Reader testifies: these tips work! “Your 28 ways to avoid hitting animals that may save your life too! article saved the life of a squirrel yesterday!” testified California reader Jim Jonsvold on September 20, 2018. “What I learned from that article has saved multiple lives,” Jonsvold added. … [Read More...]
Timothy J. Walker, 73, exposed slaughterhouse cruelty
by Gail Eisnitz, chief investigator, Humane Farming Association Timothy J. Walker, 73, died on September 10, 2018 in Naples, Florida, a little known hero for animals sent to slaughter. Walker followed his seven older brothers into the U.S. Navy after graduating from St. Mary’s High School … [Read More...]
The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life
by David Quammen Simon & Schuster 461 pages, $30.00 hardcover. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton At a glance, The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life, by veteran science writer and historian David Quammen, might seem to most ANIMALS 24-7 readers far removed from our usual topics of … [Read More...]
Frankenstein’s Cat: Cuddling Up To Biotech’s Brave New Beasts
by Emily Anthes Scientific American / Farrar, Straus & Giroux 241 pages, 2013 Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Among the advantages of reviewing Frankenstein’s Cat: Cuddling Up To Biotech’s Brave New Beasts five years after initial publication is the opportunity to see how accurately author and biotech enthusiast Emily Anthes used what she termed her “crystal ball of biotechnology” to … [Read More...]
Ex-HSUS vp David Wills child sex trial reset to November 2018
Defense has delayed trial since 2015 CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The often postponed trial of former humane society executive David Keith Wills on a federal charge of allegedly trafficking a minor for sexual purposes is now scheduled for November 2018, three and a half years after Wills was first arrested in connection with the case. Wills, formerly president of the Nashua Humane Society, the … [Read More...]
Omak “Suicide Race” 2018: more dead horses & “kill the messenger”
Tribal baseball tradition much better documented than "suicide racing" OMAK, Washington––Add at least two more dead horses to the mounting toll from the annual Omak Stampede Rodeo “Suicide Race,” bringing the known toll since 1983 to 25, with many more suspected but undocumented, and no record existing of injuries and deaths from the first “Suicide Race” in 1935 through … [Read More...]
“Joe Exotic” allegedly thought he could get away with murder
Accused of hiring hit man to bump off Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin TAMPA, Florida––“Joe Exotic,” 55, allegedly thought he could get away with murder. Also known as Joseph Maldonado-Passage, Joseph Allen Maldonado, and Joseph Allen Schreibvogel, “Joe Exotic” was on September 7, 2018 indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of hiring an unnamed person in November … [Read More...]
“Undertaker birds” replace street dogs in African cities
Marabou storks eat everything along the roads except the cars NAIROBI, Kenya––Marabou storks have replaced the street dogs. Twenty years ago the drive from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport past Nairobi National Park and into the central city via the Mombasa highway was an exercise in start-and-stop driving and sudden swerves to avoid the ubiquitous mongrel street dogs, … [Read More...]
Trophy hunting scheme & Chinese-built railway fire debate in Kenya
ANIMALS 24-7 reports from the scene NAIROBI, Kenya––Most of the delegates to the 2018 Africa Animal Welfare Conference, opening on September 3 at the United Nations Complex in Nairobi, will have already seen the second most controversial wildlife-related topic in Kenya, a four-mile Chinese-built railway overpass crossing Nairobi National Park, on their 20-mile ride into the city … [Read More...]
“Clean meat” advocate Shapiro pushes product to stretch hot dogs
Factory egg farmers meanwhile align behind HSUS-backed Proposition 12 SACRAMENTO, California––Paul Shapiro, the former Humane Society of the U.S. farmed animal campaigns manager and vegan advocate who resigned in January 2018 amid sexual harassment allegations, is now pushing a product meant to stretch hot dogs, burgers, and meatballs. A “blend of wheat protein, mushroom, … [Read More...]
Exploiting starving orcas to push a boondoggle
Habitat "restoration" scheme likely to hurt more than help Small fish were jumping by the dozens in the shallows tonight at Hidden Beach, near Greenbank, Washington. Speakers from Northwest Straits and the Island County Marine Resources Committee with alphabet soup behind their names had just alleged only minutes before, to about 50 attendees at an informational meeting held at the nearby … [Read More...]
Trainer who pushed pit bulls for police work indicted for fraud
Animal Farm Foundation funded suspect to boost the image of pit bulls MONTREAL, SAN ANTONIO––The pit bull advocacy organization Animal Farm Foundation, of Bangali, New York, had already had a difficult week, even before a federal grand jury in San Antonio, Texas on August 23, 2018 returned an indictment against Bradley Croft, 46, on eight counts of wire fraud, four counts of … [Read More...]
Rising to screams: the buzz on bee-killing neonicotinoids
Canada, Europe act, but Trump administration doesn't give a flying damn OTTAWA, WASHINGTON D.C.––Bees busily harvesting pollen from almost every flowering plant as the summer of 2018 fades seem oblivious to the buzz against neonicotinoid insecticides, even as the pitch rises to screams everywhere else from down on the farm to courtrooms and the halls of government. It isn’t just … [Read More...]
Live animal markets in New York City: a cut-throat business at best
Customs change with waves of immigration NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.––Escaping the Iranian Revolution with her parents at age 6, artist Sara Rahbar as an adult has produced an internationally recognized portfolio on themes often involving human and animal suffering. Yet Rahbar found herself wholly unprepared for the misery she met close to hand on a recent visit to Twelve Baskets Inc. on … [Read More...]
“We can still save them”: wild cat conservationist Alan Rabinowitz, 65
The "Indiana Jones of wildlife conservation" was an optimist in a field dominated by doom-and-gloom NEW YORK CITY––Wild cat conservationist Alan Rabinowitz died of cancer on August 5, 2018 in Manhattan, New York City, after an 18-year struggle that began with a diagnosis of leukemia in 2001 and spanned most of the achievements for which he was best known. These achievements … [Read More...]
ANIMALS 24-7: a date with the judge
A testimonial from Beth Today is our fourth wedding anniversary. Four years ago today, Merritt and I stood before a judge for all the right reasons, and were united as husband-and-wife. We are thankful for each day we have together, and thankful to be able to bring you the ANIMALS 24-7 news coverage. It is a labor of love. Merritt & I were already united as the ANIMALS 24-7 team. … [Read More...]