Written by Michelle Kretzer
Tennessee lawmakers passed the state's proposed "ag-gag" bill, which would require video shot on factory farms in order to expose animal abuse to be turned over to law enforcement within 48 hours. The governor has 10 days to sign or veto the bill, and Tennessee resident Carrie Underwood is determined to stop the unconstitutional bill in its tracks. She expressed her outrage over Twitter: "Shame on TN lawmakers for passing the Ag Gag bill. If Gov. Bill Haslam signs this, he needs to expect me at his front door. Who's with me?"
Advocates for animals and free speech can join Carrie by tweeting polite messages to @BillHaslam.
As always, scores of celebrities reached millions of Twitter users with animal-friendly messages this week:
The mercury is just now starting to rise, but Eva Mendes is already devising ways to make the fall fur-free. Disappointed that designers continue to use real fur, she is releasing her own animal-friendly evening-wear collection. Eva, who proved that she would rather go naked than wear fur, told Look magazine, "Within the fashion industry I can't believe designers still use real fur in their designs when it's so easy to make faux fur. It's cheap and looks great."
And speaking of rising mercury, feast your eyes on PETA India's newest spokesperson, Vidyut Jammwal. You may not be familiar with this Bollywood star and his veggie-powered bod just yet, but you will soon want to be. As one PETA director put it, "Everyone deserves to be able to cast their eyes on him."
Had enough heat? If not, then check out our buds, fellow adoption advocates Mickey Rourke and Kellan Lutz, in their hot new thriller, Java Heat.
To keep up with what all your favorite stars are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter.
Written by Alisa Mullins
Nickelodeon star Daniella Monet unveiled her new ad for peta2—in which she encourages young people to let fish off the hook by not eating them—at a star-studded reception at the wildly popular all-vegan Sublime restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Sunday.
In an interview that can be viewed on peta2.com, Monet explains why she went vegetarian at the age of 5: "I went to a dude ranch with my family, and I asked a lot of questions. And I got answers that I probably needed to hear." As for people who say that they're "vegetarian" but still eat fish? "Fish aren't veggies," she says. "Fish have feelings, too, and fish are trying to live a life as well." She adds, "You don't need fish. Let the fish swim with the mermaids."
Monet also presented 12-year-old Rose McCoy—a lifelong vegan and animal rights defender—with the Nanci Alexander Activist Award, named for the owner of Sublime and a longtime PETA member. Among Rose's many accomplishments, she has spoken (remember—she's 12) at a McDonald's annual meeting and at New York City Council meetings, has formed an animal rights club, and donates a portion of her cat-sitting money to PETA's spay/neuter mobile clinics.
Also in attendance were Mexican soap star Pablo Azar, who showed off his dramatic new anti-circus PETA ad, and NY Ink star Ami James, who did likewise with a new ad starring himself and his adorable dog, Bella.
Among other stars lending glamour to the festivities was model and TV host Elisabetta Canalis, a vocal animal advocate who would rather go naked than wear fur and who memorably locked herself in a sweltering car last summer to illustrate the need to protect dogs from the heat.
Written by Jeff Mackey
Got your dancing shoes on? Several of PETA's celebrity supporters do, and they've been showing off their best moves on ABC's Dancing With the Stars (DWTS). The animal-friendly folks tripping the light fantastic this season include the following:
Andy Dick
Before he began cutting a rug on DWTS, this compassionate comic took on the cutting-up of animals for dissection and (with a valuable assist from Martin Short) hilariously showed the unfunny side of a certain fast-food clown in his memorable spots for PETA.
Karina Smirnoff
The lovely professional dancer dazzled us in her PETA ad declaring that she'd rather dance naked than wear fur!
© StarMaxInc.com
Kellie Pickler
The country chanteuse (who's also fur-free) has been wowing the judges with her moves and winning over viewers with her sweet smile—not to mention the fit physique that earned her PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian Alive title. Being good to animals is good for your body, too!
Zendaya Coleman
Zendaya has already shown that she has all the right moves on Disney's Shake It Up—and by helping PETA help animals with a fundraiser at the vegan-friendly Millions of Milkshakes.
Carrie Ann Inaba
This PETA pal, who is seated at the DWTS judges' table, partnered with her beloved late cat, Shadow, in a stunning ad promoting spaying and neutering to end the animal-overpopulation crisis.
Keep on dancing, y'all—we'll be cheering you on every week. To us, though, everyone who steps up for animals is a Mirror Ball winner!
It looks like DJ Pauly D is DTF—Down to Feast (on vegan food). After he watched the game-changing documentary Forks Over Knives, Pauly tweeted, "Just Watched A Movie Called 'Forks Over Knives' Basically Changed My Life!" It isn't surprising, since we know that he likes staying in great shape and looking "fresh to death." PETA sent Pauly some swag to help him get started, including Vegan Cooking for Carnivores and a vegetarian/vegan starter kit.
And model Ireland Baldwin is making her fridge as green as her namesake. After PETA tweeted that some Easter candy is made from "excretions of a beaver butthole," Ireland responded, "Well, @peta gives me another reason to commit to becoming vegan." Animal-friendly genes must run in the family: Her dad, Alec Baldwin, is a top-notch PETA supporter, and mom Kim Basinger is vegetarian.
Pauly and Ireland weren't the only ones posting sweet tweets for animals this week:
HLN's Morning Express host Robin Meade has also ditched meat. Maybe Jane Velez-Mitchell is helping her find her way to Veganville.
Vegan funny lady Ellen DeGeneres will help audiences everywhere remember that fish are friends, not food, in her upcoming Finding Nemo sequel, Finding Dory.
And we'll leave you this week with an "Awww": a video of Pauly D's pal—and ours—Jay Sean hanging with his dog, Tyler. Yeah, buddy!
Update: Well, that was fast! Shortly after Mary Matalin sent a personal appeal on PETA's behalf urging lawmakers to shelve bills intended to prevent undercover investigations of factory farms, legislators in Arkansas have scrapped their proposed "ag-gag" measures.
Now, let's keep the momentum going—if you live in California, Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, or Vermont, please tell your state legislators to drop "ag-gag" bills and protect animals, consumers, and free speech.
The following was originally posted on March 28, 2013:
Republican strategist Mary Matalin and her husband, Democratic consultant James Carville, differ on most political issues—but when it comes to legislative attempts to block undercover investigators from PETA and other organizations from revealing how animals suffer on factory farms, the couple stands united in opposition to "ag-gag" bills.
To that end, Matalin filmed a PETA appeal and sent it to Republican legislators—the primary sponsors of these measures—in Arkansas, California, Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Vermont, highlighting the importance of PETA's undercover work in prosecuting abusers and stopping institutionalized cruelty. After she introduces a video clip about a case that revealed routine beatings and even the sexual abuse of pigs on a Midwestern factory farm and which led to criminal convictions, Matalin states, "A meat-trade magazine called the case a 'wake-up call' for the industry. Unfortunately, factory farms keep hitting the snooze button, and instead of fixing the problems, they're trying to blame the messenger."
What You Can Do
Thanks to the support of concerned citizens, "ag-gag" bills have already been killed in several states, but we can't rest until all lawmakers stop trying to shield lawbreakers. Please join PETA, Mary Matalin, James Carville, Bob Barker, Cloris Leachman, Katherine Heigl, and many other figures from both sides of the aisle in urging legislators to protect consumers' right to know the truth about factory farms. If you live in Arkansas, California, Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, or Vermont, please take action.
Bill Gates has always been an innovator, so it's no surprise that one of the brightest minds of our time is tackling our most pressing environmental problems. "We need more options for producing meat without depleting our resources," he wrote on his blog. His solution? Vegan food. Bill is getting behind faux meats and eggs, which taste like the real thing but don't require vast amounts of natural resources for production. "Companies like Beyond Meat and Hampton Creek Foods are experimenting with new ways to use heat and pressure to turn plants into foods that look and taste just like meat and eggs," Bill wrote. "I tasted Beyond Meat's chicken alternative and was impressed. I couldn't tell the difference between Beyond Meat and real chicken."
Bill has been using Twitter to spread the word about faux meats, and plenty of other brainy people joined in to illustrate how smart it is to care about animals:
Greta Van Susteren shares with Bill the honor of being one of Forbes' Most Powerful People—and she also agrees that caring about animals just makes sense. She took to her blog to protest the cruel and deadly cat experiments at her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Bill Gates and Steve-O might seem like an interesting pair, but they are certainly in agreement on meat. Steve-O explained his feelings in his Huffington Post article "Crazy for Veggies: "I'm convinced that of all the changes I've made to my lifestyle, it's the adoption of a vegan diet that has been best for me—physically, mentally, and certainly spiritually. It's benefited every area of my life."
The computer whiz and the comedian are in good company with Jessica Chastain, Russell Brand, Kristen Bell, and Kristen Wiig, all of whom Celebuzz featured in an article about how "meat is so passé." And celebrity Mayim Bialik is helping New York Times readers make their Passover Seder vegan.
An anonymous person is helping animal advocate extraordinaire Sam Simon, who has been diagnosed with stage-four cancer, see how much everyone appreciates him, with a "Thank You Sam Simon" page on Facebook. Sam posted: "Well, Thank You to Whoever started this page. This is Sam. I'm overwhelmed by your kind thoughts. I want you all to know I have a great team of docs, traditional and alternative, and I plan on beating the cancer. If you'd really like to thank me, please vow to never buy a ticket to Sea World or Ringling Bros again! xo"
Please help show your appreciation for Sam's awesomeness by "liking" the "Thank You Sam Simon" page.
Update: The New Mexico legislature adjourned without voting on the proposed "ag-gag" bill, effectively killing it for this year. Four other states are still considering making it a crime to record video on farms, so residents of Nebraska, Arkansas, Indiana, and Pennsylvania should let their legislators know that they oppose these unconstitutional bills.
The following was originally published on March 14, 2013:
Not content to stop after his successful campaign to get Wyoming's "ag gag" bill thrown out, Bob Barker has set his sights on the other proposed "ag gag" bills in New Mexico, Nebraska, Arkansas, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.
As a longtime animal advocate and vegetarian, Bob knows that by making it illegal to record video on factory farms, such measures would threaten efforts to document workers' abuse of animals and to provide evidence that authorities need to win cruelty convictions. The lifelong Republican has written to fellow members of the GOP to let them know why the Grand Old Party needs to give these bills the old heave-ho. In a letter to state legislators, Bob wrote:
Since there is no government inspection of factory farms for cruelty violations and workers who report abuse to supervisors are routinely ignored, evidence from undercover investigations is critical to exposing abuse and helping officials prosecute abusers. … Americans today want better treatment of animals killed for food, not for their legislators to hide illegal cruelty on farms behind locked doors.
Bob's name certainly carries a lot of weight, but animals who are suffering on factory farms need all the help they can get. People who live in states where "ag gag" bills are currently on the floor should let their legislators know that they support the constitutional rights of whistleblowers to expose abuse.
After all, animal abusers—not whistleblowers—are the ones who should be treated like criminals.
It seems like Miley Cyrus' actions for animals are never-ending. This week, she asked her fans to help get horses suffering in the horse-drawn carriage industry off New York's streets, tweeting, "NYC is just 761 signatures shy of 100,000 petition goal to #FreeTheHorsesNYC! Sign @NYCLASS petition at StopHorseAbuse.com." Miley's fans' signatures pushed the New Yorkers for Clean, Safe, and Livable Streets petition well above the 100,000 that the group needed. And Miley and her mother, Tish, gushed about their gratefulness to their Twitter followers.
Jason Mraz was likely grateful for all the help that he got from his Twitter followers, too. When he tweeted asking where to find the best vegan eats in Sydney, Australia, PETA and Jason's fans were quick to respond with some yummy suggestions.
And Miley and Jason aren't the only sexy stars whose tweets we've been eyeing this week:
We also caught a glimpse of yet another sweet quote from one of our Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity alums, Carrie Underwood. When The Guardian asked her about growing up on a cattle farm in Oklahoma, she answered, "The worst part of the year for me was when we took some off to sell, because they would cry for each other for a couple of days. That's why I don't eat meat."
Ricki Lake has been inspired to embrace plants, too. She is reportedly enjoying more vegan meals after watching Forks Over Knives. PETA sent her some love in the form of a vegetarian/vegan starter kit, Alicia Silverstone's book The Kind Diet, and our meat industry exposé "Glass Walls," narrated by Paul McCartney.
Ricki's timing couldn't have been better, since this week marked Meatout 2013. Nikita's Maggie Q was in full celebration mode, encouraging all her Twitter followers to "[t]ry it!!!"
Sam Simon joined in, challenging his friend, radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge, to watch "Glass Walls" and go vegan for one week. Sam asked PETA for help, so we sent "Lettuce Lady" Lindsay Rajt, associate director of campaigns, to Tampa, Florida, to help Bubba with the transition and to appear on his show all week to talk about it. Bubba says that he's enjoying the challenge and has a newfound love for vegan biscuits with meat-free gravy and rice milk.
While the shock jock is warming up to faux food, Shania Twain's faux fur is keeping her warm. Her new show in Las Vegas features "dazzling costumes," including only faux fur, of course.
And while Shania makes her point to the card sharks, Kyle Chandler is helping those other sharks. Alongside his daughter, Sawyer, he attended Humane Lobby Day in Austin, Texas, in support of a proposed bill that would ban shark-finning.
How delighted was PETA when musical sensation Ricky Martin announced that he's been enjoying vegetarian meals? So much so that we've sponsored a rescued chicken in his honor at Kindred Spirits Sanctuary—just in time for The Great American Meatout today, a day when everyone is encouraged to enjoy healthful and humane vegan foods.
Of course, we encourage folks to do that year-round, and we're jubilant when people decide to make plant-based foods a regular part of their lives—even if they haven't recently been voted Broadway's Sexiest Man Alive or sold 60 million albums worldwide.
You, too, can pay tribute to animals and help alleviate their suffering by choosing healthful, humane vegan foods. Make every day a "meatout" and order a free vegan starter kit today!
Last night at The Ebell of Los Angeles, PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk kicked off her Naked Truth U.S. speaking tour to a packed house that included Sam Simon, Jennifer Tilly, Christian Serratos, Tony Kanal, and host Kevin Nealon. And listeners were moved.
While others come in bodies different from our own, we're all the same inside," Ingrid said. She asked the audience, "Who are they, and who am I, that I should live and they should die?
The goal of the tour is to show audiences that animal rights isn't just about "pets," pelts, or veggie burgers—it's about persuading people to view all animals as fellow citizens worthy of our respect. And the way that we accomplish that is by doing exactly what Ingrid went on tour to do: Speak. When we do, "we fail to reach some people sometimes, but when we don't try, we fail to reach everyone," Ingrid explained.
Determined to start speaking up, yesterday I suggested some activities that my friend could do with his daughter instead of taking her to SeaWorld. And tonight, I'm taking my date to try vegan sushi. That I can do. We all can. As Ingrid maintains, fretting won't win the animal rights battles, but activism will!
She is known for giving powerful, motivational speeches, so if you can make it to see her on the tour (tour dates to be added soon), please do, and take someone else with you. But if you can't, the one thing to remember is that the "naked truth" about advancing the animal rights movement, is simple.
Speak up—at every opportunity.
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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