Was also "rewilding" advocate & outspoken opponent of immigration Dave Foreman, 74, died on September 19, 2022 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Born in 1947, the son of a U.S. Air Force sergeant, Foreman spent most of his life in and around Albuquerque, before, after, and during two … [Read More...]
Rebuilding Neptune’s Navy: Captain Paul Watson post-Sea Shepherd
"Build me an ark!" or at least help to buy one, Watson tells supporters WOODSTOCK, Vermont––Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Paul Watson on September 13, 2022 thanked Sea Shepherd France, Sea Shepherd UK, Sea Shepherd Brazil, Sea Shepherd Austria, and Sea Shepherd Tahiti for “loyal … [Read More...]
“Tiger King” associate Karl Mitchell was Nye County animal control chief
From Animal Welfare Act violations to Las Vegas shoot-out, cases tend to link to Karl Mitchell's tenure PAHRUMP, NEVADA––Nye County, Nevada, in 2000 hired as animal control director exotic animal trainer Karl Mitchell, 48, a man who might not have been elected dogcatcher anywhere else. The … [Read More...]
Pahrump dog breeders Platunov & Higgins allegedly starved 300 Ovarchkas
Having one of the worst-ever neglect cases in Nye County, Nevada, is not easy PAHRUMP, Nevada––Caucasian Ovcharka breeders Vasili Platunov and Oksana Higgins strung the authorities of Nye County, Nevada along for years with one excuse after another for failing to comply with some of the lightest and least enforced animal care and control ordinances in the United States. Unincorporated … [Read More...]
Animal & human heroes & the most overlooked lesson of 9/11
Remembering national trauma September 11, 2022 marks the twenty-first 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 Africa. U.S. troops … [Read More...]
“Bloody hell!” Elizabeth II set poor example on hunting, but loved her dogs
Corgis were almost certainly first to mourn LONDON, U.K.–– Queen Elizabeth II, 96, who ceremonially ruled the United Kingdom for 70 years and 214 days, died on September 8, 2022 at Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, one of the three royal hunting estates. The others are the 20,000-acre Sandringham estate, in Norfolk, England, and Dalnadamph, a 6,700-acre estate in the … [Read More...]
Alleged cockfighter Newcomb who assaulted Steve Hindi released from prison
James V. “Bub” Newcomb II didn't like his time with Bubba IRONTON, Ohio––Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas Judge Andrew Ballard on September 7, 2022 granted judicial release to James V. “Bub” Newcomb II, 55, of Waterloo, Ohio, but made explicitly clear that Newcomb is to have nothing whatever to do with cockfighting, people involved in cockfighting, and any other form of criminal … [Read More...]
Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project celebrates a triple dolphin release in Bali
Culminates 12-year campaign BALI, Indonesia––Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project on September 3, 2022 celebrated the release into the open ocean of the bottlenose dolphins Johnny, Rocky, and Rambo, after three years of rehabilitation and a decade-long campaign to free them from the captive dolphin exhibition industry. “We’re tracking them now,” Ric O’Barry emailed to ANIMALS 24-7. “This is … [Read More...]
PIRATES! Captain Paul Watson goes down with the sinking Sea Shepherds
Under new brass, it isn't even the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society any more SOUTH WOODSTOCK, Vermont––Japanese and Russian whales, Atlantic Canadian sealers, and oceans of marine poachers in other parts of the world never succeeded in sinking Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, but the organization he founded in 1977 on September 3, 2022 scuttled … [Read More...]
“Peak dog” means no homes left––especially not for “behavior dogs”
“Peak dog” also means "Fix the problem before it gets worse." LOS ANGELES, AUSTIN, SAN ANTONIO––City of San Antonio Animal Care Services did not mention "peak dog," pit bulls, nor even spay/neuter in a September 1, 2022 bulletin lamenting that "Just this week, 26 dogs have been humanely euthanized due to our shelter’s capacity restraints." But "peak dog," pit bulls, and lack of … [Read More...]
Getting Shelly Home, by Yasmin Mohamad (Wavy Adventures Book One)
Illustrated by Stephen Bibb. 80 pages, 2022. $15.99 paperback, ebook $7.99 Barnes & Noble, $8.99 Kindle. Reviewed by Beth Clifton. Getting Shelly Home author Yasmin Mohamad believes that children learn best when they are having fun. Mohamad wrote the children's book Getting Shelly Home with this in mind. Getting Shelly Home is the first of a projected triology called Wavy … [Read More...]
Walking horse industry waits for the other (weighted) shoe to drop
"Big Lickers" hold out hope for a Congressional reprieve SHELBYVILLE, Tennessee––A legal showdown may be coming soon over enforcement of a new USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service rule meant to protect show horses, but not just yet. The mood midway through the 2022 Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, supposed to climax on September 3, 2022, might be described as … [Read More...]
Has the U.S. already reached Peak Dog?
Demand for dogs––bought or adopted––likely to fall as Baby Boom generation ages CULLOWHEE, North Carolina––“Peak Oil,” explains Wikipedia, “is the moment at which extraction of petroleum reaches a rate greater than that at any time in the past and starts to permanently decrease.” The oil extraction and processing giant BP, formerly British Petroleum, projected in 2020 that Peak Oil had … [Read More...]
Why was a sick horse, too old to work, pulling a New York City carriage?
Opossum piss may have made the horse sick, but why didn't the 35-year driver see it? NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.–– The New York City Transport Workers Union might be said to have invoked the “Ernie Paragallo defense” on behalf of carriage horse owner/driver Ian McKeever, 54, who during the evening rush hour on August 10, 2022 was videotaped in the act of allegedly whipping, shouting … [Read More...]
Florida paradox: Kill a fish, go to jail; kill a million fish, go to market
"These were not just animals" STUART, Florida––Florida authorities, for the fifth time in sixth years, are pursuing a case of alleged cruelty to fish, a category of offense barely recognized anywhere else. Paradoxically, four million Floridians fish, more than the fishing populations of California and Texas combined, and indeed more people than fish in any three other … [Read More...]
Five paws up for Stephen Best dog rescue film “Saving Dinah”
Saving Dinah Directed by Stephen Best Starring Amanda Langille, Craig Martin, and Paul James Saunders. 90 minutes. $1.99 from Amazon Prime Video (rental) or $4.99 to purchase. Produced by the Animal Alliance of Canada. Reviewed by Merritt & Beth Clifton. Bill Sikes, arch-villain of the 1838 Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, might justly be called one of Dickens’ immortal as well as … [Read More...]
How one lion & one bear survived the 2014-2017 ISIS occupation of Mosul
Father of Lions: Saving Starving Animals at the Mosul Zoo by Louise Callaghan 383 pages, 2020. Forge Book, c/o Tom Doherty Associates; available in multiple print & electronic formats c/o Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, and Kindle at prices from $12.99 up. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton “Good afternoon. I am writing because I want to help animals in the Mosul Zoo of Iraq,” … [Read More...]
Elephant release marks 75th anniversary of Indian independence
(Adapted, with some explanatory text added and legal details deleted specific only to India, from a much longer version by Norma Alvares, president, People for Animals, Goa, and Alok Hiswarwala Gupta, Centre for Research on Animal Rights, published by Herald Goa on August 14, 2022.) While the people of India prepared to celebrate 75 years of freedom from British rule on … [Read More...]
Animal advocacy “Robin Hood” Gil Michaels dies at 80
Michaels put $40 million into animal causes, but was convicted of toner cartridge scam that netted more than $126 million, according to the federal Department of Justice. VAN NUYS, California––Gilbert N. Michaels, 80, founder of the Compassion for Animals Foundation and Animal Guardians, died on August 19, 2022, while on compassionate release from a four-year federal penitentiary … [Read More...]
“Fear thy Neighbor”––with our help––explores murders of Hansman family
ANIMALS 24-7 details our investigation of dog attack, possible horse racing grudge, & the killings of Harper & Guy Hansman by dog owner Ronald DelSerro PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida; TORONTO, Ontario––The July 2020 ANIMALS 24-7 investigation of the murders of 11-year-old Harper Hansman and her father Guy Alexander Hansman, 55, helps to frame the narrative for “Gone to the Dogs,” episode … [Read More...]