Scheduled at only one place, for just four days, in 2018 BANGKOK, Thailand––Elephant polo might in theory stagger on for years or even decades after the four-day 2018 King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament––if the last tournament host, Anantara Hotels & Resorts, remains willing to pour promotional effort into it and mahouts have elephants to […]
From pit bulls to street dogs, irresponsible advocacy inflames “dog menace”
Dismissing dangerous dog behavior––or blaming the victims––disregards public trust SPRINGFIELD, Missouri; PHUKET, Thailand––Superficially, the dog-versus-human conflicts raging in Springfield, Missouri, where breed-specific legislation is at issue, and in Phuket, Thailand, where few dogs have any evident breed-specific traits, could scarcely look more different. Pit bull attacks are the problem in Springfield: 38 in three […]
Monsoon floods threaten animals below the Himalayas
Devastation along one of the world’s longest yet most remote rivers GUWAHATI, ASSAM, INDIA––Exceptionally heavy monsoon rains pelting the southeast side of the Himalayas, believed to be symptomatic of global warming, have for the fifth year in a row triggered deadly landslides and caused the Brahmaputra river and tributaries to overflow their banks. More than […]
Snehal Bhatt, “The Cobra Girl of Gujarat,” dies at 55
Made famous by The Snake Wranglers Snehal Bhatt, 55, made famous worldwide as “The Cobra Girl of Gujarat” by the second episode of the National Geographic reality television series The Snake Wranglers, died in her sleep from a heart attack in the early morning hours of January 23, 2017 at her home in Vadodara, Gujarat, […]
Ashok Kumar, 81, brought India’s most notorious poacher to justice
Co-founded Wildlife Trust of India NEW DELHI, India––Ashok Kumar, 81, the quiet man of Indian wildlife conservation, died on August 19, 2016, after a lifetime of undercover and behind-the-scenes work on behalf of tigers, elephants, and every other iconic, rare, or struggling species on the subcontinent. Co-founder and president emeritus of the Wildlife […]
“ANIMALS 24-7 is right” on pit bulls, says Animal Aid India
An open letter from Animal Aid Unlimited co-founder Erika Abrams Dear ANIMALS 24-7: I want to applaud your perseverance in bringing light to the numerous sorrowful fatal consequences of pit bull/mix attacks. I am aware that you have adversaries who claim among other things that your statistics are questionable; that breed “profiling” is similar to racial […]
Eluding jail since 1998, alleged poacher Salman Khan to be tried one last time
Mythical “Famous Persons Act” appears to protect one of Bollywood’s biggest stars JAIPUR, India––Arguably the most notorious case of allegedly poaching endangered species still before the courts of any nation, and certainly the longest running soap opera of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’s career may end on August 10, 2016, when Khan goes to court […]
Farmed animals & the Brexit “diet plan”
Part II of a 5-part series (See also Will U.K. leaving E.U. mean leaving animal welfare behind?, Farmed animals & money talks, What Brexit means for “pet passports” & lab animals and Back to the Jungle Book: U.K. wildlife law post-Brexit.) LONDON, U.K.––Quipsters have it that Brexit, as the June 23, 2016 choice of United Kingdom […]
India drops animal welfare rep from lab oversight board
Animal Welfare Board of India chief ousted for opposing bullfighting CHENNAI, India––Crippling the ability of the Animal Welfare Board of India to monitor animal use in biomedical research and product safety testing, Indian minister of environment and forests Prakash Javadekar has removed AWBI chair R.M. Kharb from his position on the 13-member Committee for […]
Supreme Court of India rules against harvest festival mayhem
Animal Welfare Board of India chair R.M. Kharb & vice-chair Chinny Krishna refuse to quit NEW DELHI, CHENNAI––Animals may be killed and injured by the hundreds of thousands during the 2016 Indian harvest festivals, January 12-18, but the mayhem may not proceed with government approval, ruled a two-judge bench representing the Supreme Court of India […]