Animal rights movement pioneer SAN RAFAEL, California–– In Defense of Animals founder Elliot Katz, DVM, “died peacefully on March 24th at the age of 86,” the organization announced via Facebook on April 9, 2021, after word of Katz’s death had percolated through the animal advocacy community for several days. “Dr. Katz was a trailblazer […]
Heart failure fells Vier Pfoten (Four Paws) founder Helmut Dungler, 56
Dungler died at the Lionsrock sanctuary he founded BETHLEHEM, South Africa––Helmut Dungler, 56, founder of the international animal charity Vier Pfoten (Four Paws), died on January 5, 2020 from a sudden massive heart attack suffered on one of his frequent visits to the Lionsrock sanctuary, among the biggest and most ambitious of the many […]
Wild Kingdom star Jim Fowler, 89: the truth behind the legend
Florida roadside zoo showman starred on TV for 50 years NORWALK, Connecticut––Few viewers of the NBC nature documentary television series Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom during the original run of the program, 1963-1971, might have expected that host Jim Fowler would die quietly at home at age 89––but he did, on May 8, 2019, in […]
Will videotaped beatings kill the last elephant polo tournament?
PETA video shows mahout hit elephant on the head “approximately 15 times” BANGKOK, Thailand––The likelihood that the recently completed 16th annual King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand will mark the end of the sport increased on March 9, 2018, the second day of the four-day event, concluded on March 11, when PETA/Asia […]
Perp to serve no time for first U.S. federal “crush video” conviction
Credited with time served for Texas state charges HOUSTON, Texas––Ashley Nicole Richards, 25, the first federal defendant to be sentenced in a “crush video” case, on February 26, 2016 was ordered to serve 33 months in prison, but U.S. District Judge Sim Lake credited her with having already served the time during 42 months […]
Pit bull advocates
Pit bull advocates • Three pit bull-related deaths in three days ended April 2021 • Colorado pit bull defense lawyer charged in alleged murder-for-hire plot • Pit bull advocate Steffen Baldwin, facing 39 felonies, flunks drug test • Trump allies in the animal world squirm after U.S. Capitol storming • Pit bull advocate involved in breeding […]
Elephant sanctuarian Carol Buckley takes up fencing
“Good fences make good neighbors.” ––Robert Frost Whatever became of Carol Buckley, the former circus elephant trainer who founded the world-renowned Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, but made a controversial exit in March 2010? “Buckley is currently in Thailand installing the country’s first solar powered chain-free corrals for captive elephants,” Elephant Aid International publicist Patricia Jones […]
Big Cat Rescue: remembering every large & exotic cat
Memorial Wall includes nearly every cat species TAMPA, Florida––Visitors to Big Cat Rescue will see almost every species of cat whom anyone has ever raised in captivity. The cats are without exception kept in exemplary conditions, displaying the relaxed ferocity in repose that most cats take as a birthright. But visitors will see no “Wall […]
Elephant polo ends in Jaipur, but elephant use & abuse in tourism continue
From Azam Siddiqui, New Delhi, India: I have immense joy in sharing the news that elephant polo organizers have pledged not to hold elephant polo matches in the state of Rajasthan, India. Reported Rachna Singh for the Times of India on January 9, 2015, “Tour operators are now informing the foreign agents not to book […]