People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals

Love and marriage, for Kelly Respess, are better suited to a horseless carriage -- specifically, the antique Ford that delivered her to her wedding on a busy Central Park corner. It was a small but eye-catching salvo in the long-running war between animal rights activists such as Respess and her groom, Paul Kercheval, and the horse-drawn carriages that are as much a fixture in Central Park as rats are in subway tunnels. If the Kerchevals have their way, a fleet of electric cars made to resemble vintage automobiles will replace the hansom cabs -- retaining, the couple says, Central Park's old-world flavor while relieving the beasts of their burden and being kind to the environment.

It could be a bad sign for Hollywood meat-eaters. Leaders of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said Thursday that they hope to rent the 1,821-foot Cahuenga Peak next to the Hollywood sign to promote "healthy eating and compassion for animals." PETA officials said they want to erect a large sign of their own to the west of the famed landmark that would spell out "Go Veg" in 45-foot-high letters.

An animal rights organization is urging the Orange County district attorney's office to "vigorously" prosecute a man who took a video of himself abusing rabbits and a dog, then posted it on MySpace, calling his behavior "extremely severe." Joseph Anthony Deiss, 19, of Yorba Linda was charged last week with three counts of animal cruelty and three charges of animal abuse by a caretaker after allegedly throwing a pug and two rabbits 15 to 30 feet in the air and allowing them to hit the ground.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals suggests world-famous Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream should tap nursing moms, rather than cows, for the milk used in its ice cream. PETA said that if the ice cream maker begins using breast milk in its products instead of cow's milk, it would reduce the suffering of cows and calves and give ice cream lovers a healthier product.

Quoting the pope and Roman Catholic teachings, the nation's largest animal-rights group has accused a Trappist monastery in South Carolina of raising hens for its egg business in an inhumane manner. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA -- which secretly videotaped the hens -- demanded Wednesday that the state attorney general and agricultural officials investigate Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner, S.C.

Animal-rights activists are hoping to send a familiar message to Nike, urging the shoe giant to cut ties with Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick: Just do it. Calling for a "week of action" in response to the allegations of Vick's involvement in illegal dogfighting, representatives from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals plan to picket Niketown stores next week.

An animal rights group criticized a children's program on a Hamas television station in which a man swings cats by their tails and throws stones at zoo lions to teach children not to abuse animals. The segment on "Tomorrow's Pioneers" carries a warning that children should not imitate the behavior. "But it is common knowledge that children will mimic the behavior they see," said Martin Mersereau, spokesman for Norfolk, Va.-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Got a problem with milk? Better not rip off the industry's well-known marketing slogan to express it. Milk processors are demanding that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals end a publicity campaign that asks, "Got pus? Milk does." PETA, which advocates a dairy-free diet, has plastered the slogan on T-shirts, mugs and other merchandise to draw attention to what it says are dangerous levels of somatic cells -- pus -- in much of the milk sold in this country.

A monastery will halt its egg farming after claims by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that the Trappist monks mistreated hens. Father Stan Gumula of Mepkin Abbey said in a statement Wednesday that pressure from PETA had made it difficult for the monks to live a quiet life of prayer, work and sacred reading. He said the monks were sad to give up "a hard and honorable work of which they are proud." The monks admitted no wrongdoing, and a spokeswoman declined to elaborate.

An animal rights organization is urging the Orange County district attorney's office to "vigorously" prosecute a man who allegedly took a video of himself abusing rabbits and a dog, then posted it on MySpace.com, calling his behavior "extremely severe." Joseph Anthony Deiss, 19, of Yorba Linda was charged last week with three counts of animal cruelty and three counts of animal abuse by a caretaker after allegedly throwing a pug and two rabbits 15 to 30 feet in the air and allowing them to hit the ground.