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  • 16
  • May

BBC Fall Fowl Over Foie Gras Promotion

For featuring foie gras on BBC2′s Great British Menu and for promoting foie gras recipes on a number of its webpages, PETA has sent a letter to the BBC demanding that all foie gras promotions be removed from the license payer–funded service.

“Using TV license money to advocate the torture of ducks and geese through the promotion of foie gras – a product so uniquely vile that its production is banned in Britain – is indefensible”, says PETA’s Mimi Bekhechi. “The BBC has a responsibility to the public and should remove all foie gras promotions from its webpages and programmes.”

Foie gras is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese up to 2 kilograms of grain and fat every day through a tube that is shoved down their throats several times a day. Force-feeding birds such a massive amount causes their livers to swell to as much as 10 times their normal size, resulting in a disease known as “hepatic steatosis”. The pipes sometimes puncture the birds’ throats, and many birds suffer from ruptured internal organs, fungal and bacterial infections and liver failure.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the Brit Awards, Wimbledon, Lord’s Cricket Ground and the Royal Shakespeare Company have all pledged not to serve or sell foie gras, and Prince Charles refuses to allow it on Royal menus. Almost every major shop in the UK, including Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, has dropped foie gras because its production is so cruel.

Call on the BBC to stop the shameful promotion of ‘torture in a tin’ – take action today and e-mail the Director General, Mark Thompson.

Take Action


  • 14
  • May

Pamela Anderson Welcomes New Indian Dog Into Her California Home

When Pamela Anderson visited India recently, her heart was captured by the plight of the homeless dogs she saw on the streets. So when Pamela – an honorary director of PETA US – learned that PETA India’s Poorva Joshipura was headed to the States to meet with her overseas colleagues and visit her family, the Baywatch star asked if Poorva would take a homeless puppy with her. Pamela has decided to name her newest family member, who was rescued from a construction site in Mumbai, Pyari, or “Loved One”.

Pyari

“I’m tickled to be able to give Pyari a loving home”, says Anderson. “I already have rescued dogs, and I urge everyone to join me in adopting a homeless dog from their local animal shelter or the streets instead of buying a so-called ‘pedigree’.”

Every time someone buys a dog from a breeder or a pet shop, a dog on the streets or in an animal shelter loses his or her chance at finding a good home. Each year, thousands of cats and dogs are euthanised in the UK alone because there aren’t enough good homes for them. Others are abandoned on the streets, where they starve to death, get injured or killed by vehicles or fall prey to abuse.

Help turn the tide of animal homelessness – take the pledge now.


  • 14
  • May

Michael Clarke Duncan: ‘I Am a Vegetarian’

Nominated for an Oscar for his starring role in The Green Mile, Michael Clarke Duncan‘s healthful vegetarian diet keeps him in the best shape of his life. Once plagued by illnesses and spending thousands of dollars on meat, Michael has turned his health around by going vegetarian. He joins Sir Paul McCartney, Bill Clinton, Woody Harrelson, Forest Whitaker, and a long list of other healthy, compassionate men whose meat-free lifestyles help save animals’ lives and their own.

Michael Clark Duncan

Watch Michael’s exclusive behind-the-scenes PETA US interview to hear his story:

Since going vegetarian, “Big Mike” has shed 2st 7lbs from his 6-foot-5 frame – and is a lot healthier. Michael keeps his trimmer, fitter body strong by getting much of his vitamins and nutrients from plants. Instead of packing on protein from an artery-clogging steak, he eats fruits, vegetables, and legumes such as beans, peanuts, and tofu. Going vegetarian keeps Michael at a lesser risk of our nation’s biggest killers, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and strokes.

FOLLOW MICHAEL’S STEP-BY-STEP PLAN FOR GOING VEGETARIAN

Michael took the following steps to go vegetarian – follow his lead today:

  1. Watch “Meet Your Meat.”
  2. Read Skinny Bitch. (And watch PETA US’ short interview with one of the co-authors).
  3. Rid your fridge of meat and replace it with protein-packed cholesterol-free products such as tofu, tempeh, beans, and nuts.
  4. Fill your plate with fruits, vegetables, and legumes. Check out this two-week sample menu!

  • 10
  • May

China Poised to Accept First-Ever Non-Animal Test Method for Cosmetics

Chinese officials are in the final stages of approving the use of the country’s very first non-animal test method for cosmetics ingredients, thanks to guidance from scientists funded by PETA US. The 3T3 Neutral Red Uptake Phototoxicity Assay, which tests chemicals for their potential toxicity when they come into contact with sunlight and is already in wide use in the EU and US, is scheduled to be accepted in China by late summer. Before now, China has required cosmetics companies to test ingredients and products only on animals.

PETA US awarded a grant to scientists at the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS) late last year after learning that China was requiring cosmetics companies to pay for tests on animals in order to market their products in China. Scientists from IIVS traveled to China several times to offer their expertise and guidance.

As Animal Writes readers know, in the EU, animal testing for cosmetics and their ingredients is banned and the sale of all cosmetics containing ingredients tested on animals is due to be banned in 2013. The European Commission, however, is currently considering postponing or compromising that ban under pressure from the cosmetics industry.

Fast, accurate non-animal methods which protect humans better than animal tests are already here, and it’s great news that China has responded positively to the scientific arguments supporting them. It’s ironic, to say the least, that while China is progressing, the EU could be moving backwards.

Please take action here and protect the EU’s ban on animal-tested cosmetics.


  • 09
  • May

Compassion Is Always Sexy

Yes, they have smoking bodies, flawless skin, and a perfect smile, but many of the women on FHM’s Sexiest Women in the World 2012 list have something else in common – they show compassion towards animals. From rescuing a shelter dog to speaking out against fur and exotic animal skins to adopting a meat-free diet, these gorgeous ladies use their voice to help animals. And what could be sexier than that?

Proving that it’s beautiful to be kind, below are just a few examples of how the world’s hottest ladies have shown respect and compassion to animals:

  • Sexy glamour model Keely Hazell says, “I believe that killing animals for vanity is wrong”. She teamed up with PETA and starred in a racy anti-fur advert to spread her message far and wide!

Keeley Hazell

  • Iron Man 2 star Olivia Munn has a soft spot for animals. She’s spoken out against horse-drawn carriages and has twice bared all for PETA to highlight the cruelty of the fur and circus industries.

Olivia Munn

  • Selena Gomez rescued a mixed-breed puppy from an animal shelter just last year. Of course, since her boyfriend, Justin Bieber, has worked with PETA to advocate adoption and Selena has five other rescue dogs at home, it’s no surprise that the couple chose their four-legged friend from a shelter instead of a pet shop.

Selena Gomez
© RE/Westcom/StarMaxInc.com
  • “Part of my reason for being vegetarian was because it practices respect and love for life all through the day, so three times a day, you make a decision to eat things that have not been killed”, says Natalie Portman, who now appears on a new series of postage stamps, released in the US, commemorating famous vegetarians.

Natalie Portman
© StarMaxInc.com
  • English vixen Kelly Brook launched her sizzling PETA ad during London Fashion Week to call attention to the suffering of reptiles when they’re turned into shoes, handbags, belts and other accessories.

Kelly Brook
© DP/AAD/StarMaxInc.com
  • Speaking of her vegetarian diet, actor Olivia Wilde says, “Beyond my desire to boycott the torture factories, I am also way happier when I eat a plant based diet, and I feel about a thousand times more energetic”. With inspirational words like these, it’s not surprising that she was named PETA US’ Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity of 2010.

Olivia Wilde
© Dennis Van Tine/StarMaxInc.com

Are we missing any other compassionate hotties? Who would you like to see in the male list? Leave a comment and let us know!


  • 08
  • May

‘Skinned’ People Descend On Hermès Leather Exhibition

Body-painted to resemble “bloodied, skinned” people, three models representing PETA converged outside the opening of the “Hermès Leather Forever” exhibition at the Royal Academy of the Arts today. They held signs reading, “Hermès, Bag Cruelty: Ditch Leather”, while other PETA members handed out leaflets to passers-by and people attending the event. In addition to causing cows to suffer and die, the leather industry is toxic to the environment and a threat to human health. Unlike more progressive companies, Hermès also uses fur.

Skinned protesters outside Hermes leather exhibition

“There’s nothing remotely fashionable about dismembering cows alive and fouling the environment”, says PETA UK Manager Mimi Bekhechi. “With all the luxurious faux leather and other high-fashion fabrics available, there’s no excuse for killing animals for their skins.”

3 models skinned alive at the Hermes leather exhibition

Millions of cows and other animals whose skins will eventually be turned into leather endure the horrors of factory farming, including extreme crowding and confinement, disease and deprivation of food and water. Branding, tail-docking, dehorning and castration are all performed without any painkillers. At abattoirs, improper stunning means that many animals are skinned while they’re still conscious.

Turning animal skins into leather requires highly toxic mineral salts, formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives and various oils, dyes and finishes – some of which are cyanide-based. Tannery runoff contains large amounts of pollutants, such as salt, lime sludge, sulphides and acids. Animals on factory farms produce 130 times as much excrement as the entire human population – without the benefit of waste-treatment plants.

Please watch Stella McCartney’s shocking exposé of the leather industry, then share it with your friends and urge them to think about whose skin they’re in.


  • 04
  • May

Morrissey Urges Uniqlo to Dump Cruelly Produced Australian Wool

As music legend Morrissey nears the end of his Japanese tour, the former Smiths frontman is joining the international outcry against the Australian wool industry’s abuse of sheep by firing off a letter on behalf of PETA Asia to the president of Tokyo-based international clothing retailer Uniqlo to ask that the company follow the lead of Muji and other compassionate companies and stop using wool from Australian farmers who mutilate sheep in a practice called “mulesing“, in which large chunks of skin and flesh are cut from lambs’ backsides in a crude and cruel – and often ineffective – attempt to prevent maggot infestation.

“Years ago, I wrote a song called ‘Meat Is Murder’, and today I’m tempted to write a follow-up called ‘Mulesing Is Misery’”, writes Morrissey. “Australia [is] the only country in the world that still clings to this cruel and barbaric abomination. Won’t you please join the many international companies that have implemented a ban on wool from mulesed lambs?”

As Morrissey explains in the letter, mulesing often results in the maggot infestation that it aims to prevent, as the gaping, bloody wounds often become infested with maggots before they have time to heal. Humane methods of prevention are widely available and already in use by some sheep farmers.

In addition to Muji, the many international companies that have moved away from wool from mulesed sheep include H&M, HUGO BOSS, Abercrombie & Fitch, Timberland, Giordano, Gap Inc., Talbots and Korean retail giant Kukdong Corporation. And China’s Sunshine Group, which is Australia’s largest wool buyer, has demanded that Australian wool farmers put an end to the practice.

Join Morrissey in speaking up for sheep: take action and urge Uniqlo to stop buying wool from mutilated lambs.


  • 02
  • May

Exotic-Animal Markets: A Breeding Ground for Disease

Lizard in cageAn investigation into three major European exotic-animal markets – including the International Herpetological Society show in the UK – has found evidence of uninformed vendors and veterinary authorities, a serious potential to spread disease to human visitors and insufficient care given to endangered species. The report, which also investigated animal markets in Germany and Spain, was commissioned by PETA Germany and the Animal Protection Association and conducted by an international team of reptile experts consisting of Phillip C Arena, Catrina Steedman and Clifford Warwick.

The experts noted that many vendors and veterinary authorities responsible for monitoring the events had no special training in handling exotic animals. As a result, many vendors were irresponsibly in constant contact with different reptiles – who carry numerous pathogens, such as salmonella. The vendors were likely to spread these pathogens on surfaces, including tables and boxes, or even through a simple handshake. Last year, PETA Germany found multiple types of salmonella on different objects inside the Terraristika market in Hamm.

The investigators also found that many of the animals were suffering from stress caused by improper habitats – which lacked the thermal gradation reptiles need for proper health – as well as by long transport times and the crowded market atmosphere. Some of these animals were threatened and even critically endangered species, and two of the markets even offered Aldabra giant tortoises for sale as private “pets.” These tortoises can reach weights of well over 200 kilograms and live for more than 200 years, easily outliving any owner and growing too strong for any attempts at restraint.

The report confirms what animal rights organisations have said for years – exotic-animal markets are cruel to animals and pose a serious health risk to human visitors. From spreading salmonella to peddling critically endangered species, these markets fly in the face of everything that we know about animal welfare and should be shut down.

Exotic animals don’t belong in the UK, please don’t patronise any exotic animal markets.


  • 02
  • May

Anti-Flag: Never Be Silent

One of the most powerful passages that Dr Martin Luther King Jr gave the world is, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. That notion is applied every day at PETA, where we fight for all animals. Whether a horse, a fish, a cat, a dog, a frog, a rat or a pigeon, all animals deserve to live a life free of unnecessary suffering and exploitation. PETA is challenging you to speak up for animals whenever and however you can, and Anti-Flag wants to make sure that you’ve got everything you need to do it.

As one of the most respected punk bands of the past decade, Anti-Flag has made a career of standing up for what’s right and speaking out against oppression. Whether the cause is human rights or animal rights, you can count on the favourite politi-punks of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to fight back.

No place is too small to start. If you don’t want chickens to be scalded to death or cows and pigs to have their throats slit while still conscious, fight back against factory farming by leaving meat and other animal products off your plate. If your friends ask you about your meat-free meals, talk to them! Sometimes all it takes to change someone’s mind is the courage to talk about your convictions. So don’t be shy, and never be silent!


  • 27
  • Apr

PETA Kicks Uniqlo’s Butt Over Cruel Sheep Mulesing

PETA supporters were out in force on London’s Oxford Street yesterday to protest fashion retailer Uniqlo’s continued use of Australian wool from mulesed sheep.

Australian merino sheep are bred to have wrinkly skin so that they will produce more wool, but the wrinkles collect moisture and attract flies. Flies lay their eggs in the folds of the animals’ skin, and the hatched maggots can eat the sheep alive, creating a condition known as “flystrike”. In a crude attempt to prevent flystrike, Australian farmers perform the barbaric mulesing mutilation, in which they cut huge chunks of skin and flesh from lambs’ backsides with instruments resembling gardening shears – often without any painkillers.

Uniqlo Demonstration London

After mulesing, the lambs walk sideways like crabs because the pain is so intense, and the wounds can take weeks to heal. Ironically, the gaping, bloody wounds created by mulesing can become infected or attract flies and result in flystrike – the very condition that mulesing is supposed to prevent. Humane methods of flystrike control, including closer monitoring of sheep, are already available and in use by some farmers.

The action came on the same day as members of PETA France demonstrated in Paris

The Australian wool industry had promised to end this cruel practice by 2010 but has reneged on its promise. PETA and its affiliates around the world already have the support of high-profile names like H&M, Adidas and HUGO BOSS. Please do your bit for the sheep and send an e-mail to Uniqlo today urging them to join other compassionate retailers in speaking out against this cruelty.


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