Green Options

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words but, of course, I’m not going to dedicate 1000 words or even 500 to this picture. My green friend and I spotted this billboard in a not exactly obvious place in the Soma district of San Francisco but we figured that PETA didn’t have or want to spend the big bucks on a billboard right next to the 101 [...]

Hot drama star Kelly Carlson is the newest face to grace the cover of PETA’s cruelty-free shopping guide encouraging folks to shop only for “products that have not been smeared in rabbits’ eyes, injected into mice, or force-fed to guinea pigs.”

Effective alternatives that don’t involve hurting animals are available everywhere, yet how is it that millions of animals are forced to undergo excruciatingly painful testing year after year to see if it is right for humans?

It ain’t right, it isn’t necessary and it’s time to expose and end these horrors.

The Toro de la Vega festival is an annual event held each year in Tordesillas, Spain.  Like many festivals, crowds of people look forward to the event and line the streets.  But unlike many fests held around the world, this event is known for one particular tradition.

Little thought is generally given to the origin of animal research subjects, whether we accept or abhor their existence. The Mauritian case seems like a solution: find a place where an introduced species causes environmental harm and reduce the effect of the species both by reducing numbers and by using the profit made to repair environmental harm.

Earlier this week, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released undercover video footage showing employees of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus allegedly abusing elephants and tigers.

The abuse, caught on tape by an undercover PETA investigator, allegedly occurred in seven different states across America over several months. The footage shows handlers allegedly whipping and beating 11 circus elephants in the face, chest, ears and legs with bullhooks.  

Music legend Sir Paul McCartney is seeking to enlist the help of an unlikely candidate in the battle to solve climate change, ex-baywatch starlet Pamela Anderson.

Apparently, his royal beatleness made the plea in a direct two page letter to Anderson, following her ongoing loyal support of animal rights group PETA. McCartney, a staunch advocate of vegetarianism for more than thirty years, was spurred on by a growing awareness that reduced meat consumption or vegetarianism is the “single most effective” way to tackle global warming.

Did you hear about KFC’s offer to fill the potholes in Louisville and four other US cities? Well, they’ve asked to be allowed to stencil an ad onto the pavement in exchange. Predictably, PETA and their KFC Cruelthy campaign now want some of the action.

“KFC might concentrate instead on improving conditions for the chickens it abuses, but it won’t, so we’re offering to double the money that KFC offered the City of Louisville—if the city will use our ads against KFC cruelty on its potholes instead,” reads a post today on PETA’s blog.

Australian musician Ben Lee brilliantly weaves daunting issues such as the global water crisis, religious intolerance, hunger, renewable energy and climate change into this catchy pop song. Lee has also been named one of PETA’s world’s sexiest vegetarians.

Despite evidence that increasing the seal hunt quota could bring the harp seal population down the dangerous levels, the Canadian government has approved a 55,000 seal increase to quota for the upcoming commercial seal hunt.

The increase brings the total to 338,000 young seals scheduled to be brutally killed. Canada’s Humane Society said the higher quota could bring the downfall of the species, much like times in the past when the population dropped two-thirds in a decade with an inflated quota.

In a deluge of incidents since last October, 14 people have been trampled or gored to death by rampaging elephants in the Indian state of Kerala. The usually mild-mannered, peaceful animals have likely been driven to retaliate due to polluted conditions and widespread abuse.

In fact, these events merely mark the latest in a string of 938 instances over the last 3 years where elephants have run amok. During that span, 207 of the animals have died from mistreatment, and 70 mahouts, or elephant trainers, have been killed in the wake.

PETA already has a website dedicated to pressuring Al Gore to drop the meat from his diet, but when they caught wind of his proposed new .ECO domain, they couldn’t resist the opportunity to take another stab at him.

Ingrid Newkirk, PETA’s president and founder, sent a letter to the CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers announcing PETA’s support for the new domain and their intention to register www.OffsetAlGore.eco if the application for the domain suceeds.