Evacuees from flooded villages ordered to leave pets behind BETHEL, Alaska––With only one confirmed human death, three people missing and feared dead, and thirty to 50 dogs believed stranded in the Native American village of Kwigillingok, population about 300, with comparable numbers believed to be stranded in six other evacuated villages, the tail end of […]
Can more deer, goats, cows, elk, or wild horses really prevent wildfires?
Did the Grand Canyon Lodge burn because the Grand Canyon lacked hungry herbivores? GRAND CANYON, Arizona––A well-placed and well-timed bucket of water or the sudden, unexpected arrival of Smokey Bear can stop a wildfire before it gets started. Likely neither a bucket of water nor a bear, with or without hat and shovel, directed at […]
Ukrainian dogs may be the winners of Putin’s war
Indifferent a generation ago toward suffering street dogs, Ukraine is now a dog-loving nation KIEV, Ukraine––The outcome of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine has yet to be determined, eleven years after Russian troops seized Crimea and more than three years after Russian tanks rolled into the Ukrainian mainland, but Ukrainian dogs––for the time […]
Postal error kills up to 15,000 newly hatched chicks, leaves SPCA with 2,000+
Delaware disaster draws attention yet again to inhumanity of mailing live birds CAMDEN, Delaware–“More than two thousand” chicks, survivors of as many as 17,000 abandoned for four days at a U.S. Postal Service distribution center circa April 29, 2025, remain at the First State Animal Center & SPCA, shelter director John Parana told media. More […]
Best Friends Animal Society cofounder and former CEO Gregory Castle, 83
Gregory Castle was multi-talented & well-liked by all, but the Castle dynasty at Best Friends has been a disaster for dogs, cats, pit bull victims, spay/neuter funding, and reaching realistic no-kill goals KANAB, Utah––Best Friends Animal Society cofounder and former chief executive Gregory Castle, 83, on May 17, 2025 died suddenly from an embolism. “Born […]
Four rescue transport pilots & two animal welfare scientists noted in passing
Matthew and Paul Berkovitz, 69 & 36; Seuk Kim, 49; Lee Krulisch, 80; Sheila Bolin, 65 Father and son volunteer animal rescue transport pilots Paul and Matthew Berkovitz, 69 and 36, of Westlake, California, and Thousand Oaks, California, respectively, volunteers for Pilots N Paws, were killed along with their dog Brody at about 2:10 p.m. […]
“I’m not here” says Sharon Harmon, leaving Oregon Humane after 36 years
Harmon raised more money than 121 years of her Oregon Humane Society predecessors––and did much more with it PORTLAND, Oregon––More than 250 people on April 24, 2025 crowded into the Governor Ballroom at the 116-year-old Sentinel Hotel in downtown Portland, Oregon to sing the praises of Sharon Harmon, 66, retiring after 36 years at the […]
Florida barn fire kills 21 horses, rekindling awareness & bad memories
Notice of high-end blaze involving horses of the rich & famous eclipses attention to blaze killing 10 times as many cattle REDDICK, Florida––The early morning fire on that killed 21 horses at Roberts Quarterhorse Farms on April 8, 2025 in Reddick, Florida, was not huge as barn fires go, certainly not compared to the April […]
Los Angeles fire rescues: feeding evacuated animals, sifting through ashes
Time for heroics over, time for caretaking & recovery begins LOS ANGELES, California––Animal rescue operations continue throughout the Los Angeles area, with the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire, believed to be the two most costly in California history, both still burning to the north and east. The Palisades Fire at latest report from Cal […]
The animal stars of L.A. fires, from the delta smelt to the Velveteen Rabbit
The fish had no more to do with the firestorms than the fictional bunny LOS ANGELES, California––Amid wildfires razing as many as 12,000 structures and more than 32 square miles of Los Angeles area wildlife habitat, displacing hundreds of thousands of animals from pet cats and dogs to deer and pumas, the animal rescue attracting […]