Burberry: Stop Passing Off Dead Animals As Clothes! November 14, 2008
Posted by Rachel-O at November 14, 2008 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 3 ) | TrackBackI love Sarah from peta2 UK! Last summer, we interned together and were pretty much inseparable, so it's no surprise to me that she is full of great ideas—including some ways to educate people about Burberry selling fur, and all the horrible ways animals are abused for the fur industry. Take it, Sarah!
-Rachel
If you haven't already seen the new peta2 feature on Burberry, then I can only assume you've been living under a rock! With a host of awesome bands, all completely fed up with Burberry's abuse of furry animals, Super Furry Animals (great name eh?!), Jamie T, The Rakes, Los Campesinos, Friendly Fires and The Wombats, have all joined the campaign against Burberry by signing peta2's petition urging Burberry to ditch fur from their collection.
It's like Christmas has come early for us here at peta2 UK with all these amazing bands showing their support and compassion for our furry friends! These guys know that animals on fur farms are beaten, drowned, and are killed by poisoning, anal electrocution, and gassing. These cruel methods are ineffective, and animals often wake up while they're being skinned. Check out the full list of bands who've signed:
P.S Who's your favourite band who's signed? I'm keeping it true to my homeland; Wales, and am giving my vote to the Super Furry Animals.
See? Isn't she lovely? But wait, What..? You haven't signed the petition already?! Do it now and tell your friends!!
Also, use one of the banners below, that I made, on your MySpace
or Bebo page and we'll gladly award you with 200 points!
-Rachel
Fighting Animal Abuse In Your Neighborhood November 4, 2008
Posted by Rachel-O at November 4, 2008 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBackAs the winter begins here in Norfolk, Virginia, I'm bracing myself for another season with PETA's Community Animal Project (CAP), a program in our Cruelty Investigations Department. This is where PETA staffers volunteer their weekends to deliver straw and sturdy doghouses to dogs kept outside in the colder months. As I think about how eager I am to start again, I think back to last fall and an entry I wrote in my own personal journal:
"This weekend I got the honor of working with PETA's Community Animal Project—or CAP, a program that offers free to low cost spaying and neutering services to low-income families, delivers straw in the winter, and food and shelter all throughout the year for dogs who live at the end of chains or confined to pens in North Carolina and Virginia.
For whatever reason, there is one dog from this weekend that I cannot stop thinking of. I cannot forget. He was a large German Shepherd/black lab mix. We saw him from the street. He was chained tightly to some worn down fencing next to a garage, in a small grassy area of a backyard. His house was a two-tone plastic dog crate, covered in dirt and mud. His living area was a pile of dirt and unraked leaves, and he was surrounded by his own waste on every side. There was no food or water in sight, except for a small plastic baggy filled with raw shrimp. He instantly got up to greet us, his large frame moving fast and his tail wagging. His eyes told stories we'll never understand, and you could tell inside them was hope that we would never leave. The neighbor said the house had been abandoned three years ago, and that whoever owned the house came to "feed" the dog daily. Still, this loving, feeling creature begged us to stay with him, and as we wrote down all of the information we could get, we got up and walked away. We loosened his collar, gave him food, water and straw, and left him behind. We must leave him behind because the law was on the side of misery. (Although when we do find animals like this, in trouble, our cruelty investigators follow up with every case).
Three days have passed now. My life has continued: I've come home, eaten, laughed, played, talked, gone to work, relaxed. It has been day and night, warm and cold.
Still outside, he lingers. In the same place, on the same chain. In the same dark alley way next to the same garage. Smelling the same wretched stench of feces and urine, laying in the same dead leaves as the previous months. His life will never change, for him, simply existing in those horrible conditions is life. From the look of his body and the way he acted, he once knew love, now he knows nothing but memory. Now he knows nothing but loneliness.
For those three nights since I met him, I've thought of him every time I close my eyes. When I'm tucked away in my warm bed, he is still out there. He is still out there in the cold, wet night. He is still waiting for someone to come along and pet him, he is still hoping that one day that love he once knew, will return.
We will return for him, but only to finally end his solace. To end his isolation. We cannot erase his months of betrayal, or his months of depression. We can only alleviate his suffering, not replace it with love. There's not enough love in the world to make up for the wrongs of human beings. If they could understand our language, what could our society ever say? Would we tell them that their lives mean nothing? That they're useless, worthless, nothing? That they deserved to fall asleep every night in the dampness of their own waste? Would we, as a society, tell them that yes, we think that's just fine?
If we truly had to answer for our actions, what would we say?
Two of the thousands of dogs that CAP sees every year.
Fortunately for us, our victims can't speak. Most of only fight for the ones who can, because it makes us feel less guilty. We turn our heads to those who can't because they're simply easier to forget."
So what happens when we can't forget?
Sometimes being in the animal rights movement can feel overwhelming, and that's just part of fighting for such an important cause. Millions of animals suffer every day, but for animals in your local neighborhood, and your local shelters - you can help directly. I spend every Sunday at the local animal shelter here in Virginia, and even though every day working for animals is rewarding, there's nothing quite like finding a new home for an animal who is just waiting for a second chance. Not every community is lucky enough to have a program like CAP, but every one has a shelter. You make all of the difference for animals in those shelters, so find one near you and change a life. Who doesn't love spending hours playing with dogs and cats? Especially ones that are especially grateful to be shown love. Sadly, dogs and cats are often overlooked by some people who believe they have it easier, when in a lot of cases, they have it just as bad. Every day working for PETA is rewarding, but it's always some of the hardest, most gut wrenching work that makes me realize why I fight for all animals.
Please, do every little bit that you can, because they have no other choice to make other than to simply wait.
Stay Loud
-Rachel
Kellie Pickler Goes Vegetarian for the Animals! October 29, 2008
Posted by Patricia at October 29, 2008 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 7 ) | TrackBack
TAGGED:
vegetarian Pamela Anderson celebs gossip animal cruelty Carrie Underwood World's Sexiest Vegetarian Kellie Pickler American Idol
Copyright: NPX/starmaxinc.com
Taking a cue from her pal, fellow country superstar and former Sexiest Vegetarian Alive, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler has stopped eating animals! Oh, and we had a little part to play in her decision, too, dontcha know.
The former American Idol contestant, red-hot country sensation, and reformed rare steak lover recently told People Magazine that she first decided to give up meat for health reasons, but then one night she was randomly Googling (which always leads to cool finds!) and came across one of Pamela Anderson's TV ads, which lead her to our many videos. Our wonderful Pam strikes again!
"One night I couldn't sleep and I was up just Googling random stuff and I'm like, 'Hmmm, PETA.' I saw all the videos and I just thought it was horrible. It's animal cruelty. A lot of it has to do with knowing what happens to the animals and it really bothered me and so I will not eat meat."
It's been five months and Kellie, who says she used to eat rare steak all of the time, is not looking back. And with good friends like Carrie for support, we see a long, healthy, meat-free future for Kellie, who incidentally is getting my vote for World's Sexiest Vegetarian of 2009!
xox
Patricia
P.S. Which peta2 video has had the biggest impact on you or someone you know, and why? Comment below—we love hearing from you!
Have You Ever Heard A Pig Scream? December 12, 2007
Posted by Pulin Modi at December 12, 2007 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 9 ) | TrackBackIf you've never heard a pig scream just picture one of the most horrifying and desperate cries for help that you can possibly imagine. Watch the video and share it with everyone you know. As a warning, this video is hard to watch, but it's important to witness this cruelty and be inspired to take action to stop this insanity—especially so close to the Christmas holidays when people are talking about their ham (a.k.a. pigs' flesh) dinner!
We just released video footage from an undercover investigation at a North Carolina factory farm, Murphy Family Ventures, that supplies pigs to Smithfield Foods, the largest pig-flesh company in the world. Our investigation shows workers cutting off a piglet's tail and pulling out piglets' testicles, all without any pain relief, and dragging injured pigs by their sensitive ears, snouts, and legs as the animals scream in pain and terror.
It's all totally sick, but among the most disgusting documentation uncovered:
- Some of the pigs had "KILL" spray-painted on their backs.
- A farm supervisor admitted that he violently beat pigs, saying of one that he "cut the sh** out of his God damn nose with a f***ing gate rod."
- A worker gouged the eyes of four pigs with his fingers.
Please take action to urge Smithfield Foods to demand that Murphy Family Ventures fire the workers responsible for this cruelty and work with PETA to enact meaningful animal welfare reforms. Click here to see the shocking video and to find out how you can help these abused pigs. And if you're inspired to go vegetarian after seeing how these animals suffer, please learn more about What They Never Told You...
Thank you.
Ruff Ryders: Not So Tuff November 16, 2007
Posted by Cassandra at November 16, 2007 5:24 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 10 ) | TrackBackOK, y'all it's time for a little game I like to call "Get the Picture."
This is DMX:
Photo Credit: rafe baron/Creative Commons
He's the Ruff Ryder who's been under investigation since police raided his house and reportedly found 12 starving and severely neglected pit bulls, along with the bodies of 3 others who allegedly had injuries consistent with dogfighting. He portrays himself as a tough guy and raps lyrics like these:
You can imagine what the bloodline is like
Since I love mine to fight...
All my pups is crazy, cause off the leash
They can eat, stand a match for 3 hours at least"
Typically, dogfighters "toughen up" pit bulls by beating them, taunting them, and leaving them outside in extreme heat and cold, alone at the end of a heavy chain. This abuse begins when they are just puppies, like this little guy:
Photo Credit: sparktography/Creative Commons
Now, rather than avoid the appearance of being ruthlessly cruel to little animals, the rest of the Ruff Ryder crew has made the brilliant move to release a line of fugly-ass fur coats. This means they're charging suckers a couple grand to sport the skins of animals like these:
Photo Credit: oboole/Creative Commons
Photo Credit: Ph!L!s/Creative Commons
Photo Credit: Madeline/Creative Commons
Seriously, as if fake beef for marketing purposes wasn't wimpy enough, now rappers gotta get mixed up with fur farmers to confine tiny critters in crusty cages and then skin them alive so that they can pimp coats that make people look like a Sasquatch with shaved legs.
Photo Credit: Aaron Edwards/Creative Commons
Get the picture?
Photo Credit: jrive
Be a real badass and stand up for something. Pledge to be fur free and don't grow old disgracefully like fake gangsters and fur hags.
Photo Credit: benidormone/Creative Commons
Peace!
Cassandra
