We Heart Jacob George October 27, 2009

Posted by Marta at October 27, 2009 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 ) | TrackBack

By now, you probably know how much we absolutely adore our Street Teamers. Jacob George, a 15-year-old from Virginia Beach, VA, is pretty awesome. Since he lives so close to the PETA office, he's always here volunteering with his brother Joseph, and everyone loves them! Jacob was kind enough to answer some questions for me recently, so check out what he's got to say!

Why did you get involved with peta2/PETA?
I decided to get involved with PETA because I see animal rights as the most important issue in the nation right now. Not only is eating meat inhumane and wrong, especially factory farm meat, but there's also glue traps, animal testing, frog dissection, the use of animals in military training, fur, and many other issues that fall under the animal rights umbrella.

How long have you been a vegetarian? Do you have a favorite food?
I've been a vegetarian for pretty much my entire life. There was one time when I was eight, when I ate bacon because I was trying to be more normal, but that was only once. I like black bean burgers. They are amazing and taste good with anything.

You recently participated in your first demonstration. How was it? (Note: That's Jacob at his first McCruelty protest in the photo above!)
My first demonstration was amazing. It always feels good to be active and to make a statement that is meant to be heard. I think that peaceful activism, like a PETA demo, is the most beneficial thing one can do for his or her society. Protests like this, along with media recognition, which PETA often receives, puts pressure on the men of power to do what is right. This makes them more likely to sacrifice their fatass paychecks for the greater good.

You come in to volunteer at PETA's weekly work party. What do you do there, and what's your favorite part about it?
Work party is really fun. It's a good opportunity to meet new individuals with similar ideological opinions as you. Every work party, we stuff envelopes with letters, stickers, and flyers to go out to those who order them. It feels good to do things that you know will save the lives of others.

Have any advice for students like you who want to help animals but aren't sure how to start?
I think it's important to understand that a lot of the time, simply quitting meat just doesn't work. I recommend taking it slowly and giving up what is easiest first. That's what I'm trying to do with dairy.

Thanks, Jacob! Have any of you participated in a protest yet? If not, are you excited to?

Three Arrested in D.C. Seal Slaughter Protest September 16, 2009

Posted by Marta at September 16, 2009 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 15 ) | TrackBack

Look at the welcome that was awaiting Prime Minister Stephen Harper this morning when he met with President Obama at the Canadian Embassy in D.C.:

Three "seals" covered with red paint writhed on the ground to illustrate what happens to hundreds of thousands of harp seals in Canada.


You can bet that the cops weren't thrilled since D.C. traffic was already backed up.


These "seals" will no doubt suffer a better fate than the thousands of seals who are killed each year in Canada's seal slaughter, though.


There were also fifteen other demonstrators holding up stop signs reading, "Harper: Stop the Seal Slaughter."

If you haven't already, please write to the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee and demand that it help bring an immediate end to the seal slaughter.

Naked in Times Square June 25, 2009

Posted by Ryan at June 25, 2009 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 12 ) | TrackBack

I'm often asked what the craziest thing I've ever done with PETA or peta2 is. For me, that has to be when I participated in the world-renowned "Running of the Nudes" protest against bullfighting in Pamplona, Spain, a few years back. 600 naked people running through cobblestone streets, showing that it's possible to have a great time without torturing animals? Amazing.

Most people are horrified to learn that more than 40,000 bulls are killed each year in this cruel Spanish blood sport. Even the name itself is misleading; since when is it a fair "fight" when a man with a sword tries to kill a drugged and confused animal? They might as well just call it "bullstabbing".

That's why I'm so excited that PETA and its affiliates are holding protests all around the world, drawing attention to this "tradition" of death. Yesterday, more than 35 brave protesters took to the busy sidewalks of New York's Times Square, sporting just their underwear, with banderillas (decorated barbs or flags used by bullfighters to stab bulls) sticking out of their backs.

Picture time!

Pretty sweet, right?

So what do you think? Would you go naked for a protest, to speak out against cruelty?*



* Assuming you're over 18, of course.

Protesting McCruelty In Hollywood June 8, 2009

Posted by Pulin Modi at June 8, 2009 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 3 ) | TrackBack

How was your weekend? One of our campaigners, Amanda, coordinated an exciting protest against McCruelty in Los Angeles over the weekend.

Dozens of people attended and they reached thousands of people with their leaflets and signs.

If you're interested in speaking out for animal rights, join the Street Team to get all the updates on how to help in your area! Keep sending those pictures in holding your ''i'm hatin' it!' signs!

MSU Student Group Takes On The Circus! April 5, 2009

Posted by Ryan at April 5, 2009 1:44 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 ) | TrackBack

This entry was written by Drew Winter, President of Students Promoting Animal Rights (SPAR) at Michigan State University.

Students Promoting Animal Rights (SPAR), led by PETA’s 2007 Sexiest Vegetarian Boy Next Door, is protesting the Royal Hanneford Circus, scheduled to perform at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center this April 11-13. Royal Hanneford employs Tim Frisco, who was famously caught on tape encouraging his peers to seriously harm elephants in training.

To raise awareness on our campus and in our community, SPAR members obtained over 500 signatures from Lansing residents on Valentine’s Day. We asked people to sign valentines entitled “cruelty is not entertainment,” and presented the total stack at our meeting with Breslin officials. Virtually everyone was enthusiastic to sign, so it was easy to get all the letters signed in six hours with just a couple petitioners at a time walking around campus.

Group members also wrote letters to the student newspaper, and President Drew Winter wrote an opinion column illustrating Royal Hanneford’s violations, why circuses abuse animals, and the Breslin’s lack of action. We have contacted all the local media outlets and will be featured in the Lansing City Pulse next week. Perhaps the most effective outreach tool yet has been our Facebook.com group, which has accrued over 1,100 members at Michigan State! We are also using the networking site to plan a poster-making party and a protest on the day of the circus, so stay tuned!

Douglas College Students Protest Fur in Canada! April 5, 2009

Posted by Ryan at April 5, 2009 1:38 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 ) | TrackBack

This is a question and answer session with Ashley Pitt from Douglas College, who helped organize an anti-fur protest in Richmond, British Columbia. Enjoy!

Name: Ashley Pitt

Age: 21

School: Douglas College

How did you get interested in animal rights? I don't remember how exactly it happened, but I stumbled upon PETA's website when I was in the eighth grade, read all the fact sheets, got all the info and ordered a vegetarian starter kit just for the novelty of getting free stuff. :)

However, that all changed when I really started to realize what goes into the meat/dairy industry, the fur industry, cruelty inflicted on dogs in puppy mills so we can buy companion animals at pet stores, foie gras…all sorts of atrocities I had never really known about before. I went vegan almost instantly.

What was the response like to this specific protest? It was huge! I could not believe the media turnout. There were local TV news stations there, local and provincial papers...it was madness. We were all so delighted to have that much attention focused on the cause. To my knowledge, Pappas Furs, the store we were boycotting, is still in the Aberdeen Mall but we're not stopping till it’s gone. There are still protests every week and the idea is to pretty much make it as uncomfortable as possible for them and the businesses around them to have them there.

What is your advice for people interested in getting more involved? If there isn’t a local group to get involved in, make one. It’s not as scary and difficult as it sounds. I’m working on starting one specifically at . It can be as easy as simply starting a Facebook group for people in your area and posting on peta2.com, looking for people in your area. Once you have two or three people, you can leaflet a particular area and see if you can find even more like-minded people or turn people into like-minded people by educating them! Everything we do helps, whether it’s being nude in a cage in 4 degree Celsius weather or simply turning down that cheeseburger at McDonalds! :)

Click on the image above to view a full news article from the protest!

"I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" Demo at the University of Oregon! April 5, 2009

Posted by Ryan at April 5, 2009 1:37 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 ) | TrackBack

Written by Ciara Thomson & Curtis Taylor

I decided to do the "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" demonstration after seeing footage of animals being killed for their skins. The idea that there are animals out there, suffering in excruciating pain for someone else's vanity is a sickening thought to me. Unfortunately, I noticed that my college campus was plagued with fur trim coats. Most of them faux, of course, but too many of them were real. I wanted people to realize that they were literally wearing their ignorance on their sleeves, or at least their hoods! By deciding to "bare some skin to save some skin", we were was able to bring awareness of the cruel fur industry to many people. Most people don't want to take the time to watch footage of animals being killed so that some people can wear animals' beautiful skins as fashion accessories.

The demonstration was a big hit. The University newspaper covered the story very well. We ended up on the front page, and this allowed us to reach thousands of more students who may have missed our hour-long demo. The reporter was awesome. We couldn't have asked for a more fair report. We made sure to get the facts out there, because we know the type of abuse in the fur industry is not supported by most students. The demonstration was very well-received by most students, as well. We had so many people tell us that we were brave and doing the right thing. It brought a lot of attention because people would wonder what we were doing naked, and then they would see our banner and signs, and Curtis would hand them a leaflet.

Click on the image to view the full article!

After the demonstration on campus, we were so pumped up that we decided to take the banner and signs and had to Valley River Center, a local mall that has one store, Wilson's Leather, that sells fur. We stood out front of their main sign, approaching afternoon rush-hour, and got a big response with car honks and thumbs up by passersby. The local news came out and did a story on us as well when we were out here and played it at 6 and 11pm.

I am so thrilled that we were able to effectively communicate the horrors of the fur industry to so many people and I hope that others are inspired by this success story to try it yourself!

The Princeton Naked Demo! April 5, 2009

Posted by Ryan at April 5, 2009 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 ) | TrackBack

by Jenny Palmer, president of the Princeton Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)

How do you get a school—seemingly full of self-focused, wannabe investment bankers—to stop for a moment and think about the plight of animals? You strip down to your undies, cover yourself with stage blood, and lie in human-sized meat trays right outside the dining hall windows.

Now Showing on peta2 TV:

Princeton Naked Demonstration

Other viewing options



Stream this video:

<embed src="http://www.peta2.com/COLLEGE/swf/meat_trayp2.swf" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="335" height="255" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed><br>See more at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.peta2.com/livevegpak.asp??c=p22477">peta2.com</a>.

At least that’s what we, the Princeton Animal Welfare Society did this May with the help of PETA and PETA VP Dan Mathews. The human meat tray demonstration shocked passersby into realizing that animals' flesh and bones are the same as ours. With the paint melting off their bodies and forming puddles of "blood" and sweat on the trays, the Princeton students looked disturbingly like the chicken breasts you find in the supermarket.

After seeing 11 nearly-nude students baking in these trays under the hot sun, one student told us, "You'll be pleased to know that I can't look at meat the same way anymore. Your demonstration produced a visceral change in my viscera: My gut churns sometimes when I see bloody flesh in shrink wrap at the stores. I consume much less meat, only sandwich meats if anything. I'm gradually phasing it out of my life."

Of course, not all the reactions were positive. It's easy to dismiss a provocative demonstration as just a publicity stunt by crazy animal rights activists. We worked hard to back up our demonstration with strong facts and reasoning by handing out informative leaflets, hosting a talk by Dan Mathews that evening explaining why these tactics are unfortunately necessary, and talking to people one-on-one about why we believe so strongly that "meat is murder."

I would encourage all of you who care about animals to do a similar demonstration on your campus. Organizing a demo requires work, but if you want to make an impression, it's well worth the effort. All it takes is coordination of everything from the props to the human chickens, an administration that is willing to grant permission, and, most importantly, brave students who will put themselves on display for a cause they believe in.

VICTORY: MSU Student Group Bans the Circus! January 16, 2009

Posted by Ryan at January 16, 2009 3:40 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 19 ) | TrackBack

In what has been a grueling year-long campaign, the inspirational student group at Michigan State University, SPAR (Students Promoting Animal Rights), has officially banned the circus from coming to their campus!

The campaign has involved extensive protests from students, letters to the editor, and one massive Facebook group, but it was all worth it. The circus has been coming to the school since 1992, but there will be no visit in 2009!

You can read all of the details, straight from the group's Vice President, Mitch Goldsmith, by clicking here, or on the image below.

Also, the story has been garnering massive press coverage all across Michigan, and is really outraging the animal abusers behind the circus. Make sure to check out this local news clip, featuring Mitch himself!


The university is getting a lot of heat from the animal abusers who profit from the circus right now, so please make sure to show your support for the students' historic victory by commenting below!

P.S. SPAR is one of the student groups nominated in this year's peta2 Libby Awards. If you feel that they deserve the title of "Best Student Group", make sure to cast your ballot here!

Protesting the Trollsen Twins in NYC! October 28, 2008

Posted by Marta at October 28, 2008 4:13 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 9 ) | TrackBack

If you were passing Barnes & Noble Union Square in NYC today, you likely stopped to see what the heck was going on. The Olsen Twins were promoting their new book Influence, which means, of course, that peta2 was outside the store letting fans of the Trollsen Twins know that the twins still support the cruel fur industry by wearing fur and including it in their clothing line.

With Halloween just around the corner, Street Teamers wore our Hairy-Kate and Trashley" masks and held signs that said, "Hairy Kate and Trashley Olsen: Fur Tramps" and "Trollsens: Fur Hags From Hell." I wish I could have been there!

Check out some pictures:

Seriously, I can't believe some people still think it's "fashionable" to wear the skins of animals.

What do you think of the demonstration?

♥ Marta