Heart 4 Animals

The holiday season is upon us, but for turkeys on factory farms, there is nothing to be thankful for. We have just released footage from an undercover investigation that reveals a rarely seen side of the turkey industry. I must warn you that the cruelty to turkeys that we found is horrifying and heart-wrenching.

Men shoved feces and feed in turkeys’ mouths and held turkeys’ heads under water. One worker bragged about jamming a broom stick 2 feet down a turkey’s throat because the turkey had pecked at the worker’s back. The same man mimicked raping a turkey hen whom he had pinned against a shed floor.

Others told PETA’s investigator that they had killed turkeys, including by hitting them with pieces of lumber and pipes. Workers broke turkeys’ necks, sometimes leaving them to suffer for several minutes before trying again or stomping on their heads. A supervisor said that he saw workers kill 450 turkeys with 2-by-4s. Many of the workers kicked and violently threw turkeys, and hens’ beaks were cut with dull pliers. You can watch video footage from the investigation here.

Now that our undercover investigator has exposed what the turkey industry does not want America to see, we need you to help turkeys on factory farms by writing to the National Turkey Federation (NTF) and asking it to support PETA’s seven-point animal welfare plan, which will help reduce the suffering of turkeys.

After writing to the NTF, please consider other ways that you can help birds during this holiday season. You can keep them off your plate this holiday season by choosing mouthwatering vegan options instead, and you can support PETA’s work so that we can continue to investigate and stop animal abuse worldwide.

Thank you for your compassion for animals.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid E. Newkirk
President

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> Write a Letter to the Editor Urging Your Community to Boycott Circus Cruelty

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> When an Animal needs your Help

> Podcast : The Story of a Downed Cow

> Join the Revolution : Make a Difference Today

> Win a Tofurky for Thanksgiving

> Celebrity feature : Joan Jett testimonial

> Julie Benz Speaks Out Against Violence

> Win a Vegan Body-Care Pack From Jason Natural!

> CANADIANs : You can Stop Puppy Mills .

PETA has had a cooperative relationship with Liz Claiborne Inc. for many years. Through our work together, the company has made—and continues to make—many great strides to reduce the suffering of animals who are used and abused in the clothing industry.

We would like to share an exciting development that has resulted from our discussions with Liz Claiborne Inc.: Juicy Couture—a high-end clothing company owned by Liz Claiborne Inc.—has now adopted a permanent fur-free policy. While Juicy Couture is still selling some fur items that were stocked before this policy was adopted, it has assured us that no new fur items will be procured and that as soon as the current stock of items has gone, the company will be completely fur-free.

We applaud Liz Claiborne and Juicy Couture for making this move, which will spare animals from suffering all the torment and abuse inherent in fur production.

Unfortunately, some companies continue to sell fur despite the fact that new evidence of horrific cruelty is exposed year after year. PETA Asia-Pacific’s recent undercover investigation in the Shandong region of China, for instance, produced video footage of rabbits who kicked and screamed as they were slaughtered. Another investigation into rabbit fur farms in France showed similar cruelty.

We need you to speak out and let the world know that it is never OK for any company to sell fur. Please let your voice be heard by urging these holdouts to go fur-free once and for all!

Armani
After watching PETA’s shocking new exposé of the rabbit-fur industry you’ll understand how urgent your voice is needed! Please contact Armani immediately and forward the video on to everyone you know!

Donna Karan
Donna Karan’s top competitors have made fur-free commitments, and it’s past time for her to do the same. Please urge Donna Karan to discontinue the sale of all fur items immediately.

Zappos.com
Online shoe retailer Zappos.com prides itself on good customer service, but no compassionate shopper wants to buy from a company that promotes the awful cruelty of the fur industry. Please demand that Zappos institutes a permanent fur-free policy today.

Canada Goose
Canada Goose, an outerwear retailer, knows about the suffering that goes into every fur-trimmed garment, but the company continues to contribute to it by using fur. Please ask Canada Goose to remove fur from their collections permanently!

Please also add PETA’s recent exposé of rabbit fur farms to your social networking pages or personal Web site to show friends and family why they should never wear fur.

With constant vigilance and your continued support, we will see a completely fur-free shopping season. Thank you for contacting the companies above and for helping make the world safer for fur-bearing animals.

Sincerely,

Erin Edwards
Activist Liaison

The above excerpt is taken from a Straits Times article, dated Oct 13, 2008. My first question is: Isn’t it INTOLERABLY hot for a poor husky and cruel to encourage would-be pet owners to keep furry dogs like huskies (meant for the freezing cold climates like Alaska) in hot and humid Singapore where temperatures soar to 34 degrees celsius (94 degrees Fahrenheit) plus sunshine and humidity ?!

Read what happened in a case in Singapore here .  Please contact the dog-breeders featured above at Visit their website: www.bestfriends.com.sg , email address:  owen@starhub.net.sg  to explain to them and ask them to stop the breeding of huskies. Poor huskies ! It’s like making a human to live inside a heated furnace all his life.

Undercover Exposé Shows Rabbits Screaming During Slaughter
Actress Gillian Anderson narrates new undercover footage from rabbit fur farms in China and France—countries designer Giorgio Armani is known to purchase fur from. Watch the investigation footage and write to Armani demanding that he drops fur now!
Find out more about Armani on peta.org.

A rally will he held to bring attention to the plight of stray dogs in Turkey.  These animals are horribly abused and only a small number of individuals in Turkey are involved in their rescue.

To learn more, visit http://turkeymassacre.wordpress.com/ or the Facebook page here.

Help Stray Dogs in Turkey
Vancouver Art Gallery, (750 Hornby St.)
October 4th, 2-3 PM

Not in Vancouver ? Find out how you can help Turkey’s stray dogs here .

I’m happy to share with you good news for these animals, thanks to the hard work of the People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals. Quoting a letter from PETA:

Animals No Longer Given Away as Carnival Prizes

When someone contacted us about a Dalhart, Texas, carnival in which live rabbits, ducks, and chicks were being given away as prizes at a ring-toss booth, PETA was on the case right away. Many of these animals were reportedly being drowned, run over, tossed off Ferris wheels, and dumped alive into trash cans by the people who won them. PETA convinced the carnival operator to adopt a permanent policy against using animals as prizes, and the ring-toss vendor’s contract was terminated.

You might think that a case like this is rare, but it isn’t at all. PETA handles hundreds of individual cruelty cases just like this one every month—and every time, we do whatever we can to get positive results for the animals involved. > A blog entry about this issue

Verizon Pulls Ad With Harmful Message About Pit Bulls

Telecommunications giant Verizon is no longer running a cell phone commercial that featured two growling, chained pit bulls—whose ears were cut in a “fighting crop”—guarding a junkyard. Pit bulls are possibly the most abused breed of dogs, and this commercial sent the message that it is acceptable to chain them to junked cars and use them as cheap security devices. According to animal behaviorists (and common sense), chained dogs often become agitated, frustrated, and aggressively protective of their tiny territories. When chained dogs break free, children are most often the victims of their aggression.

PETA contacted Verizon about the ad’s damaging message, but Verizon failed to respond. So PETA issued an action alert to our members, which generated more than 7,000 e-mails to two company executives! Two days after PETA contacted Verizon, the ad was gone! With your help, PETA continues to work to get anti-chaining ordinances passed and to quash the cruelty of using dogs as disposable toys and living burglar alarms.

This little case is the latest example of PETA pressure that has caused a major corporation to drop an ad that uses live animals in a disrespectful manner or depicts animals in any way that could contribute to their suffering. Subaru, Honda, and PUMA are just a few of the other companies we’ve changed for the better.

Anjelica Huston Helps Expose Cruelty to Great Apes

PETA’s exposé on the abuse of great apes by the film, television, and advertising industries was recently distributed to all major U.S. studios. Academy Award winner Anjelica Huston narrates our powerful video, which urges people in the entertainment industry never to use great apes. She describes how newborn chimpanzees and orangutans are taken away from their highly protective mothers and often beaten with fists and blackjacks—and even kicked in the head—during terrifying training sessions.

The video features undercover footage taken by a PETA investigator at a pseudo-sanctuary where we found a chimpanzee who reportedly had been used in the filming of Planet of the Apes. This poor old chimpanzee was living in an underground cement pit strewn with rotted food and feces. Many “performing” chimpanzees suffer similar fates; they are simply discarded or sold away to shoddy roadside zoos or given to pseudo-sanctuaries when they grow too strong to be handled. The video received a hearty endorsement by the Los Angeles Times and is making waves throughout the entertainment industry.

This is the latest salvo in our campaign to help great apes—and it’s working. As a direct result of PETA’s efforts, great apes are no longer used in ads run by numerous companies, including Honda, PUMA, Subaru, MovieTickets.com, furniture chain HomeUSA Warehouse, Keds, Yahoo!, and car dealership Malouf Ford. That’s great news!

None of these important victories for animals could have been won without the support of PETA members like you. Thank you for giving PETA the power to fight and win the battle against animal abuse!

Kind regards,

Ingrid E. Newkirk
President

Source: People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals

No animal should suffer from deliberate neglect or willful abuse. Stopping these crimes is exactly what PETA caseworkers do every day.

Each week, PETA receives hundreds of calls and e-mails about animals who are cruelly betrayed by the very people they look to for care and protection—more than 14,000 reports last year alone. PETA’s cruelty caseworkers handle a broad range of cases from across the globe, involving animals who are raped, beaten, or starved to death; cats who are kept by the hundreds in filthy stacked cages in the homes of deranged hoarders; and sick and injured animals who are rotting away in dark pet-store basements. On call 24 hours a day, our caseworkers act immediately to stop animal suffering and to hold the perpetrators accountable.

PETA’s caseworkers move heaven and Earth to get help for abused companion animals. We deliver them to safety and work with our many contacts in law enforcement to make sure that the abusers are investigated and that justice for their victims is served.

Let me give you a peek at just some of our cruelty-casework success stories from the last few months alone. Each one represents an immediate improvement in the life of a desperate animal. Every single one of them was made possible because of caring PETA supporters like you:

* We responded as this summer’s massive floods in the Midwest threatened cats who were stranded in an apartment building in rural Iowa. After being contacted by the animals’ distraught guardians, PETA caseworkers went to work immediately with local humane agencies to coordinate a boat rescue.
* We jumped into action when we were told of a dog who had for months been imprisoned inside her doghouse, which had a space for food to be put through—but was nailed shut! We worked with local officials to confiscate this poor girl and charge her abusive owner with cruelty to animals.

* We worked with several agencies to rescue a newborn litter of kittens who had become trapped in the debris of an animal hoarder’s dilapidated house. Within 48 hours, all of the hoarder’s sick cats were removed, the garbage-filled home was condemned, and the hoarder was hospitalized.

PETA can and does make all the difference for at-risk companion animals like these and countless others. And we can do it because you, like our caseworkers, refuse to sit still in the face of animals’ suffering. Instead, you act. By donating to PETA today, you can help our dedicated staff get even more of these helpless beings out of imminent danger.

With your support, we can change the lives of so many animals. Please contribute to PETA’s vital work for abused and neglected animals with a generous donation today.

Thank you for bringing hope and help to needy cats, dogs, and other wonderful animals who depend on us.

Kind regards,

Ingrid E. Newkirk
President
People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals

The recent cross-country listeriosis outbreak across Canada adds to the ever-growing list of viral diseases and food poisoning cases as a result of contaminated meat consumption.

This should not come as a surprise, considering that factory farms cramp live poultry and cattle in unhygienic conditions. The un-natural injection of hormones and force-feeding is widespread in farm animals to spur their growth and speed them onwards to the slaughterhouses. Genetic engineering experiments have also interfered with these animals’ natural immunity systems and could facilitate the attack of ever-evolving viruses as they mutate to adjust to cellular changes.

Please visit the websites below to learn more about the various kinds of meat you eat:

> Factory Farms > Facts about Meat > Truth about Organic & Free Range Meats > Mad Cow Disease

> Listeriosis Victims Swelled Up like Balloons > Salmonella deaths alarming > Watch Video .