But the Columbian white-tailed deer came off the U.S. endangered species list before the refuge even began to recover from 45 years of cattle grazing CATHLAMET, Washington––Thanks to wetland restoration, the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge for the Columbian white-tailed … [Read More...]
Chinchilla breeder fined $18,000 & loses USDA license to supply laboratories
A small animal used in labs, but a huge step for Animal Welfare Act enforcement WASHINGTON D.C.; ROCHESTER, Minnesota––Chinchillas are very small and soft, so small that you could hold one in the palm of your hand, so soft that they have been exploited for their fur for centuries, even though … [Read More...]
Jack Hanna shenanigans get Columbus Zoo the boot from the AZA––again
Previous "one year" suspension lasted just seven months––& many other AZA zoos then did what Jack Hanna had done COLUMBUS, Ohio––Forty-plus years of Jack Hanna shenanigans finally caught up to the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium on October 1, 2021. The Association of Zoos & … [Read More...]
Dog blood donors wanted; California ends canine blood bank monopoly
Count Dracula meets the Greyhound of the Baskervilles SACRAMENTO, California––California, the only U.S. state that closely regulates the veterinary blood product industry, as of January 1, 2022 will have a new regulatory regime for sourcing canine blood products for the third time in 20 years. California governor Gavin Newsom on October 9, 2021 endorsed into law Assembly Bill … [Read More...]
Will captive lions caught in wildfire light a fire under South African legislators?
Promised bill to ban breeding lions for cub-petting, trophy shoots, & bone commerce awaits introduction––and action BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa––Five months after South African minister of forestry, fisheries & the environment Barbara Creecy announced that she would pursue legislation to ban breeding captive lions for cub-petting, trophy shoots, and exports of lion bones for … [Read More...]
Soon-to-retire NIH chief Francis Collins went both ways on lab animals
“We are not rats and we are not even other primates,” Collins said, but NIH is now using more of both WASHINGTON D.C.–– Francis S. Collins, who both de-emphasized animal research and presided over expanded animal research during his 12 years as director of the National Institutes of Health [NIH], on October 5, 2021 disclosed to Washington Post reporters Lenny Bernstein and Carolyn Y. Johnson … [Read More...]
19 dead puppies & $12,000 in fines, but shelter director says he’d do it again?
301 code violations & losing newly transported pups to parvovirus wasn't bad enough? CAMDEN, Delaware––That the First State Animal Center & SPCA in Camden, Delaware recently lost 19 puppies to parvovirus is no great shock to veterans of animal care and rescue: sometimes bloody diarrhea happens among stressed puppies brought or transported to shelters, no matter what anyone … [Read More...]
The best news of 2021 for North Atlantic seals, whales, & dolphins
Young Newfoundlanders rescue seven stranded pilot whales near scene of "A Whale For The Killing" EMBREE, Newfoundland––The best news in 2021 both for harp seals and gray seals in Atlantic Canada and for pilot whales and Atlantic white-sided dolphins in the Faroe Islands, 2,000 miles east across the North Atlantic, might in the long run be the fate of eight pilot whales who in the wee hours of … [Read More...]
Six pit bull-related deaths linked to “The Wickedest City in America”
Phenix City goes to the dogs (& transfers dogs to laboratories) PHENIX CITY, Alabama––Frank Jerome “Red” Cobb, 70, killed by a pit bull on September 21, 2021, was at least the sixth pit bull-related fatality linked to Phenix City, Alabama, population 36,000, since 1988. Only three of the deaths, including Cobb’s. actually occurred within the Phenix City limits. Yet … [Read More...]
Courts reject suing landlords for attacks by dogs kept by indigent tenants
"Don't ask, don't tell" exempts landlords from risk MONTPELIER, Vermont––A newly published Vermont Supreme Court decision, rendered on September 3, 2021, affirms previous jurisprudence weakening the ability of dog attack victims and survivors to sue landlords in cases involving tenants’ dogs. The verdict in Katherine Higgins v. Shawn Bailey & Suzan Bailey appears to give … [Read More...]
D.C. Cat Count confirms low feral cat population, lots of free-roaming pets
Birder claims about feral cats hugely exaggerated WASHINGTON D.C.––Three years & expenditure of $1.5 million after it started, the D.C. Cat Count results are in, if not yet formally published in scientific media. The D.C. Cat Count findings demonstrate chiefly what ANIMALS 24-7 has argued for decades: both birder and cat advocacy organization claims about the numbers of … [Read More...]
“Eejit” John Robins shuffles off after 41 years fighting for animals in Scotland
Transformed sleepy Scottish Anti-Vivisection Society into butt-kicking Animal Concern DUMBARTON, Scotland––John Frederick Robins, 64, probably the most colorful and dynamic animal advocate in Scottish history, despite his self-conferred title “The Eejit,” has announced his impending retirement after 41 years of directing pro-animal campaigns initially for Friends of the Earth, but chiefly as … [Read More...]
Austin Animal Services: “On the far side of stupid”
Failure to promptly pick up free-roaming pit bull leads to disabling injury AUSTIN, Texas––Alexis Montgomery, 70, of Travis County, Texas, hospitalized with a softball-sized bite taken out of her leg by a free-roaming pit bull, left most of the talking on September 21, 2021 to her husband, retired Texas personal injury lawyer Boyce Reid Brown Jr., 78. “Animal Control seems … [Read More...]
Albuquerque animal shelter may lead U.S. in staff maulings
Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department has been repeatedly spotlighted since circa 2010 for housing & rehoming high-risk dogs ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico––Yet again an Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department employee has suffered a severe dog attack on the job. Yet again observers who should know better are often looking in the wrong places for the reasons why. Reported Chris Ramirez of KOB … [Read More...]
Passed on: a Kenyan hero, others who served, & a questionable Canadian
Mwachofi Ngonyo, among the last of the Tsavo Watha “The curtain has fallen for a great man in conservation!” emailed Africa Network for Animal Welfare founder Josphat Ngonyo on September 5, 2021. “Please join me,” Josphat Ngonyo asked, “in celebrating the life of my uncle and father figure Mwachofi Ngonyo. “He was among the last of the Watha people who lived in Tsavo East National Park,” … [Read More...]
The Supremacist Syndrome, by Peter Marsh
How Domination Underpins Slavery, Genocide, the Exploitation of Women, & the Maltreatment of Animals Lantern Publishing & Media, 128 Second Place, Brooklyn, NY 11231; www.lanternpm.org. Available in both Kindle and paperback editions. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Many ANIMALS 24-7 readers will remember Supremacist Syndrome author and New Hampshire attorney Peter Marsh as an … [Read More...]
Fire, crime, shelter management & the wisdom of Warren Cox
"Fire is always a threat" ORLANDO, Florida; FRISCO, Texas––“We were able to save 45 cats and 26 dogs,” the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando posted to Facebook after a late night fire on September 15, 2021. “We are heartbroken to report that we lost 13 cats and there are four still missing,” the posting continued, between fifteen and sixteen hours after workers at the Orange … [Read More...]
Audubon writer allegedly recommended poisoning cats
Editor-at-large Ted Williams suspended, then reinstated WASHINGTON D.C.––National Audubon Society president David Yarnold on March 26, 2013 announced that Audubon magazine editor-at-large Ted Williams had been reinstated after a 10-day suspension for allegedly urging the use of the over-the-counter pain reliever acetaminophen to poison feral cats. Though the alleged recommendation was later … [Read More...]
Walking Horse National Celebration: don’t bet on the numbers
"Banned for life" trainer passed out a trophy SHELBYVILLE, Tennessee––Just what was celebrated at the 2021 Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration? It wasn't certainly wasn't either ethics or economic success. Attendance, participation, and prize money claims included in Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration publicity appear to distort reality at least as much as … [Read More...]
Kaporos chicken rescue brings New York City a smile on 9-11-2021
Rare good news on a grim anniversary NEW YORK, N.Y.––Twenty years after al Qaida terrorists on September 11, 2001 hijacked four airliners and crashed two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, killing 2,763 people, tens of thousands of New Yorkers awakened to a good news story. About chickens. Chickens, slaughtered in the U.S. at the rate of … [Read More...]