Louisiana becomes 12th state to ban balloon releases BATON ROUGE, Louisiana; GLASGOW, Scotland––Effective on August 1, 2026, intentionally releasing a balloon or planning the organized release of 12 or more balloons became illegal in Louisiana. Violations carry fines ranging from $500 up to $2,500. Act 196, amending the Louisiana littering law to include outdoor balloon […]
Icelandic “Ahab” Kristján Loftsson resumes vengeful quest to kill whales
Activists sank his battleships 40 years ago REYKJAVIK, Iceland––Kristján Loftsson, 84, chief executive of Hvalur, the last Icelandic whaling company, driven by an enduring thirst for vengeance against anti-whaling activists, on June 19, 2026 sent the last two whaling trawlers in Iceland out into the North Atlantic Ocean to kill a quota of as many as […]
Some Nordic people rally to save one whale; others rush to kill hundreds
Timmy the stranded but rescued humpback whale lived after release for about ten days BERLIN, Germany; WASHINGTON D.C.; OSLO, Norway; REYKJAVIK, Iceland––Contrasting and conflicting Nordic attitudes toward whales may never before have been more starkly evident than during the six-week drama preceding the May 2, 2026 return to the North Sea of Timmy the formerly […]
Verdict in long-delayed Elisa Pilarski pit bull death trial not due before June
Charged with manslaughter in the 2019 case, fiancé Christophe Ellul is expected to receive light sentence SOISSONS, France––The legal outcome of the most publicized pit bull attack ever, the November 16, 2019 dismemberment death of 29-year-old Elisa Pilarski, six months pregnant at the time, will for her fiancé and manslaughter defendant Christophe Ellul, 51, remain […]
Brigitte Bardot, 91, movie star for 20 years, animal advocate for 52 years
Brigitte Bardot: provocative on film, but even more provocative for animals, for more than twice as long PARIS, France––Brigitte Bardot, 91, a fashion model for four years, a film actress for 20 years, and a full-time animal advocate for the last 52 years of her life, died on December 28, 2025 of undisclosed causes at […]
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!” orders CDC deputy chief of staff
End to CDC non-human primate research expected by the end of 2025 ATLANTA, Georgia––About 200 fewer macaques will be used in 2026 in U.S. federal laboratories after the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) quits keeping non-human primates toward the end of 2025. That will leave about 7,000 more non-human primates, mostly rhesus and […]
Swiss fur import ban resembles Swiss cheese, full of holes, but is a start
Swiss exemption for pelts from body-gripping traps smells like Limburger GENEVA, Switzerland––Switzerland, effective July 1, 2025, will become the first country in Europe and likely the world to ban the import and sale of fur taken from animals by means defined as “cruel production methods.” The new Swiss law, introduced by the Swiss Federal Council […]
European Union president pushes culling wolves after losing her pony
Wolf comeback from extirpation revives fear of the Big Bad Wolf BRUSSELS––September 25, 2024 dawned as a bad day for wolves in Europe even before the European Union provisionally authorized downlisting wolves from “strictly protected” to just “protected” status under the Council of Europe Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife & Natural Habitats, also […]
British King Charles III adopts hens, quits pigeon racing
But will Charles, patron of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, give up recreationally shooting birds by the thousands? LONDON, U.K.––King Charles III of the United Kingdom, 75, perhaps in partial atonement for a lifetime of recreationally massacring birds, has adopted 31 retired laying hens from the British Hen Welfare Trust and […]
San Antonio & Brussels reign in horse-drawn carriages
But New York City carriage debate still plods in circles through the same old horseshit SAN ANTONIO, Texas––San Antonio, Texas appears poised to follow Brussels, Belgium as the latest cities to see the end of horse-drawn carriages on city streets, following Montreal (2019), Chicago (2020), and Philadelphia (2022.) The five-member San Antonio city council transportation […]