Vegetarian Star

When it comes to giving back, time is good, but dollars may even be better!

The Daily Beast profiled several celebrities who, through lending their name and face to campaigns and even personal donations, have contributed to their favorite charities.

Vegetarian Carrie Underwood is a featured giver for her donations to the Humane Society, which The Daily Beast estimated to have an annual impact of $236,021.

“The country-music star recently gave $200,000 to the Humane Society, taken from the sales of her recording of the Mötley Crüe song, “Home Sweet Home.” May no good deed go unpunished: Underwood’s ties to the animal-protection group angered hunters. “It is a radical organization that seeks to end hunting and other responsible uses of animals in America,” griped one leading sportsman. After Katrina, Underwood, 26, recorded a television spot for the Humane Society, detailing the plight of pets hurt by the hurricane.”

Of course, you don’t have to be a celebrity to have an impact.

Do you plan to donate your time to an animal organization in your town?

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Michael Vick‘s documentary of his fall from grace due to dog fighting activities, The Michael Vick Project, premiered this month on BET.

Animal activist or not, the line separating those that believe he’s truly remorseful or just expressed regret as a publicity stunt is pretty deep, and it’s doubtful these clips will do anything to change their opinions.

One interesting note: Michael Vick played football at Virginia Tech, the same state as PETA territory.

One could guess Vick didn’t get the same “Be Cruelty-Free” pamphlets in his dorm mailbox as some other college students did.

Watch the clip below for highlights of the show.

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If Kanye West were around Taylor Swift when she was recently in Australia, he would have grabbed the mic, pushed her out the way and yelled, “Taylor, you’re a really great singer and all, but this spot’s reserved for someone who knows how to treat wildlife.”

Swift made a post on her Twitter about “wild possum feeding,” which drew criticism from a Department of Sustainability and Environment spokesman.

“We know people who feed wild animals often have the best intentions and that it is attractive to tourists who want to interact with Australian wildlife,” he said, according to the Herald Sun.

“However, DSE advises people not to feed wild animals…it can disrupt their natural behaviour and it can cause some animals to lose their natural fear of people, making them vulnerable to attack.”

Of course, one hopes Taylor’s Twitter post meant she really did have the best intentions of feeding the possum–and not feeding on them.

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Carrie Underwood has teamed up with Pedigree, a sponsor of her Play On tour, to film a PSA for their adoption drive.

Her four legged friend Ace is also set to make an appearance.

“I can’t imagine life without my dog,” vegetarian Carrie told Pedigree at the shoot, according to Peoplepets.

“Dogs are just beautiful souls that don’t want a thing from you.”

“He’s just so special because he loves me for no reason other than I love him back.”

“He’s smart and he’s fun, and makes me really appreciate all the little things in life because he is a little thing.”

Hope Carrie drives every would be pet owner to the local shelter to adopt.

The PSA debuts on Monday February 15.

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Leona Lewis took to the Twitter to slam the Brit Awards for wanting to serve foie gras at the celebration.

“I was outraged 2 hear that the Brit Awards were planning 2 serve foie-gras at the ceremony. They hav now removed it from the menu,well done!”

This smart gal wanted to educate her fans on what foie gras really was.

“In case u didn’t no, Foie-gras is duck that is forced fed in a sickening cruel process and is banned in the uk.”

While the BRITS took forced fed duck off the menu, there’s still room for improvement.

“The BRITS menu sadly won’t b ‘cruelty free’ however it is still a major victory & they are taking an ethical stance! Well done and thank u”

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ITV has been fined $3,000 for a rat eating incident that occurred on last season’s I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here, according to BBC News.

The incident involved celebrity chef Gino D’Acampo cooking rat risotto and eating it with actor Stuart Manning.

Not exactly the kind of risotto Russell Simmons enjoys, that’s for sure.

The fine was issued by Australian Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), which issued a statement through chief inspector David O’Shannessy.

“The animal was killed for a TV show, that’s not appropriate.”

A spokesman for ITV said, “ITV has apologised for the mistake which led to this incident.”

“The production was unaware that killing a rat could be an offence, criminal or otherwise in New South Wales, and accepts that further inquiries should have been made.”

I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here features stars surviving in the jungle, competing for money for their favorite charity.

More often than not, similar reality TV shows have contestants killing and eating what they find in the wild or simply eating what would be consider repulsive food for challenges or entertainment.

The fine issued to ITV may change the future of how contestants eat to “survive.”

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The story of Temple Grandin is depicted in a new HBO movie starring Claire Danes.

Although not a vegetarian, Grandin’s work in animal behavior resulted in her designing more humane methods to apply to the livestock industry.

PETA’s president and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk has written a piece in the Sacramento Bee on Grandin’s work.

A few highlights:

“I admire her work in the field of humane animal slaughter. PETA would prefer, of course, that no animals be killed for food, but we won’t ignore the horrors of factory farms and slaughterhouses just because we wish that they didn’t exist.”

“Throughout her career as an animal-science professor at Colorado State University and a consultant to the American Meat Institute, Grandin has worked to improve animal-handling systems at slaughterhouses – markedly decreasing, although never able to stop completely, the amount of fear and pain that animals experience.”

“This may seem like a small victory – the cows are still going to be killed after all – but until the day that we get animals off the dinner plate altogether, is it too much to ask that we do everything we can to reduce the fear and suffering that they experience in the slaughterhouse?”

Read more at the Sacramento Bee.

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Stephen Colbert recently hosted Jonathan Safran Foer on The Colbert Report to discuss his latest book, Eating Animals.

Foer discussed the realities of how factory farms and the mass production of meat affects animals, giving the example that turkeys today don’t get it on.

“The Thanksgiving turkey isn’t even capable of sexually reproducing anymore,” Foer said.

When Colbert asked how turkeys multiply, Foer first joked that they are stimulated by porn.

Stimulated by PETA anti-fur ads featuring naked women, no doubt.

“They’re all artificially inseminated,” Foer claimed.

Not resisting the chance to offend, Colbert placed a plate of bacon in front of Foer, which Foer, keeping in theme with animal reproduction, labeled as merely, “flaccid.”

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