Goats gotten, South African National Park Service scopes in on feral cats CAPE TOWN, South Africa––Have feral cats succeeded feral Himalayan mountain goats, called tahrs, as the purported greatest threat to native South African wildlife at Table Mountain National Park? The few … [Read More...]
Pit bull fatality leads to judge ouster in Oklahoma
Black-and-white issues in shades of grey OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma––Antwon Demetris Burks, 32, of Oklahoma City, has yet to be either convicted or acquitted on long-pending second degree manslaughter charges resulting from the April 6, 2017 pit bull mauling death of Cecille Short, … [Read More...]
Cleveland pit bull owner fatally shoots attack victim who complained
Cleveland killing follows killings of dog attack victims who complained in Port St. Lucie and Indianapolis CLEVELAND, Ohio––Irate pit bull owner Johnny Hogue, 80, on September 16, 2020 pleaded “not guilty” to aggravated murder in Cuyahoga County Court, not quite two full days after killing … [Read More...]
Expanded hunting access goes up in smoke, burning Trumpists
Trump administration opened 2.3 million acres of protected habitat to hunting, but wildfires have forced closure of more than 10 times as much WASHINGTON D.C.––Staunch support for U.S. President Donald Trump among gun-owning households might be said to have backfired on hunters in the wildfire-stricken West Coast and Rocky Mountain states. Courting hunter votes to … [Read More...]
Poland moves to ban fur farms & kosher/halal meat exports––why?
Proposed law may be more about Catholic nationalist politics, anti-Semitism, and COVID-19 than about concern for animals WARSAW, Poland––Is a new omnibus animal protection law recently proposed in Poland really all about animals, driven in part by concern that mink farming may be a reservoir for the pandemic COVID-19 coronavirus? Or is the proposed law a vehicle for thinly … [Read More...]
“We’re not just the family who got murdered over the dog.”
Monique Hansman & surviving children try to rebuild their lives PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida––Behind every story of a fatal or disfiguring dog attack is a story of injustice that will be suffered by the victims and survivors for the rest of their lives even if the physical scars heal. Usually the attacks occur because the dog owner acted with what courts of law describe as “depraved … [Read More...]
Cockfighter Cozad missed chance to hide behind U.N. “Agenda 21”
BL Cozad garbled Bible & U.S. Constitution MORGANTOWN, Kentucky––If cockfighting advocate BL "Billy" Cozad had ever actually read the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit Agenda 21, instead of blindly denouncing it, he might have found that certain passages in it better support his arguments than anything he misquoted and misrepresented from the Bible and the U.S. Constitution … [Read More...]
A challenge to Mike Pence, Kamala Harris, & “A chicken in every pot”
70 Members of Congress & United Poultry Concerns ask VP candidates to address global warming & meat SALT LAKE CITY, Utah––Will the October 7, 2020 debate between Republican vice president Mike Pence and Democratic vice presidential challenger Kamala Harris bring the first direct challenge in 92 years to the political promise of putting a chicken in every pot? Herbert … [Read More...]
ANIMALS 24-7 resigns from the Society of Environmental Journalists
Our commitment to environmental journalism continues Upon posting our resignation letter to the Society of Environmental Journalists listserv earlier tonight, September 4, 2020, Beth & I became aware that ANIMALS 24-7 appears to reach more environmental journalists, especially on animal-related news beats, than does the SEJ listserv itself. ANIMALS 24-7 certainly reaches a much more … [Read More...]
Ship down with 5,867 cows & 42 crew renews protest against live export
Had history of engine failure AMAMI OSHIMA ISLAND, Japan––The Gulf Livestock 1, a Panamanian-flagged converted container ship carrying 5,867 two-year-old heifers and 43 human crew, capsized and sank on September 2, 2020 in the East China Sea, about 100 nautical miles west of Amami Oshima Island, Japan, the first survivor to be rescued told the Japanese coast guard. Gulf Livestock 1 chief … [Read More...]
Pit bull moonshine claims another life in the “Sunshine State”
Similar "rescuer" rhetoric takes toll in South Africa, too MARGATE, Florida; EDENVALE, South Africa––Joseph Varanese, 57, of Margate, Florida, just plain Joe to friends and family, believed the pit bull moonshine. On August 7, 2020, Joe Varanese adopted a pit bull reportedly picked up by Miami Dade Animal Services as an injured stray on June 16 in the city of Miami. Named … [Read More...]
Will “monkey shortage” due to COVID-19 bring new research methods?
Researchers scrape the bottom of the barrel DAVIS, California––Will a purported national monkey shortage force COVID-19 researchers to develop new non-animal testing methods? Or is the alleged monkey shortage really just a ploy by the seven National Primate Research Centers to perpetuate their own existence, taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to win more federal funding? Reported … [Read More...]
Pig transport truck kills animal advocate Regan Russell outside slaughterhouse
Accident reprises 1995 death of British protester Jill Phipps BURLINGTON, Ontario––Regan Russell, 65, of Hamilton, Ontario, was on June 19, 2020 crushed to death by an 18-wheel livestock transport truck delivering pigs to slaughter at Fearman’s Pork Inc., the largest and oldest slaughterhouse in Ontario. A local landmark since 1852, and the scene of weekly vigils against pig … [Read More...]
Hurricane Laura: mouse takes the spotlight while 10 dogs die on truck
Marine life are major wildlife casualties COOKEVILLE, Tennessee––Pipsqueak the three-legged mouse, a cow dead for perhaps 160 years, ten dogs succumbing to heat exhaustion aboard a rescue transport, and acres of decomposing marine life scattered across beaches more than 300 miles from where Hurricane Laura made landfall at Cameron Parish, Louisiana, appear to be the biggest … [Read More...]
Wildfires, COVID-19, & cockfighting besiege Monterey County
Cockfighting may be accelerant behind COVID-19 explosion MONTEREY, California––The 50,000-acre River wildfire, destroying at least 13 homes, and the 7,000-acre Carmel wildfire, razing 50 homes, reportedly forced the evacuation of more than 500 animals to the SPCA for Monterey County shelter during the fourth week of August 2020––and then forced the animals’ re-evacuation to the Monterey … [Read More...]
Illinois pit bull fatality mirrors attack by HSUS rep Annie Hornish’s pit
Family of Hornish pit bull victim offers to settle for $3.5 million; insurer says Hornish isn't covered BELLEVILLE, Illinois; SUFFIELD, Connecticut––Moving and storage worker Kelly Knaup, 45, of Belleville, Illinois, and Annie Hornish, 63, Connecticut state representative for the Humane Society of the U.S., have just four things obviously in common. • Both restructured their lives … [Read More...]
Pro-cockfighting rally draws fewer participants than local cockfights
Apathy thwarts “Call To Action BBQ” VERBENA, Alabama––One inept attempt to rally nationwide support for cockfighting, convened on short notice amid a global pandemic, scarcely means the multi-million-dollar cockfighting industry is unraveling, protected as it is by “good old boys” in legislatures and law enforcement. But that fewer people rallied in defense of cockfighting on August 22, … [Read More...]
Wildlife Waystation closure: where are the animals now?
32 chimps still need homes SYLMAR, California––32 chimpanzees are the last residents of the former Wildlife Waystation sanctuary in Little Tujunga Canyon, east of Glendale and Los Angeles. A year after Wildlife Waystation closed, on August 13, 2019, by order of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, finding the funds to rehome the 32 chimps is the leading concern of … [Read More...]
ANIMALS 24-7 Statement of Purpose
Beth & Merritt Clifton
ANIMALS 24-7 is a nonprofit independent online investigative newspaper and information service reporting about humane work worldwide, with emphasis on the intersection of animal issues with public health & safety.
ANIMALS 24-7 reports about zoonotic diseases (zoonoses) shared among animals and humans. For example, see our extensive news coverage of issues associated with COVID-19, SARS, and other diseases found to have jumped from wildlife to humans; our investigations of rabies outbreaks both among domestic animals and wildlife; African swine fever; and poultry diseases, such as H5N1 avian flu, and Newcastle disease, commonly spread by both factory farming practices and by cockfighting. (Use our search engine to find coverage by disease name.)
ANIMALS 24-7 is especially noted for our in-depth news coverage of pit bull attacks, attacks by other dangerous dogs, and attacks by exotic pets such as big cats and snakes. Our dangerous dog data library includes sub-menus on pit bull statistics, pit bulls & public safety, pit bulls & the humane community (including animal shelters and rescues), voices of pit bull experience, pit bull liability, pit bull legislation, pit bull history & sociology, pit bull behavior, dogfighting, pit bull advocates, pit bulls abroad, bad dogs & minority communities, wolf hybrids, with additional sub-menus on Rottweilers, Dobermans, Presa Canarios, and Boerboels.
ANIMALS 24-7 is a leading voice for compassionate conservation, a gentler approach to wildlife conservation, which emphasizes working with nature, including understanding that humans are a part of nature, that human activity creates wildlife habitat as well as harming it, that zoonoses have become a problem largely through human conflict with nature; and that adaptive species such as cats, horses, cattle, and poultry often contribute to the survival of wildlife, if management approaches emphasize coexistence. (We have sub-menus of cat-related coverage and on the compassionate conservation concept itself, including a great deal about feral cats, rotating on our home page.)
ANIMALS 24-7 also reports extensively about progress toward adoption of vegan, vegetarian, and other plant-based diets; the development of plant-based alternatives to meat, dairy, and leather products; and the many global issues associated with raising cattle, pigs, poultry, farmed fish, and other livestock for human consumption, including effects on hunger, climate change, pollution, water scarcity and human wellness.
ANIMALS 24-7 covers how natural disasters affect animals, including dogs, cats, cattle, horses, poultry, and wildlife, with emphasis on the responses of shelters and rescuers.
ANIMALS 24-7 is further noted for our attention to the many contributions to humane work and animal well-being made by Africans, Asians, and Americans of color. Our unique Black history & animals archive includes sub-menus on topics including Leadership, Institutional racism, the Ku Klux Klan, Pit bulls & the black community, Slavery & resistance, Environmental justice, African animal advocates, the Africa Network for Animal Welfare, and the Integration era.
ANIMALS 24-7, in addition, does extensive ongoing statistical research of humane issues and crimes against animals, such as abuse and neglect, dogfighting and cockfighting, even theft of horses and cattle rustling. We have been doing this for longer, in greater depth and on a wider range of relevant topics, than anyone else in the animal rights, animal welfare, and compassionate conservation fields. Our staff experience with animal rescue, management of animal shelters, gathering related data, and reporting our findings dates back into the early 1960s.
ANIMALS 24-7 has no alignment or affiliation with any other entity. Our role is to report the news and provide informed perspective for people who care about animals and nature, from dogs, cats, horses, marine mammals, and endangered species, to feral animals, hunted species, and so-called nuisance wildlife, with breaking news, in-depth background, and the experienced perspective of our staff and our many guest commentators.
ANIMALS 24-7 readers include people who operate animal shelters and participate in animal rescue; wildlife conservationists; vegans; vegetarians; zoonoses researchers; and investigators of both crimes against animals, such as cockfighting, and crimes against nature and habitat. Also among our most avid readers are quite a few colleagues in reporting the news, who look to us for unique informed perspectives on animals and nature.
ANIMALS 24-7 is incorporated to conduct activities which are exclusively charitable, literary and/or educational within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, for the purpose of exposing the existence of cruelty to animals and educating the public of the need to prevent and eliminate such cruelty; and studying animal-related issues via research, surveys, and investigative reports.