Cute Animal Videos! August 27, 2008

Posted by Ashleigh at August 27, 2008 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 7 ) | TrackBack

Have you seen our new videos featuring the cutest animals ever? Check them out:

I really don't understand how people can use these animals for clothing and/or food. Subscribe to us on YouTube to stay on top of all our new videos!

Comment below with which one you like better! (I can't decide!)

-Ashleigh

The Return of "Giant Douche vs. Turd Sandwich"! August 5, 2008

Posted by Ryan at August 5, 2008 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 14 ) | TrackBack

You cast your ballots in last month's "Giant Douche vs. Turd Sandwich" contest to determine the biggest jerk who abuses animals in laboratories, and the results are in! After Marta spent many a sleepless night counting the votes, we are proud to announce that Michael Weed (aka "Giant Douche") won the honor of being the biggest of the jerk of the month! As a reminder, he was the one who forces monkeys to ingest alcohol, cocaine, ecstacy, and other drugs, to test their responses. Well done, Mike! You earned it!

But now, it's time for this month's match-up. In this corner, hailing from New Haven, CT...

Nickname: "Giant Douche"
Real Name: Marina Picciotto
School: Yale University
Interests: Feeding or injecting monkeys, mice, and rats with nicotine, cocaine, morphine and alcohol to measure "behavioral assessments", sometimes stating that the goal of the test is to make the animals suffer. In one test, she gave monkeys a Kool-Aid drink mixed with nicotine as their sole source of fluid. One monkey ingested the equivalent of 17 packs of cigarettes per day. Umm, Truth Campaign, you want to get on this?

Visual approximation, compliments of looptvandfilm / CC



Nickname: "Turd Sandwich"
Real Name: Allyson Bennett
School: Wake Forest University
Interests: Taking baby monkeys away from their mothers and forcing them to live without parents. Always the busy bee, Bennett has also researched whether or not binge-drinking might be bad for monkeys (because clearly that's a huge issue in today's society), and in her spare time she dabbles in torturing rats and mice by depriving them of food for up to two days. My my, Allyson, you really should take a permanent vacation.



Visual approximation, compliments of looptvandfilm / CC

So there you have it, folks! Who do you think is the bigger jerk? The "Giant Douche" who forces animals to ingest the equivalent of 17 packs of cigarettes, or the "Turd Sandwich" who forces monkeys to live without parents and binge-drink?

I'm casting my ballot for "Giant Douche". How about you?

- Ryan!

What Is With This Bad Luck? July 23, 2008

Posted by Pulin Modi at July 23, 2008 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 3 ) | TrackBack

Normally vegans and vegetarians have the best luck. Call it karma or whatever you want, but nice people generally have good things happen to them. Somewhere in the secret workings of the universe, some of our friends have come across some tough times.

First, one of my favorite musicians around, Rachel from hardcore superstars Most Precious Blood, recently broke her arm according to this blog. I don't know how, but I can only imagine it wasn’t a pleasurable experience based on the photos! Drop her some love here.

Next, our vegetarian buddies Ryan and Ed and the rest of their straight edge hardcore band, The World We Knew, had their trailer and van hit by a Mack truck! Thankfully they escaped without serious injury, but their merch, equipment, and trailer and van are pretty much destroyed. We were about to head out to meet them for an interview for peta2 when we found out, but we're sure that we'll catch them the next time around. In the meantime, The World We Knew posted this blog about the incident, and they are looking for donations. Drop them a line to wish them well at least, will you?

Lastly, The Prids, a vegan band that is totally into animal rights, were in a serious accident on the West coast. Their van rolled several times and members suffered broken bones and severe cuts. I don't want to get into all the details, but they are looking at some serious recovery time and need help with it. They're also looking for donations at their site and I'm sure they'd appreciate a supportive message on their MySpace.

I wish I could send them all these vegan cupcakes that Street Teamer Claudia made... but at least these friends know that our thoughts are with them.

Take care of yourself,
-Pulin

The Meatout Is Coming! March 17, 2008

Posted by Pulin Modi at March 17, 2008 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 ) | TrackBack

March 20 is the Meatout, where people all around the world will encourage their friends and family to give up eating dead animals' flesh (a.k.a. meat). Whether it's for a day (good), a month (better), or forever (best), the important thing is that people start taking steps towards going vegetarian. You can take the pledge here.

Remember, there are a ton of really great reasons to go vegetarian or vegan. If you need some inspiration, consider the great work that Jamie has been up to at his school. When given the chance to write a persuasive essay and do a presentation for his honors English course, Jamie immediately knew he wanted to discuss vegetarianism. His presentation included a PowerPoint presentation, handouts (we're always happy to send you stuff for free), and a bunch of photos showing his classmates exactly how animals are exploited for their flesh.

Jamie said that by the end of the presentation his classmates had a lot more respect for his vegetarianism. Not only that, he said that it was "one of the happiest times in (his) life to know (he) can make a difference and to know that (his) voice was heard." Right on!

If you're looking to spread the word for the Meatout or any other time of the year, make sure you join the peta2 Street Team and especially check out the Take Charge section to get updates on all the latest campaigns!

Thanks!

-Pulin

P.S.- If you have cool photos or stories about your school presentations on animal rights, let us know!

peta2 Rocks Chicago, and Heads for Canada! March 11, 2008

Posted by Ryan at March 11, 2008 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 13 ) | TrackBack

Thanks to everybody who attended peta2's Take Action Conference in Chicago this past weekend! We had over 100 students attend the event, for a day full of discussions and talks about "how to answer tough questions," "helping animals online," and much, much more!

Here are a few of the highlights:

Assistant Director of Youth Campaigns, Dan Shannon, during the opening of the conference



A student sharing his story of becoming a vegetarian during the "Living the Life" segment



Everyone wave to the blog-readers!



At the post-conference KFC protest!

Pictures are still coming in from Street Teamers, so make sure to keep checking our Flickr page to see them all, and share your stories from the conference on our peta2 message boards!

FINALLY, in response to demand from Street Teamers way up north, the next peta2 Take Action Conference will be in TORONTO! All of the details are available here, so make sure to reserve your spot NOW!

Ready, set, go!

- Ryan!

We Want To Meet YOU This Weekend! February 6, 2008

Posted by Ryan at February 6, 2008 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 8 ) | TrackBack

This Sunday is the first peta2 Take Action Conference in the South! Our whole crew will be flying down to Texas for a day full of discussion panels about animal rights and "how to answer the tough questions", with a HUGE protest at KFC afterwards! If you've ever been in an argument with friends or family about vegetarianism, fur, or any other topic, we'll give you the answers you need to win that argument! :)

IF YOU ARE ATTENDING, we have a special offer for this conference!! If you have already registered, you can BRING UP TO TWO FRIENDS WITH YOU FOR FREE!! That's right, we want to encourage you to bring friends who have not bought tickets for the event as well, and at no cost!

All you have to do is email me to let me know who you will be bringing, and I'll book them the spaces (and lunch)!

IF YOU HAVEN'T RESERVED YOUR SPACE YET, there's still time! Click HERE or on the adorable picture of us to book your space now!



See you soon!!

- Ryan!

P.S. - If you live anywhere within driving distance of Austin, TX (I'm talking to you Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana!), you DEFINITELY won't want to miss this event. It will be a while before we return to the area, so make sure to get some friends or your parents to drive you to this conference if you can! Road trip!!

P.P.S - IF FOR SOME REASON you cannot register online (or if you're broke), just contact me so that we can find a way for you to go!

An Anti-KFC Comic To Brighten Your Day January 28, 2008

Posted by Pulin Modi at January 28, 2008 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 9 ) | TrackBack

Thanks to Pop Culture Shock Therapy who actually has entire books of funny comics available.

If you have any animal rights related art, send it to us. And if you haven't already, check out some ways to get involved in the Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign.

-Pulin

"Girls Next Door" Star, Holly Madison, for peta2! March 14, 2007

Posted by Ryan at March 14, 2007 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 ) | TrackBack

You might see Playboy model Holly Madison, star of The Girls Next Door, wearing bunny ears, but one thing you’ll never see her in is bunny fur (or any animal's fur, for that matter). Hugh Hefner's number one honey bunny—who shares both Hef and his home with fellow Girls Next Door stars Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson in the popular E! channel reality show—is so passionate about saving animals killed for their fur that she posed naked for one of peta2's anti-fur ads!

It’s no wonder that this "mistress of the Mansion pooches"—who adores all animals, especially the nine lucky pups currently bunking with the trio of buxom beauties—was outraged when we told her that animals, including cats and dogs, are kept in tiny cages and strangled, beaten, electrocuted, and often skinned alive for their fur.

Holly's philosophy? "You don't need fur. And if you want the look of fur … there's faux fur," she says. "There is just no reason for it."

As Holly knows, nice girls—and guys, too!—always fake it. With so many beautiful and warm faux furs available, there’s no reason—or excuse—to kill animals for their fur.