Researchers scrape the bottom of the barrel DAVIS, California––Will a purported national monkey shortage force COVID-19 researchers to develop new non-animal testing methods? Or is the alleged monkey shortage really just a ploy by the seven National Primate Research Centers to perpetuate their own existence, taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to win more federal […]
Pig transport truck kills animal advocate Regan Russell outside slaughterhouse
Accident reprises 1995 death of British protester Jill Phipps BURLINGTON, Ontario––Regan Russell, 65, of Hamilton, Ontario, was on June 19, 2020 crushed to death by an 18-wheel livestock transport truck delivering pigs to slaughter at Fearman’s Pork Inc., the largest and oldest slaughterhouse in Ontario. A local landmark since 1852, and the scene of […]
Hurricane Laura: mouse takes the spotlight while 10 dogs die on truck
Marine life are major wildlife casualties COOKEVILLE, Tennessee––Pipsqueak the three-legged mouse, a cow dead for perhaps 160 years, ten dogs succumbing to heat exhaustion aboard a rescue transport, and acres of decomposing marine life scattered across beaches more than 300 miles from where Hurricane Laura made landfall at Cameron Parish, Louisiana, appear to be […]
Wildfires, COVID-19, & cockfighting besiege Monterey County
Cockfighting may be accelerant behind COVID-19 explosion MONTEREY, California––The 50,000-acre River wildfire, destroying at least 13 homes, and the 7,000-acre Carmel wildfire, razing 50 homes, reportedly forced the evacuation of more than 500 animals to the SPCA for Monterey County shelter during the fourth week of August 2020––and then forced the animals’ re-evacuation to the […]
Animal losses low after Hurricane Laura––but worst may be ahead
Little animal agriculture where storm made landfall CAMERON PARISH, Louisiana––From the animal safety perspective, Hurricane Laura could scarcely have hit in a less vulnerable location. Reportedly the most powerful hurricane to hit coastal Louisiana since the Last Island hurricane of 1856, Hurricane Laura whirled into the coastal bayous of sparsely populated Cameron Parish in […]
Illinois pit bull fatality mirrors attack by HSUS rep Annie Hornish’s pit
Family of Hornish pit bull victim offers to settle for $3.5 million; insurer says Hornish isn’t covered BELLEVILLE, Illinois; SUFFIELD, Connecticut––Moving and storage worker Kelly Knaup, 45, of Belleville, Illinois, and Annie Hornish, 63, Connecticut state representative for the Humane Society of the U.S., have just four things obviously in common. • Both restructured their […]
Pro-cockfighting rally draws fewer participants than local cockfights
Apathy thwarts “Call To Action BBQ” VERBENA, Alabama––One inept attempt to rally nationwide support for cockfighting, convened on short notice amid a global pandemic, scarcely means the multi-million-dollar cockfighting industry is unraveling, protected as it is by “good old boys” in legislatures and law enforcement. But that fewer people rallied in defense of cockfighting on […]
Wildlife Waystation closure: where are the animals now?
32 chimps still need homes SYLMAR, California––32 chimpanzees are the last residents of the former Wildlife Waystation sanctuary in Little Tujunga Canyon, east of Glendale and Los Angeles. A year after Wildlife Waystation closed, on August 13, 2019, by order of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, finding the funds to rehome the […]
Birds in the mail: U.S. Postal Service changes kill thousands
Trump appointee DeJoy puts animal advocates, factory farmers, cockfighters, & captive bird-shooters all on the same side of the fence WASHINGTON D.C.––Changes to U.S. Postal Service policy and practice implemented by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, appointed in May 2020 by U.S. President Donald Trump, on August 21, 2020 improbably aligned animal advocates, factory-style poultry farmers, […]
In Defense of Animals in turmoil: what is going on?
“Independent investigation” underway SAN RAFAEL, California––“An independent investigation” of allegations issued by at least half a dozen In Defense of Animals staff and former staff and board members against the administration of board president Marilyn Kroplick, “has been approved by IDA’s Board of Directors and is currently being launched,” In Defense of Animals communications […]