Animals 24-7

News on dogs, cats, horses, wildlife, zoonoses, & nature

From pit bulls to street dogs, irresponsible advocacy inflames “dog menace”

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Dismissing dangerous dog behavior––or blaming the victims––disregards public trust             SPRINGFIELD,  Missouri;  PHUKET,  Thailand––Superficially,  the dog-versus-human conflicts raging in Springfield,  Missouri,  where breed-specific legislation is at issue,  and in Phuket,  Thailand,  where few dogs have any evident breed-specific traits,  could scarcely look more different. Pit bull attacks are the problem in Springfield:  38 in three […]

Leptospirosis: when a rescue goes to rat piss

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Five of 10 puppies transported from Puerto Rico to Vermont fell ill             NORWICH,  Vermont––Posted Surfin’ Sato founder Aimee Porcaro Goodwin to Facebook two days before Thanksgiving 2017,   “We just got the lepto PCR test results for Ollie.  NEGATIVE!!!  I’m so thankful!!” The “all clear” for Ollie,  a puppy from Puerto Rico whom Surfin’ Sato […]

No karmic justice for activist who did most to end Gadhi Mai sacrifices

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Felled by internal bleeding, suffered since childhood             KATHMANDU,  Nepal––If karmic justice occurred in one lifetime,  Nepal Animal Welfare & Research Center founder Gita Prasad “Uttam” Dahal would walk onstage at the Asia for Animals conference,  to be held in Kathmandu,  Nepal on December 3-5,  2017 to receive a standing ovation. Dahal would be recognized […]

Hurricane Maria: St. Croix Animal Welfare Center welds the door shut

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Whatever didn’t blow away was stolen ST. CROIX, U.S. Virgin Islands––“It is with a very heavy heart that we were forced to weld the door to our clinic closed today,”  the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center posted to Facebook on September 28,  2017. Even before Hurricane Maria crushed the U.S.,  Dutch,  and British Virgin Islands, […]

Hawaiian Humane Society CEO Pamela Burns dies after colorful 27-year tenure

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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 […]

Hurricane Irma: first reports on animals in the Caribbean islands

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Isolated facilities without electricity struggle to get information out          ANTIGUA & BARBUDA,  ST. CROIX,  VIEQUES,  SAN JUAN,  CIENFUEGOS––The first animal care facilities and storm shelters housing animals to post updates in the wake of Hurricane Irma reported that they had come through with few casualties and relatively minor damage. But those suffering the most […]

We cannot adopt, warehouse or rescue our way out of dog & cat overpopulation!

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by Jeff Young,  DVM          My name is Jeff Young.  I have been a veterinarian for more than 25 years.          I have been on numerous humane society boards,  was an animal control officer before I became a veterinarian,  and I speak and consult on companion animal overpopulation issues all over […]

Rabies plummets in India while “experts” ignore the data

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Global Alliance for Rabies Control still says there are at least 120 times more rabies deaths than found by 14 years of annual body counts          NEW DELHI––New national rabies survey data from the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence,  the Indian equivalent of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, shows for the 15th […]

SHARK circles Alex Pacheco & “600 Million Stray Dogs Need You”

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“600 Million Stray Dogs Need You” exposed on YouTube          POMPANO BEACH,  Florida––Most folks in Florida know enough not to attract a SHARK’s notice.  Alex Pacheco,  founder of 600 Million Stray Dogs Need You,  apparently is not one of them. Indeed,  a person claiming to be “extremely close to Mr. Pacheco”  went out of her […]

Philippine mad dogs claim deadly revenge for being eaten

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Eradicating rabies requires ending dog-eating too          CAUAYAN,  Philippines––For the second time in three years a rabies outbreak linked to eating dogs has hit the western Philippines,  underscoring the importance of ending dog meat consumption if canine rabies is to be eradicated. The rabies outbreak was declared by the Negros Occidental provincial department of health […]