A “key player” in a major British dogfighting scene has been sentenced to four months in prison and banned from owning dogs for life. Barkat Hussain from Birmingham reportedly “took pleasure in training animals to fight” and – despite previously being jailed and banned from keeping dogs for his involvement in a mass dog fight – has since admitted a string of other charges that include keeping and training for fighting three pit bull terriers in breach of the court order.
A raid on the premises uncovered an array of horrific items in “medical kits”, including skin staplers, syringes, creatine powders (used by bodybuilders), and a solution used by vets to put dogs down. Tiger and Ace, two of the dogs in Hussain’s ‘care’ were kept in cages, and another called Storm was found tethered to an upstairs balcony with 59 separate wounds.
Dogfighting is a cowardly, illegal blood sport that injures and kills dogs all over the world. Dogs used for fighting are usually chained or penned, teased, taunted and beaten so that they become aggressive. Dogs who survive these fights often sustain serious injuries, such as broken bones and crushed cartilage, and many suffer and die from blood loss, shock, dehydration, exhaustion, or infection hours or days after a fight.
If you were the judge, what sentence would you throw down on this man?
Image: dailymail / cc
Tags: dogfighting, dogs
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And this rather ‘interesting’ photo tells us that drinking and eating dairy products is wrong, wrong, wrong.
The ‘cow’ you see is Laura Baker, a UK intern with PETA Germany right now, and she wants you to know that the dairy industry is cruel, and its products unhealthy. Despite the gross-out factor of drinking the bodily fluids of a cow, milk that comes from conventional dairy farms frequently contains blood and pus as well as pesticides, hormones and antibiotics. It has also been linked to digestive problems in humans, and conditions such as osteoporosis, obesity, heart disease, allergies and certain types of cancer.
Milk out, soya in!
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“Still Suckling Milk From Mummy’s Breast?
Milk is Baby Food!”
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Tags: cows, dairy, milk, Naked, PETA Germany, vegan
When it comes to image filtering and blocked access on the internet, some things are a given, but over in China, they’ve decided to take things a little further. Like blocking-a-Garfield-poster-and-Johnny-Depp’s-face further. But there’s one item that, although we didn’t think of it first, we think is actually a pretty good idea – roast pork.
Yup, all computers sold in China as from yesterday must be installed with ‘Green Dam’ software that blocks pornographic and violent images – basically anything that might be described as “harmful to your moral health”. Thanks to the fleshy nature of roast pork – after all, it is flesh, albeit from the body of a slaughtered animal – this too is deemed offensive by the filtering system and consequently NSFW. Or NSFA[nywhere] by the looks of it.
And I couldn’t agree more. The cooked, dead flesh of an animal is ‘harmful to your moral health’ and is the embodiment of violence. So it is only fitting that it be banished. If only the act itself of slaughtering animals for food, not to mention China’s appalling cat and dog fur industry, were banned too…
So, what do you think – will PETA’s sexy and violent web content be banned from China?
Image: dinnerdiary / cc
Tags: cats, China, dogs, fur, NSFW, pigs, pork, vegetarian
Yeah, I know we’re all sweatin’ and moanin’ about the extreme heat right now, but spare a thought for those who are covered in waaay more ‘hair’ than us – especially our four-legged friends, dogs and cats.
Temperatures are set to go through the roof today, with sweltering estimates of 33C in some areas. I cannot stress how important it is to not leave dogs in cars at times like this. Heat from the sun intensifies through the glass windows, and can cause dogs to “boil alive” from the inside. Four dogs up in the Highlands and two ‘police dogs’ have already died from being trapped inside cars in this heat, and there could be more to come unless guardians realise the danger they are putting their pooches in.
Here’s the fab Simon Cowell with a word of advice:
Tags: companion animals, dogs, hot cars, Simon Cowell
Fans are mourning the sudden passing of the “King of Pop,” who spent decades under a media microscope.
Here are some Jacko facts that fans may not know:
• The number-one song “Ben,” about a rat friend, was originally meant to be sung by Donny Osmond. (Thanks to The Michael Jackson Fan Club for that.)
• Our personal fave bit about the gloved one is that his “Earth Song” includes an obvious bash against the bloody seal slaughter at minute 3:27.
In Michael’s honour, take a minute to speak out against the seal slaughter.
Tags: Ben, Canada, mice, Michael Jackson, rats, seal, seal slaughter
It’s Canada Day! But we couldn’t be less in the mood for celebrating…
The annual seal massacre may be over for this year, but our campaign to end it for good has only just begun. Today our resident ’seal’ took on Canada’s iconic maple syrup industry, by whacking a 6-foot bottle of gooey ‘maple syrup’ with a ‘hakapik’ (the metal-tipped weapon sealers use to kill baby seals). But that wasn’t all. As soon as the weapon hit the bottle, ‘blood’ spurted out everywhere, to remind the Canadian High Commission and passers-by that Canada has baby seal’s blood on its hands.
During the annual seal slaughter, sealers bash seals’ heads in or shoot them before dragging their bodies over the ice. Baby seals are often skinned alive while their wailing mothers helplessly watch on. Canada may have ignored calls from around the world to stop the seal slaughter, but affecting the country’s maple syrup sales might get the government’s attention.
Reckon they’ll get the message?
Thanks to Natascha Nanji for the ‘bottle’!
Tags: Canada, maple syrup, seal, seal slaughter
I’ll take a chance on betting that I’m not the only one who secretly wonders what will happen when the robots take over (I Robot anyone?), but I’m certainly hoping it has nothing to do with these guys.
These bloodthirsty, gut-wrenching robots, designed by UK-based designers James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau thrive on killing and liquidizing flies and mice, whilst serving the purpose of… well, not much at all really. See, these scientists believe that rather than glancing down at our watch, we’d prefer to have a clock run by giant machine that literally squeezes the life out of unsuspecting insects. Apparently, the flies “fall into the microbial fuel cell beneath, where bacteria digest the fly and cause chemical changes that the cell can extract power from.” Nice.
They also believe that we’d like a coffee table that doubles-up as a mouse trap, so that when mice stand on the trapdoor in the centre of the table, sensors open the door and they fall into the microbial fuel cell.
Erm, thanks, but no thanks.
Looking for cheaper, and more humane options to beat the buzz? Check out this and this. No blood ‘n’ guts necessary.
Image: interactivearchitecture / sustainy / cc
Tags: fly, mice, robots, science
Since Michael Jackson’s passing on Thursday, there have been hundreds of news stories ranging from how he influenced just about every musician performing today to how he’s responsible for the Academy’s recent decision to allow 10 nominations for “Best Picture” (no, really!). It got us all thinking: what if Michael’s music could be used to help animals?
PETA US has written to Michael Jackson’s estate asking for the rights to the singer’s first solo hit, “Ben,” which was written for the 1972 film of the same name. This beautiful song is about the friendship between a lonely boy and a rat named Ben, and we hope it can be used to raise awareness about the plight of rats and other animals tormented in laboratory experiments.
Mice and rats make up the vast majority of animals used in experiments, but it is perfectly legal in the European Union to poison, mutilate and abuse them for “scientific” purposes. Part of the message of “Ben” is that rats are frequently misunderstood. (For example, did you know that rats and mice are fastidiously clean, intelligent, and highly sociable animals even giggle!) In the song, Jackson sings:
Ben, most people would turn you away
I don’t listen to a word they say
They don’t see you as I do
I wish they would try to.
We hope this song can be used to inspire people to understand rats a little better and to join our campaign to stop cruel and archaic animal experiments on them.
Image: orchidboard / cc
Tags: Ben, mice, Michael Jackson, rats, Vivisection
Late last year, some factory-farm employees across the pond got the boot from Aviagen Turkeys, Inc. in response to PETA US’ undercover investigation, which documented that workers were breaking turkeys’ necks, stomping on their heads, and shoving feces and feed into turkeys’ mouths.
Then, in February, a grand jury handed down 19 indictments, including 11 felony charges, against three former Aviagen workers, marking the first time in US history that factory-farm employees have faced felony cruelty-to-animals charges for abusing birds.
Fast forward: Two of the three ex-employees, Scott Alvin White and Edward Eric Gwinn, recently pleaded guilty to cruelty charges. On 8 June, White was sentenced to serve one year in jail the maximum period permitted by state law! Today, Gwinn was sentenced to serve six months’ home confinement – the maximum period permitted by state law – on each count, concurrently, and is banned from living with, owning, and working with animals for five years. The case against the third ex-employee, Walter Lee Hambrick, is pending.
Can’t get enough? In September, a grand jury in neighbouring Monroe County, West Virginia, may well issue further felony indictments against White and Hambrick.
These historic victories by no means even the score for the turkeys who were punched and thrown or the many other birds who suffered when they were forced to watch as other turkeys were abused at Aviagen. After watching PETA US’ undercover video, animal behaviour expert Dr. Lesley J. Rogers stated, “It is now known that when social animals, like turkeys, see and hear other members of their species under stress or suffering physical injury, their levels of stress become elevated. Hence, the behavioural stress is widespread in the birds in the vicinity of those that have been injured and/or handled roughly.”
Still, these convictions will remind workers on other factory farms that if they don’t clean up their acts, investigators (and the whistleblowers who tip them off) will have their eyes on them.
Image: animalvegetablemiracle / CC
Tags: Aviagen, investigation, turkeys, vegetarian
I was dead chuffed when these pics of a fashion student’s catwalk collection project landed in my inbox the other day. Called ‘Fake’, the collection contains items that use faux fur and pleather, and designer Catherine Mulligan’s dream is to have her own fashion label known for not using any animal products.
Catherine says: “Most of my garments are inspired by the beauty of animals, and I have also used faux leather to show that it looks just as good as the real thing.” Could this be Britain’s Next Top Designer in the making? Who knows, but for now we’re rocking the student’s creative compassion.
Well done, Catherine! And extra kudos for handing out
PETA leaflets and
stickers at the event.
Tags: fashion, fur, leather, student, vegetarian
