Animals 24-7

News on dogs, cats, horses, wildlife, zoonoses, & nature

Rick Collord, 72, helped lead transition from the high-kill to the no-kill era

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Headed 10 animal shelters in six states Rick Collord,  72,  a 42-year humane professional and chief executive of humane societies for most of that time,  died on January 26,  2021 in Lexington,  North Carolina,  his home since 2017. Born Irving Richard Collord III in 1948 in New Orleans,  Louisiana,  Rick Collord––no one ever called him […]

Fish farming foe Kurt Oddekalv, no bunny-hugger, dies trying to save dog

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The dog died too Fish farming foe Kurt Willy Oddekalv,  63,  on January 11,  2020 died from drowning and hypothermia suffered in attempting to rescue his daughter’s dog Kompis,  who had fallen through ice on a lake near their home in Kalandseidet, Bergen, Norway. The dog Kompis was found dead nearby. As a sergeant in the […]

Pit bulls again inflicted 90% of fatal dog-on-dog attacks in 2020

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Recurring pattern continues to elude the animal care-and-control community,  much of law enforcement,  mass media,  and the public             NEW YORK CITY,  N.Y.––Social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic kept people and dogs home in 2020,  cutting reported dog attacks on other animals by more than half in 2020 from the annual average since ANIMALS […]

Afro-Vegan Society marks Black History Month with veg outreach

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“Veguary” builds on a long,  strong tradition of African-American food ambassadors             BALTIMORE,  Maryland––“The Afro-Vegan Society will mark Black History Month with Veguary,”  announced society cofounder Brenda Sanders on January 25,  2021. Veguary,  Sanders explained,  will consist of “a series of free programs highlighting the contributions of black trailblazers,  and the many benefits of vegan […]

ALDF United unionizing bid splits Animal Legal Defense Fund

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Earthquake rumbles along fault lines in the ALDF mission and structure              COTATI, California––The Animal Legal Defense Fund,  founded in 1979,  headquartered practically on top of the San Andreas Fault just north of San Francisco,  has never clearly decided whether it is a professional association,  a nonprofit law firm,  or an animal advocacy group. Instead,  […]

Why 37 chimps “retired” by NIH in 2013 are still not in sanctuaries

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Humane Society of the U.S. sues National Institutes of Health over outcome of “CHIMP Act” claimed as HSUS “victory”          ALAMOGORDO,  New Mexico;  SHREVEPORT,  Louisiana;  BLUE RIDGE, Georgia––“Nestled in the pines near Keithville,”  17 miles south of Shreveport,  Louisiana,  the 200-acre Chimp Haven sanctuary “even has 11 new residents as part of a $20 million […]

Murder along the equator: seven die defending parrots & gorillas

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Colombian and Congolese wildlife guardians were ambushed RONCESVALLES,  Colombia;  VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK,  Democratic Republic of Congo––Simultaneous sad reminders of the human cost of wildlife conservation came on January 10,  2021 from the Reserva Loros Andinos in southwestern Colombia and Virunga National Park in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Reserva Loros Andinos and Virunga […]

When parrot “conservation” consisted chiefly of shooting them

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Vista Nieve by Melbourne R. Carriker Blue Mantle Press (36901 Marshall Hutts Rd.,  Rio Hondo-Arroyo City, TX  78583),  2001.  312 pages,  paperback.  $18.95. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton On July 28,  2002,  Colombian ornithologists Jorge Velasquez and Alonso Quevado photographed 14 examples of Fuertes’ parrot among tall trees in an alpine forest near the summit of […]

Dog attacks: COVID-19 made 2020 the strangest year yet

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Forty percent of pit bull attack disfigurements not reported? Dog attack fatalities were up in 2020,  but disfiguring dog attacks were down? Pit bull attack fatalities rose to the second highest total in a year on record,  yet disfiguring pit bull attacks dropped by 62%? How could this be,  in view that fatalities are a […]