Written by Michelle Kretzer
Jason Mraz just went vegan and wrote about it on his blog:
My health and strength make me a better performer and all that combined gives me more confidence to go out in the world and shine my light. It also makes me a lot better in bed. Just sayin…
Just when you thought George Clooney couldn't get any sexier, check out what he told the media at the Golden Globes: "I've always had dogs. I've almost always had them out of the pound. Seems like a good place. They have a lot of them. It brings me a lot of joy to do it and they seem like the happiest dogs in the game. I only have one, but he eats for, like, four."
Academy Award–nominee and vegan beauty Jessica Chastain was spotted walking her pooch, who doesn't seem to be slowed down a bit by having only three legs. We wouldn't be surprised if Jessica were an advocate of rescuing!
Gracing the February cover of Self magazine, Kristen Bell asked readers to tweet questions for her to answer in the mag. When a fan asked her about being vegetarian, Kristen responded, "I've been a vegetarian since I was 11, because I couldn't understand why if we didn't eat the dog I should eat a burger. I love animals, and I stand by my values."
Another group of animal lovers just snagged big honors from peta2. Ke$ha, The Ready Set, Daniel Bryan, and many more celebs received Libby Awards for their work to protect animals. Check out peta2.com to see the winners and nominees.
Waka Flocka Flame proudly shows that he is a card-carrying member of PETA. Join him by becoming a member today!
While out for a run, teen bride Courtney Stodden proves there's no wrong way to show off your vegetarian pride.
NASCAR driver Andy Lally keeps his motor running with healthy vegan foods.
When Denise Richards tweeted to PETA asking for vegan cookbook recommendations, we not only told her about some but also sent 'em to her, and she tweeted her thanks.
Liam Hemsworth might be in puppy love—he got a rescued dog from girlfriend Miley Cyrus for his birthday. She asked her Twitter followers always to adopt, never buy, joining the roster of celebrity sweet tweeters:
Maybe James Franco was inspired by Rise of the Planet of the Apes to join Kevin Nealon and a host of other celebrities in support of the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act, which aims to get great apes out of laboratories.
One of the great apes' staunchest supporters, Dr. Jane Goodall, is featured on Beliefnet.com's picks for the Top 10 Animal Rights Activists. Click here to see the full list, which includes heavy hitters such as Bob Barker, Ric O'Barry, and Russell Simmons.
Another heavy hitter, PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk is making headlines for not mincing words. Asked what she thought about Real Housewives of New York star Cindy Barshop's real-fur merkins, she responded, "It's outright sleazy, and it's downright cruel to kill an animal to decorate your privates." We'll leave you with that.
Pink is proving once again that she has a big heart. After someone threw a puppy off a Los Angeles overpass and into the river below, Pink donated $5,000 for emergency surgery, saving the young dog's life.
Actor Dawn Olivieri (of Vampire Diaries fame) might have jumped into the river herself. She told Marie Claire magazine, "I will stop my car if there's a stray animal along the side of the road. I've spent hours trying to catch lost dogs wearing collars so I can help people get their pets back."
There were no animals on Paula Patton's back at the Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol premiere in Moscow—her rep tells us that she braved Russia's cold in a faux-fur coat.
Ke$ha recently traveled to the Ukutula Lion Park and Lodge in South Africa to help rehabilitate an orphaned lion cub. Although she fell for the cub (now named Ke$ha), she said, "I was glad to leave my lion, because an animal like that should live in the wild. Keeping [a lion] confined is really just inhumane."
When True Blood star Kristin Bauer thinks something is inhumane, she spells it out. When the actor visits her family, she writes, "Tested on animals" in black marker on her family's products that aren't cruelty-free.
The cruelty-free and fabulous Lea Michele graces DoSomething.org's list of Top 20 Celebs Gone Good for 2011 in honor of her work with PETA, including her ever-present animal-friendly tweets. Case in point:
Written by PETA
When pop sensation Ke$ha learned that McDonald's McCruelty is spending more than $1 billion on renovating its restaurants while still refusing to require its suppliers to upgrade to a less cruel method of slaughtering chickens, she fired off a letter to McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner calling out the company for its "Sleazy" behavior. The singer is even putting her money where her mouth is by offering McDonald's cash to help with the transition to a more humane slaughter system: "I may not have the $ that the Golden Arches has to throw around, but I'd be glad to lend a hand in helping bring your suppliers' slaughter practices into the 21st century."
The social, inquisitive chickens killed for McNuggets have their throats cut, many have their legs and wings broken, and many are dunked into the scalding-hot water of defeathering tanks while still conscious.. Meanwhile, Skinner and McDonald's continue to ignore the recommendation of the company's own animal welfare panel, which has endorsed a slaughter method that renders the birds unconscious at the start of the slaughtering process. This method, which has been approved the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is already in use by McDonald's suppliers in Europe, so there's no excuse for allowing American suppliers to continue with such cruelty.
Tell McDonald's to require American suppliers to switch to the less cruel slaughter method. As Ke$ha might say, "TiK ToK," the switch can't come a moment too soon for chickens.
Written by Heather Faraid Drennan
Both Ke$ha and Iggy Pop love a good beat—but not in Canada, where baby seals are beaten, shot, and sometimes skinned alive for their fur. The musicians are just the latest celebs to star in PETA ads opposing Canada's annual seal slaughter. Explains Ke$ha, "Canada gets to be host to harp seals each year during their migration to the ice to give birth which is beautiful and peaceful. But because the babies' fur is so soft, there are people who club and brutally kill these young animals." She asks her fans to turn the heat up, up, up on the Canadian government by joining PETA's "Save the Seals" campaign.
Long-time PETA pal Iggy Pop wants to search and destroy the Canadian seal slaughter and save hundreds of thousands of baby seals every year. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer said, "The terror and suffering that these defenseless, friendly, intelligent, inquisitive creatures endure to create fur jackets—it's immoral."
Watch Iggy's exclusive behind-the-scenes video and get his advice for how you can help end Canada' shameful massacre.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
The results for PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian contest just came out, and it seems that we left one sexy gal off the list! In a recent interview with the Phoenix New Times, Ke$ha reveals that her compassion for animals includes a meat-free diet.
When asked why she adopted a vegetarian diet, the pop sensation and party girl of the year replied, "I just love animals, and I'm an advocate for animals' rights, and my family has rescued dogs from all over the world. I don't believe in animal testing. If you see me in fur, it's always fake. Sometimes you see me wearing skulls, but those are all from roadkill."
Ke$ha gets it—if you love animals, don't eat them. Maybe her animal-loving ways will rub off on Rihanna during their summer tour.
Written by Shawna Flavell
What's the first thing that animal-friendly pop star Ke$ha did after flying in to her flooded hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, recently? She bought 1,000 pounds of dog and cat food and dropped it off at the Nashville Metro Animal Shelter! The guardian of five beloved rescued dogs, Ke$ha just had to help after hearing that the shelter was overwhelmed with animals who had been turned over by their guardians or abandoned in flooded homes without any food or drinking water following Tennessee's historic floods. To help even more, Ke$ha is also holding a benefit concert with all proceeds going to help families and animals affected by the floods. Two paws up for your compassion, Ke$ha!
The flooding in Tennessee is a reminder that natural disasters can strike anywhere, anytime, so it's vital to make emergency evacuation plans that include our animal companions. TVs, couches, and even homes are replaceable, but best friends aren't!
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
Some of my best friends r bitches... Its ALWAYS fake fur. I don't do the real shiz. My rekords called ANIMAL!I dont do fur!duhh—Tweet from Ke$ha
I wake up every morning feeling like Ke$ha (clearly, the radio station my alarm is set to has flawless taste). And now that she's blasted recent reports that the fur coat she wore on Wendy Williams' talk show was real, via Twitter, she and fellow fur-shunner Gaga will always be my go-to ladies when it comes to synth-pop.
With this Billboard music chart-topper speaking up for animals who are skinned alive for the fur industry, I'd love to see Ke$ha bare it all in one of our anti-fur ads. A Ke$ha-Gaga double feature, anyone?
Written by Logan Scherer
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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