In Defense of Animals has joined forces with world-renowned animal advocate and comedian Ricky Gervais to educate shoppers about the true cost of fur and to encourage major retailers to ban fur sales for Fur Free Friday on November 27th.

In Defense of Animals has been fighting against the fur trade since the 80’s, and helped create the longest-running animal protection demonstration in the world. Fur Free Friday events take place every year on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year. Animal advocates come together to help educate the public about the fur industry and the animals it harms in the wild and on fur farms. This important campaign calls for an end to the cruelty inherent in the fur industry.

This year, due to COVID-19 concerns and restrictions, In Defense of Animals has coordinated a virtual Fur Free Friday event with the help of comedian and animal

The inadequate, haphazard oversight by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) of the treatment of chickens and turkeys at slaughterhouses has resulted in the widespread mistreatment and suffering of birds at some of the nation’s largest plants, with no real consequences for the meat companies, according to new research released on Friday by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI).

AWI’s report reviews USDA inspection records from 2017 through 2019 at approximately 300 federally inspected turkey and chicken slaughter plants, which kill the vast majority of the 9.6 billion birds butchered every year for their meat.

The USDA has gradually increased the number of handling records issued for noncompliance with ‘good commercial practices’ (GCP) at chicken and turkey slaughter plants over the past 14 years. However, during the recent three-year period, inspectors took action to stop the abuse of birds in only 14% of the documented incidents.

Although the slaughter of

In a collaboration between government authorities, the scientific sector, local communities, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), a juvenile jaguar has been successfully released back into the wild after being critically injured following a vehicle strike near Chetumal, Mexico, on June 11th.

The injured jaguar was transferred to the Payo Obispo Zoo to begin the rehabilitation process where he was monitored and cared for by an extensive multi-disciplinary team that later named him ‘Covi.’

Upon examination, it was discovered that Covi, estimated to be approximately 18 months old, had sustained a fracture to his left shoulder blade and additional lacerations to his body. Though his prognosis was still good, critical to Covi’s recovery was the team’s ability to monitor and care for him (following the fracture) with minimal human interaction, made possible by a network of cameras and the use of spacious enclosures to promote more natural behavior.

A tiny saw-whet owl is now recovering at the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in New York after being found in the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. 

It all started when a 75-foot Norway spruce was cut down on Thursday in Oneonta, New York, for Rockefeller Center’s Christmas display. It was then when a worker for the company that helped transport the tree, noticed the small owl.

According to a post on Ravensbeard Wildlife Center’s Facebook page, the worker’s wife had contacted them asking if they took in owls for rehabilitation, thankfully they did.

After the tiny owl, who has now been named Rockefeller, was turned over to the wildlife center, they immediately performed a health check. Despite his 170-mile journey, he appeared to be in good health.

“We’ve given him fluids and are feeding him all the mice he will eat. It had been three days since he ate or drank anything.

Photo from California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Warden Piedra

An example of compassion, inclusiveness, and the power that each person has to make a positive difference in the world occurred over the past several months when a community united to save the life of an adult male deer in peril, in Glendale, California.

WAN had the opportunity to speak with many of the individuals in the community who worked together to help free the buck whose antlers were tangled in a life-threatening combination of discarded heavy-duty construction wire and mesh.

The harrowing situation began to unfold in late September when Glendale residents Aren Youssefians and Alex Hill spotted the deer on their ring camera with what they believed to be chicken wire wrapped around his antlers. Worried for the deer’s safety, they shared a single post on a neighborhood app, which turned into a thread of hundreds of people

PETA has uncovered South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s hidden connections to, and investments in, the trophy hunting industry. The revelations came after the group released video footage of an American tourist who ineptly shot and killed a young elephant on a nature reserve adjacent to Kruger National Park.

PETA’s recordings of Ramaphosa’s managers reveal that he is quietly developing and expanding a trophy hunting property called Diepdrift and stocking it with animals from his personal wildlife-breeding operation, Phala Phala. He also owns a 50% stake in Tsala Hunting Safaris.

The group recorded conversations in which Ramaphosa’s

Peace 4 Animals, World Animal News (WAN), and Farm Sanctuary are once again encouraging people to make the compassionate choice for the holidays by adopting a turkey rather than eating one for Thanksgiving dinner.

“We began the ‘Save A Life This Thanksgiving, Adopt A Turkey’ billboard campaign after realizing that something needed to be done to raise awareness about the estimated 46 million turkeys who are killed in the United States for Thanksgiving alone each year,” said Katie Cleary, Founder and President of Peace 4 Animals and World Animal News. “Taking action to save the lives of animals is the most important thing that we can do to create positive change for ourselves, our planet, and of course, for the animals. This campaign, in partnership with Farm Sanctuary, sends a clear message to choose compassion on your plate and change the way we’re conditioned to think about farm

The Orangutan Project, an organization focused on securing the survival of orangutans and other Critically Endangered species, along with key Indonesian partners, have been working for more than three years to secure a vitally important rainforest area within a 712,000 acre ecosystem in Borneo.

The rainforest is lowland and riverine, making it prime habitat for Critically Endangered Bornean orangutans.

The proposed newly protected concession will be an important part of The Orangutan Project’s goal to help secure the survival of Bornean orangutans.

It will enable them to support the safe release of rescued and rehabilitated orangutans, all victims of Borneo’s mass deforestation issue, as well as help to establish an “insurance population” for the now Critically Endangered species.

“Even before the COVID-19 crisis led to a spike in deforestation, Bornean orangutans were facing disaster,” said Leif Cocks, Founder and President of The Orangutan Project in a statement.

Today, Beyond Meat announced the next step forward in cutting-edge innovation with the unveiling of two new versions of the Beyond Burger which are expected to launch nationwide in early 2021.

A trifecta of taste, health, and sustainability, the new iterations are designed to meet consumers’ growing demand for plant-based proteins that deliver on both taste and nutrition, while featuring an enhanced meaty flavor with an even better nutritional profile.

Similar to the range of nutritional options of beef currently available in the marketplace, the two versions are designed to offer more choice for consumers. The new Beyond Burgers will include the brand’s juiciest patty for the meatiest burger experience even as it delivers strong nutritional gains relative to 80/20 beef with 35% less saturated fat, as well as its most nutritious patty yet with 55% less saturated fat than 80/20 beef. Both new burgers will boast the same savory