Animals 24-7

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

Leaving The Wild:  The Unnatural History of Dogs, Cats, Cows & Horses

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by Gavin Ehringer Pegasus Books,  distributed by W.W. Norton & Co. 364 pages.  $27.95 hardcover.  In stores December 5,  2017. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Remember the most gripping and informative few books you ever read about dogs,  cats,  cows,  and/or horses,  by authors as thorough as the multi-time best sellers Desmond Morris,  Elizabeth Marshall Thomas,  […]

How the Pit Bull Federation of South Africa views Galunker

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by Barbara Kay [Montreal resident Barbara Kay is a columnist for The National Post, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.] On November 5, Montreal’s mayoral election produced a surprise upset, and by a significant margin, for incumbent Denis Coderre. The new mayor, Valérie Plante, is a relative newcomer to urban politics. Plante is a genuinely nice individual, […]

Pit Bull Federation of South Africa rips rescuer denial of what a pit bull is

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Contradicts rhetoric of trend toward removing breed-specific labels from shelter cage cards             LOS ANGELES,  PRETORIA––Few voices anywhere might be considered more rabidly pro-pit bull than the Pit Bull Federation of South Africa,  a self-described “breed-specific show organization” whose declared “main goal is always to portray the American Pit Bull Terrier in a positive light.” […]

Montreal pit bull ban likely to fall after upset mayoral defeat

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Proposed provincial pit bull ban introduced in April 2017 remains pending             MONTREAL,  Quebec––The November 6,  2017 upset defeat of incumbent Montreal mayor Denis Coderre by challenger Valerie Plante is “A devastating loss to the people of Montreal and victims of pit bull attacks everywhere,”  the victim advocacy organization National Pit Bull Victim Awareness predicts, […]

Miami pit bull ban update, 2017 edition: “No pit bulls” still means “No pit bulls”

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There is still no such thing as a safe pit bull by Beth Clifton Exhibiting the dead-game doggedness that helps to make pit bulls themselves intractably dangerous, Miami Coalition Against Breed-Specific Legislation founder/director Dahlia Canes has circled back around to re-grip and attack again, just a year after she failed in a stealth attempt to repeal the […]

Is ‘Pit Bull Awareness’ becoming mandatory?

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by J. Thomas Beasley An attorney and prolific legal writer in New Orleans, Louisiana, J. Thomas Beasley at www.yourlawscholar.com offers important insights into the legal and political systems and addresses essential public policy concerns. (See also Misunderstood Nanny Dogs?) Well, it’s October, which means it’s National Pit Bull Awareness Month again.  All month we will […]

Stray:  A Shelter Veterinarian’s Reflection on Triumph & Tragedy

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by Dena Mangiamele, DVM, MPVM, MFS https://www.doctordena.com/ Kindle edition:  $9.99;  paperback $14.99;  color edition $30.82. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Stray:  A Shelter Veterinarian’s Reflection on Triumph & Tragedy,  by Dena Mangiamele,  is only the third fully realistic book about animal sheltering to come my way in more than half a century of reading everything I […]

The Animal Shelter by Patricia Curtis

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Lodestar Books (c/o E.P. Dutton),  1984. 164 pages,  hardcover.  $13.95 original price. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton The Animal Shelter,  by Patricia Curtis,  introduced a generation of young people to humane work. “I wrote The Animal Shelter 28 years ago,  so it is badly out-of-date,”  Curtis told me in May 2011,  seemingly surprised to be looked […]

End of Debi Day for Nathan Winograd follows Charlottesville debacle

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Winograd tries to distance himself from Day,  who tries to distance herself from herself          OAKLAND,  California––No Kill Advocacy Center founder Nathan Winograd on August 15,  2017 distanced himself from No Kill Nation founder Debi Day,  his longtime leading funder and prominent ally in pit bull advocacy. Winograd acted four days after photos and video […]

Pit bulls, “outliers” & Humane Society of the U.S. prez Wayne Pacelle

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Pits kill four people in five years within 15 minutes of Pacelle’s family home,  but he calls us insanely aggressive A 10-year-old girl in Bridgeport,  Connecticut will require multiple surgeries over the next several years to repair damage inflicted on July 18,  2017 by a family member’s pit bull.  The pit bull first attacked a […]