World fiddles while grasshoppers munch NINGBO, China; NAIROBI, Kenya––A much deadlier plague than the COVID-19 coronavirus is sweeping westward from China through Pakistan, across Central Asia, and throughout the Horn of Africa, flying 100 miles a day, devouring crops enough to feed as many as 34 million people, according to the United Nations Food […]
Greyhound racing goes to the dogs in Miami, Macau, & Australia
Magic City is allowed to replace greyhound racing with jai alai––a precedent for “decoupling” animal racing from gambling permits MIAMI, Florida––The Magic City casino in West Flagler, Florida, after more than 13 years of legal struggle, is soon to become the first Florida betting venue to be allowed to abandon animal racing while continuing […]
Under the Skin: How ejiao threatens the common ass
The Donkey Sanctuary saddles up Free download from https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/under-the-skin/full-report Reviewed by Merritt Clifton BEIJING––Can demand for a commodity that constitutes only one ten-thousandth of the global market for traditional Chinese medicine really pose what Donkey Rescue World blogger David C. Duncan calls “an existential threat” to barnyard animals as abundant worldwide as donkeys? This is […]
Did the bastards kill any bustards? Oil sheik hunters evicted from Pakistan
Officially, the oil sheiks didn’t use their falcons THARPARKAR, Pakistan––Birding enthusiasts, conservationists, and inquiring minds throughout Pakistan are wondering how endangered houbara bustards really fared this past winter, after––according to the Urdu newspaper Daily Dunya––an alleged falconing camp set up in Tharparkar, Sindh district, by Qatari prince Fahad Abdul Rahman Al Thani was removed […]
Horsewoman & horseman of the food Apocalypse
Project Animal Farm: An Accidental Journey into the Secret World of Farming & the Truth About Our Food by Sonia Faruqi Pegasus Books (80 Broad Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10004; www.pegasusbooks.com); 390 pages, hardcover. $27.95. Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat by Philip Lymbery, CEO, Compassion In World Farming, with Isabel Oakeshott, political editor, […]
How plastic reindeer can feed the world
(at least as well as livestock gift charities) The 2015 holiday giving season is here. Predictably as plastic replicas of Santa Claus’ reindeer appearing on Sunbelt rooftops where no snow ever falls, livestock gift charities including World Vision, Oxfam, and the original, Heifer International, are saturating mass media with appeals to donors to subsidize distributing […]
Super floods in Pakistan: question mark on animal agriculture
Ill-considered food policies aggravate effects of global warming The super floods in Pakistan may be the result of a global ecological shift, but the country is also suffering from misguided domestic food production policies, possibly based on bad advice from donor nations and international charities. Has the world reached its limits on the production capacity […]
What did the Prophet Mohammed really say about dogs?
Kindness toward dogs could bring forgiveness for sin Will Islamic refugees from conflict in the Middle East respect western values? Of particular concern to animal lovers, will the refugees respect our cultural concern for the well-being of dogs? Vehement foes of refugee immigration frequently allege that Islam is intolerant of dogs, but reality is considerably […]
Fallen crane & stampede take spotlight from haj animal victims
At least 900,000 animals killed among 24 nations RIYADH, Saudi Arabia––After decades of global controversy over animal transport and slaughter in connection with Eid al Adha sacrificial rites, the animal victims of the 2015 Islamic pilgrimage season went almost unnoticed amid furor over human victims. The start of the pilgrimage season, called the haj […]
“Xi & Obama: please talk tigers!”
Fourteen leading tiger experts appeal to Chinese and U.S. presidents Discussion of China’s tiger farms and its growing domestic trade in luxury tiger products was unfortunately not on the table for President Xi’s September 24, 2015 visit with U.S. President Barack Obama. Between 5,000 and 6,000 tigers are being farmed today in China for a luxury […]