Guest column by Gail A. Eisnitz In December 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will implement its “modernization” plan for the slaughter of pigs by turning over key inspection duties to the very industry it regulates. While current regulations allow slaughterhouses to kill a staggering … [Read More...]
Fur sales, wildlife acts, & hiding dog bite history banned in California
Fur-bearing animals & adopters of shelter/rescue dogs win protections SACRAMENTO, California––The new animal-related law in California that Governor Gavin Newsom and mass media said least about, to help protect Californians against recklessly rehomed dogs with bite history, may … [Read More...]
Pit bulls: new gene study shows it is NOT “all in how you raise them”
Aggression starts from inherited traits SEATTLE, Washington––The dogma that dog aggression, especially pit bull aggression, is “all in how you raise them” is again refuted by science, but the average reader will have a hard time deciphering the message from the highly technical … [Read More...]
Bali: fighting rabies & dolphin captivity amid mud & ashes of a live volcano
Long uphill struggles pay off DENPASSAR, Bali, Indonesia––Fireballs and lava are no longer flying from Mount Agung, the reputed Balinese home of the gods, but smoke, steam, and noxious gases are still rising from thermal vents, keeping most humans at a distance, Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA) dog rescuers excepted. Rabies persists in three of the eight Bali … [Read More...]
Heidi Lueders, alleged rescuer who starved pit bulls, rejects plea bargain
Lueders to be tried on five felony counts in early 2020 BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut––Former Bully Breed Rescue president Heidi Lueders, 31, on October 11, 2019 rejected a plea bargain to lesser charges, and instead is to go to trial at an unspecified date in early 2020 on five felony counts of cruelty to animals for allegedly allowing five caged pit bulls to starve to death in her rented … [Read More...]
Do fish feel pain? Victoria Braithwaite proved it to science
Led recognition of "metric tons" of fish as millions of sentient lives UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania––The biggest news in the watery world of fisheries in early October 2019 was the appearance of the 447-foot Margiris, reputedly the world’s second-largest trawler, through the mists of the English Channel just 14 miles off Brighton, East Sussex. “For days,” at least 10 days … [Read More...]
David Wills, ex-humane exec, convicted; may get life in child sex case
17-count conviction follows two-week trial; sentence pending ROCKPORT, Texas––David Keith Wills, a former executive of four humane organizations including the Humane Society of the United States, faces a potential sentence of life in prison, following his conviction on October 8, 2019 by a U.S. federal court jury in Rockport, Texas on 17 counts pertaining to sexual abuse of a … [Read More...]
Bird bloodbath over Britain & Scotland: regulatory failures, royal hypocrisy
"General licenses" mean open season on 22 non-game species LONDON, Edinburgh––Birds are in steep decline over Europe, as they are over the U.S. and Canada, reports the British-based organization BirdLife International, monitoring bird populations since 1922––but the chief cause of the European bird crash appears to be simply that hunters, including the British royal family, are shooting … [Read More...]
Dolphin defender Ric O’Barry, cleared by Tokyo court, plans return to Japan
Three-judge panel rules O'Barry was wrongly barred entry & deported in 2016 TOKYO––“I’m gonna go back and do it again!” dolphin defender Ric O’Barry emailed to ANIMALS 24-7 late on October 3, 2019, after attorneys Megumi Wada and Takashi Takano won a Tokyo District Court ruling on O’Barry’s behalf that O’Barry is free to return to Japan and even to Taiji, after having been barred for three … [Read More...]
Washington Gov. Inslee shakes off fear of big bad Republican wolf-haters
26 of 30 wolves killed in Washington since 2012 were killed to protect just one ranch OLYMPIA, Washington––Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf? Not many people, actually. Twenty-six of the 30 wolves who have been killed in Washington state since 2012 for alleged livestock predation have reportedly been killed in response to complaints from just three people: Diamond M Ranch … [Read More...]
“National Pit Bull Awareness Month” opens with two pit bull fatalities
But HSUS and the ASPCA mark the occasion by pushing pit bulls for families Rottweiler kills a child, too NEW YORK CITY, WASHINGTON D.C.––October 2019, designated the thirteenth annual “National Pit Bull Awareness Month” by pit bull advocates, opened with a blood-red sunrise. Only 24 hours earlier police in Bryan County, Oklahoma, and Hampton, Virginia, announced the near … [Read More...]
Someone said ANIMALS 24-7 should not exist. Help us prove him wrong!
Dear friends & readers: Beth & I listen to you when you ask us to investigate and report about urgent animal issues, usually issues that no one else is covering in comparable depth. We stay up very late, very often, to make sure we live up to your expectations in a timely manner. Every now and then, though, people who don’t care whether you are accurately informed, whether animals’ needs … [Read More...]
How did Kumpf get elected top Detroit dogcatcher? Inside info raises questions
Editor's note: The September 24, 2019 ANIMALS 24-7 article Mark Kumpf named Detroit animal control chief. Remember Klonda Richey? drew many responses, none more revealing than this one from Ed Boks, another applicant for the job, who formerly headed the animal control agencies serving Maricopa County, Arizona; New York City; and the city of Los Angeles, and most recently headed the … [Read More...]
Feds probe alleged rapes & murders by WWF-funded anti-poaching militias
U.K., Germany, & Switzerland also concerned about World Wildlife Fund-backed paramilitary operations WASHINGTON D.C.–– The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and other federal agencies are investigating allegations repeatedly raised for more than a dozen years by media––chiefly by the online periodical BuzzFeed News, but also including ANIMALS 24-7––that funds granted by the U.S. … [Read More...]
Haisley gets four years for robbery, domestic violence charges pending
History catches up to Animal Rescue Corps founder & former HSUS director of investigations WASHINGTON D.C.––The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has disclosed that Animal Rescue Corps founder and former Humane Society of the U.S. director of investigations Scotlund Haisley, 51, of Montgomery County Maryland, was on September 13, 2019 sentenced to serve to 46 … [Read More...]
Mark Kumpf named Detroit animal control chief. Remember Klonda Richey?
Richey was third of five human dog attack fatalities during Kumpf tenure in Dayton DETROIT––With the Motor City still grieving over the August 19, 2019 fatal mauling of nine-year-old Emma Hernandez by three pit bulls running at large, Detroit chief operating officer Hakim Berry on September 23, 2019 named a new animal control director: Mark Kumpf, who took office … [Read More...]