French fatality, still under investigation, echoes & contrasts with U.S. cases BEAUVAIS, OISE, France; CLEARCREEK TOWNSHIP, Ohio; PORTSMOUTH, Virginia; ASHEVILLE, North Carolina––Curtis, the pit bull suspected of killing Elisa Pilarski in the Retz Forest near Soissons, France, on … [Read More...]
Calf massacre looms in Ireland: dairy sales up, beef sales drop
"Every sperm is sacred," as are profits, but calf welfare is not DUBLIN, Ireland––Irish dairy farmers, having bred an expected 800,000 more bull calves to be born in spring 2020 than they can profitably sell in a contracting global beef market, may resort to shooting hundreds of thousands at … [Read More...]
“Joe Exotic” tried to kill me: Carole Baskin tells her own story
by Carole Baskin, founder, Big Cat Rescue In "Joe Exotic" gets 22 years in a cage for murder plot, reporting how Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, also known as Joe Exotic and formerly known as Joseph Schreibvogel, age 57, came to be serving a possible life sentence in federal prison for … [Read More...]
Feds crack door to banning pit bulls from airliners
But rulemakers lean the other way. Pit bull advocates celebrate "victory" while the fight has just begun. WASHINGTON D.C.––U.S. federal Department of Transportation secretary Elaine L. Chao on January 22, 2020 cracked the door open to allowing airlines to ban pit bulls and other dangerous dog breeds from passenger cabins, even if those dogs are claimed as service animals, who otherwise … [Read More...]
“Joe Exotic” gets 22 years in a cage for murder plot
Sentenced on 17 counts, including soliciting murder of Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma––U.S. District Court Judge Scott Palk on January 23, 2020 sentenced self-styled entertainer “Joe Exotic” Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, 57, formerly known as Joe Schreibvogel, to serve 22 years in prison for having solicited the murder of Big Cat Rescue founder … [Read More...]
A black-and-white issue that the humane community has yet to face
Editorial by Merritt & Beth Clifton Two nights ago, in advance of Martin Luther King Day, ANIMALS 24-7 posted as our lead feature Four black leaders who built the humane movement, profiling William Key, John W. Lemon, Richard Carroll, and Frederick Barnwell Rivers. Those four forgotten black men between 1898 and 1945 probably reached more people in person, as employees of the American … [Read More...]
What animal advocates owe to the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Leading influence on rise of animal rights movement Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 1929-1968, in whose honor we celebrate Martin Luther King Day, never had any visible direct involvement with animals or animal issues––but he is justly remembered among the greatest influences on the animal rights movement of our time, and the many other animal advocacy causes that have splintered from … [Read More...]
Four black leaders who built the humane movement
More people recognized William Key, John W. Lemon, Richard Carroll, & F. Rivers Barnwell in their own time than would have recognized ASPCA founder Henry Bergh INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana––“I am the only colored speaker on the program, and in fact I have not seen a single colored visitor to it,” wrote the Reverend Richard Carroll from the October 1912 conference of the American … [Read More...]
Breakthrough may scratch horses from the Iditarod legend
Yes, horses! ANCHORAGE, Alaska; Braunschweig, Germany–– A German immunologist, funded by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has reportedly made a scientific discovery that may scratch horses from the substance of the Iditarod serum run legend. Horses in the Iditarod Trail Race, the 938-mile world’s most famous and most controversial dog sled race? Yes, tens of thousands … [Read More...]
Deaths by pit bull: will new California law slow the mayhem?
Prosecuting shelters for withholding bite history might be a start DAYTON, Ohio; CONWAY, Kentucky; LOS ANGELES, California––The first two U.S. dog attack fatalities to be reported in 2020, both involving pit bulls, upstaged the possibly more indicative resignations of two strong pit bull advocates from senior positions with Los Angeles Animal Services and Orange County Animal … [Read More...]
Plane crashes & slaughterhouses: who suffers more?
Helpless in a cage by Karen Davis, Ph.D., president, United Poultry Concerns On January 8, 2020, passenger flight 752, headed from the Iranian capital of Tehran to the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, killing all 176 occupants, including 167 passengers. The jet continued flying for several minutes before turning back toward the … [Read More...]
Record pit bull attacks on other animals in 2019, pro football, & the Titanic
Trent Williams case appears to exemplify national trend MISSOURI CITY, Texas––Pit bulls appear to have killed 50,541 other animals in 2019, the most ever, including 9,976 other dogs, 4,092 cats, and 27,450 other pets, poultry, and hoofed species, according to the seventh annual ANIMALS 24-7 projection from reported cases. Pit bulls accounted for 91% of all reported fatal … [Read More...]
Why ASPCA pitch “Take a Bite Out of Farm Animal Cruelty” makes us puke
Ads at your local supermarket probably go farther on behalf of farmed animals by Irene Muschel I just opened my computer and found myself looking at a startling American SPCA fund-raising email that encourages people to support the breeding, raising, and slaughter of animals destined for human consumption. The email, captioned "Take a Bite Out of Farm Animal Cruelty," under the guise of … [Read More...]
Heart failure fells Vier Pfoten (Four Paws) founder Helmut Dungler, 56
Dungler died at the Lionsrock sanctuary he founded BETHLEHEM, South Africa––Helmut Dungler, 56, founder of the international animal charity Vier Pfoten (Four Paws), died on January 5, 2020 from a sudden massive heart attack suffered on one of his frequent visits to the Lionsrock sanctuary, among the biggest and most ambitious of the many Vier Pfoten projects and … [Read More...]
Helping animals through the Australian firestorm
Reports from 25 of the hundreds of animal aid charities working in the hot zones CANBERRA, Australian Capital Territories––More than 100 wildfires raging in Australian coastal forests and wooded parts of the Australian interior in September 2019 exploded beyond immediate hope of control and burst into global consciousness during the first days of 2020, splitting into at least 146 fires in New … [Read More...]
Mountain goat massacre begins in Grand Tetons
Shaky science may doom mountain goats in their own habitat JACKSON, Wyoming––The northern and western slopes of the Cathedral Mountains in Grand Teton National Park were on January 5, 2020 closed to the public to allow air gunners flown by Baker Aircraft of Baker City, Oregon, to massacre as many as 100 mountain goats deemed "invasive" by the National Park Service. First … [Read More...]