Animals 24-7

News on dogs, cats, horses, wildlife, zoonoses, & nature

Rodeo: busting up the animals in Nativity scenes in the name of Jesus Christ

by Eric Mills,  coordinator,  Action for Animals,  Oakland,  California “Cowboys,  sensing—like gorillas—that their time has passed,  cling ever more desperately to anachronistic styles, not willing to admit that the myth has degenerated,  the traditions eroded to a point where attempting to sustain them falls somewhere between silliness and the outright ridiculous.” ––Larry McMurtry in the book … [Read More...]

Black humane history found in great-grandpa’s attic near a town called Ark

Letters and a map document humane & racial justice movements that pointed the way for Martin Luther King Jr. ARK, Virginia––Bus driver Alan Lemon,  59,  hoped to find antiques that might be sold online in 2018 when he and a friend decided to explore the attic of his great grandfather John W. Lemon’s long abandoned and ruined wooden frame house. Lost in the woods near the front of the … [Read More...]

Four black leaders who built the humane movement––long before MLK!

Long before Martin Luther King Jr. had his enduring influence,  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 … [Read More...]

The Five Piggies of the Apocalypse, by John Robins

Will pig-to-human transplants cause farmers to grow hearts? [John Robins is director of Ethical Promotions Ltd and Campaigns Consultant to Animal Concern,  incorporating the Scottish Anti-Vivisection Society,  founded in 1876.] How much is a pig worth?  A farmer in Fife producing free-range organically grown animals for the top end of the meat market might expect to get upwards of $250 for a … [Read More...]

Cats, mice, & even octopi sacrificed to false gods of conservation

E.O. Wilson sidekick Thomas Lovejoy contributed to rationales for massacring some animals to save others              Thomas Eugene Lovejoy III,  80,  on December 25, 2021 quietly died from pancreatic cancer in McLean,  Virginia,  just 24 hours before the death of E.O. Wilson,  92,  in Burlington,  Massachusetts. (See E.O. Wilson, counter-evolutionary “evolutionary biologist,” dies at … [Read More...]

Are pigs among our closest kin? Heart transplant revives debate

Ethics,  genetics,  & relationship of pigs to humans             BALTIMORE, Maryland––The world’s first pig-to-human heart transplant,  performed on January 7,  2022 at the University of Maryland Medical Center,  may or may not extend the life of transplant recipient David Bennett,  57. Certainly it shortened the life of the pig,  trucked five hours from a company called Revivicor,  in … [Read More...]

How many other animals did dogs––& pit bulls––kill in 2021?

Social distancing again suppressed the totals,  but pit bulls still accounted for 84% of all animals killed by dogs Again in 2021,  as in 2020,  social distancing practiced due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic kept people and dogs home much more often than in previous years. This trend held reported dog attacks on other animals to about half of the pre-pandemic annual average since ANIMALS … [Read More...]

Will there be a Tomb of the Unknown Pit Bull Victim? Body count 2021

Dog attack death toll fell just short of a new record             CHICAGO, Illinois––Ten days after the December 28,  2021 death of the apparent last fatal dog attack victim of the year,  ANIMALS 24-7 still has not found the identity of the 34-year-old male victim,  despite many hours of searching death records,  social media postings,  and other sources that usually furnish clues. But there … [Read More...]

Dog attack deaths & maimings, U.S. & Canada, 1982-2021 log

(Click the link below to see the complete data log,  1982-2021.) 2021 final dog attack stats with breed. Please be aware that the data lines for years previous to 2021 may have changed as result of making updates based on new information. For example,  we occasionally learn of dog attacks not reported in the years in which they occurred,  or receive additional information about the identities … [Read More...]

Greyhound racing drug dealer goes down with the industry

Kennel Supply owner Jon Stidham to forfeit more in profits than the Iowa greyhound racing industry has seen in years             CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa––Former Iowa Greyhound Association president Jon Stidham,  57,  who most recently served the association as vice president and treasurer,  on January 5,  2022 pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally dealing drugs,  committing conspiracy,  and … [Read More...]

Springcliff Farm thoroughbred barn blaze adds shock to AWI exposé

Horse farm fire is horrific;  fire toll on poultry & pigs is thousands of times worse             MARTINSVILLE, Indiana––A pre-dawn fire ripped through the Springcliff Farm foaling operation in Martinsville, Indiana on January 6,  2022,  killing an as yet unknown number of horses. “The call came in around 4:50 a.m. from a neighbor,”  White River Township firefighter Brandon Shireman posted … [Read More...]

Richard Leakey, 77, saved elephants & found missing links to veg past

Richard Leakey both extended human history backward & helped Kenyan wildlife survive into the future NAIROBI, Kenya––Richard Erskine Frere Leakey,  77,  known to the world as simply Richard Leakey,  died on January 2,  2022,  in Nairobi,  the Kenyan capital city and his home for most of his life. Born in Nairobi on December 19,  1944,  Richard Leakey was a third-generation Kenyan,  the … [Read More...]

Betty White, 99, “white-washed” animal use industries for 50 years

The Betty White reputation for animal advocacy rewrites history             LOS ANGELES––Betty White,  99,  a radio and television actress,  producer,  talk show and game show personality whose broadcast career began at eight years old in 1930,  died on December 31,  2021,  just 18 days before what would have been her 100th birthday. Most of the many obituaries for White published immediately … [Read More...]

Big group bullies––like PETA––are stealing the animals’ lunch

by Steve Hindi,  founder,  Showing Animals Respect & Kindness [SHARK] As we head into 2022, I’d like to raise an issue––bullying––that has been a persistent problem in the animal advocacy cause.  You might not think that bullying would be an issue in the realm of animal protection,  but it is,  and has been for a long time. A very recent instance of bullying is to be found in the December … [Read More...]

What RU-486 means for animals

FDA decision on Mifrepristone may bring back birth control pet food––but definitely not Alex Pacheco's "Spay and neuter cookies" (See FDA verdict on Mifrepristone upstages more nonsense from Alex Pacheco.) WASHINGTON D.C.––The pharmacological race to be first to market a safe,  affordable,  easily administered contraceptive drug for dogs,  cats,  and nuisance wildlife,  somewhat quiet of late,  … [Read More...]

Wildlife Friends to evacuate Phuket Zoo; PETA did zip but claims credit

Notorious as one of the world's worst zoos for 25 years PHUKET, Thailand––The first good-news animal story of 2022,  if all goes according to plan,  may be the impending evacuation of 11 tigers and two bears from the defunct Phuket Zoo,  a target of animal advocacy protest almost from the day it opened in 1996. The Bangkok-based Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand “plans to start taking … [Read More...]

Public shelters: refuge for animals or not?

by Wendolyn Aragon,  president,  Pet Assistance Foundation Soon after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. nearly two years ago,  in 2020,  most U.S. animal shelters adopted some variation of managed admissions,  an approach long promoted by the “no kill” movement,  only admitting animals in need of emergency care. This was concerning, since it was breeding season for cats,  and leaving them on … [Read More...]