PETA entities work ’round the clock to end animal suffering. Wherever animals are in need, PETA is there, giving a strong voice to those who can’t speak for themselves—a voice for the billions of chickens trapped on factory farms, a voice for the mice and rats tortured in labs and unprotected by even a single federal law, a voice for the millions of chinchillas who live in misery and suffer horrific deaths, a voice for baby elephants stolen from their mothers and beaten to perform, and a voice for “backyard dogs,” sentenced to life outdoors at the end of a chain, forgotten and alone. PETA sees the forest and the trees, and works wherever it can to eliminate suffering.

Major Retailers Crush Angora Business

Following talks with PETA and a groundbreaking exposé by PETA Asia revealing that workers on angora farms violently rip the fur out of live rabbits’ skin, Inditex, the world’s largest clothing retailer, agreed to ban angora wool products permanently and donated its remaining stock to Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Retailers French Connection and Le Château also joined the more than 90 other top brands and retailers that have banned angora wool, and the industry is reportedly devastated.

University of Wisconsin–Madison Closes Cat Laboratory

Following an intensive PETA campaign to end cruel experiments on cats at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the laboratory was shut down. For two decades, experimenters drilled holes into cats’ skulls, screwed metal restraint posts into their heads and implanted steel coils in their eyes. After PETA filed complaints, the government investigated the laboratory and even took the rare step of suspending the experiments for six months. The embattled laboratory has now closed its doors, and the remaining cats have been adopted.

‘Pig Prison’ Gets the Ax

After a campaign that included more than 35,000 objections from supporters of PETA U.K., along with protests from other animal-protection organizations, Midland Pig Producers withdrew its application to build a factory pig farm in Foston, Derbyshire. The proposed facility would have kept 25,000 pigs at a time inside filthy, crowded sheds before finally loading them onto trucks for transport to a slaughterhouse at a rate of 1,000 per week.

Baseball Stadium Strikes Out Linda Bean’s Maine Lobster

Hadlock Field, home of the Portland Sea Dogs, will not offer lobster from Linda Bean’s Maine Lobster in its concession stands after learning about a PETA investigation that showed lobsters and crabs who were writhing in pain after being mutilated at one of the lobster company’s slaughterhouses.

Britain Bans Household Product Tests on Animals

After intensive campaigning by PETA U.K., its supporters, and other caring people, the British government banned tests on animals for finished household products. However, animals may still die in cruel, painful tests for certain ingredients used in detergent, air fresheners, and other household products in the U.K. If you’re a U.K. reader, please visit PETA.org.uk to sign a petition urging the government to ban tests on animals for household product ingredients, too.

Denny’s, General Mills, and Dannon Oppose Cow Mutilations

After learning from PETA that calves and cows on dairy farms have their horns gouged out with metal scoops or have their horn tissue burned out of their heads, international restaurant chain Denny’s and food giants Dannon and General Mills came out in support of polled, or naturally hornless, cattle—an important move that paves the way for the elimination of this cruel mutilation from their supply chains.

Paris Hotel’s New Animal-Friendly Policies

The iconic Hôtel Plaza Athénée in Paris has banned the use of wild animals at events held on its premises. PETA France fired off a letter to the five-star hotel after seeing distressing images of a chained bear used as a prop at a New Year’s Eve party there. After learning that captive bears and other wild animals in the entertainment industry are denied everything that is natural and important to them, the hotel—famously featured in the final season of HBO’s hit TV show Sex and the City—instituted an immediate ban. The hotel responded to PETA France, saying, “Thank you for making us more sensitive to animal suffering.” Its restaurant has also stopped serving foie gras and many other inhumane foods, focusing instead on vegan and vegetarian meals.

IKEA Rolls Out Vegan Meatballs

As demand for delicious, convenient vegan food skyrockets, top furniture retailer IKEA is offering a vegan twist on its classic Swedish meatballs. The move came after IKEA worked with PETA for three years and received petitions from PETA supporters worldwide asking for vegan options.

Photo credit: Pig photo by Randi Fair