How do you convince lawmakers to turn a blind eye to the devastating effect that fast food has on our health? If you're McDonald's, you spend more than $1.1 million (in 2011 alone) lobbying political representatives. YUM! Brands, the owner of KFC, wasn't far behind, at $845,000.

The Center for Responsive Politics reports that the food industry "has been fighting Congress in recent years over nutritional requirements, labeling information and advertising. Fast food restaurants in particular have faced pressure due to their aggressive marketing aimed at children."

So, McDonald's and KFC both have about a cool mil lying around that they could put toward switching to controlled-atmosphere killing, a slaughter method that would prevent chickens from having their throats cut while still conscious and often being scalded to death in defeathering tanks. But instead, both companies spent it asking politicians to play fast and loose with Americans' health.

Click here to tell McDonald's and here to tell KFC that you're hatin' the way that they torture chickens. I think I know where they can find a tidy sum of cash to get started making changes.

Whatever Milwaukee is brewing, we want some of it. We were already rooting for the Brewers because of veggie royalty Prince Fielder, and now we learn that vivacious outfielder Nyjer Morgan, with whom Fielder shares this week's Sports Illustrated cover, attributes his out-of-the-ballpark energy and .306 batting average to his healthy vegetarian diet.

Could Roseanne Barr be the next star to "do a Clinton" and convert to a vegan diet? Extolling the virtues of faux meat and tweeting at McDonald's to stop abusing chickens sounds like a great start.

Eli Roth is such a talented tweeter for animals that we gave him his own web feature. (Wait 'til you see what he says about Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons. #hilarious.) 

Fellow animal-friendly tweeters Pink and Tommy Lee took to Twitter to express their outrage over Indiana's barbaric "snapperfest." And Indiana native Bree Olson was so determined to stop the turtle torture that the Green Goddess posted the local sheriff's department's contact info on her website and asked people to call and complain.

Not to be out-tweeted, Glee star Lea Michele opined about her dream of retiring all the horses who are forced to spend long, hot days hauling around carriages full of tourists in her native New York City. 

The next time she visits New York, Lea may spot Whoopi Goldberg out buying toy and treats for the lucky kitten she adopted after he was tossed from a moving car. Adopting instead of buying is catching on across the pond, too, if we can judge by Camilla Parker Bowles and her new rescued pup, Beth. We think dedicated dog guardian Michael Vartan, who stars in this weekend's highly anticipated thriller Colombiana, as well as a new PETA ad, would approve.

While Michael steams up the big screen, fellow PETA pal Bethenny Frankel will be taking over the small one with her new talk show. Will she get naked for animals again? Stay tuned.

To stay up to date on all celebrity/animal happenings, follow PETA on Twitter.  

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Chicago's O'Hare said "Oh, no!" to PETA when we offered to buy one of the airport's new high-tech mirror ads.  Our ad would have filled a bathroom mirror, then shrunk to the corner when someone approached, and it would have warned them about McDonald's cruelty to chickens.
 

 
The airport rejected our ad on the grounds that it "targeted a specific airport advertiser." Apparently, O'Hare was afraid that letting people know that McDonald's suppliers scald live chickens in steaming-hot defeathering tanks would anger the Chicago-based fast-food giant.

Once again, big money talks, but you can talk back. Let McDonald's know that you want it to switch to the less cruel slaughter method recommended by PETA, which would eliminate the worst slaughterhouse abuses.
 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

In what appears to be a violation of PETA's First Amendment right to free speech, the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, is denying our application for a permit to display our crippled-chicken statue near a McDonald's restaurant.

In a rejection letter, Little Rock City Attorney Thomas Carpenter blamed "public safety concerns." But not only would our proposed location not interfere with foot traffic, the city has also granted countless other permits to place large items, such as benches, on the sidewalk, presumably with no "public safety concerns."

Is Little Rock afraid that the backup of people rubber-necking at the statue will cause a traffic jam? Or does it just not want its residents to learn that McDonald's suppliers slam chickens upside down by their legs into metal shackles, often breaking their wings and legs, cut their throats while they are still conscious, and scald the survivors to death in defeathering tanks?

While we're wrangling with Little Rock, you can e-mail McDonald's and tell the company that you won't be caught dead near an Unhappy Meal until its suppliers switch to the less cruel slaughter method that PETA is requesting.

 
Written by Michelle Sherrow

Here's a riddle for you: What has red hair, no heart, and says, "Ba da da da daaa, I'm killin' it"? McDonald's creepy spokesclown, in PETA's Evil Ronald twitter contest. Sadistic Ronalds have popped up all over the Twitterverse to tell people what's really going on behind that white face paint.

You can check out some of Evil Ronald's other tweets, and help stop him by speaking up for chickens. 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Unless McDonald's wants to be considered as a possible CGI backdrop for the new Mortal Kombat game, the chain might have a PR problem. Fights are breaking out at McDonalds locations across the country, including an attack on a woman in Baltimore that initiated a protest outside the restaurant when the video hit YouTube.

Then there were folks duking it out at a McDonald's job fair in Cleveland, and a shooting took place at a San Jose location.
 

Is it possible that McDonald's bad karma for letting its suppliers slash conscious chickens' throats and scald many of them to death is catching up with it? E-mail the fast-food behemoth to let it know that you support ending all forms of violence, and ask McDonald's to switch to the less cruel slaughter method that PETA has recommended.
 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

With all the recent buzz about taking toys out of unhealthy kid’s meals, PETA has come up with a way for kids to still have some fun at McDonald’s expense. The new "Where's Evil Ronald?" video game challenges people to find the creepy clown played by Andy Dick in a crowd. The rounds get harder as the game goes on, and along the way, the game displays facts about McCruelty, like how chickens killed for McNuggets often have their throats cut and are plunged into tanks of scalding-hot water while they are still conscious. 
 

Click the image to play "Where's Evil Ronald?"

 
We'd be happy to let McDonald's put DVDs of our game in their meals. But of course, if the company's hatin' it, it could always just do the right thing and switch to a less cruel slaughter method. Let McDonald's know that you won't be caught dead under the golden arches until it stops allowing its suppliers to torture chickens.
 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors has voted to require restaurant kids' meals that come with free toys to contain fewer than 600 calories, include fruits and veggies, and exclude fat- and sugar-laden beverages. And (surprise!) McDonald's Happy Meal doesn't make the cut.

As a kid (before I went vegetarian "cold turkey" at age 10 after realizing that meat comes from a living, breathing being), I would beg my parents to take me to Mickey D's for the latest cheap plastic doodad. I couldn't have cared less about the fat-and-cholesterol bomb in a bun that came with it, but the toy lured me (and my parents) to the drive-through month after month.
 

With 15 percent of American children now classified as overweight or obese—putting them in danger of serious health problems including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer—stopping restaurants like McDonald's from using "kid bait" to market unhealthy animal flesh to children seems like a pretty good idea to this former Happy Meal lover.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

Apparently—unlike the cows who are killed to make them—McDonald's burgers can live to a ripe old age. In April, New York City–based artist and photographer Sally Davies bought a Happy Meal and left the contents sitting out in her kitchen as an experiment. Six months later, the burger looks much the same as it did on the day it was slapped together. Says Davies, "The only change that I can see is that it has become hard as a rock" and "the food is plastic to the touch and has an acrylic sheen to it."

Hmm … if even mold won't eat McDonald's food, no one else should, either. Oodles of 100 percent natural, biodegradable, and cruelty-free veggie burgers are available to make our taste buds and animals happy.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

And here are a few recent ones: 

PETA Germany's "shoebox demo" was a startling reminder that a shoebox can be considered a coffin if its contents are made from animal skins. The action sparked a flurry of media attention—Teddy Hilton called it "creative" and "chic."

PETA's Lettuce Ladies could barely keep up with demand during their veggie dog giveaway in Baltimore. One eager fan was hugely relieved to learn that the dogs were indeed intended for hungry two-legged animals.

Caring folks visited the Santa Ana Zoo to remind both zoo officials and visitors that imprisoned elephants who express their frustrations over their miserable confinement can be very dangerous—and that forcing them to give rides is outrageously irresponsible and cruel.

These "chickens" ran for their lives in a McDonald's-sponsored marathon in Chicago.

Thousands recently gathered in Washington, D.C., for the One Nation Working Together rally on the National Mall—among them were PETA reps who offered up the many reasons why going vegan is the most logical, responsible choice.

You can help animals, meet caring people, and get in on the action too!

Written by Karin Bennett