Opportunistic use of phrases and imagery can come across as insensitive and insulting MINNEAPOLIS, PHOENIX, NEW YORK CITY––“It is striking to me,” wrote Mike Troutman in sharing with friends his first-hand account of recent events in Minneapolis, “how three central challenges of our time––racist policing, COVID-19 and the climate crisis––all […]
The price of defiance: COVID-19 vs. the Cottondale Mother’s Day Rodeo
Whoever that masked man was, he was not in the rodeo arena COTTONWOOD, California––There are sound epidemiological arguments against outdoor mask-wearing to fight the spread of COVID-19, and in favor of getting more people out into the spring sunshine, but those arguments were not much in evidence at the 58th annual Mother’s Day Rodeo […]
Obits: defenders of cats, dogs, wild horses, bees, crabs, & elephants
Elaine Adair, Dayton Hyde, Susan Rudnicki, Alana Cutland, & Matthew Talbot had in common service to animals Elaine Adair Elaine Adair, cofounder of the Mississippi Spay & Neuter Alliance (MS-SPAN), born Elaine Girton on October 15, 1950 in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, died after a long struggle against cancer on October 14, 2019, one day before what would […]
District Attorney will not prosecute alleged bull-baiting at Salinas rodeo
Monterey County SPCA does not speak up, either SALINAS, California––The 2019 California Rodeo Salinas ended on July 19, 2019, but the stench of manure––bovine, equine, and canine––lingers on above the Salinas Sports Complex. The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, headed since January 2019 by longtime California Rodeo Salinas volunteer Jeannine Pacioni, reportedly recently rendered […]
Did the Omak Suicide Race start with a horse massacre & the KKK?
Uncovering the nasty origins of an ugly event OMAK, Washington––The 86th annual edition of the bizarre and often deadly “World Famous Suicide Race” held annually in Omak, Washington, is to be held nightly, August 8-11, 2019. Bizarre as the race itself is, even more bizarre––and perplexing––is that the 12 Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation […]
SHARK video shows dogs baiting bulls at Calif. Salinas Rodeo 2019
Fans watched dogs torment bulls in the main arena after official events SALINAS, California––The 109th California Rodeo Salinas had nearly ended on Sunday, July 19, 2019. The loudspeaker was still announcing the last “bullfighting” events, in which “rodeo clowns” tease young bulls who are already agitated by bucking straps cinched tightly around their waists. […]
Three more chuckwagon horses killed as Calgary Stampede 2019 ends
Six horses killed in 10 days; most since 1986 CALGARY, Alberta––The 2019 Calgary Stampede ended on the night of July 14, 2019 with reportedly the second-highest attendance in the history of the event, and three more horses killed in the climactic last heat of the Rangeland Derby, the chuckwagon races that for almost a […]
Alleged pit bull starver Lueders & “rescue” horse thief Blackwood both busted
Bully Breed Rescue president to be arraigned on February 13, 2019 BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut; TUSKEGEE, Alabama––Bully Breed Rescue president and alleged pit bull starver Heidi E. Lueders, 31, can expect to face a howling mob of former donors, volunteers, sympathizers, and miscellaneous other pit bull advocates when she appears for arraignment on February 13, 2019 […]
Omak “Suicide Race” 2018: more dead horses & “kill the messenger”
Tribal baseball tradition much better documented than “suicide racing” OMAK, Washington––Add at least two more dead horses to the mounting toll from the annual Omak Stampede Rodeo “Suicide Race,” bringing the known toll since 1983 to 25, with many more suspected but undocumented, and no record existing of injuries and deaths from the first […]
Beavers gnaw way toward wolf, grizzly & economic recovery in the Cascades
Future of logging, hunting, fishing & ranching region lies with nonlethal wildlife tourism TWISP, Washington––Vanishing salmon, Washington’s worst wildfire roaring through the Methow River Valley in July 2014, and flash floods that turned roads into rivers even before Finley Canyon stopped reeking of smoke and ash have brought beaver back to the Upper and […]