Animal advocates & agribusiness split over California Proposition 12; Republicans split over Florida Proposition 13 SACRAMENTO, California; ORLANDO, Florida––The axiom that animal politics cut diagonally across partisan divides could scarcely be better illustrated than by the alignments for and against the two major ballot initiatives on animal issues going before voters on November 6, […]
2018 dog breed survey: at least 41% of U.S. pit bull population are seeking homes
21% of U.S. pit bulls currently available are in first year of life; 19% have lost at least one home Nearly 15% of the dogs available to the U.S. public for sale or adoption as of mid-June 2018 were pit bulls, but that scarcely made pit bulls the most popular breed. Rather, the numbers indicate […]
Humans snort coke 170 times more often than racing greyhounds
Studies exonerate more than 99.9% of racing greyhounds, but not necessarily their trainers GAINESVILLE, Florida––If dogs could do drugs unassisted, the hard-working, short, highly stressed life of a racing greyhound might drive many times more to substance abuse than just the 1,150 greyhounds among more than 700,000 known to have flunked race day urine […]
England Goes to the Dogs, by Gavin Ehringer
The following is an excerpt from Leaving the Wild: The Unnatural History of Dogs, Cats, Cows, and Horses by Gavin Ehringer, which explores the ever-evolving relationship between humans and domesticated animals. Preamble, by Jessica Case, deputy publisher, Pegasus Books: The little-examined, yet omnipresent act of breeding lies at the core of Gavin Ehringer’s book. You’ll meet cows cloned from […]
Greyhound Friends founder acquitted of felony neglect
Rescue legend allegedly no longer kept up with the pack FRAMINGHAM, Massachusetts–– Greyhound Friends founder Louise Coleman, 73, for nearly 35 years a pioneer of racing greyhound rescue, rehabilitation, and adoption, was on December 1, 2017 acquitted of felony neglect by Framingham District Court Judge David Cunis, after a four-day bench trial. Concluded […]
Greyhound racing goes to the dogs in Miami, Macau, & Australia
Magic City is allowed to replace greyhound racing with jai alai––a precedent for “decoupling” animal racing from gambling permits MIAMI, Florida––The Magic City casino in West Flagler, Florida, after more than 13 years of legal struggle, is soon to become the first Florida betting venue to be allowed to abandon animal racing while continuing […]
The Wolf in Dog’s Clothing
by Margaret A. Cleek, Ph.D In the early 1990s the Alaskan Malamute Club of America was petrified that Malamutes would be included in bans of the then very popular wolf hybrid. To protect our breed, I developed an educational brochure for the Alaskan Malamute Club of America, which with only minor updates seems applicable as an addendum and commentary […]
Pit bull proliferation hits “Indian country”: fatal dog attacks triple
Reservation attacks outside the Far North were formerly almost unheard of Part II of a three-part series. See also 12-pit bull attack on toddler spotlights soaring risk on reservations and Pit bulls now in the “rez dog” gene pool. From the first documentation of reservation dog attacks until 2006 most “Indian country” dog attack fatalities and disfigurements involved sled […]
Greyhound racing in Macau, China runs toward oblivion
Greyhound Racing New South Wales charges 179 “industry participants” with illegally supplying the only track in China RHODES, New South Wales, Australia; MACAU, China––Charges brought against 179 Australian “industry participants” for allegedly illegally exporting greyhounds to Macau appear likely to hasten the anticipated imminent end of greyhound racing at the Macau Canidrome, the oldest […]
Helen Banks, 87, founder of Second Chance for Greyhounds
Helen Banks, 87, founder of Second Chance for Greyhounds, died on March 14, 2015. “Her protective concern for animals of all kinds started early,” recalled William Ernest Waites in a November/December 2002 profile of Banks for The Times of the Islands, “with much of her childhood spent rescuing strays. As an attractive young woman in […]