scrapetv / CC

Behold: a visit from Captain Obvious. As if the world needed another example of the proven link between violence against animals and violence against humans, Ghulam Rasool Khan—a suspected al-Qaida member jailed in India—refuses to eat the vegetarian food served to him, instead demanding “two kg of mutton and one kg of chicken daily.”

Khan has threatened to go on a hunger strike if he doesn’t get his carcasses. But if PETA India’s recent request that all jails serve only vegetarian meals is honored, then the bloodthirsty terrorist will be starving himself indefinitely.

Posted by Logan Scherer

Gail Shea, Canada’s minister of fisheries and oceans, was greeted with a face full of pie as she arrived at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters today. It seems that one activist had had enough of Ms. Shea’s yammering in support of the seal slaughter and decided to fill the minister’s pie hole with something a tad more palatable.

Since her election to the House of Commons in 2008, Ms. Shea’s name has been synonymous with support for the seal slaughter. After the European Union made the humane decision to ban the sale of seal products, she responded by supporting the absurd proposal that the Canadian Olympic team wear seal skins as part of their official uniforms, saying, “I think it would be a good statement for the Canadian sealing industry and Canada’s support of it.”

The thing is, no matter how adamantly Shea claims that “[t]he Canadian seal hunt is guided by rigorous animal welfare principles,” the majority of Canadians don’t buy it—and they don’t support the bashing in of baby seals’ skulls.

So come on, Gail, wipe that soy whipped cream from your face and show the world that you’re actually willing to taste listen to what your fellow citizens are dishing out saying.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

ideachampions / CC

Hospital employees should be ambassadors of good health—and Chattanooga-based Memorial Health Care System is embracing this theory. Well, sort of. The company has announced that in an effort to “further our mission of building healthier communities,” it will no longer hire smokers and tobacco chewers. Smooth move? It seems so—after all, as FierceHealthCare.com points out, “On average, smokers cost employers between $2,500 and $4,000 annually for healthcare costs in comparison to nonsmokers.”

But why stop there? Let’s not tiptoe around the tofu anymore. We’ve written to officials at Memorial Health Care System urging them to take it a step further and implement a “vegetarians-only” hiring policy for area hospitals.

Here’s just one example of why a vegetarians-only policy makes sense: Maybe more than anyone else, hospital employees should have an understanding of and appreciation for the effects of an animal-free diet on human health. Sadly, during a recent hospital stay, my mom was stuck eating PBJs day in and day out because the attendants who took her meal requests didn’t know what “vegan” meant and seemed not to want to bother to figure it out.

People, I ask you: How’s that possible?! Our nation’s heath is at stake: While politicians argue about health care legislation, emergency rooms all over the country are bursting at their sliding glass doors with victims of America’s three biggest killers—heart disease, strokes, and cancer, the origins of which are often traced back to meaty, cheese-laden diets. Forget pill-popping—prevention of these diseases is our (and animals’) best bet.

If schools knowingly hired alcoholics to drive school buses, then we as a society would be outraged. I can hear parents crying out, “Irresponsible! Dangerous! Bad example!” Shouldn’t we be equally appalled that hospitals continue to hire meat-addicted, unhealthy health care workers to spoon-feed Salisbury steaks to our sick and injured friends and family members? Becoming stronger and healthier starts with the food that goes into our mouths—and can be as simple as saying “Sayonara, salami. Hello, gardein!”

Posted by Karin Bennett

Earlier today, intrepid firefighters risked their lives to rescue a dog who was trapped in the cold, treacherous waters of the Los Angeles River for two hours. A helicopter lowered one of the firefighters, who waded through the strong current, scooped up the dog, and carried him safely back to the helicopter, maintaining his composure even as he suffered repeated dog bites! For this stunning act of bravery, we’re giving the Los Angeles Fire Department our Compassionate Action Award. Check out the astonishing live footage here:

Posted by Logan Scherer

I have a Twitter account so that I can follow the wisdom of elders, see what the guru of good taste has to say, and, of course, try to keep up with PETA.

I’m just one of 52,710 (and counting) who rely on PETA’s tweets for news, events, and updates. That’s no small feat, considering that PETA has its paws in anything and everything that’s related to animal protection. Now, PETA followers, including some well-known tweeters, are nominating PETA to receive the “Shorty Award” for best nonprofit organization. Some examples:

PamelaDAnderson: I nominate @peta 4 a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because PETA has inspired (more than any organization) so many people to help animals

stephaniepratt (from MTV’s The Hills): I nominate @peta 4 a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because they save countless animals http://ow.ly/Ufwx -vote for them!!! Xo

Joel Bartlett: I nominate @peta for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because they will do whatever it takes.

Maria Burgos: I nominate @peta for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because I love all the animals in the world,specially my lil bunny

Web Hosting: I nominate @peta for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because…I am vegan and PETA is the best AR group in the world!

Sarah Wright: I nominate @peta for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because eating meat just for pure enjoyment is inhumane & ridiculous

Izzy Rios: I nominate @peta for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because….they show the world what they dont want to see.

Yasmina: I nominate @peta for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because… they have to be #1. I love PETA

I’m going to nominate PETA for a Shorty Award as soon as I finish this post. If you don’t already have a Twitter account, now might be the time to sign up. All it takes is 140 characters of your time.

Posted by Karin Bennett

rap-up / CC

The prettiest people do the ugliest things
For the road to riches and diamond rings
. . .
We’ll buy a lot of clothes but we don’t really need ‘em
Things we buy to cover up what’s inside

—Kanye West, “All Falls Down“

West apparently lives by his lyrics. The ethical dropout—who horrified voters in PETA’s Worst-Dressed Celebrity competition last year—and his sleazy sidekick, Amber Rose, were snapped by paparazzi strutting around Paris in “the ugliest things,” indeed. Both were wearing head-to-toe fur, and Amber refused to remove her full-length lynx coat during a show at Paris Men’s Fashion Week.

As PETA V.P. Dan Mathews so eloquently put it, “Kanye can’t help making himself look like an idiot, whether at an awards show or a fashion show. He and his girlfriend look like pathetic creatures from a shabby roadside zoo.”

Posted by Karin Bennett

We love Top 40 radio as much as anyone, but there are times when hearing the same songs every hour on the hour wears us out (sorry, Gaga, you know we love you). So what’s currently rockin’ our turntable? 100th Monkey Records’ Compassionism CD, which mingles music of all kinds—from folk and bluegrass to indie rock and pop. Among the 15 tracks are songs from the silky-voiced songbird Sia, folk-fusionists The Waifs, and jam band trailblazers The John Butler Trio. And as a bonus, listening to these songs—instead of FM 100-point-whatever on your radio—helps save animals. One hundred percent of the album’s proceeds go to PETA.

Looking for some more humane tunes? Check out the debut EP The Uprising from punk rockers Nations Afire.

Grammar Nazis—(cough) PETA editors (cough)—listen up: It turns out that you might have more in common with monkeys than with your fellow humans.

pbs.org / CC

New research suggests that nonhuman animals are capable of communicating not only among their own kind but also with members of other species. Klaus Zuberbühler, a psychologist at University of St. Andrews in Scotland, spent hundreds of hours listening to the calls of Campbell’s monkeys and other species, gradually decoding their language, which is so grammatically sophisticated that it uses suffixes to change the meaning of calls based on the kinds of animals posing a threat. These intricate calls, which are used to pass on complex information about predators and their whereabouts, could be understood by other species of monkeys and even by birds such as hornbills.

We’re constantly learning more about the countless ways in which animals of all kinds are brilliant, selfless, and complex. Meanwhile, with all our texts, tweets, and e-mails, we sometimes can’t even talk to other humans—let alone other members of other species (um, TISNF, BBIAB, FUBAR—WTF?).

Posted by Logan Scherer

shopvafinest / CC

The following is a guest post from PETA Living’s Mylie.

Yes, you read that right: Starbucks now has vegan cookies. As if Starbucks weren’t already super vegan-friendly simply by offering soy milk, now it has something that you can dunk in that soy latte. Among a plethora of new healthy snacks it’s carrying, like fruit and nut bars, granola, and fruit snacks, Starbucks is now carrying vegan and allergy-friendly Lucy’s cookies.

When Dr. Lucy Gibney, the mastermind behind these delicious cookies, learned that her child suffers from severe food allergies, she decided to do some serious cookie research to find a recipe that would be safe for her little one to enjoy. What she stumbled upon led her to create her very own recipe for cookie success! What’s even sweeter than vegan cookies at Starbucks? You can now enter to win a case of them in our contest.

So, what are you waiting for? Pick some up today on your lunch break and share our contest on Facebook with your family and friends!

Posted by Mylie Thompson

Urban legend has it that Eskimos have 400 words for “snow,” but how many do they have for “snowman”?

Unlike real snowmen, these guys thrived in the Ottawa Sun. Passersby couldn’t stop looking and were delighted to get to know our blizzard buddies, who educated onlookers about the hundreds of thousands of baby seals who are shot or have their skulls crushed every year. With this year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver approaching, help Canada clean up its reputation by urging officials to end the seal slaughter immediately.

Posted by Logan Scherer