The Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2013, which Congress is currently considering, could keep hens used by the egg industry confined to cages forever. The legislation is spearheaded by the industry's trade association, the United Egg Producers, and, if passed, may overturn existing bans on cages for hens and legitimize and engrain so-called "enriched" or "furnished" cages at a time when many people and corporations are advocating for a move away from all cages. We at PETA are pragmatists and support reduced suffering, but even an egg industry lawyer has said that the humane groups who support this bill have "caved":

Misleadingly named "furnished" cages can house as many as 60 birds. The allotted space is still minuscule, the noise is overwhelming, the stress factors are enormous, the privacy a hen seeks in nature for her egg-laying activities is not available to her, and veterinary care is totally lacking. Such cages are not even remotely humane. At best, they are slightly less cruel. It is time for true reform, not industry-fueled deception. Please join us in opposing all cages for hens on egg farms.

What You Can Do

You can help protect hens by e-mailing your representatives and urging them to vote against the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2013. 

You can also help by never buying any eggs (even so-called "free-range" eggs usually come from hens confined to filthy factory-farm conditions). Instead of eggs, try scrambled tofu for breakfast, and use egg replacers such as mashed tofu, cornstarch, and ground flaxseeds in your baked goods.

PETA has come up with a drone program that even Rand Paul might be able to get behind. Inspired by the increasing use of drones for nonmilitary purposes, such as fighting wildfires and conducting search-and-rescue missions, PETA is planning to acquire a drone of its own to spy on hunters and catch them in the act as they terrorize animals and break game laws.

PETA has decided to use a remote-controlled aircraft to collect and publicize footage of hunters shooting animals and allowing them to escape, only to die slowly and in agony, among other common violations. PETA has contacted Australia-based drone manufacturer Aerobot, maker of the state-of-the-art, remote-controlled helicopters that can be outfitted with a video camera, to discuss which of its products would best fit the purpose. The drones can also be used to fly over factory farms and other areas that are hotbeds of abuse.

quadrocopter | cc by 2.0

Hunters maim and kill millions of animals every year. PETA's office routinely receives reports of deer spooked by hunters and then running wildly onto highways or crashing through plate-glass windows. For some animals who are still mobile but wounded, it can take weeks to succumb to their injuries. And research shows that for every animal killed by a bowhunter, another is maimed, never to be found again. The slaughtered animals aren't the only victims, as weak and young family members are left to starve or be attacked by predators. With more than five times as many wildlife watchers as there are hunters in the U.S., we hope to expose further why hunting is a sick and sickening pursuit.

While hunters disguise themselves as trees and pretend they are ducks, it is only fair to give animals something to fight back with. Duck defender Morrissey would certainly approve.

Newly elected Pope Francis is already making clear that his focus will be to embrace the disadvantaged. He chose his papal title in homage to St. Francis of Assisi, a renowned advocate for the poor and the patron saint of animals and the environment. PETA has written to His Holiness to congratulate him and to offer a couple of simple ways that he can follow in St. Francis' footsteps as a champion for animals. Because of the unholy abuse on factory farms and in slaughterhouses, we've asked Pope Francis to ensure that no factory-farmed meat, eggs, or dairy products are served at the Vatican and to offer as many meat-free meals as possible. 

casarosado.gov.ar | cc by 2.0

Previous popes have expressed concern for animals and their well-being. Pope John Paul II was a noted animal advocate who declared that animals are "as near to God as men are." He also maintained that animals "possess a soul and men must love and feel solidarity with our smaller brethren." Pope Francis' predecessor Pope Benedict XVI felt that "[a]nimals, too, are God's creatures. … [T]his degrading of living creatures to a commodity seems to me in fact to contradict the relationship of mutuality that comes across in the Bible."

God clearly instructs his followers to "love one another" (John 13:34), "be merciful" (Luke 6:36), and not to harm one another (Isaiah 11:9).

Hopefully, Pope Francis will continue to guide Catholics down the compassionate path that his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, set out on so many years ago.

Whether the new month is coming in like a lion or a lamb, March 1 is National Pig Day, which, according to its cofounder, has been set aside "to accord the pig its rightful, though generally unrecognized, place" as a smart and social animal. George Clooney and his dear departed companion pig would agree.

And while there are plenty of great ways to celebrate our curly-tailed pals, none of them involves eating pork. Pigs raised and killed for meat spend their entire lives in cramped, filthy warehouses under the constant stress of intense confinement and are denied everything that is natural and important to them before being violently slaughtered.

Now, some folks would like you to believe that you can have your (nonfakin') bacon and a clear conscience, too—but that's a bigger load of, um, manure than even a factory farm generates. Long story short: There is no such thing as "humane meat."

But here's PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk to explain that (and read a cute poem):

The good news is that March is also the month for the annual observance of Meatout, so there's no better time than right now to kick the cruelty habit in favor of healthy and humane vegan foods—and PETA can help you get started! 

Update: Another one bites the dust! Because of the public outcry following Bob Barker's letter to lawmakers on PETA's behalf (see below), Wyoming has become the latest state to shelve an "ag gag" bill designed to protect animal abusers on factory farms by preventing undercover investigations from being conducted. The irresponsible and dangerous legislation, House Bill 126, died in committee on February 12. Afterward, one of its cosponsors said that the negative attention surrounding the bill was a factor in setting it aside.

Our thanks go out to everyone who responded to PETA's action alert. Why not celebrate this victory by sending your not-yet-vegan friends a link to Meat.org, where they can view footage obtained—legally—from undercover investigations on factory farms?

Originally posted on February 8th, 2013:

PETA pal and TV legend Bob Barker has once again stepped up for animals—this time in Wyoming, where legislators are considering House Bill (H.B.) 126, a measure specifically designed to protect animal abusers within the intensive-agriculture industry, even from law enforcement.

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Bob, a lifelong Republican, has urged the Republican-majority Senate to reject the bill, which could prevent undercover investigators from collecting evidence of routine and systematic animal abuse on farms that is crucial in helping prosecute abusers. Undercover investigations by PETA have revealed the routine beatings, mutilations, sexual abuse, and other severe cruelty to animals prevalent within the meat, dairy, and egg industries and often lead to criminal charges and convictions, including in Iowa, North Carolina, Oklahoma and West Virginia. 

In his letter, Bob writes, "Americans today want better treatment of animals killed for food, not for their legislators to hide illegal cruelty on farms behind locked doors. Over the last few years, I've been joined by figures from all walks of life, from Republican strategist Mary Matalin to animal welfare expert Temple Grandin, in opposing bills similar to H.B. 126, and legislators have listened, as such bills have died or been tabled by sponsors in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, and Tennessee as well as Arkansas, the second-largest poultry-producing state in the nation."

What You Can Do

If you are a Wyoming resident or you know some, please urge (or get them to urge) your state senator to join you and Bob Barker in opposing H.B. 126 today!

Residents of Indiana, Nebraska, and New Hampshire can also contact their legislators to urge them to reject similar bills that have arisen in the agriculture industry's desperate attempt to thwart consumers from learning the truth about the gruesome life and miserable death of animals on factory farms. 

Ever wonder what hens would say if they could describe their lives on egg factory farms? Wonder no more:

"For as long as I can remember, I've been locked in this crowded, filthy cage," says the "hen" in the video. "Day after day, month after month, this is my entire life."

Hens crammed into cages on egg farms barely have room to lift a wing, much less take more than a step or two in any direction. But while consumers are increasingly concerned about the way in which they're raised, rather than being rid of cages altogether, hens are in danger of being confined to cages indefinitely. But they don't need slightly larger cages or "enriched" cages—they need no cages.

The only way to ensure that hens escape the hell of being confined to abysmally crowded, filthy cages or huge warehouses is never to buy eggs (even so-called "free-range" eggs). 

Instead of eggs, try scrambled tofu for breakfast, and use egg replacers such as mashed tofu, cornstarch, and ground flaxseeds in your baked goods.

Ashley Bell earned a nomination for "Best Scared-as-S**t Performance" at the MTV Movie Awards for her portrayal of the possessed Nell Sweetzer in The Last Exorcism, produced by our buddy Eli Roth. Now, before The Last Exorcism 2 hits theaters, she's releasing an exclusive video for PETA that's scarier than anything even Eli could come up with.

A longtime animal rights activist and vegetarian, Ashley believes that everyone, even if they are scared, should see the videos of PETA's undercover investigations: "[W]hen you really see pictures and videos of what animals go through on a day-to-day basis, you can't get those images out of your head."  

Halloween may be over, but every day is a nightmare for animals on factory farms, in laboratories, and on fur farms. Share Ashley's new video and encourage others to exorcise cruelty.

Every day, I think about how lucky I am to have been born a human being. By the time you finish reading this post, 1,463 turkeys and 44,294 chickens will have had their throats slit, many of the 619 pigs who were slaughtered will have been scalded to death, and 217 cows are killed, many while still conscious. And that's just in the United States.

By the end of the day, 104,273 cows, 297,392 pigs, 702,383 turkeys, and 21,261,534 chickens will have been killed in the U.S. to satisfy an old eating habit.

On factory farms and in slaughterhouses, today is no different from any other. But animal ambassadors know today as World Farm Animals Day, a day when we honor the lives of animals slaughtered for food. We commemorate World Farm Animals Day on October 2, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, the influential political leader and ardent vegetarian whose lifetime of advocating for an end to violence toward people and animals prompted social-reform movements around the world.

But as we remember the animals who were killed for their flesh this year, a moment of silence won't help end the suffering. Animals don't need us to be silent—they need us to speak up. Please repost this image to your Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest pages to remind everyone you know that just one vegan saves about 100 animals every year from suffering on factory farms or fishing boats and dying painfully in a slaughterhouse:

yann|wikimedia

Everyone has heard of the horrifying shooting of moviegoers in Aurora, Colorado, which left 12 people dead and dozens more injured, and many people have debated how gun control or mental-health care might help stop future outbreaks of violence. But while there are many forms of random, senseless violence that we can do nothing about, there's one way each of us can make the world a little more peaceful every time we sit down to eat: All we have to do is choose meat-free meals. That's why PETA has written to the Arapahoe County sheriff to ask him to lead the way by placing the man charged in the Aurora shooting, James Holmes, on a totally nonviolent vegan diet.

There's a Reason 'Carnivore' Sounds Like 'Carnage'

Although the extreme violence inflicted on them rarely makes the news, animals on factory farms and in slaughterhouses endure senseless acts of aggression and bloodshed every hour of every day, and their fear and pain are as palpable and real as anyone else's. Also, extreme cruelty to animals is inextricably linked to acts of violence against human beings.

Eating plant-based meals is a simple way for all of us to make the world a less violent place. To initiate this positive trend, PETA has offered to provide all inmates of the Arapahoe County jail where Holmes is incarcerated with vegan meals for a day at no cost to the county.

What You Can Do

Had enough violence? Go vegan for life.

Nobel Prize–winning physician, theologian, and vegetarian Dr. Albert Schweitzer once said, "The man who has become a thinking being feels a compulsion to give every will-to-live the same reverence for life that he gives to his own." It was Schweitzer's "reverence for life" that inspired our pals at PETA U.K. not only to sponsor the attendance of a vegetarian student at this week's Albert Schweitzer's Leadership for Life International Youth Leadership Conference in Dublin but also to place an ad in the event's program in Schweitzer's honor.

Albert Schweitzer: © LOC, LC-USZ62-30537 Background: © iStockphoto.com/Hiroyuki Akimoto

Showing True Leadership

Harley, the sponsored student, has been vegetarian ever since a friend urged her to watch some PETA videos, from which she learned about the cruelty of factory farms and slaughterhouses. During her sophomore year, Harley petitioned her high school to introduce more vegan options to the cafeteria, collecting 320 signatures from a student body of 400 people!

From the time he was a child, Schweitzer was horrified by the violence he witnessed against animals and would likely be even more disgusted by today's factory farms and slaughterhouses. Chickens, turkeys, pigs, cows, and fish are packed into small cages, filthy sheds, or putrid fish farms for their entire lives—at slaughter, animals often have their throats cut open while they are still conscious or are scalded to death or skinned alive.

Go Vegan 'for Life'

Going vegan might not make you a genius—but it will make the world a better, more compassionate place, which is rather brilliant, don't you think? And PETA can help you get started!