two super-sexy new ads.

Posing in plastic wrap, Alicia says, "No one wants to be treated like a piece of meat." The stunning actor knows that the easiest way to end cruelty to animals is to go vegetarian.

Alicia pulls off Saran Wrap better than Kathy Bates in Fried Green Tomatoes.

In her second ad, Alicia holds a limp banana next to a tagline that not-so-subtly points out the connection between meat-eating and impotence. Alicia will likely make many men think twice about their meat addictions!

No one wants a limp banana!

Alicia Mayer has got what it takes: a killer body and compassion for animals. Want to follow Alicia's lead? Pledge to go veg for 30 days!

Last week, we announced our intention to help out financially struggling schools across the country by running our "Got Spew?" ad in school bathroom stalls.

Well, we're now retracting our intention to run the ad. Not everywhere—oh, not by a long shot!—but in Tempe, Arizona, where a spew-y disaster has just taken place.

Earlier this week, some brave fraternity brothers at Arizona State University—and I'm trying to type this without laughing—decided that the coolest, awesomest activity for a Tuesday night would be to go up on a footbridge … and vomit milk onto the traffic below.

My favorite quote from the article? "It is unknown why the men were drinking and vomiting the milk." Maybe it's because they had a revelation mid-chug—that drinking milk promotes the cruelty of the dairy industry and has been linked to impotence. Or maybe it's because it's rush week. One thing is clear, though: Milk and spewing are certainly linked! We hate to say "we told you so," but ….

Whatever the reason, the frat boys' antics have hurt more than the mother cows who produced the milk (and the male calves who are shipped off to veal slaughterhouses). The "joke" has also caused a woman and her daughter to be injured. Another car had stopped short to avoid the vomit (wouldn't you?), and the ladies' car wasn't able to avoid hitting the stopped vehicle. And since we'd never want to make light of their injuries, we're not going to run our ad in Tempe, Arizona.

We think folks in Tempe got the message anyhow.

Posted by Amanda Schinke

mediabistro / CC
It looks like the Hamburglar might have moved on to a more serious crime.

Not only is eating meat unhealthy, it also might make you homicidal. Just ask Terrence J. Jones of Washington, D.C., who has been imprisoned for allegedly killing a woman after she refused to cook him a hamburger.

That's right—he allegedly killed a stranger for not making him a burger! Unbelievable!

PETA has written a letter to Jones' prison warden and asked him to provide Jones with only vegetarian meals (and even offered to help create meatless meal plans). We believe that it's the only way to stop more senseless killings for the sake of Terrence J. Jones' taste buds.

Not only will this stop the needless and cruel murder of animals, evidence from prisons that have switched inmates to vegetarian diets indicates that doing so might reduce violence among inmates too. Feeding inmates bean burritos instead of beef burgers could go a long way toward ending the cycle of violence. Plus vegetarian meals are cost-efficient and easy to prepare (for everyone, regardless of whether they're in prison).

So let's recap: A vegetarian diet saves humans, animals, time, and money. Sounds like a no-brainer to me!

Posted by Carrie Ann Harris

Best one so far!

Click for a larger version

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

Update: In response to our letter, Ben and Jerry's issued the following statement: "We applaud PETA's novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother's milk is best used for her child." Hey, guys, that's our point: Cow's milk is for baby cows.

Storchen, a (very innovative) restaurant in Switzerland, has just announced that they will be unveiling a new menu that includes soups, stews, and sauces made with at least 75 percent human breast milk. Some folks might think that drinking human breast milk is strange … but really, what's even stranger is that humans are the only species on the planet that drinks the milk of another species.

Storchen's new menu got us thinking … which product would be fabulously awesome if it were made with breast milk instead of cow's milk? (Light bulb!) Ben and Jerry's!

So we wrote a letter to the good people at Ben and Jerry's, asking them to switch from cow's milk to breast milk. We explained that using cow's milk for their ice cream is a hazard to consumers' health. Even Dr. Spock spoke out against feeding cow's milk to children, saying it may play a role in the onset of anemia, allergies, and juvenile diabetes and, in the long term, can set kids up for a lifetime of obesity and heart disease (America's number one cause of death).

But it's not all about us humans. Animals will also benefit from the switch to breast milk. Because, like all mammals, cows only give milk during or after pregnancy, in order for humans to constantly milk them, they are forcefully impregnated every nine months. Many live in filthy conditions and are forced to give 10 times more milk than they would naturally. It's truly an awful life.

So think about it, Ben and Jerry's. We here at PETA would be super-stoked if your ice cream went vegan … we'd buy it by the truckload!

Posted by Carrie Ann Harris

novaciencia / CC

A new scientific study has revealed that fish fingers—not the fatty, fried fishy flesh but real fingers and toes—long predate the Gorton's fisherman.

*Warning: Scientific Content Below*

See, scientists have thought for a while that tetrapods, who crawled up out of the ocean about 360 million years ago, were the first creatures to develop fingers. Well, as it turns out, proto-fingers were actually sprouted some 20 million years earlier by a more-fish-than-not transition animal called the Panderichthys.

The Panderichthys had little finger bones, called distal radials, inside their flippers. Interestingly, the same gene that shapes feet in mice is found in the lungfish—a direct cousin of the transitionary tetrapods. So, basically, the Panderichthys started feet, the tetrapods developed feet, and we all have feet today! That's right, you—my faithful reader—have evolved from a fish!

Makes you want to give the Panderichthys a hand, doesn't it? Or at least not eat the fingers that, after all, they've been working on for 380 million years ….

Posted by Amanda Schinke in celebration of Fish Amnesty Week

sidereel / CC

Well, it's about time! The Academy finally realized what's what last night when they awarded our beloved Alec Baldwin a well-deserved Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Take it from an office full of die-hard 30 Rock fans—the man is amazingly funny. And hey, take it from an office full of animal lovers—the man is one of the greatest friends to animals we know!

Alec—a vegetarian, by the way—has always donated his time and effort to fight for those who can't fight for themselves. Highlights of Alec's work for animals include hosting the premier screening of Blinders, a documentary that shows the cruel horse-drawn carriage industry for what it really is; recording a public service announcement for PETA in behalf of animals used in entertainment; pleading for compassion for animals who are used and abused in traveling acts; and going to Capitol Hill with PETA to address members of Congress and demand that the Humane Slaughter Act finally be enforced.

But, y'know, I think a lot of us love Alec most for his narration of PETA's slaughterhouse investigation video, "Meet Your Meat." His voice has inspired tens of thousands of people to stop eating animals—and more people watch the video every day!

So congratulations, Mr. Baldwin, on your well-deserved Emmy award. All of us here at PETA are grateful for your years of dedicated advocacy, and we wish you continued happiness and success in the years ahead!

Posted by Carrie Ann Harris

Tee hee! Folks in Pensacola, Florida, might soon be in for a quirky PETA surprise! Since Florida is listed as the fishing capital of the country, we deemed it appropriate to kick up a little kerfuffle in the Sunshine State to honor Fish Amnesty Week.

This ad is sure to make male fishers everywhere cross their legs in whiny protest.

So, for the sciencey part … we hear that hunting has been directly (and, let's be honest, hilariously) linked to diminutive male genitalia disorder, an affliction among men with small or misshapen genitals in which pleasure is derived by victimizing unprotected creatures who have no real means of defense or escape. So, what then can be assumed about the shortcomings of fishers? Well, the exaggerated importance of the size of the fish is the first clue. And did someone say something about a big rod? Lastly, we have the act of pulling animals out of their homes and causing them to suffocate, and if they're "lucky enough" to be thrown back, fish are often too weakened by trauma to survive a week. This certainly covers the "perverse enjoyment of cruelty" aspect of the disease.

Posted by Missy Lane

A worker slammed these piglets' heads against the floor and left them to die in a bin.

Just days after PETA released video footage of an undercover investigation at an Iowa pig farm whose piglets are destined for Hormel, the wheels of change are in motion. Here's what's new.

1. Acknowledgment
PETA met with Greene County, Iowa, Sheriff, Tom Heater's staff, and he is taking the documented cruelty seriously. After this meeting, Sheriff Heater told the Associated Press, "Our next step is to secure interviews with potential suspects, and definitely make sure that there's no further abuse occurring down there—that's our main concern at this point. Asked if crimes had been committed, Heater responded, 'It appears that there were, yes.'"

2. Action
Dr. Jennifer Greiner says Minnesota-based MowMar, LLP, which owns the farm where the investigation took place, has already fired two employees involved in the abuse and will continue to terminate those involved based on the findings of the investigation.

3. Deception
Following the release of the investigation video, Hormel issued false statements to consumers and PETA's members saying that the abuse shown on the video occurred weeks before their supplier purchased the farm. This statement is blatantly untrue, as the video depicts acts committed both before and after MowMar's purchase of the site. Furthermore, Hormel suppliers either owned or managed the Iowa farm during the entire investigation.

Although PETA's investigation garnered some serious media attention and is prompting needed change in regard to animal abuse, it still may take some time before meaningful changes are made to standards in the pig industry. Mother pigs are still confined to tiny gestation crates and their babies are castrated and mutilated without any anesthesia or painkillers. Even worse, unwanted "runts" are sometimes killed by "thumping" (slamming the animals' heads against the floor). Although cruel, these standards still appear to be legal in many U.S. states.

The good news is that you can make a huge difference. You can join PETA and take a stand against the cruel factory-farming industry by going veg today.

Posted by Carrie Ann Harris

The smoke has long cleared after the arrest of nearly 100 dazed and confused people in a San Diego drug sting, but now a 4- to 5-acre field of marijuana in Redwood National Park (now nicknamed Park o' Pot) has been uncovered. Now is the perfect time to run our billboard warning folks that pot roast is far more hazardous to their health than that other pot.

Dude, smoking dope might make you forget where you put your car keys, but eating meat is linked to all kinds of killer diseases. Meat is often loaded with drugs, pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics. The consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products has been linked to heart disease, strokes, obesity, diabetes, and various types of cancer—not to mention other hazards, including E. coli, salmonella, and listeria. Yummy.

Of course, if the fact that you're consuming lots of dangerous drugs by eating burgers and chicken doesn't disturb you, you might want to know that animals on factory farms are crammed into cages and crates, are forced to undergo excruciatingly painful procedures, and are often skinned and dismembered while still conscious.

Totally harsh, man. But all is not lost. You can make yourself drug-free and bring yourself some "I did something good for animals" karma by doing one simple thing—going veg today.

Posted by Carrie Ann Harris

By now, you've probably heard about our latest undercover investigation—and you were probably as horrified as we were. Sadly, though, we weren't shocked—because this kind of abuse has happened before, many times.

Abuses like the ones seen at the Iowa pig factory farm should be the exception—but they're not; they are the rule. Look at our investigation of a North Carolina factory farm; just like at the Iowa farm, the pigs were beaten, were spray-painted, and had their eyes poked with sharp objects. In Oklahoma, the pigs were also beaten and "thumped"—and treaded on, starved, and left to die of illness. At a factory farm in North Carolina, the pigs were, again, beaten daily, kicked, and vaginally and anally penetrated—in addition to being skinned alive. Another group found pigs in Nebraska to be suffering from extreme neglect and mistreatment, drowning in their own excrement and covered in open sores. They found similarly neglected pigs in South Dakota, where the conditions were so inhumane that death rates in barns reached as high as 60 percent—and where some pigs were killed by having a water hose placed in their mouths until the animals burst.

Beatings, castration without any painkillers, drowning in excrement, wasting away with illness, and vaginal and anal penetration—these shouldn't be everyday occurrences, but they are. All over the country, pigs on factory farms are suffering just like pigs in Iowa, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and South Dakota are—and each time someone buys bacon, ham, sausage, or a hot dog, that person is saying that he or she agrees with how these pigs are treated.

Please, if you are appalled by the pain and suffering inflicted on these pigs, there is one very simple way to help them—don't eat them.

Posted by Amanda Schinke

To help create buzz about the connection between meat consumption and high gas prices, PETA's sexy Lettuce Ladies are back on the road again giving away free gas (and vegan sandwiches) to people at gas stations around the country. In support of their efforts, The PETA Files is giving away BP gas cards to two loyal readers. (See the form below. That's where you enter.)

What does gas for your car have to do with veggies for your stomach? Did ya know that eating just a single pound of meat is the environmental equivalent of driving more than 40 miles in an SUV? That's one big carbon footprint, my friends!

This contest has ended

Posted by Carrie Ann Harris

Anyone you know still eat SPAM and Dinty Moore? Well, show them a new PETA investigation of a pig factory farm in Iowa—where investigators took truly disturbing undercover footage of workers who were abusing sows and their piglets. This farm breeds and supplies piglets to be grown and eventually slaughtered for Hormel. In addition to keeping pregnant pigs in hideous gestation crates that are so small that the mothers-to-be cannot even turn around, workers and supervisors are seen on our tape kicking pigs maliciously, beating them with metal rods, jabbing clothespins and fingers into their eyes, and slamming piglets against the floor to kill them (a standard practice in the pig-meat industry). A worker was seen spraying paint directly up a sow's nostrils and all over her face as well. Some of the piglets convulsed for more than 12 minutes before dying.

PETA's undercover investigators also documented the following:

Tails and testicles from baby pigs

If you eat hot dogs, ham, sausage, or bacon, you are supporting gross abuse and cruelty in this "house of horrors." Please don't. Tell Hormel to stop cruelty to animals at its suppliers' facilities now!

Posted by Amy Elizabeth