Praises Oklahoma Game Fowl Commission for “preserving heritage” OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma––Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt all but dropped his rooster into a cockpit and placed a bet at the Oklahoma Game Fowl Commission annual legislative meeting on November 12, 2023 in McAlester, Oklahoma. “Hey everyone. Governor Kevin Stitt here,” he opened, addressing the meeting by video. […]
International animal advocacy influencer Brian Davies dies at 87
Founded IFAW to fight the Atlantic Canada seal hunt CAPE COD, Massachusetts––Brian Davies, 87, founder of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Network for Animals, the Political Animal Lobby, and Animal Survival International, died after a prolonged illness on December 27, 2022. Born on February 4, 1935 in Tonyrefail, Wales, an impoverished mining village, […]
Seven members of Alabama cockfighting family plead guilty to federal charges
Exported gamecocks around the world MONTGOMERY, Alabama––Cockfighters and gamefowl breeders Brent Easterling, William Easterling, and five other members of their family on August 11, 2022 pleaded guilty to federal and state of Alabama charges filed in 2021 as “conspiracy to violate federal anti-animal fighting laws, including operating fighting pits on their properties, possessing thousands of […]
Alleged cockfighter indicted for bribery in Kentucky, others named
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 […]
FBI raids alleged Kentucky cockpit; 31 cockfighters “disappear” in Philippines
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
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
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 […]
Will African swine fever make China vegan?
Whatever happens, most of the world will eat less pork SYDNEY, Australia; HONG KONG––Will African swine fever, a viral disease now projected to kill at least half the pigs in China and a quarter of all the pigs in the world, accelerate the trend toward vegan eating? Or speed the transition toward factory farming? Or […]
How to tell a “bait dog” from “click bait”
“Bait dogs” are docile victims to some pit bull advocates, but “urban legend” to others What is a “bait dog”? First of all, learn to distinguish a bona fide “bait dog” from a “click bait” dog, known to rescue insiders as a “donor bait” dog. Fill in the blanks This is the generic description of […]
Philippine mad dogs claim deadly revenge for being eaten
Eradicating rabies requires ending dog-eating too CAUAYAN, Philippines––For the second time in three years a rabies outbreak linked to eating dogs has hit the western Philippines, underscoring the importance of ending dog meat consumption if canine rabies is to be eradicated. The rabies outbreak was declared by the Negros Occidental provincial department of health […]