National People’s Congress has been asked to consider banning sales of pangolin scales BEIJING, China––Pangolins, perhaps the cutest and most harmless animal jeopardized by poaching and wildlife trafficking whom hardly anyone has heard of, remain in as much trouble today as yesterday, two years ago, and five years ago, despite news items, activist alerts, […]
South Korean court rules that killing dogs for meat is illegal
Verdict for the first time upholds 1991 law BUCHEON, South Korea––Upholding parts of the Korean Animal Protection Act which have been on the books since 1991, but were never before successfully prosecuted, a Bucheon city court judge has fined a dog meat farmer the equivalent of $2,050 in U.S. dollars for “killing animals without […]
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 […]
Trump stalls elephant & lion trophy imports after meal of shark fin soup
Appointees had put elephants & lions back on trophy hit list WASHINGTON D.C.––Tweeting “Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts,” U.S. President Donald Trump on November 17, 2017 unexpectedly suspended U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services decisions –– trumpeted by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and praised by both […]
Rhinos worldwide put at risk in South African crap game
Can rhinos survive a real-life test of libertarian economic theory? JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA—The South African Constitutional Court on April 5, 2017 opened the way to legal trade in rhino horn––and probably more illegal rhino horn trafficking worldwide––by dismissing an appeal from the South African Department of Environmental Affairs to keep a moratorium on domestic sales 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 […]
Soi Dog Foundation & Indian Ocean tsunami heroine Gill Dalley, 58
Lost legs rescuing a dog in 2004 PHUKET, Thailand––“It is with profound regret and unfathomable sadness that we announce the passing of Gill Dalley,” the Soi Dog Foundation announced on February 13, 2017. “The inaugural winner of the Canine Hero of the Year award at the 2011 Animals for Asia conference in Chengdu, China, […]
Tom Hayden, author of California’s Hayden Act, dies at 76
1998 act required public shelters to release animals to any nonprofit takers Tom Hayden, 76, best known as a civil rights activist and opponent of the Vietnam War, but also author of one of the most influential and controversial animal care and control laws ever, as an 18-year member of the California state assembly […]
Viet shelter sold dogs for meat; U.S. shelters sold dogs to fighters
Horrific case, but no cause for cultural finger-pointing DA NANG, CHAMBERSBURG, TAMPA––Vu Van Chinh, founder of the Da Nang Dogs & Cats Information & Rescue Station in Da Nang, Vietnam, “has admitted that he killed dogs and sold them to local restaurants,” reported Philip Sherwell, Bangkok correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph, on April […]
Most famous turtle in the world dies in Hanoi
Was Vietnamese national symbol HANOI, Vietnam––Cu Rua, probably the most famous turtle in the world and perhaps the oldest, was found dead in Hoan Kiem Lake in central Hanoi during the third week of January 2016. “A mythic symbol of Vietnamese independence and longevity who had quietly paddled around Hanoi’s central lake for decades,” wrote […]