Kategorie: Animals

The body count of the catastrophic wildfires that have plagued the western U.S. isn’t limited to humans—and while the deaths of wild and companion animals mostly go unreported, Oregon’s Jackson County is recognizing multiple species as victims. We asked Chief Deputy District Attorney Jeremy Markiewicz to give the animals who experienced terror and agonizing deaths in the Almeda fire the chance for some small measure of justice, and he came through.

Arson suspect in southern Oregon’s Almeda fire faces new charges over dead animals https://t.co/mHtfYfieFk pic.twitter.com/5b0EBDVdqM

— The Oregonian (@Oregonian) October 13, 2020

Michael Jarrod Bakkela was already facing arson, criminal mischief, and reckless endangerment charges related to a fire that he allegedly started in Phoenix, Oregon, which contributed to the devastating Almeda fire. After we contacted Markiewicz—urging him to charge Bakkela with violating Oregon’s animal protection laws—the accused arsonist was charged with eight misdemeanor counts of first-degree animal abuse, too.

© Jackson County Sheriff's Office

We have high praise for Markiewicz and the Jackson County DA’s Office for charging Bakkela with “unlawfully and recklessly and cruelly” causing the deaths of a sheep, a canary, a lamb, a goldfish, two chickens, and a raccoon.

Are You and Your Animal Companions Evacuation-Ready?

The Almeda fire is contained, but other wildfires continue to burn across the western U.S., threatening the lives of countless humans and their beloved animal companions. Click below for tips on keeping all your family members safe.

Will Your Animal Companions Be Protected in a Fire?

Don’t Just Prepare for Wildfires—Help Prevent Them

While we hope other authorities will take a page from the Jackson County DA’s Office’s book, we need you to take action, too. Scientists have established a link between climate change and the country’s intensifying wildfires, and a leading cause of climate change is animal agriculture—which means that using animals for food and clothing is partially to blame for exacerbating these fires (not to mention starting them). Making the simple switch from eating and wearing animal-derived foods and materials to living vegan is one of the most effective things you can do to fight climate change. So click below if you care about the planet and the future of its inhabitants.

Fight Climate Change With Diet Change

The post Almeda Fire: Suspected Oregon Arsonist Charged With Animal Abuse appeared first on PETA.

If you’re a cruelty-free skin-care fanatic, you might have tuned in to the micellar water craze. Micellar water is a multipurpose skin cleansing agent that can be used for all sorts of things, from removing makeup to toning the skin. It also has properties that can reduce inflammation. Just be sure to look for a vegan option. For some of these products, rabbits are still used in painful skin irritation tests—even though in addition to being cruel, these tests can be unreliable. Also, some micellar waters contain honey extract, which is stolen from honeybees.

Fortunately, there are plenty of cruelty-free micellar water options that will help you achieve supple, blemish-free skin without supporting companies that test their products on animals.

Pacifica Coconut Water Micellar Cleansing Tonic

The 100% vegan skin-care brand Pacifica makes this cleansing tonic for all skin types. This micellar water is fortified with calendula extract to soothe dry skin and reduce irritation the natural way.

Yes to Coconut Ultra Hydrating Micellar Cleansing Water

This cleaning water is essential for people who want an all-in-one vegan product that removes makeup and cleanses and moisturizes skin.

100% Pure Rose Micellar Cleansing Water

This cleansing water is perfect for rinsing away all the sweat, dirt, and oil that your skin collects during the day as well as makeup and sunscreen. You’ll have the perfect fresh canvas to start your skin-care routine.

Derma E Micellar Cleansing Water With Vitamin C

The completely vegan skin-care brand Derma E formulates its micellar water to cleanse and restore balance to the skin.

Dickinson’s Enhanced Witch Hazel Hydrating Facial Mist

This facial mist can be used to remove impurities, moisturize skin, and refine pores. You can even spray it over your makeup to set it in place.

Simple Kind to Skin Micellar Cleansing Water

This cruelty-free micellar cleansing water, made with triple-purified water, is packed with vitamins B₃ and C. This option is soothing for sensitive skin and doesn’t contain harsh chemicals or artificial scents.

NYX Stripped Off Micellar Water

The NYX Stripped Off Micellar Water is a must-have if you want to remove excess makeup without overdrying or damaging your skin.

Tarte Micellar Magic Makeup Remover & Cleanser

If your waterproof makeup just won’t budge, this makeup remover can be used to wash away long-lasting eye and lip products without irritating those sensitive areas. It’s formulated with babassu oil, a plant-based ingredient with anti-aging properties, so you can get a youthful glow even without using products that contain animal parts.

The Body Shop Chamomile Fresh Micellar Cleansing Water

Enriched with calming chamomile oil, this micellar water will cleanse your skin with ultra-soothing properties.

ACURE Brightening Micellar Water

This vegan micellar water contains anti-inflammatory probiotics and organic oils that promote a healthy, radiant glow.

REN Clean Skincare Rosa Centifolia 3-in-1 Cleansing Water

This vegan cleansing water can be used as a cleanser, makeup remover, and pore-refining toner. It’s like a one-stop shop for a smooth, blemish-free complexion!

Desert Essence Cucumber & Aloe Micellar Cleansing Facial Water

Formulated with Australian tea tree oil, cucumber, and aloe, this cleansing facial water reduces inflammation and redness while lifting away dirt.

SheaMoisture 100% Virgin Coconut Oil Daily Hydration Micellar Water

Made with organic coconut oil, this hydrating solution is rinse-free and will give you a fresh face in just one step.

TAAJ Himalaya Micellar Water

Made with natural Himalaya water, this micellar water sinks into the skin to help you achieve a purified, toned complexion.

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When buying a skin-care product, ask yourself this: If animals are potentially bleeding and suffering from ulcers, irritated eyes, and burning skin caused by harmful chemicals used in the process of making it, do you really want to put that on your own skin? NO! Your best bet is to choose brands that never test on animals by checking PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies database. Scientifically advanced animal-free testing methods are better for humans and the other animals we share our planet with.

For some other great skin-care tips and products, check out PETA’s ultimate guide to acne-free skin and our list of awesome vegan moisturizers.

The post Cruelty-Free Micellar Waters for a Clean Complexion appeared first on PETA.

On Thursday, PETA and co-plaintiff Delcianna Winders, an assistant clinical professor and animal law litigation clinic director at Lewis & Clark Law School, successfully settled their lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The first-of-its-kind suit was filed in 2018 after the USDA refused to comply with PETA’s and Winders’ Freedom of Information Act requests for records related to the USDA’s regulation of puppy mills, laboratories, roadside zoos, and other animal-exploiting enterprises, which the agency had scrubbed from its website in 2017 in what’s now known as the “USDA Blackout.” The settlement comes after the lawsuit prompted the USDA to provide the plaintiffs with the bulk of the requested records and after Congress ended the blackout in 2019. The agency also agreed to pay the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees.

“The USDA is rightfully picking up the tab for the lawsuit PETA shouldn’t have had to file to force the agency to hand over the public records that it illegally scrubbed from its website,” says PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel Caitlin Hawks. “PETA will continue to hold the USDA accountable for failing to protect animals abused in laboratories, roadside zoos, circuses, and puppy mills.”

In July of this year, PETA, Winders, and other co-plaintiffs successfully settled related lawsuits filed in 2017 and 2018 seeking to compel the USDA to restore the scrubbed records to its website. The USDA did so—and pledged to continue to provide the public with access to such records.

PETA—whose motto reads, “Animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way,” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—and its co-plaintiff were represented in their lawsuit by the public interest law firm Eubanks & Associates, PLLC. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post PETA Marks Victory in Third USDA FOIA Lawsuit appeared first on PETA.

Ned Kalin is an experimenter at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center (WNPRC). By his industry’s standards, he’s “good” at his job, which involves harming monkeys both psychologically and physically. He’s done it for 40 years, supported by tens of millions of our tax dollars.

Ned Kalin Uses Live Snakes to Torment Monkeys

Cornelius is a 10-year-old monkey held at WNPRC, and PETA’s undercover investigator met him earlier in 2020. Confined to a small cage, he was consistently slumped over, looking down, or leaning his head against the cage door. Each moment appeared to last an eternity for him. Thanks to Kalin, Cornelius’ spirit was entirely broken.

Kalin used Cornelius in a project called “Neural Circuitry of Emotion.” In this project (which used hundreds and perhaps thousands of monkeys), he cut into monkeys’ skulls, injected toxic agents into their brains, and then either suctioned out or burned portions of the tissue. He used infant monkeys as young as a week old in some experiments, while subjecting others to blood draws, painful cerebrospinal fluid draws, and skin biopsies.

The monkeys then endured a battery of cruel behavioral tests, including a fright test in which the animals are caged and tormented with things they find frightening. Experimenters often use rubber snakes for this, but not Kalin. He preferred live snakes, claiming that rubber snakes “do not elicit as reliable or robust fear response” from the monkeys.

Ned Kalin Records the Cries of Baby Monkeys

In one experiment, Kalin held rhesus monkeys in restraint chairs for 48 hours straight and collected their cerebrospinal fluid through a plastic tube. He has also separated infant monkeys from their mothers to record the babies’ “distress vocalizations.”

For those not fluent in euphemisms, “distress vocalizations” = screams and cries.

Monkeys Must Participate or Go Hungry

Kalin also straps monkeys into a restraint chair and then bombards them with sensory assaults—including sounds as loud as a chainsaw, dizzying arrays of light, and puffs of air spurted at their eyes—just to see what startles them.

If monkeys play along with his cruelty, they get to eat. If they don’t, “normal daily food rations will be gradually reduced,” he says.

Scare the Baby Monkeys and Watch Them Cry

In 1989, Kalin co-created the “human intruder test,” a test as callous as it is now ubiquitous among monkey tormentors. In it, infant monkeys are taken away from their mothers and put alone inside a cage in a testing room. A human “intruder” enters the room, stands in profile to the cage, and later makes direct eye contact—a gesture that monkeys consider threatening. The infants cry out in distress, try to escape, shake the cage, grimace in fear, or freeze in place.

Ned Kalin Is Part of a Cabal of Cruelty

Kalin’s experiments follow a well-worn path blazed for him by the infamous University of Wisconsin monkey tormenter Harry Harlow, whose experiments in emotional deprivation were so cruel that even his colleagues objected. Harlow is known as the driving force behind the “pit of despair,” a dark metal box designed to isolate monkeys from everything in the outside world, and the “rape rack,” which was used to restrain and impregnate female monkeys.

Kalin’s experiments build on Harlow’s work. In one experiment, he subjected 40 monkeys to tests “intended to provoke and measure anxious behavior” for a full year and then killed them.

Kalin is also pals with Elisabeth Murray, also a maven of monkey terror. Murray advised him on the best way to cut into monkeys’ skulls, a skill that he clearly appreciates. He thanked her publicly for this in a 2010 paper.

Tax Dollars Doled Out Despite Objections to Kalin’s Cruelty

Since 1985, Kalin has received more than $44 million in taxpayer money, doled out by the National Institutes of Health to continue experiments that make even his colleagues uncomfortable. “There are other things that have been done that are worse, but that’s not a justification for saying that this isn’t really really bad,” said Rob Streiffer, one of Kalin’s colleagues at UW, to WisconsinWatch. We couldn’t agree more.

What You Can Do

Thousands of compassionate people have already joined PETA in calling for an end to Kalin’s horrific experiments on animals. You can join them. Sending a message takes less than a minute—what are you waiting for?

Take Action for Monkeys Now

The post The Depraved Career of Ned Kalin, Monkey Tormenter appeared first on PETA.

Adding a self-care beauty routine can help you kick-start your day as you work from home, but as we make changes to our daily schedules, we should all know that animals don’t deserve to suffer at the hands of the cosmetics industry. Rabbits are gentle, sensitive animals who aren’t ours to exploit for our beauty products, and there are now thousands of vegan makeup and skin-care brands to choose from.

If your schedule is packed to the brim with Zoom meetings, or if you just want to look good for yourself, here’s a beauty routine with vegan products from companies that don’t test on animals. It will help you take on your work-from-home schedule with confidence.

Bliss Makeup Melt Dry/Wet Gentle Jelly Cleanser and Clear Genius Clarifying Gel Cleanser

Before applying makeup, start with a fresh canvas, using Bliss vegan skin-care essentials. For normal to sensitive skin, the brand’s Makeup Melt Dry/Wet Gentle Jelly Cleanser and Clear Genius Clarifying Gel Cleanser are a great duo to wash off last night’s bad (or good) decisions and remove any excess dirt or oil from the skin. The gentle formulas don’t use snail-derived products, so you can start your routine free from mucus, feces, and cruelty.

SKIN&CO Roma Truffle Therapy Essential Face Toner

The right toner can provide your skin with wonderful benefits, and this Truffle Therapy Essential Face Toner is a necessary addition to your morning routine. It removes dead skin cells, unclogs pores, and refreshes the skin so that your makeup will layer on nice and smooth.

Pacifica Vegan Collagen Every Day Lotion SPF 30 and Vegan Collagen Complex Serum

The new Pacifica collagen line is 100% vegan, so you can achieve a youthful glow without using collagen products made from bovine tissue. If you want a simple, one-step product, the Every Day Lotion is hydrating and lightweight. If your skin needs a little extra TLC, the Complex Serum will leave your face feeling extra soft and supple.

e.l.f. Poreless Face Primer

Who said beauty products have to break the bank? The e.l.f. Poreless Face Primer costs only $6, but the feeling of having a makeup look that doesn’t smudge or use any animal products is priceless.

PHB Ethical Beauty Tinted Moisturiser

Odds are that a lighter foundation is better for those of us who don’t have time to do full glam in the morning. The PHB Ethical Beauty Tinted Moisturiser will instantly smooth out imperfections and even out your skin tone without looking cakey or heavy. As a bonus, PHB Ethical Beauty is as dedicated to protecting animals as it is to making you look great!

tarte Aquacealer Concealer and Shape Tape Contour Concealer

For a natural finish with long-lasting coverage, the tarte Aquacealer Concealer is perfect for highlighting and brightening. This is definitely a light coverage option, so for a more dramatic look, pick up the Shape Tape Contour Concealer. Both are totally vegan and totally flawless.

FLOWER Beauty Blush Bomb Color Drops

Blush Bomb Color Drops are a makeup must-have from Drew Barrymore’s cruelty-free cosmetics line, FLOWER Beauty. This versatile formula, which doesn’t include carmine extracted from dead bugs, can be used on the cheeks, lips, and eyes to give you a radiant pop of color.

e.l.f. Cream Contour Palette

If you want to look snatched for your next big meeting, the e.l.f. Cream Contour Palette is your new best friend. With a selection of shades that will suit your contouring needs, you’ll have the vegan-powered confidence to take on anything.

BH Cosmetics Nouveau Neutrals

The BH Cosmetics Nouveau Neutrals eyeshadow palette is perfect for everyday wear. It allows you to go for a soft, edgy, or fun look while showing compassion for animals.

NYX Professional Makeup Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Setting Powder

Even at home, makeup can be prone to fading throughout the day, so lock it in with NYX’s vegan Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Setting Powder.

NYX Professional Makeup On the Rise Volume Liftscara

The NYX On the Rise Volume Liftscara will give your lashes a voluminous lift to make your makeup look flawless and complete. This formula doesn’t use beeswax, so you can look amazing without harming bees.

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For a comprehensive list of vegan and animal test–free cosmetics companies, visit PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies database. Tag @PETA on Twitter with your favorite work-from-home vegan beauty tips, and download some of PETA’s Zoom backgrounds to add an animal rights theme to your daily meetings!

The post PETA’s Guide to Cruelty-Free Beauty on a Work-From-Home Schedule appeared first on PETA.