Pit bull had already bitten cop; cops are injured by pit bulls 14.5 times more often now than pre-Michael Vick LOS ANGELES, Calif.; ARLINGTON, Texas––The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on September 17, 2019 agreed to pay $3 million to the family of Armando Garcia, 17, … [Read More...]
Cockfighters vs. coal miners, Taiji vs. Hong Kong: animal suffering gets lost
What happens when animal issues are overwhelmed by current events? HARLAN COUNTY, Kentucky; TAIJI, Japan; BALI, Indonesia––A trainload of coal worth $1.4 million, blockaded for six weeks by illegally laid off miners whose last pay checks bounced, might at a glance appear to have … [Read More...]
Shelters make mega-payouts to pit bull victims: what will change?
Two seven-figure settlements in five days might make "socially responsible sheltering the new norm––if the idea isn't corrupted LOS ANGELES, California; FORT WALTON BEACH, Florida––Representatives of pit bull attack victims twice in five days in early September 2019 announced apparent … [Read More...]
Why did chuckwagon racer Devin Matsuing dare a grizzly bear to fight?
The grizzly bear had better sense BANFF, Alberta––Convicted on September 13, 2019 of disturbing a grizzly bear more than four years earlier, professional chuckwagon racing driver Devin Mitsuing, 35, was on September 13, 2019 fined $4,000 by Canmore Provincial Court Judge George Gaschler. Mitsuing was given until October 16, 2019 to pay the fine or serve 33 days in … [Read More...]
Last convicted shark-dragger Benac will get fishing license back in 2022
If, that is, he does 250 hours of community service & finds an animal shelter that will take him for 125 hours TAMPA, Florida––Holding out for a lighter sentence under a plea bargain offer did not wholly pay off on September 12, 2019 for Robert Lee “Bo” Benac III, 30. But Benac did avoid a felony cruelty conviction and will get his fishing license back two years sooner … [Read More...]
District Attorney will not prosecute alleged bull-baiting at Salinas rodeo
Monterey County SPCA does not speak up, either SALINAS, California––The 2019 California Rodeo Salinas ended on July 19, 2019, but the stench of manure––bovine, equine, and canine––lingers on above the Salinas Sports Complex. The Monterey County District Attorney's Office, headed since January 2019 by longtime California Rodeo Salinas volunteer Jeannine Pacioni, reportedly … [Read More...]
Dog brain study refutes every major claim of pit bull advocacy
Looking at normal dogs' brains shows how "fighting breed" brains differ BOSTON, POMONA––There may already be weeping and gnashing of teeth among pit bull advocates, and perhaps significant fundraising underway to trump up rebuttals, too, following the September 2, 2019 Journal of Neuroscience publication of “Significant neuroanatomical variation among domestic dog breeds,” by … [Read More...]
The animal & human heroes & most overlooked lesson of 9/11
Remembering national trauma Today, September 11, 2019, marks the eighteenth anniversary of the national trauma the U.S. experienced as result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The aftermath of those attacks brought global traumas including ongoing warfare in much of the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of North … [Read More...]
The SeaQuest empire, the Covino family, & who is “The Codfather?”
PETA rap sheet lists 87 brushes with the law in only nine years DENVER, LYNCHBURG, FORT LAUDERDALE––SeaQuest Interactive Aquariums chain founders Vincenzo “Vince” and Ammon Covino might prefer right now that attention be focused on soon-to-open locations in Lynchburg, Virginia and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as on locations in Roseville, Minnesota; Trumbull, Connecticut, and … [Read More...]
Concern for rare birds of the Bahamas rises after Hurricane Dorian
Little chance yet to assess the losses––but the Abaco parrot almost certainly survived CAPE FEAR, North Carolina––Hurricane Dorian, downgraded to Category 2, with peak gust speed dropping by half to a still dangerous 110 miles per hour, killed five people as it pushed north past the Carolinas, but as of midnight on September 5, 2019 was expected to diminish to a “tropical storm” … [Read More...]
Hurricane Dorian helps to solve the mystery of the extinct Abaco wild horses
But Dorian destroys remnants of a 50-year effort to save the herd TREASURE CAY, Little Abaco, Bahamas––“This is like listening to a cosmic version of Ravel’s Bolero. Feeling nervous about when the brass kicks in,” wrote would-be wild horse savior and local dog rescuer Milanne “Mimi” Rehor, in her last posting to Facebook before Hurricane Dorian hit the Abaco islands. That was … [Read More...]
Feral cats poop where someone feeds them––& that’s the big problem
Two studies confirm skepticism of waiting for studies to confirm the obvious LOS ANGELES––The unacknowledged takeaway lesson from two new studies of neuter/return feral cat control, published respectively by the City of Los Angeles and the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science, may be that by the time academia, the courts, and public policymakers catch up to what … [Read More...]
Elephants, giraffes, sharks, Asian otters & seahorses fare well in Switzerland
African elephants win protection near where exports for display began GENEVA, Switzerland––Live elephant exports from Africa for exhibition at least nominally ended by plenary vote at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Triennial Conference of the Parties on August 27, 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland, about 200 miles north from where the first known live … [Read More...]
Feds must hide names of hunters who kill for show, rules Trump appointee
Brave enough to shoot a cage-raised lion, but not enough to face the public WASHINGTON, D.C.––Ruling that trophy hunters’ right to privacy trumps the public right to know what animals they kill, even though the goal of trophy hunting is showing off, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly on August 19, 2019 ruled that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service may conceal the identities of … [Read More...]
Is the new “Motown sound” the scream of a pit bull victim?
Emma Hernandez, 9, was the latest sacrifice to dangerous dogs DETROIT, Michigan––The “Motown sound” today, sixty years after Detroit music entrepreneur Berry Gordy Jr. formed the Motown Record Corporation, is all too often the bloodcurdling shriek of a child fighting a dog of notoriously dangerous breed for her life, the wail of parents finding her body, and the short-lived … [Read More...]
Wildlife Waystation closed & to be dismantled, after 43 years
If a cat has nine lives, Wildlife Waystation had dozens SYLMAR, California––Wildlife Waystation, the often embattled prototype for dozens of other sanctuaries for former exotic pets and animals used in laboratories and entertainment, has closed, after 43 years, nearly four months after the reportedly forced retirement of founder Martine Colette. Colette continued to live on … [Read More...]