Natural Resources Defense Council has fought for 50 years to make EPA enforce chemical safety standards WASHINGTON D.C.––How has the Natural Resources Defense Council, whose emblem is a polar bear, become the front line of public defense of the animal testing industry? Why is Environmental … [Read More...]
Turkeys: Sympathy, Sensibility, and Sentience
Plus Social Dancing and Driving Off Predators by Karen Davis, PhD, president, United Poultry Concerns Turkeys express social sympathy An emotional behavior in turkeys that has been said to “defy logic” is “the great wake” they will hold over a fallen companion. In one episode, cited by A.W. … [Read More...]
Don’t know pigeons from bowling balls? Among pigeon rollers, you’ll fit right in
Local humane society says nothing ESSEX, Ontario––Why has the Harrow Fair, the official fair of Essex County, Ontario, elected to become internationally notorious for promoting so-called “parlor pigeons” as “the bowling balls of the avian world?” Why has the county allowed … [Read More...]
Miyoko to dairy farmers: “Don’t have a cow, man!”
“Nuts to you each morning!” DALLAS, Texas; SONOMA, California––Almost simultaneously in mid-November 2019, Dean Foods declared bankruptcy, leaving 12,000 dairy farmers across the U.S. potentially up Manure Creek without a butter churn, and Miyoko’s Creamery, one of the fastest-growing makers of nut-based alternatives to cheese and butter, announced that in early 2020 it will … [Read More...]
The Third Dog: a mystery featuring 2 deaths, 2 Great Danes, 2 pit bulls, and ???
Female victims died alone, found by husbands minutes apart WAYNESVILLE, Ohio; BAY CITY, Michigan––Police in Waynesville, Ohio and Bay City, Michigan are still trying to unravel the many mysteries surrounding the alleged unwitnessed dog attack deaths of Mary Malissa Matthews, formerly Mary Begovich Evans, 49, and Brandy Joy Boschen O'Dell, 41, more than ten days after their … [Read More...]
Video helps nab alleged killer of “Rescue Ink” star Al “Alley Cat” Chernoff
Surveillance video may accomplish something that the six episodes of "Rescue Ink" did not: an arrest leading to the conviction of a suspect PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania––A decade after his brief heyday as one of the stars of the short-lived “reality TV” series Rescue Ink, Al “Alley Cat” Chernoff died on November 4, 2019 as the unseen inadvertent star of a two-person “reality TV” … [Read More...]
Pit bull kills guest in home of HSUS Connecticut state rep Anne Hornish
Hornish claims fatal attack was only an "enthusiastic" greeting SUFFIELD, Connecticut–– Even after Dexter the alleged pit bull/pointer mix fatally injured Janet D’Aleo, 95, on November 6, 2019 in the home of Anne Hornish, Connecticut senior state director for the Humane Society of the U.S., Hornish remained in adamant denial about the threats pit bulls and pit mixes, including her own, … [Read More...]
Pit bulls: An active 40+ year shelter director speaks out too, by Debra Boswell
"Thank you so much, Deborah Turner!" Thank you so much, Deborah Turner, for your truthful and informative ANIMALS 24-7 guest column Pit bulls: A retired humane professional speaks out at last. I have been the director at a large open admission shelter in the south, the Mississippi Animal Rescue League in Jackson, Mississippi, since 1978. During my time here, the Mississippi Animal … [Read More...]
Pit bulls: A retired humane professional speaks out at last, by Deborah Turner
"All dogs should be recognized as individuals," but what of the victims? Last week (and practically every week) a prominent animal welfare group talked on Facebook about how nearly all shelters now agree that all dogs should be recognized as individuals and no breed is inherently aggressive. Really? Humans have been breeding dogs for specific traits for a very long time. Herding dogs’ herd. … [Read More...]
Are NYC foie gras ban & other new “pro-animal” bills all they’re quacked up to be?
"Horsefeathers," says Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages founder NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.––Voters For Animal Rights was quick to declare victory on October 30, 2019 when the New York City Council passed a bill banning the sale of foie gras from force-fed ducks and geese and a bill creating a Mayor's Office of Animal Welfare within the city government. New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe … [Read More...]
Will African swine fever make China vegan?
Whatever happens, most of the world will eat less pork SYDNEY, Australia; HONG KONG––Will African swine fever, a viral disease now projected to kill at least half the pigs in China and a quarter of all the pigs in the world, accelerate the trend toward vegan eating? Or speed the transition toward factory farming? Or both? Pandemic hit pigs worldwide to little notice World … [Read More...]
Hazel Park undid pit bull bylaw that should have saved 4-year-old
“National Pit Bull Awareness Month” 2019 began & ended with fatal maulings HAZEL PARK, Michigan––October 2019, designated the thirteenth annual “National Pit Bull Awareness Month” by pit bull advocates, closed much as it opened, with a blood-red sunset over Hazel Park, Michigan, barely 30 hours after four-year-old Benjamin Cobb was fatally mauled in his bedroom by a family … [Read More...]
Santa Anita deaths just a fraction of the toll in horse racing
Breeding & slaughter drive the industry SANTA ANITA, California; SYDNEY, Australia––A year-long nightmare string of fatal racehorse breakdowns continued at Santa Anita Park through October 2019 with the deaths of horses named Emtech, Colonel, Satchel Paige, and C Q Covergirl, the 35th fatality on the Santa Anita dirt, turf, and training tracks since December 26, … [Read More...]
Lost in translation: “personhood” verdict reportedly won for elephant
Transfer-of-goods tax ruling followed precedent for nonprofit transactions CHAPADA DOS GUIMARÅES, Mato Grosso, Brazil––The retired Asian elephant Ramba, 52, arrived late on October 18, 2019 at the Santuário de Elefantes do Brasil, or Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, after a 73-hour journey from Chile. The transaction was completed after the elephant sanctuary won a ruling from Judge … [Read More...]
Secret agent for animals: Pete Paxton
Rescue Dogs by Pete Paxton with Gene Stone $26.00 hardcover, 246 pages. TarcherPerigree, c/o Penguin Random House Penguinrandomhouse.com “Pete Paxton (a pseudonym to protect his identity) is nationally recognized as the leading undercover investigator and rescuer of dogs in peril,” the Rescue Dogs jacket tells us. ANIMALS 24-7 hopes not, because if Paxton is “nationally … [Read More...]
Michigan hero takes on pit bull advocacy with a song & a trash can
Oneil Colley serenades Michigan lawmakers for Pit Bull Victim Awareness Day LANSING, Michigan––In the Michigan state capital, at least, Pit Bull Victim Awareness Day on October 25, 2019 upstaged National Pit Bull Awareness Day, both officially celebrated a day later. National Pit Bull Awareness Day, held annually since 2007 to whitewash the public image of pit bulls and … [Read More...]