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Animal Writes

  • 29
  • May

Run Bare for the Bears: 14 July in London

Bears are still being cruelly killed for The Queen’s Guards’ caps, and we desperately need your help in stopping this. We have an eye-catching, fun way for you to show your support for PETA’s campaign to save them!

On 14 July, we will be holding a “fun run” through some of central London’s most famous locations, and we need YOU and your teddy bear to join us. PETA aims to get as many people as possible to shed their clothes, attach their favourite teddy bear to their head and run naked through the streets of London for PETA’s “Run Bare for the Bears” event. The dress code for the run is “as bare as you dare,” so even if you are shy, we’d still love to have your support – all we just ask that you keep any undies flesh-coloured.

Run Bare to Spare Bears

It can take the entire hide of one Canadian black bear to make just one cap. Bears are often shot several times before they die, and some escape and bleed to death. In some Canadian provinces, there are no restrictions on the shooting of mothers who have nursing cubs, leading to the slaughter of entire families during hunts.

The bears are relying on us to send a clear message to the Ministry of Defence that the slaughter of wildlife for the guards’ ceremonial headwear is unacceptable and that the time has come for them to go fake for the bears’ sake. Don’t delay – register for the race today, and please let your friends, family and colleagues know about the event!

To register, visit our sign-up page and leave your details – we will be in touch throughout the run-up to the event.


  • 24
  • May

UK Ends Cruel Mouse Test, US Poised to Do the Same

In very welcome news, the UK’s Food Standards Agency announced last week that it has completely replaced the painful and often fatal test on mice that used to be conducted to identify poisonous contaminants in shellfish. After consistent pressure from PETA and PETA US on both UK and EU authorities, the European Union introduced a law in 2010 that would phase out the test by 2015: we’re delighted that the UK has beaten the deadline by years. (You can learn more about the test and its replacement here –  although I warn you that details of what happened to the mice are difficult to read.)

Now, with the help of PETA US, the United States is replacing its last animal-based shellfish toxicity test, too. PETA US has helped fund a critical license which has made it possible for an alternative testing method developed by the Food and Drug Administration to be used in US fisheries. PETA US’ scientists are also contacting all US fisheries to urge them to implement this scientifically superior and more efficient method.

The new test is a much more humane method for detecting these deadly toxins and uses tissue from one animal instead of more than 1,000 live animals. Not only does the new test have the potential to save tens of thousands of animals a year, like many alternative methods, it is also scientifically superior and far less expensive.

PETA US’ hard work will allow the US to use 21st century testing methods and eliminate the use of live mice for shellfish monitoring – much as PETA and our affiliates have helped to accomplish in the EU.

Of course, none of this testing would be needed if people didn’t eat shellfish in the first place. Take the Pledge to Be Vegan.


  • 23
  • May

Put Pressure on Fortnum & Mason by Calling Their ‘Boss’, Guy Weston

Guy Weston is the chair of Wittington Investments, owner of Fortnum & Mason. He has the authority to end Fortnum & Mason’s support for foie gras cruelty today – he just needs enough people to tell him how objectionable foie gras is and that compassionate people across the world will not stop the pressure until Fortnum & Mason ends the sale of foie gras in its store and restaurants.

Please take just a few minutes to call Mr Weston. Ask to speak to him directly, although you will likely speak to his personal assistant, Carol Messenger, first.

You can contact Guy Weston via his Ms Messenger on +44 (0) 207 399 6532.

Some talking points to consider:

  • Geese are force-fed four times a day, during which huge amounts of food are pumped into their delicate stomachs. The feeding pipes often tear holes in the birds’ sensitive necks.
  • The force-feeding causes the birds’ livers to swell to several times their normal size.
    Sometimes, birds’ internal organs rupture, causing fatal internal bleeding.
  • Foie gras production is illegal in the UK – why is a company that blatantly trades on its British heritage paying overseas workers to abuse geese in ways that would be illegal here?
  • Fortnum & Mason should follow the compassionate lead of both Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, which have both removed foie gras from their food halls and menus.

By telephoning Wittington Investments, you’ll be sending a clear, immediate message that their involvement in this abuse of birds is unacceptable and has to end. We do hope we can depend on your support. The mere cost of a call is nothing compared to the cost of the lives of geese.

As well as telephoning, please take action and call on Fortnum & Mason to stop selling ‘torture in a tin.’


  • 22
  • May

There’s Nothing Fishy About Moshi Moshi’s PETA Award

Moshi Moshi, Brighton’s best loved sushi restaurant, has always been popular with vegans because of its many fish- and meat-free options. Now the restaurant has gone one step further and netted itself a PETA award for teaming up with ethical food firm Redwood to offer compassionate customers delicious fishless options like “fish” udon and stir-fry noodles.

Moshi Moshi’s owner says the move was prompted by the company’s firm belief in “restorative eating” and that “[o]ne way we can do this is by decreasing our reliance on animal proteins and to eat more vegetarian food. It’s why we teamed up with Redwood.” The new vegan option is proving hugely popular with vegans and non-vegans alike! Moshi Moshi will receive a framed certificate and a letter of congratulations from PETA.

Moshi Moshi Proggy Award

Fish are smart, fascinating and sensitive animals who have their own unique personalities. Scientists have shown time and time again that fish feel pain just as mammals and birds do. They suffer unspeakable horrors when they are caught in nets and dragged from the water and slowly suffocate or reared on factory fish farms where they are completely conscious while their gills are cut and then left to bleed to death. Opting for vegan sushi is also the healthiest option, too, after many health scares about the high levels of mercury found in seafood.

Get hooked on compassion by checking out the fish- and meat-free alternatives on offer by Redwood and order a free vegan starter kit for great tips and recipe ideas to help you make the transition to a fish-free vegan diet.


  • 22
  • May

Activists Tell Fortnum & Mason Foie Gras Is ‘Blooming’ Cruel!

PETA’s brilliant activists joined our “goose” outside the world famous Chelsea Flower Show today to let show attendees know about the horrific cruelty that Fortnum & Mason is supporting by continuing to sell foie gras. Whilst Fortnum & Mason hosts Chelsea’s Hospitality Village, geese are suffering and dying so that their diseased livers can be sold at the London store.

PETA's goose at the Chelsea Flower Show

Foie gras is so cruel that its production is illegal in the UK and 16 other countries. To make the “torture in a tin”, young ducks and geese are crammed into tiny cages or pens barely larger than their own bodies. Up to 2 kilograms of grain and fat are pumped through pipes into the birds’ stomachs each day. Investigations on foie gras farms have documented sick, dead and dying birds – some with holes in their necks from pipe injuries.

Every moment that Fortnum & Mason delays an end to their foie gras sales, birds are dying. Please speak out against Fortnum & Mason’s foie gras cruelty, and take action today! You can also join us for regular protests in London: contact StopFortnumAndMasonFoieGrasCruelty.com@peta.org.uk for more info!


  • 17
  • May

New EU Directive: Government Averts the Worst for Now, but Doesn’t Close the Door

The government published its official response today to last year’s public consultation on the new EU directive on animal experiments. Thousands of PETA supporters responded to the consultation and contacted the minister on this matter because of the threat that standards in UK laboratories could be dropped even further. PETA is pleased to see that the government has resisted some of the most obvious threats that the new directive poses to animals in UK laboratories and has accepted many of the arguments that we put forward in our detailed response consultation last year, including maintaining existing protection for dogs and cats.

Marble Arch Animal Testing Demonstration

However, on a lot of issues, the government says it will simply put bare minimum requirements into the legislation and sort out the detail later. This is worrying because that detail will have a massive bearing on how animals are actually treated. As it stands, we could end up with legislation that allows a shift of power from regulators to those who need regulating – which experience shows is never in the public interest. In particular, the government’s chosen approach could herald a massive reduction in inspections of laboratories. The government has also failed to show any commitment to ending blanket secrecy on the regulation of animal experiments, and it looks like the public will still be permitted only selected glimpses of what really takes place.

Animals in laboratories are already subjected to abuses and suffering that would be illegal if they took place anywhere else. Our existing law is permissive and weakly enforced, and it stacks the deck in favour of those who test on animals, not the animals it is supposed to protect. While we credit the government for maintaining many provisions that could have become much worse as a result of the directive, unless there is a real will to challenge the animal experimentation industry and implement the law in favour of animals, not experimenters, few animals will really benefit.

While the government’s statement is the clearest explanation of their intentions yet, nothing is final until the legislation is proposed and adopted by Parliament later this summer. Please contact the minister now.

Take Action


  • 16
  • May

BBC Fall Fowl Over Foie Gras Promotion

For featuring foie gras on BBC2′s Great British Menu and for promoting foie gras recipes on a number of its webpages, PETA has sent a letter to the BBC demanding that all foie gras promotions be removed from the license payer–funded service.

“Using TV license money to promote foie gras – a product so uniquely vile that its production is banned in Britain – is indefensible”, says PETA’s Mimi Bekhechi. “The BBC has a responsibility to the public and should remove all foie gras promotions from its webpages and programmes.”

Foie gras is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese up to 2 kilograms of grain and fat every day through a tube that is shoved down their throats several times a day. Force-feeding birds such a massive amount causes their livers to swell to as much as 10 times their normal size, resulting in a disease known as “hepatic steatosis”. The pipes sometimes puncture the birds’ throats, and many birds suffer from ruptured internal organs, fungal and bacterial infections and liver failure.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the Brit Awards, Wimbledon, Lord’s Cricket Ground and the Royal Shakespeare Company have all pledged not to serve or sell foie gras, and Prince Charles refuses to allow it on Royal menus. Almost every major shop in the UK, including Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, has dropped foie gras because its production is so cruel.

Call on the BBC to stop the shameful promotion of ‘torture in a tin’ – take action today and e-mail the Director General, Mark Thompson.

Take Action


  • 14
  • May

Pamela Anderson Welcomes New Indian Dog Into Her California Home

When Pamela Anderson visited India recently, her heart was captured by the plight of the homeless dogs she saw on the streets. So when Pamela – an honorary director of PETA US – learned that PETA India’s Poorva Joshipura was headed to the States to meet with her overseas colleagues and visit her family, the Baywatch star asked if Poorva would take a homeless puppy with her. Pamela has decided to name her newest family member, who was rescued from a construction site in Mumbai, Pyari, or “Loved One”.

Pyari

“I’m tickled to be able to give Pyari a loving home”, says Anderson. “I already have rescued dogs, and I urge everyone to join me in adopting a homeless dog from their local animal shelter or the streets instead of buying a so-called ‘pedigree’.”

Every time someone buys a dog from a breeder or a pet shop, a dog on the streets or in an animal shelter loses his or her chance at finding a good home. Each year, thousands of cats and dogs are euthanised in the UK alone because there aren’t enough good homes for them. Others are abandoned on the streets, where they starve to death, get injured or killed by vehicles or fall prey to abuse.

Help turn the tide of animal homelessness – take the pledge now.


  • 14
  • May

Michael Clarke Duncan: ‘I Am a Vegetarian’

Nominated for an Oscar for his starring role in The Green Mile, Michael Clarke Duncan‘s healthful vegetarian diet keeps him in the best shape of his life. Once plagued by illnesses and spending thousands of dollars on meat, Michael has turned his health around by going vegetarian. He joins Sir Paul McCartney, Bill Clinton, Woody Harrelson, Forest Whitaker, and a long list of other healthy, compassionate men whose meat-free lifestyles help save animals’ lives and their own.

Michael Clark Duncan

Watch Michael’s exclusive behind-the-scenes PETA US interview to hear his story:

Since going vegetarian, “Big Mike” has shed 2st 7lbs from his 6-foot-5 frame – and is a lot healthier. Michael keeps his trimmer, fitter body strong by getting much of his vitamins and nutrients from plants. Instead of packing on protein from an artery-clogging steak, he eats fruits, vegetables, and legumes such as beans, peanuts, and tofu. Going vegetarian keeps Michael at a lesser risk of our nation’s biggest killers, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and strokes.

FOLLOW MICHAEL’S STEP-BY-STEP PLAN FOR GOING VEGETARIAN

Michael took the following steps to go vegetarian – follow his lead today:

  1. Watch “Meet Your Meat.”
  2. Read Skinny Bitch. (And watch PETA US’ short interview with one of the co-authors).
  3. Rid your fridge of meat and replace it with protein-packed cholesterol-free products such as tofu, tempeh, beans, and nuts.
  4. Fill your plate with fruits, vegetables, and legumes. Check out this two-week sample menu!

  • 10
  • May

China Poised to Accept First-Ever Non-Animal Test Method for Cosmetics

Chinese officials are in the final stages of approving the use of the country’s very first non-animal test method for cosmetics ingredients, thanks to guidance from scientists funded by PETA US. The 3T3 Neutral Red Uptake Phototoxicity Assay, which tests chemicals for their potential toxicity when they come into contact with sunlight and is already in wide use in the EU and US, is scheduled to be accepted in China by late summer. Before now, China has required cosmetics companies to test ingredients and products only on animals.

PETA US awarded a grant to scientists at the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS) late last year after learning that China was requiring cosmetics companies to pay for tests on animals in order to market their products in China. Scientists from IIVS traveled to China several times to offer their expertise and guidance.

As Animal Writes readers know, in the EU, animal testing for cosmetics and their ingredients is banned and the sale of all cosmetics containing ingredients tested on animals is due to be banned in 2013. The European Commission, however, is currently considering postponing or compromising that ban under pressure from the cosmetics industry.

Fast, accurate non-animal methods which protect humans better than animal tests are already here, and it’s great news that China has responded positively to the scientific arguments supporting them. It’s ironic, to say the least, that while China is progressing, the EU could be moving backwards.

Please take action here and protect the EU’s ban on animal-tested cosmetics.


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