Animals 24-7

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

Reptile diversity study findings are less scary than a snake in your boot

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Mainstream reportage focused on the bad news,  but reptiles remain likely to outlive us WASHINGTON D.C.––All dinosaurs except birds,  all ichthyosaurs,  and all pterosaurs are  confirmed extinct. Dragons,  griffins,  and Godzilla are alive and well in human imagination,  the only habitat they ever actually occupied. Among the other 10,196 reptile species for whom population and […]

Alisa Marie Mullins: longtime behind-the-scenes voice of PETA

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PETA obituary understated Mullins’ role as author,  ghostwriter,  & spokesperson Alisa Marie Mullins,  59,  a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals researcher and writer for 30 years,  died on March 22, 2022 “after a 2-year battle with brain cancer,”  PETA announced. The PETA obituary announcement understated Mullins’ longtime role as author and/or ghost writer […]

Israeli vegan honey could leave Russia & Ukraine holding the honey bucket

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Lab-produced honey goes into industrial-scale production just as global supply from bees is disrupted by Putin’s War             JERUSALEM, Israel––Regardless of whether Ukraine staves off the Russian invasion or suffers the genocide threatened by Russian use of heavy weapons against civilian targets,  the biggest and perhaps only winner of what is now known worldwide as […]

H5N1 avian flu: bird culls, food prices, Ukraine war, & cockfighting converge

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Waterfowl meeting mostly in the Russian Arctic infect factory farms worldwide             AMES,  Iowa––Just as the COVID-19 pandemic afflicting the world since January 2020 seems to be letting up,  the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Veterinary Services Laboratories are warning everyone concerned about birds,  wild or domestic,  to beware of the first outbreak of High […]

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 […]

Banning U.S. imports of Russian fish could help Ukraine & help the fish too

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Why was the U.S. still buying Russian fish while boycotting Russian oil,  gas,  coal,  & even vodka? WASHINGTON D.C.––Fish were the last major category of U.S. imports from Russia not yet embargoed by the U.S. government in protest of the February 24,  2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden on March 8,  2022 […]

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 […]

(How) does salmonella grow on trees? Answer: it doesn’t, by Karen Davis, Ph.D.

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But new findings confirm that COVID-19 and salmonella outbreaks––and most other zoonotic diseases––share a common source  Editors’ note:            On January 31,  2020,  two years plus a month ago,  United Poultry Concerns founder Karen Davis contributed the first ANIMALS 24-7 coverage of the global COVID-19 pandemic,  Wet markets or Walmart? Animal consumption & the coronavirus. […]

“Live lure training” likely to survive greyhound racing, for the sadism of it

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Few tracks left to run on,  but “trainers” continue setting greyhounds on rabbits             GREELEY, Colorado––Greyhound racing began as the bastard offspring of hare coursing,  whitewashed for public consumption by calling it “live lure training.” Because raw sadism appears to die even harder than the gambling habit,  so-called live lure training will likely also outlive […]