For Immediate Release:
February 2, 2007

Contact:
Noah Cooper 757-622-7382

Chicago
-- When 14-year-old Blake Wilson learned that the Ringling Bros. and
Barnum & Bailey Circus was about to set up shop in Chicago last
November, he decided to do everything he could to expose the circus’s
notoriously cruel treatment of animals. With some help from peta2, the
world’s largest youth animal rights organization, the Hinsdale Central
High ninth-grader led a protest attended by nearly 50 people. His
efforts didn’t go unnoticed. Nickelodeon got wind of Blake’s
extraordinary efforts in behalf of animals and spent a day filming him.
Blake will be featured on a Nick News special called "Rebels With a Cause" at 7:30 p.m. CST on Sunday, February 4.

Blake
has fought hard to expose the way that circuses like Ringling Bros. use
steel-tipped bullhooks, sticks, and whips in order to force elephants,
big cats, and other animals to perform demeaning and confusing tricks.
He also knows that everyday lifestyle choices affect animals in
profound ways, which is why he made the decision to go vegetarian. As
cofounder and president of his school’s animal rights group, Humans Out
Promoting Empathy, he and his friends have worked with the school’s
food committee to help make the cafeteria more vegan-friendly. They
also recently held a vegan bake sale and donated all proceeds to a
local humane society.

"I think it’s important to stand up
for what you believe in, especially if it will help stop suffering,"
says Blake. "I’ve already been able to convince some kids at school
that cruelty to animals isn’t cool and that eating meat is bad for them
and bad for animals."

For more information, please visit peta2.com.