Written by PETA
Just in time for Oktoberfest comes a cow-friendly alternative to traditional Bavarian lederhosen, those Pinocchio-style knickers that are traditionally made of leather.* PETA Germany recently presented inventor Peter Kolb with a progress award for his swimwear designs that easily double as animal-free alternatives to leather lederhosen: yodel lay hee hoo (-ray), indeed!
Why the brewbrouhaha about leather trousers? Aside from the cruelty inherent in factory farms and slaughterhouses—where animals are castrated, dehorned, and branded without any anesthetics as well as frequently hoisted, shackled, and butchered while still conscious—the toxic chemicals used to tan leather are dangerous for the both the environment and human health.
Leather-free lederhosen are cheaper, beer-proof, and most importantly, animal-friendly. Let's tap a keg and toast compassion.
Written by Karin Bennett
*For anyone who thinks that the Bavarian beer lover's tradition looks silly, I have two words for you—beer bong.
Last week, we told you about poor Tripp—the elderly golden retriever who had lived through 16 long years of neglect. Because of the outpouring of condolences for him, we've set up a memorial page in his honor through our newly revamped True Friends Web site.
You can find Tripp's memorial page here. I hope you'll drop by and share some words of support for Misty Collins and the other PETA field workers whose hearts break every day over neglected and abused animals like Tripp (and Rikus, Music, Zoo, Hugo, and Blackie, just to name a few).
If you've recently lost someone close to you—a friend, family member, or animal companion—please consider creating a True Friends memorial page of your own to help share your memories with others. You can also create a page for a celebrity (as a supporter did for longtime PETA friend Bea Arthur) or an animal whose story you've heard about in the news—like Tweet, the giraffe who died on the set of The Zookeeper.
After you've visited PETA's new True Friends Memorials site, post a comment below to let us know what you think.
Written by Alisa Mullins
The Internet was ablaze yesterday with "did he or didn't he" talk about Wednesday's episode of The Glenn Beck Program, in which Glenn Beck appeared to boil a frog alive on national television. Was the frog fake? Did Beck actually throw a real frog into a pot? Who would do something like that?
Given that Glenn has a history of showing compassion toward animals, we were sure that he would not throw a defenseless frog into a boiling pot of water. But because enough people were fooled by his prank, we asked him to make a statement on his show explaining that it was a ruse.
And last night, in a segment he called "Frog-Gate 2009," (a possible shout-out to "Flygate"?) Glenn Beck did just that—he replayed the whole segment, read our letter to him aloud, and clarified that the frog he appeared to boil alive was just a plastic toy.
Thanks for setting the record straight, Glenn! Now, could we trouble you to have a little talking-to with those real-life frog abusers over at Brookstone …?
Written by Shawna Flavell
On last night's The Daily Show (basically the only show I watch, other than Glee) Jon Stewart slipped in a quip about Manhattan's West Side—he called it the "sad-eyed carriage horse district."
Couple that with a recent episode in which Jon stood up to Liam Neeson's claim that the horse stables on the West Side are miniature luxury palaces, saying, "I don't think living on 52nd and 11th is a holiday for a horse," and I'd say that Jon is a regular hero for horses.
I think we should all join Jon in speaking up for horses who are abused in the carriage industry.
Written by Amanda Schinke
Why is it that men get no love? A shirtless man appeared in Lycra "fishtails" and body paint beside a female "fish" sea kitten at a popular fishing spot in Naples for one of our Fish Amnesty Week demos. Cameras flashed and lively debates ensued among a huge crowd of tourists while media swarmed PETA's sea kittens. But guess who got all the media glory? The lady sea kitten.
So we'd like to do something that the media didn't do, and draw your attention to the fantastic fella on the left.
During Fish Amnesty Week, we're alerting people to the fact that sea kittens suffer tremendous stress and pain when their sensitive lips are impaled on sharp hooks and the animals are dragged to shore to slowly suffocate or have their heads bashed in. "Catch-and-release" maiming isn't any kinder, as countless victims die from stress and injuries.
We suggest that retirees, fathers hoping to bond with their sons, and others drop their fishing rods and try "shooting" fish—with a camera—instead.
Thanks to a sharp-eyed shopper and the quick work of PETA's Cruelty Investigations Department, baby turtles have been rescued from a store in NYC's Chinatown.
These little guys were small—so small that it's actually illegal to sell them—yet they were being hawked as "pets" to unwitting tourists who often don't have a clue about how to take care of such delicate animals.
And that's where the concern of one compassionate citizen really made a difference. She wasn't an expert on turtle care, but after visiting the store, this young woman knew that these turtles were being inhumanely treated. Not only were they tiny, they were being kept in little plastic containers with very little water and nothing else. They were also living outside the shop in direct sunlight for most of the day.
After hitting a brick wall with local officials, the young lady called PETA. Faster than you can say "salmonella souvenirs" (according to the FDA, there are more than 74,000 "pet" turtle–related cases of human salmonella poisoning every year), a PETA cruelty caseworker got the DOH to respond ASAP. That same day, the agency seized eight of the turtles and issued citations to the seedy store for violating New York State Department of Health codes that make it illegal to sell turtles smaller than 4 inches long.
Now living large at a turtle sanctuary, these eight tiny turtles have been given the opportunity to live out their lives in luxury. But there are still aquatic animals who need our help. Won't you tell Brookstone head honchos to get their heads out of their, er, shells and end the sale of Frog-O-Spheres today?
Written by Amy Elizabeth
The following is a guest post from actor and animal rights advocate Brigitte Bardot. A dedicated activist, whose foundation to help animals has tackled issues such as fur, horse slaughter, and companion animal overpopulation, Brigitte was the first celebrity to stand up for Canadian seals. Here, once again, she speaks out against the sinister seal slaughter.
When, in 2003, some politicians and talk-show hosts called for a boycott of French products because of my country's politics against the war in Iraq, sales of French wine dropped by 26 percent in the United States in just a few days. This boycott may have cost French winemakers $112 million because of lost sales overseas.
There is little doubt that consumer boycotts hit where it hurts the most—in the wallet!
These massive ethical reactions from consumers can sometimes convince a government or a corporation to change the way that it does business. That is why I am supporting PETA's boycott of Canadian maple syrup until the Canadian government agrees to ban the slaughter of seals on the ice floes, the largest massacre of marine mammals on Earth, forever.
Canadian law authorizes seal pups to be legally killed as soon as they have lost their white baby fur, which happens about two weeks after birth. On the ice floes, the seals are bludgeoned, and some are skinned while still alive. Each spring, this vision of horror returns: The ice floes become an open-air slaughterhouse, where some pups are left in agony, their mothers trying desperately to revive their small bloody bodies.
This gruesome bloodshed has only one purpose: to fuel the fur trade!
Canadian officials are accomplices to these massacres and spend huge amounts of money to support this dying industry, which is a stain on their reputation in the eyes of the world.
This is why we must act and make Canada understand that it would be criminal, irresponsible, and economically suicidal to continue with the commercial seal slaughter.
The United States and the European Union have banned seal products, but Canada produces about 85 percent of the world's maple syrup―the maple leaf is even the symbol of this country.
As French wine was the ideal product designated by Americans to protest France's pacifist stance, maple syrup is the ideal product to boycott in order to protest Canada's aggressive stance.
Refusing to buy maple syrup so as to refuse to be an accomplice to the slaughter perpetrated on the ice floes can send a strong message to Canadian officials. That's why I am asking you to join PETA and boycott Canadian products to let the leaders of this country know that the seal slaughter is inhumane and disgraceful and that it represents a threat to Canada's economy.
I've been leading this fight for more than 33 years now, and I've already had some victories―with you today, we can win the final fight. I'm really counting on you!
Written by Brigitte Bardot
This is one of those stories that starts off sad, but gets better—I promise!
Earlier this summer, a man in Louisville, Kentucky, threw a puppy off a bridge and into the Ohio River. Kelsey Westbrook, a college student who works part-time at a riverfront restaurant, saw the dog swimming in circles and immediately raced down to the water's edge and helped nearby firefighters guide the dog to safety.
Although Kelsey had originally planned to find a good home for the dog—whom she named Sunny for her loving disposition—the bond between them grew, and Kelsey soon realized that Sunny had become part of her family. So, Kelsey and her other dog—a 2-year-old rescue mix—asked Sunny to stay.
The warm-fuzzies don't stop there. Kelsey has decided to turn the attention she's receiving towards the issue of cruelty to animals. She's organizing a fundraiser at the restaurant next month, and the proceeds will go to local low-income spay-and-neuter clinics. Now that's compassionate. And because Kelsey keeps going that extra mile to help animals in need, we're happy to be sending her a Compassionate Action Award—along with some treats for Sunny, of course.
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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