Animal Rights

How Undercover Animal Rights Activists are Winning the Ag-Gag War

18,400 Rodents and 600 Reptiles Put Down After Activists Force Inspection of OC Exotic Pet Company's Filthy Breeding Facility

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is boasting about the role of animal activists in uncovering cruel conditions at a Rancho Santa Margarita exotic pet company's Lake Elsinore breeding facility, where a city inspection ended with more than 18,400 rodents and about 600 reptiles (mostl ... More >>

Dina Kourda's Latest Animal Rights Campaign Sure is Fishy

Dina Kourda has turned up on this site extolling the virtues of a plant-free diet, warning of the negative environmental consequences of factory farming and damning a local restaurant that served foie gras. But the latest campaign by the board member of Orange County People for Animals, the Animal P ... More >>

Animal Rights Group Claims Victory in Getting Newport-Mesa Schools to End Dissections

Newport-Mesa Unified School District's Board of Education president sent the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) a message Thursday revealing all its schools will end animal dissections, according to the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit anti-vivisection group. The district ... More >>

Lorri Galloway, Anaheim Councilwoman, Seeks Exotic Animal Ban; Ringling Bros. Pushes Back

Most serious discussions emanating from the Anaheim City Council chambers of late involve bulls on parade, but Councilwoman Lorri Galloway carved out some time Tuesday night to talk about elephants on parade, calling for a city ordinance to ban the use of exotic animals within city limits. Though br ... More >>

Animal Liberation Campaign Against Brea Medical Supply Company Turns Uglier

A 13-year war between a U.K.-based cosmetics company and militant animal rights activists has spilled over to a Brea medical supplier and the Orange County homes of its employees.The latest flare-up was Sunday evening in Yorba Linda, where a female executive found her backyard pool water dyed red an ... More >>

[UPDATED: Company Decides Not To Sell in China] Urban Decay, 'Cruelty-Free' Makeup Brand, May Allow Products To Be Tested on Animals

See update at the end of this post. Click here for the original post and comments.ORIGINAL POST, JUNE 22, 3:33 P.M.: For years, products from Urban Decay have been stamped with the same tagline: "We don't do animal testing. How could anyone?" How could anyone? Turns out, easily when there ... More >>

[UPDATED with PETA Virtual Dissection Bid:] Anti-Vivisection Group Demands Facebook Remove Harbor High Students' Dead Cat Photos

See update at end of this post about People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) offering to donate "virtual dissection equipment" to Newport-Mesa schools.ORIGINAL POST, JULY 3, 2:15 P.M.: The nonprofit pressuring Newport-Mesa Unified School District officials to intervene to stop Newport Har ... More >>

Newport Beach-based Urban Decay, 'Cruelty-Free' Makeup Brand, May Now Allow Products To Be Tested on Animals

For years, products from Urban Decay have been stamped with the same tagline: "We don't do animal testing. How could anyone?" How could anyone? Turns out, easily when there are dollar signs involved. The Newport Beach-based makeup company, which long prided itself on its "cruelty-free" sta ... More >>

Lush Stores Want to Wash Away Animal Testing

It's not unusual in this day and age to see people demonstrating outside a store over some perceived injustice. Often this can involve the mistreatment of animals, especially if the merchant is selling them as a meal or clothing made of from their fur or products that involved animal testing. Lush a ... More >>

Orange County Fair Elephant Ride is Over

​The Orange County Fair Board, facing a crowd of more than 100 that included many animal advocates today, voted to end elephant rides.The news was cheered by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which has sought bans on performing pachyderms around the country, and disdained by Have ... More >>

PETA Loses Whale of a Slave Suit But Still Crows

​A federal judge Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) that argued five orcas should be freed from SeaWorld under the anti-slavery 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.Judge Jeffrey Miller of the U.S. District Court in San Diego reasoned in ... More >>

Santa Ana Zoo Ends Elephant Ride

​Today's city of Santa Ana announcement that it is ending elephant rides at Santa Ana Zoo was cheered by animal rights activists. "Following more than a year of pressure from PETA, the Animal Protection and Rescue League, Animal Defenders International (ADI), and celebrities including Charo and ... More >>

Original Russo's Pet Experience Now Targeted by Puppy Mill Foes

​Animal rights groups claiming Russo's Pet Experience sells puppies raised in mills managed to pressure the Irvine Co. to end the pet store's lease at one Irvine shopping center and the Irvine City Council to ban such retailers outright.Now, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and t ... More >>

Ringling Bros. Pays $270k Fine Over Animal Care--and Disagrees with PETA About It

Photo by Keith May/OC Weekly​We explored in August the Rashomon reactions of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus to an adult elephant hitting the ground while being loaded into a boxcar in Anaheim, with PETA claiming a sick Sarah collapsed ... More >>

PETA Seeks to Stop Kangaroo Boxing at Costa Mesa Circus

​People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) today lodged an "urgent" complaint with the California Department of Fish and Game in a bid to stop kangaroo boxing in Costa Mesa this weekend, the animal rights group announced.Nancy Foley, Fish and Game's Law Enforcement Division chief, is aske ... More >>

Omaima Aree Nelson Parole Condition Sought by PETA

​People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has written a letter to the warden of Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla asking that a condition be part of Omaima Aree Nelson's parole, should the state board grant the model-turned-cannibal wife's request today.  See if you ... More >>

PETA Chides Ringling Bros. for Federal Inspection of Tiger Hurt in Anaheim and Ill Elephant in LA

​Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was cited for "serious violations" of the federal Animal Welfare Act during this summer's engagements at the Honda Center in Anaheim and Staples Center in Los Angeles, an animal rights group charges.A U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection report ... More >>

Elephant on Ground Near Boxcar Brings Rashomon Explanations from Ringling Bros. and PETA

​People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) claims that a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus elephant collapsed while being loaded into a rail boxcar in Anaheim following Sunday night's finale at the Honda Center.Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait has been sent a letter from PETA "urging h ... More >>

[UPDATED with PETA Response:] Ringling Bros. Says It'll Put Its Protection of Elephants Up Against PETA's Efforts Any Time

Photo by Keith May/OC Weekly​UPDATE, JULY 27, 1:53 P.M.: Call this the battle of the dueling spokespeople: Amanda Schinke of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) today emailed the Weekly a letter responding to comments made in the original post (after the jump) by Trudy Williams of F ... More >>

[UPDATED with TV Star's Plea to End Santa Ana Zoo Rides:] OC Fair Begins and So Does Elephant Protest

​UPDATE, JULY 19, 7:29 A.M.: Constance Marie played Angie Lopez on ABC's George Lopez sitcom, and she's now Regina Vasquez on ABC Family's Switched at Birth.She's using her celebrity to issue this plea to Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido: Fire Have Trunk Will Travel as the elephant ride contractor at ... More >>

[UPDATED with Lawsuit:] Santa Ana Zoo Urged to Cut Ties with Elephant Ride Contractor in Wake of Abuse Alleged in Video

​UPDATE, JUNE 27, 10:40 A.M.: A Los Angeles-based animal rights group today announced the filing of a lawsuit against the contractor who runs the elephant rides at the Santa Ana Zoo.However, the suit does not concern the ride operations that have been blasted by advocates for animals but Perris-ba ... More >>

Online Petition Drive Targets Santa Ana Zoo Elephant Rides

Laura Goldman, who lives in Los Angeles, read an LA Times article last November about the Santa Ana Zoo's elephant rides, which have been blasted by animal-rights activists and defended by city officials."I thought it was bizarre that a zoo would offer elephant rides," Goldman tells me of her reacti ... More >>

Santa Ana Zoo Urged to Cut Ties with Elephant Ride Contractor in Wake of Abuse Alleged in Video

Jay Brockman/OC Weekly​An animal rights group is urging the city of Santa Ana to break ties with the supplier of elephants for a Santa Ana Zoo ride after allegations the same company abused a mammal that appears in the recent film Water for Elephants starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson ... More >>

Seabirds Truck Honored by PETA

​OCMetro reports that the Seabirds Truck has been honored by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) as one of the five most animal-friendly food truck in the nation. In a rare collision of PETA and good taste, they have chosen Seabirds for vegan cuisine that actually tastes good.In my ... More >>

Mission Viejo Shelter Dogged by Controversy

​A former Mission Viejo Animal Services Center volunteer dropped a bombshell this week."We are instructed to lie . . .," Dianne Doyle wrote in letters to the media and the city councils of Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel and Aliso Viejo, which contract the center for shelter services.After three year ... More >>

Charo to Papi Pulido: Stop Santa Ana Zoo Elephant Rides

Charo--you know, of "coochie-coochie" fame--has sent a letter to Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido urging him to stop elephant rides at the city-operated Santa Ana Zoo."Ay-yi-yi yeem whiting tu jew tu bane ..."Okay, that thick Spanish accent ain't working for me either. Let's drop it, shall we?

[CORRECTION:] Santa Ana Zoo Defends Elephant Rides as County and Animal Rights Groups Seethe

​CORRECTION: Residents cannot get into Santa Ana Zoo free this weekend, that promotion was last weekend. We regret the error. If you happen to pass by the elephants at Santa Ana Zoo, you might want to think twice before going on a ride.That's because the County of Orange has a rule: Don't touch th ... More >>

PHOTOS: PETA Combats Ringling Bros. Circus Cruelty With Near-Naked Redhead

Christopher Victorio​Another year, another Ringling Bros. stop in Anaheim, another PETA protest. Today's protest took place at the southeast corner of S. Lemon St. and W. Center St. Promenade. And how did they protest, you ask? With an almost naked, chained redhead, of course!

Another Nekkid PETA Lady Precedes the Ringling Bros. Circus Arrival in Anaheim

​A year ago, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey announced its July 2009 show in Anaheim, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals announced its pre-circus protest featuring a nude woman in a cage, and Ringling and PETA went on to hold their respective elephant-parade/caged-babe pre-show spe ... More >>

Octomom Goes Through With PETA Stunt

Photo by Christopher VictorioA desperate attempt to generate publicity about a social ill and a PETA poster.​As promised, Octomom Nadya Suleman today unveiled an ironic poster from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) outside her La Habra home.In exchange for serving as the butt ... More >>

The Humane Society and Big Agriculture Slug It Out Over Animal Rights

Behold Animal Liberation, Veneration at Long Beach State, Chapman University

Animal Liberation Front​Animals: They're so hot right now.Mere days before the start of "World Week for Animals in Laboratories," Cease Animal Torture (CAT) kicks off its second annual four-day conference at Cal State Long Beach Thursday, while Interreligious Voices for Animal Compassion (IVAC) pr ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Now PETA Offers to Bail Out Octomom

UPDATE: PETA and Nadya Suleman make a deal. ​A day after a porn king offered to bail Nadya Suleman out of foreclosure of her La Habra home, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has sent Octomom a letter stating PETA will assist her financially. And she doesn't even have to appear in an adul ... More >>

Should Animal Abusers Have to Register Like Sex Offenders?

​Megan's Law, meet Fido's Revenge.A bill winding through the California Senate would, if passed, place convicted animal abusers on an online registry, just like sex offenders, complete with home addresses and places of employment.

PETA-Ringling Bros. Elephant Spat Gets Curiouser (Plus Bonus Nude PETA Spokesmodel Flap)

Photo by Keith MayVegan Mel spreads the word.​When Clockwork reported in June that Melissa "Vegan Mel" Sehgal confined her nude painted body to a cage to demonstrate against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus' treatment of elephants and other animals as the circus prepared to come to An ... More >>

Dishney: PETA Recommends Animal Sanctuaries Over Disneyland

In yet another effort to make both meat eaters and vegetarians further dislike them, Ingrid Newkirk, president and co-founder of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), has issued an open letter to President Obama via the Huffington Post, pleading for him to send the traditional Than ... More >>

Activists Hopping Mad at Brookstone Hawking African Dwarf Frogs

Brookstone.comSticker shock, at your local Brookstone retailer.​Local animal activists have joined a national campaign blasting gadgets store Brookstone, Inc., which has five Orange County locations, for selling a most unusual gift: the "Frog-O-Sphere Ecosystem" with two live African dwarf frogs.S ... More >>

Consumer Group Lashes Out at "Fringe" PETA's Camp Pendleton Protest

​People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is a "fringe group" that is hypocritical about euthanizing animals, charges a Washington, D.C.-based consumer group that also denounced today's PETA protest against Camp Pendleton's use of live pigs in medical training for troops.The Center for Consumer ... More >>

One Good Ringling Bros. Demonstration Deserves Another

Courtesy of ElephantCenter.comA Ringling Bros. elephant performer gets a washing.When Melissa "Vegan Mel" Sehgal of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) carried out her nude and caged protest against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus late last month in Anaheim, a representa ... More >>

Can "PETA Girls Gone Wild" DVDs Be Far Behind?

Courtesy of Vegan Mel's MySpace pagePETA's Melissa Sehgal (right), who also goes by "Vegan Mel," demonstrates against McDonalds.Melissa Sehgal, who vows to strip down to a nude body painted like a tiger and confine herself to a cage with a banner above reading, "Wild Animals Don't Belong Behind Bars ... More >>

Vegan Mel Carries Out Her Nude Protest

Photo by Keith MayHear Vegan Mel roar!You were told this morning about the vow made by Melissa Sehgal, who also goes by Vegan Mel, to sit in a cage in Anaheim while her nude body was painted like a tiger. If you point your eyes in that direction, you can still make out the smoke trail produced when ... More >>

Bubble Burstin'

One thing in life is certain: kids friggin' love bubbles. Another slightly less certain fact: They also tend to enjoy elephants. This prompted 15-time Guinness World Record holding bubble craftsman Fan Yang to attempt to puncture yet another world bubble record by placing one of the world's largest ... More >>

Beasts of Burnin'

An outlaw animal-rights group targets a local bank branch in its war on animal testing

Roll Over And PlayOh, You Already Are

Ex-volunteers claim no-kill shelter routinely slaughters pets

Letters

How to Stuff a Lettuce Bikini

To the Costa Mesa thugs who used to beat up Dan Mathews: The fat gay punk kid grew up to save lives and jet set with Pam Anderson. Howzabout you?

Electric Horsemen

Is a rodeo mafia covering up evidence of animal abuse in California?

Pet Hell

Somebody please put the county's animal shelter out of its misery