Animals 24-7

Dogs, cats, horses, wildlife, zoonoses, & nature

Obits: defenders of cats, dogs, wild horses, bees, crabs, & elephants

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Elaine Adair, Dayton Hyde, Susan Rudnicki,  Alana Cutland,  & Matthew Talbot had in common service to animals Elaine Adair Elaine Adair,  cofounder of the Mississippi Spay & Neuter Alliance (MS-SPAN),  born Elaine Girton on October 15, 1950 in Bloomsburg,  Pennsylvania,   died after a long struggle against cancer on October 14, 2019,  one day before what would […]

Do fish feel pain? Victoria Braithwaite proved it to science

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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 […]

David Wills, ex-humane exec, convicted; may get life in child sex case

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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 […]

Feds probe alleged rapes & murders by WWF-funded anti-poaching militias

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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. government […]

Elephants, giraffes, sharks, Asian otters & seahorses fare well in Switzerland

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African elephants win protection near where exports for display began             GENEVA, Switzerland––Live elephant exports from Africa for exhibition at least nominally ended by plenary vote at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Triennial Conference of the Parties on August 27,  2019 in Geneva,  Switzerland,  about 200 miles north from where the […]

Feds must hide names of hunters who kill for show, rules Trump appointee

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Brave enough to shoot a cage-raised lion,  but not enough to face the public             WASHINGTON,  D.C.––Ruling that trophy hunters’ right to privacy trumps the public right to know what animals they kill,  even though the goal of trophy hunting is showing off,  U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly on August 19,  2019 ruled that the […]

Wildlife Waystation closed & to be dismantled, after 43 years

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If a cat has nine lives,  Wildlife Waystation had dozens             SYLMAR, California––Wildlife Waystation,  the often embattled prototype for dozens of other sanctuaries for former exotic pets and animals used in laboratories and entertainment,  has closed,  after 43 years. The closure came nearly four months after the reportedly forced retirement of founder Martine Colette. Colette […]

Will Nairobi shoot dogs, vaccinate them, or serve them for dinner?

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Governor’s proposals confuse & alarm Kenya             NAIROBI, Kenya––Does Nairobi County governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko want to shoot street dogs,  vaccinate them against rabies,  or serve them for dinner? Three and a half months after the Sonko administration began running the three proposals up the flagpole to see who might salute,  neither Nairobi citizens,  news […]

Deadliest dogs in South Africa? Boerboels challenge pit bulls

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The most dangerous dogs of the apartheid era make a bloody comeback             BLOEMFONTAIN, South Africa––Adriana Salomina van Deventer,  widow of David van Deventer,  on July 4,  2019 in the High Court of South Africa,  Bloemfontain Division,  won an eight-year battle to establish that her husband was killed by a […]

Why vultures are not circling over the drought-parched world

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It isn’t that vultures don’t feel the threat from global warming             GABORONE,  Botswana––Scarce over much of drought-parched India,  Central Asia, and Africa,  vultures still converge over dead livestock and wildlife in Botswana,  stripping the corpses of even elephants and hippos down to the bones within hours––but for how much longer? The Botswana Department of […]