ASPCA advice to shelters could increase puppy & kitten litters by about half a million in spring/summer 2020 While pet keepers in the developed world fret about the apparently infinitesimally small risk of pets and humans infecting and reinfecting each other, following the discovery of COVID-19 infecting one cat in Liege, Belgium, and two dogs […]
Are conservationists becoming an endangered species?
Three alleged murders among five recent deaths of note The butterfly guys OCAMPO, Mexico––Monarch butterfly conservationists Homero Gómez González, 50, and Raúl Hernández Romero, 44, were found dead on January 29, 2020 and February 1, 2020, respectively, at the El Rosario butterfly preserve that they helped to found and develop […]
Bali: fighting rabies & dolphin captivity amid mud & ashes of a live volcano
Long uphill struggles pay off DENPASSAR, Bali, Indonesia––Fireballs and lava are no longer flying from Mount Agung, the reputed Balinese home of the gods, but smoke, steam, and noxious gases are still rising from thermal vents, keeping most humans at a distance, Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA) dog rescuers excepted. Rabies persists in three […]
Cockfighters vs. coal miners, Taiji vs. Hong Kong: animal suffering gets lost
What happens when animal issues are overwhelmed by current events? HARLAN COUNTY, Kentucky; TAIJI, Japan; BALI, Indonesia––A trainload of coal worth $1.4 million, blockaded for six weeks by illegally laid off miners whose last pay checks bounced, might at a glance appear to have nothing to do with an alleged cockfighting ring run by […]
Bali hotel dolphins rescued––but will they be freed?
10-year effort gets animals out of sub-par facility BALI, Indonesia––The Jakarta Animal Aid Network and Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project on August 7, 2019 celebrated the transfer of two dolphins and a menagerie of other animals from “deplorable conditions” at the Melka Excelsior Hotel in Lovina, North Bali, Indonesia to a variety of other Bali animal […]
Finches found in hair curlers: trafficked to sing, or to fight?
Singing said to be behind smuggling busts, but the money may be in fights among caged finches NEW YORK, N.Y.––Circumstantial evidence hints that some or perhaps all of a parade of men caught in the act of allegedly bootlegging Guyanese seed finches into the U.S., purportedly to sell for use in high-stakes singing contests, might […]
Who killed ivory trade investigator Esmond Martin, why?
Survived more than 30 years of work in some of the world’s most dangerous places, only to be stabbed in his bed NAIROBI, Kenya––Nairobi police homicide detectives appear to believe that renowned elephant ivory and rhino horn trafficking investigator Esmond Bradley Martin Jr., 75, was murdered on February 5, 2018 in connection with a […]
Dog rescue on the slopes of Agung, Bali’s erupting “Mount Doom”
BAWA rushes to save animals beneath clouds of hot ash UBUD, Bali, Indonesia––More than 4.2 million people, 350,000 dogs, and perhaps a million other animals from monkeys and chickens to goats and cattle, plus wildlife, are looking over their shoulders at a 30,000-foot column of steam, smoke, and ash boiling out of Mount Agung. […]
From nuts to high tech: veggie food emerges as investment trend
Hedge funds bet that the foliage is where our next meals are coming from LAS VEGAS, LONDON––Food industry leaders placing investment bets on what they believe will be the next big trend in eating are putting more and more of the money on alternatives to animal products and byproducts. Three paths away from meat […]
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 […]