Animals 24-7

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

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 […]

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 […]

Botswana,  please rethink resuming hunting! by Sebastian Mwanza

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Ian Khama,  former president of Botswana,  resigns from ruling party when successor undoes ban on trophy hunting Editor’s note:  Outraged and disappointed that his handpicked successor Mokgweetsi Masisi had ended a five-year-old ban on trophy hunting,  Ian Khama,  president of Botswana from 2008 to 2018,  on May 25,  2019 resigned from the Botswana Democratic Party […]

Cassowary victim had helped to spur ostrich-&-emu boom

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“See the gentle cassowary On the plains of Timbuktu Eating up the missionary Hat and coat and hymn-book too.” Attributed to Theodore Hook  (1788-1841)             HIGH SPRINGS,  Florida––Remembering the cassowary rhyme from childhood,  and that “Cassowaries are found mainly in Australia and New Guinea.  Never in Africa!”,  International Primate Protection League founder Shirley McGreal was […]

Johnny Rodrigues, 69, fought to save wildlife in Zimbabwe

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Felled by cancer after surviving two wars, poachers’ gunfire, & the Mugabe regime QUARTEIERA, Portugal––Johnny Rodrigues,  69,  founder of the the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force and an enthusiastic contributor of information and occasional guest columns to ANIMALS 24-7,  died on September 17,  2018 at his daughter Lorraine and son-in-law Gavin Randall’s home in Portugal,  after […]

Trial of David Wills on child sex abuse charges again delayed

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Case may hang on pending U.S. Supreme Court ruling             CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas––The multi-time postponed trial of former humane society executive David Keith Wills on a federal charge of allegedly trafficking a minor for sexual purposes has yet again been rescheduled. Wills is now set for trial in September 2019,  ANIMALS 24-7 has been informed. […]

January 2019 saw the most dog-related deaths in 13 months

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Three killed by pit bulls, three in human conflict involving dogs, one possibly by German shepherd,  one killed by dogs unidentified by breed HOUSTON, Texas––A January 28,  2019 shoot-out in Houston,  Texas that left five police officers injured and two drug suspects dead raised the apparent dog-related death toll for the month,  worldwide,  to eight,  […]