Accident to volunteer emphasized need for the bill TAMPA, Florida; WASHINGTON D.C.–– December 3, 2020 began as a very bad day for Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin. But it was an even worse day for five-year volunteer Candy Couser, 69, of Land O’Lakes, Florida, mauled by Kimba … [Read More...]
Trump administration obliges airlines to carry “service” pit bulls
But only pit bulls who "fit within handler’s foot space on the aircraft" WASHINGTON D.C.––Elaine Lan Chao, U.S. Secretary of Transportation throughout the Donald Trump presidential administration and almost certain to soon leave office, on November 30, 2020 introduced a revised Air … [Read More...]
The incredible, recent, global rise in the stranding of marine mammals
by Bill McGraw, Ph.D. Boquete, Panama During late September, 2020, Australia experienced the largest mass stranding of whales in the history of that country. Two weeks later, during early October 2020, the stranding of 7,000 cape fur seals on the coast of Namibia was identified as a major … [Read More...]
Trixie the whale shark dies young at the Georgia Aquarium
Three whale sharks left of six brought from Taiwan in 2006-2007 ATLANTA, Georgia––Trixie the whale shark, who could have lived up to 130 years in the wild, died on November 27, 2020 after just 14 years at the Georgia Aquarium. Trixie, believed to have been about 32 feet long, still about eight feet short of her anticipated full adult size, died after “having difficulty … [Read More...]
Kaavan flies to sanctuary with “elephant singers” Cher and Amir Khalil
World of friends help "world's loneliest elephant" ISLAMABAD, Pakistan; PHNOM PENH, Cambodia––Kaavan, long billed “the world’s loneliest elephant,” was a flying elephant this morning, November 30, 2020, en route from the defunct Marghuzar Zoo in Islamabad, Pakistan, to share a 25,000-acre habitat with three female Asian elephants inside the the one-million acre Kulen-Promtep … [Read More...]
Law protects birds from poaching but not oil spills, says Trump administration
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service makes "permanent" abdication of Migratory Bird Treaty Act enforcement against "accidental" bird kills WASHINGTON D.C.––The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on November 27, 2020 published a Final Environmental Impact Statement on amendments to the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act enforcement rules which will allow businesses, in the mineral extraction industries in … [Read More...]
Will Rogers never met the pit bulls & “dog men” now terrorizing Oklahoma
Three-year-old suffered 15 skull fractures & broken nose and jaw in Rogers' tiny home town OOLOGAH, Oklahoma––“No man can be condemned for owning a dog,” alleged humorist Will Rogers, who also famously professed to have never met a man he didn't like. “As long as he has a dog, he has a friend,” Rogers claimed, “and the poorer he gets, the better friend he has. If there are no dogs in … [Read More...]
Making a Thanksgiving place for Tofurky
Eventually live turkeys joined the feast. But not at first. Chloe Sorvino, food and drink editor for the business magazine Forbes, marked Thanksgiving 2020 by looking back 40 years to the invention of Tofurky in 1980, by then-nature educator Seth Tibbott. Described as a "turkey alternative," blending tofu and wheat with a wild rice and bread crumb stuffing, Tofurky reached supermarket … [Read More...]
“My Octopus Teacher” meets the Kraken
Or, "The Call of the Wild" underwater My Octopus Teacher, a 2020 Netflix Original documentary, directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, might already be the most watched and talked about cephalopod drama since Kirk Douglas fought the giant squid in the 1954 Walt Disney epic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, based on the 1870 Jules Verne novel of the same title. South African filmmaker Craig … [Read More...]
This is the house––a fortified compound––that the PetSmart founder built
Community fears a cult will follow GREENBANK, Washington––Residents of Greenbank, Washington, the Whidbey Island convenience-store-and-post-office hamlet where ANIMALS 24-7 gets mail, awakened on November 21, 2020 to a 36-year-old recurring nightmare. Again a fortified house owned by a survivalist of far-right beliefs from Phoenix, Arizona, with Idaho connections, had been found in … [Read More...]
End to Irish & Greek mink farming expected after Danish & Dutch culls
Irish chief medical officer calls for mink cull as "a matter of urgency" LIMERICK, COPENHAGEN––Not even Guinness bottle caps are flipping, let alone champagne corks popping, in celebration of the anticipated imminent end of mink breeding in Ireland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, France, and perhaps even Greece and Spain. Mink massacres underway in fear of the mink … [Read More...]
Indiana ruling may help L.A. woman now in critical from adopted pit bull
Indiana Court of Appeals reinforces shelter duty to inform adopters of dogs' past attacks LOS ANGELES, INDIANAPOLIS––Reports from Los Angeles indicate that a recent Indiana appellate decision could have a multi-million dollar impact on a yet-to-be filed case in which a 70-year-old woman is reportedly in critical condition from an attack by a pit bull her son adopted from Los Angeles … [Read More...]
How Henry Bergh threw pigeons to the dogs for the next 150+ years
ASPCA founder Henry Bergh hated pigeon shooters, except when he wanted something from them Henry Bergh, who founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1866, might have perfectly understood Showing Animals Respect & Kindness founder Steve Hindi’s frustration, expressed on November 14, 2020 in his ANIMALS 24-7 guest column “Talk can’t stop pigeon-shooting … [Read More...]
A Traitor To His Species: Henry Bergh & The Birth Of The Animal Rights Movement
by Ernest Freeberg 322 pages, hardcover. $30.00. Basic Books Hachette Book Group 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104 www.basicbooks.com Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Perhaps the first question to ask about a new biography of Henry Bergh, of whom more than 50 have reputedly been written already, with at least four close to hand here at ANIMALS 24-7, is why does anyone … [Read More...]
Philadelphia apologizes for killing African-American animal advocates
What if the MOVE cofounders had attended Cambridge, or the Best Friends Animal Society cofounders had come from inner Philadelphia? PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania; KANAB, Utah––The Philadelphia City Council on November 12, 2020 formally apologized for the May 13, 1985 bombing of a row house compound that killed 11 members of MOVE, an inner city cult whose beliefs combined vegetarianism and … [Read More...]
Talk can’t stop pigeon-shooting psychopaths, by Steve Hindi
Why is Showing Animals Respect & Kindness alone in fighting pigeon shoots? [Guest columnist Steve Hindi founded Showing Animals Respect & Kindness, https://sharkonline.org/, in 1992.] The cowardly psychopaths of the Philadelphia Gun Club, located in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, began their slaughter season on Friday the thirteenth of November 2020, shooting emaciated, dehydrated live … [Read More...]
China prosecutes 10 times more wildlife scofflaws in 2020 than U.S.
COVID-19 triggers sustained crackdown on illegal fishers, poachers, & traffickers BEIJING, China—Cracking down on wildlife-related crime in response to the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, China prosecuted more than 15,000 alleged perpetrators in the first nine months of 2020. About 7,000 prosecutions were for illegal fishing, 4,000 for poaching land animals and birds, and 3,000 … [Read More...]
Mink ranching survives in Denmark despite risky COVID-19 mutation
Danish mink industry was to be liquidated from fear that COVID-19 mutation could neutralize vaccines in development COPENHAGEN, Denmark––The Danish mink industry, on the verge of liquidation as of November 4, 2020 to control a COVID-19 coronavirus mutation, appears to have politically mobilized to win a reprieve––for the mink ranchers, however, not the mink themselves, who … [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.