Animals 24-7

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

Hoofed animals worldwide put at risk by foot-&-mouth outbreak in Indonesia

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Fatwa allowing Eid-al-Adha slaughter of “mildly ill” animals spares some from slaughter,  but may expose thousands more  JAKARTA, Indonesia––Simultaneous foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks among cattle in Aceh and Java provinces,  1,650 miles apart,  have just about everyone in the cattle,  sheep,  goat,  and pig industries worried that a global foot-and-mouth disease pandemic may be just ahead. […]

Alleged cockfighter indicted for bribery in Kentucky, others named

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31 missing cockfighters becomes a presidential campaign issue in the Philippines LEXINGTON,  Kentucky;  MANILA, Philippines––The U.S. Department of Justice on March 2,  2022 disclosed the names of four more alleged cockfighters against whom sealed federal indictments were issued on February 24,  2022 in London,  Kentucky. No further information,  however,  has been forthcoming about who was […]

CITES doomed the vaquita, sold the elephant in the room, & worse

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U.N. Environment Assembly calls for yet another report on “the interlinkages between animal welfare,  the environment and sustainable development” after ignoring a mountain of others produced at least since 1950             LYON, France––This is not just a fish story,  nor just a fish-and-elephant story,  nor even just another story about the failures and shortcomings of […]

FBI raids alleged Kentucky cockpit; 31 cockfighters “disappear” in Philippines

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But Oklahoma legislator moves to gut anti-cockfighting law WHITESBURG, Kentucky––Information is scarce about a February 25,  2022 raid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on an alleged cockpit near Whitesburg,  Kentucky. Information is even scarcer about a rumored simultaneous raid on a second alleged cockpit west of Lexington,  Kentucky,  followed by additional raids elsewhere in […]

Grand jury indicts alleged assailants of humane investigator Steve Hindi

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Hindi beaten, drone destroyed, while trying to videotape site of suspected cockfight             IRONTON, Ohio––A Lawrence County,  Ohio grand jury on February 23,  2021 indicted suspects James V. “Bub” Newcomb II,  53,  of Waterloo,  Ohio,  and distant Newcomb neighbor Shannon Lee Clark,  35,  on multiple felony counts originating in a January 3,  2021 alleged assault […]

Trixie the whale shark dies young at the Georgia Aquarium

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Three whale sharks left of six brought from Taiwan in 2006-2007             ATLANTA, Georgia––Trixie the whale shark,  who could have lived up to 130 years in the wild,  died on November 27,  2020 after just 14 years at the Georgia Aquarium. Trixie,  believed to have been about 32 feet long,  still about eight feet short […]

China prosecutes 10 times more wildlife scofflaws in 2020 than U.S.

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COVID-19 triggers sustained crackdown on illegal fishers,  poachers, & traffickers BEIJING, China—Cracking down on wildlife-related crime in response to the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic,  China prosecuted more than 15,000 alleged perpetrators in the first nine months of 2020. About 7,000 prosecutions were for illegal fishing,  4,000 for poaching land animals and birds,  and 3,000 for […]

Virunga ranger, Taiwanese doctor, & PETA staffer lived & died for animals

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Virunga National Park Ranger Bagurubumwe Chuhoze Deogene,  47,  Mira Fong,  74,  and Jennifer Woods,  58,  died on October 10,  September 6,  and August 22,  2020,  respectively,  having in common almost nothing in their life histories except their dedication to animals. Bagurubumwe Chuhoze Deogene Joining the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature in 1996,  at […]

Ship down with 5,867 cows & 42 crew renews protest against live export

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Had history of engine failure AMAMI OSHIMA ISLAND, Japan––The Gulf Livestock 1,  a Panamanian-flagged converted container ship carrying 5,867 two-year-old heifers and 43 human crew,  capsized and sank on September 2,  2020 in the East China Sea,  about 100 nautical miles west of Amami Oshima Island,  Japan,  the first survivor to be rescued told the Japanese […]

North Korean dictator bans pet dogs amid worsening famine

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Kim Jong-un reportedly calls dogs “decadent” and a “tainted trend” PYONGYANG, North Korea––Kim Jong-un,  36,  ruling North Korea since 2011,  has declared pet dogs a “decadent” luxury and a “tainted trend reflecting bourgeois ideology,”  according to an August 17,  2020 report published in the English edition of the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo. Founded in 1919,  […]