Yom Kippur, Kapporos, & what Jewish animal advocates are doing about it NEW YORK, N.Y.––Yom Kippur, to be celebrated in 2026 from sundown on Sunday, September 20, until dusk on Monday, September 21, 2026, is to observant Jews the holiest and most solemn day of the year. To the other 97.5% of Americans, if baseball […]
Kaporos, October 7, Israel, Gaza, antisemitism & the animal rights movement
Days that live in infamy NEW YORK, N.Y.––Kaporos, the chicken-swinging ritual practiced annually by the men of about 130,000 Hassidic Jewish households worldwide, mostly members of the evangelical Chabad sect, will occur during the early morning hours from September 20, 2025 to October 1, 2025, the day immediately preceding Yom Kippur. A week after that […]
A world away, Animals Lebanon copes with an even bigger disaster
Hurricane Helene was bad, but falling bombs are even deadlier than falling trees & power lines BEIRUT, Lebanon––“Last night was the worst we have had, and bombing continues,” Animals Lebanon cofounder and vice president Maggie Shaarawi emailed to ANIMALS 24-7 on the morning of September 28, 2024. Hurricane Helene had just ripped across five southern […]
“Food fight over veganism” becomes fight over anti-Israel statement
July 4 article on definitions of veganism sparks dispute over who was responsible for anti-Israel statement purportedly signed by Mercy for Animals pres & PETA science policy advisor SARASOTA, Florida––Is veganism, by dictionary definition the state of being vegan, a diet or a lifestyle? If veganism means or at least implies a lifestyle, as […]
U.K. election: pro-animal & pro-Dangerous Dogs Act Labour slate wins big
Keir Starmer, set to become new U.K. prime minister, beat McDonald’s in landmark McLibel case & won freedom for last British circus elephant LONDON, U.K.––Detonating the only Fourth of July 2024 fireworks favorable to animals, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, 62, led his opposition party to a projected crushing United Kingdom general election victory over […]
Why animals make Israel vs. Hamas look like an Old West range war
The place ain’t big enough for everyone’s herd TEL AVIV, GAZA––Though the Gaza war is fought with jets, tanks, rockets, automatic rifles, and bitterly opposed world views, ideology, and international politics, recent incidents involving sheep, goats, donkeys, horses, and pigs illustrate that it is, beneath everything else, fundamentally an Old West range war. Rustlers are […]
River otters return to Israel & 500 million birds pass over before Passover
Jewish Vegan Life urges Jews to go vegan in combined Passover/Earth Day campaign TEL AVIV, Israel––River otters offer perhaps the best news coming out of Israel lately. War is still raging in Gaza. The Hamas militia remains unsubdued. Thousands of Gaza civilians are still starving, chiefly due to the difficulty of feeding them without feeding […]
Not good times for vultures over Israel & Gaza, either
Three endangered griffon vultures found dead on five-month anniversary of Hamas attack YERUHAM, Israel; NUSEIRAT, Gaza––The Israel Nature & Parks Authority on March 9, 2024 announced the discoveries of an endangered griffon vulture male, female, and hatchling dead near their cliffside nest near the junction of Negev desert, forming most of southern Israel, with the […]
Animals & animal rescuers caught in the Hamas/Israel crossfire
Even if the shooting ends by Ramadan, a ceasefire will not bring peace for animals RAFAH, Gaza; RAMAT GAN, Israel–– “Sergeant major Adi Eldor, 21, a combat soldier in Maglan commando, was killed last night by anti-tank missiles, alongside his teammate, sergeant major Alon Kleinman, also 21,” the Israeli animal charity Let The Animals Live […]
14,000 sheep & 2,500 cattle: out of the war zone, off to slaughter
And still aboard a livestock transport ship after almost a month at sea FREMANTLE, Australia; NUSEIRAT, Gaza; RAMAT GAN, Israel––Fourteen thousand sheep and 2,500 cattle aboard the livestock carrier MV Bahijah have, so far, escaped becoming casualties of the Israel/Hamas war. The animals, however, may yet become casualties of the ongoing Australian live animal export […]