Vegetarian Star

The RSPCA is asking supermarkets in the UK to replace chickens bought from farmers who use a faster growing method with birds obtained by rearing more slowly to improve animal welfare.

“Science and practical experience clearly demonstrate that this would lead to an even greater improvement in the welfare of many millions of chickens,” said Dr. Marc Cooper, senior scientist for the ASPCA.

Dr. Cooper said that many retailers are already buying more ethical food under the ASPCA’s Freedom Food Scheme, which details standards that are to be met during animal rearing, but more can be done.

According to the UK Vegetarian Society, skeletal disorders and heart failure are two common conditions that occur in fast growing chickens.

The structure of the bones of fast growing birds cannot keep pace with the growth of the muscle and fat, causing pain and making it difficult to move.

Heart failure is thought to occur because the high amounts of Oxygen needed to keep pace with their metabolism agitates the cardio-pulmonary system.

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Escape From The Slaughterhouse

Humans who score high in the game by Mikael Romlin would likely find themselves at a sanctuary if the tables were turned and people were factory farmed.

According to PETA’s blog, besides saving yourself, you’re also searching cages at various levels to set your friends free in The Escape From The Slaughterhouse.

Watch out for the butchers and the meat grinders along the way.

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Rugby star Keiron Cunningham has rubbed animal activists the wrong way after starring in a video killing a deer.

A gruesome picture of Keiron holding the animal he shot can be found at The Sun.

It didn’t help his image that during the show that aired on the Field Sports Channel website, Keiron exclaimed, “It’s ten times better than scoring at Wembley,” after killing the animal.

A spokesman for A League Against Cruel Sports said, “It is sad a respected sportsman uses his public profile to promote killing animals for sport. It is disturbing someone can get such enjoyment taking pot shots at wildlife.”

Keiron responded to criticism by professing his love for the “sport,” saying he grew up snaring rabbits and was “always shooting things,” and cited the high he got from doing so.

Even seemingly non animal rights commenters on the article at The Sun found this hard to swallow.

As one reader said, “To me it’s not about actually killing the deer it’s the fact that he’s glamourising it, i don’t really want to know that he get’s more pleasure out of killing an innocent animal than when he plays Rugby.”

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Jockey Liam Hollins The Favorite To Brutally Whip Horse To Kentucky Derby Win

The Kentucky Derby ends today, much to the relief of animal lovers everywhere that know many horses don’t make it through the race uninjured–or alive.

The Onion has provided a little satire to the situtation, as news anchors provide commentary on the champion “Horse beaters,” and the techniques they use to make horses race faster in a sport where “there are no rules.”

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The recent ad in the Chicago Tribune featuring Bea Arthur urging McDonald’s to adopt more humane slaughter practices is just one of the ways the famous Golden Girls stood up for animal rights.

Arthur, Betty White and Rue McClanahan had all recorded a commercial for an anti-fur ad in the past and White is an outspoken proponent of animals in shelters.

You may not have known about McClanahan’s involvement with a stray cat charity, Alley Cat Allies, as the actress partnered with the group to raise awareness for feral cats and Trap-Neuter-Return programs, according to the LA Times.

“Cats have always been a part of my life, ever since I was a little girl in Oklahoma,” McClanahan said of her work on behalf of Alley Cat Allies. “In fact, my most recent cat, Kate, was a stray that just showed up at my back door in Manhattan, walked right in and has been in charge ever since.”

To learn more about the work of Alley Cat Allies, visit the group’s website.

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Patrick Stump was interviewed by Treehugger at The Climate Rally where he gave his thoughts on the importance of Earth Day.

Stump explained that taking steps to protect the environment is often like other tasks people do in the sense that they wait until it’s an urgent matter instead of planning ahead for the worst.

“I almost feel like there’s going to take there being like 10 whales left before someone to go, ‘Oh, shit, we should stop killing whales’,” he said.

Watch the clip for more.

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Olivia Munn PETA

Olivia Munn has bared all to spread the message about captive animals in circuses, especially elephants in an anti circus ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

According to Ace Showbiz, the ad will be unveiled on a billboard on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles today, so be prepared for the slowed traffic, open mouths and binocular watching from men in that area.

The ad reads, “As nature intended, let animals be free. Boycott the circus.”

Peta2 has written a few facts about the circus and treatment of animals on its blog.

An interesting fact: Elephants are no sedentary creatures. They may walk as much as 30 miles a day!

However, as Peta2 points out, circuses chain these animals and cart them from city to city, forcing them into such a small space when they’re let out, it’s impossible to even strike a yoga pose.

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Mafia Wars

PETA has declared war on Mafia Wars for allowing players to use dogs and other animals to fight.

The animal rights group wrote a letter to Mark Pincus, founder and CEO of Zynga Game Network, asking him to remove this feature from the Mafia War’s Facebook game.

“”Bully breeds” like your beloved late American bulldog, Zinga, are also the breeds of choice for dogfighters and thugs who want a “macho” animal to intimidate others, guard their property, or make them money by winning fights. Every day, PETA staffers meet dogs who have been trapped for years at the end of heavy tractor-trailer chains with nothing but bare patches of dirt and plastic barrels for shelter. These dogs are usually full of heartworms, emaciated, and scarred all over. They are often physically abused and starved, sometimes to death, for losing in illegal dogfights or for being “bad guards” or “not mean enough.” The people who acquire them do so because they have been taught that having one of these dogs is “cool” and “tough,” but they have no idea about the care and feelings of the animal they have enslaved.”

“Will you please reconsider perpetuating the image of pit bulls and other animals as fighting machines in Mafia Wars and decide against sending a dangerous message that it’s somehow acceptable to force animals to fight, keep them chained, and deny them everything that is natural and important to them?”

The entire letter from PETA to Pincus can be found here.

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