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Most people know that raising animals for food is grossly inefficient; whilst animals eat large quantities of grain, they produce only small amounts of meat, dairy products or eggs. Did you know it takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce just 1 pound of meat?
According to a recent article, more than 350,000 hectares of rain forest are being cleared to grow soya beans, which are then shipped to British factory farms to feed animals who are treated like milk or… Read more.
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PETA – and everyone who cares about animals worldwide – is elated that the Catalan Parliament has banned bullfighting. It was clear that the tide had turned when 180,000 signatures were collected in support of the ban. The people have spoken: cruelty to animals – disguised as “tradition” – will no longer be tolerated. Various cities and towns across Spain, France, Portugal, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador have all recently declared themselves anti-bullfighting, and now Catalonia becomes the second Spanish region to… Read more.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) recently released a statement claiming that for the past several years, the skins used to make The Queen’s Guards’ distinctive bearskin caps now come from brown bears, not black ones. Sometime during the course of PETA’s campaign, they say, a switch was made.
One might well ask, “So what?” It is unlikely that bears care what colour they are when they are being shot for their hides, and it makes no difference to PETA if the MoD are using the skins from black, brown or,… Read more.
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Today, the government has released its annual statistics on animal experiments. These are the dry figures which represent the imprisonment, suffering and deaths of legions of helpless animals in the UK’s 200 or so laboratories. There’s a lot of information in these figures, but none of it can convey the pain of a mouse genetically engineered to grow tumours, the pathetic confusion of a brain-damaged monkey who awakes from anaesthesia to find her arm paralysed or the terror of a pig… Read more.
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I can’t say the 2012 Olympics has filled me with much excitement up until now (I’m not very sporty), but that all changed when I heard the fantastic news that none other than Stella McCartney had been chosen to design the uniforms that will be worn by the British Olympic and Paralympics teams. So you know what that means: our athletes will be going for gold without having to wear the skins of cows as part of their official kits!
Most… Read more.
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Earlier this week I saw some video footage which broke my heart. Having volunteered for animals for years now, I’m becoming hardened to the things I see, but this was upsetting in so many ways.
It was a YouTube video which someone had recorded at a British circus during the 2010 season. All the footage was from the ring, what the circus were proud for you to see. It was distressing. I won’t link to it here, but there are plenty of videos… Read more.
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We were horrified to learn that Fish/KMI Brands recently sent a gift of live goldfish to Now magazine with the message “Love me, don’t flush me”. So I’m very happy and relieved to say that after PETA contacted Fish/KMI, it pledged never to pull such a stunt again.
This public-relations gimmick was cruel and unacceptable and must have caused great distress to the fish involved. Fish are wonderful animals and are far more clever than most people think. Hundreds of scientific studies prove… Read more.
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I’m buffing up. I’ve bought some lovely vegan running shoes (because cows are cool and killing them is cruel), and so far this week, I’ve already run 11 miles. I feel great! I wonder if I could say the same if I was weighed down with all the fat a meat-eater has in their diet?
I eat a healthy and varied vegan diet, so I know that I’m getting everything I need without any of the negative effects and health risks… Read more.
When I was asked to go to Pamplona for PETA to photograph the 2010 PETA and AnimaNaturalis anti-bullfighting demonstration, I knew it would be long and tiring trip in hot temperatures to a city that holds one of the most outdated, cruel events – the Running of the Bulls. But I also knew that my discomfort would be nothing compared to the suffering that bulls endure in bullfights and during the run.
Arriving the day before the planned demonstration, which is held annually two days before… Read more.