Gamecocks carrying Newcastle disease to domestic flocks killed millions in 1971 and 2003 LOS ANGELES––The billion-dollar-a-year California poultry industry is betting the farm that state and federal authorities can get a two-year series of outbreaks of Newcastle disease under control before it becomes the biggest threat to profits in decades. An outbreak discovered in […]
A year in jail for the life of Christmas Eve pit bull victim Lorraine Saylor
Death demonstrates that responsible dog-keeping begins with what dogs are kept ARJAY, Kentucky––Johnny Dale Lankford, 42, already jailed on other charges when his two pit bulls killed Lorraine Brock Saylor, 66, on Christmas Eve, was sentenced to serve a year in jail on January 3, 2018 after pleading guilty to a single charge of harboring […]
Hawaiian Humane Society CEO Pamela Burns dies after colorful 27-year tenure
Burns remained on the job to her final days HONOLULU, Hawaii––Pamela Burns, 65, Hawaiian Humane Society chief executive since 1990, on September 18, 2017 “died peacefully at her home after taking a leave of absence approximately a week ago for health reasons,” the humane society announced. Burns, who was among the longest tenured humane society […]
Raw milk, pit bulls, exotics & chicken poop
Should the public be protected from lethal consequences of others’ lifestyle choices? CHARLESTON, West Virginia––Raw milk enthusiasts in the West Virginia legislature first cheered after opening a legal loophole through which unpasteurized milk may be sold, then puked after sampling raw milk shared around by House of Delegates member Scott Cadle. Raw milk enthusiasts, […]
Why is cockfighting the blood sport most often linked to murder?
Cockfighting & murder occur together worldwide FORT WORTH, Texas––Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter Deanna Boyd mentioned almost as an afterthought the murderous history of Robert Eugene Coleman, 56, one of three alleged cockfighters arrested on February 28, 2016: “Tarrant County court records show Coleman had previously been sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1998 […]
Cockfighters in the Baseball Hall of Fame
Pedro Martinez & Juan Marichal were videotaped releasing gamecocks at championship match Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2015, three-time Cy Young Award-winning former pitcher Pedro Martinez has apparently not been asked much lately about his past involvement in cockfighting. Neither has Juan Marichal, the fellow former pitcher and native of the Dominican […]
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Scalia finally couldn’t outrun the bear
Death recalled favorite hunting story WASHINGTON D.C.––Perhaps the most avid hunter on the U.S. Supreme Court bench in decades, and certainly the most flamboyant, Justice Antonin Scalia died at the Cibolo Creek Ranch hunting resort in south Texas after a day of “hunting” box-reared quail during which he reportedly never fired a shot. Not […]
Supreme Court of India rules against harvest festival mayhem
Animal Welfare Board of India chair R.M. Kharb & vice-chair Chinny Krishna refuse to quit NEW DELHI, CHENNAI––Animals may be killed and injured by the hundreds of thousands during the 2016 Indian harvest festivals, January 12-18, but the mayhem may not proceed with government approval, ruled a two-judge bench representing the Supreme Court of India […]
Marc R. Jurnove won right of citizens to bring Animal Welfare Act cases
Last case was Angel’s Gate Marc R. Jurnove, 63, died on July 3, 2013 in McLeansville, North Carolina. A U.S. Coast Guard veteran who had ridden his own horse since age seven, Jurnove went on to spend 17 years as a mounted park ranger in New York City, rising to the rank of lieutenant, […]
Madras High Court rules against temple cockfights
CHENNAI––Striking at judicial corruption and moving to close the biggest legal loophole that has allowed cockfighting to persist in India, 54 years after it was nominally banned, the Madras High Court on August 21, 2014 ruled that lower courts may not direct police to permit temple cockfights, in contravention of the Prevention of […]