Dungler died at the Lionsrock sanctuary he founded BETHLEHEM, South Africa––Helmut Dungler, 56, founder of the international animal charity Vier Pfoten (Four Paws), died on January 5, 2020 from a sudden massive heart attack suffered on one of his frequent visits to the Lionsrock sanctuary, among the biggest and most ambitious of the many […]
Livestock shipment to Middle East goes sideways; to Hawaii, goes backward
Drowned sheep & asphixiated cattle result from opposite approaches to maximizing profit MILILANI, Hawaii––Compared to the drowning deaths of more than 14,350 sheep on November 24, 2019 aboard the capsized Queen Hind in the port of Midia, Romania, the deaths of 21 Angus heifers aboard a Young Brothers barge en route from Honolulu to Kauai, […]
Will African swine fever make China vegan?
Whatever happens, most of the world will eat less pork SYDNEY, Australia; HONG KONG––Will African swine fever, a viral disease now projected to kill at least half the pigs in China and a quarter of all the pigs in the world, accelerate the trend toward vegan eating? Or speed the transition toward factory farming? Or […]
Drove out the snakes? What did St. Patrick do with the Irish wolves?
He made friends with them! DUBLIN, TEL AVIV, ROME––As of St. Patrick’s Day 2019, there are still no wild snakes in Ireland, more than 1,660 years after the patron saint of Ireland allegedly drove them all out. Paleontologists say there were never any wild snakes in Ireland in the first place. But there were […]
Russians bust alleged “whale jailers”
The suspects are already in Siberia ––where else can they go? MOSCOW, VLADIVOSTOK–– Responding to orders from Russian president Vladimir Putin, the Russian agency for border security has reportedly brought criminal charges against four related companies for allegedly illegally capturing and holding more than 90 beluga whales and as many as 13 orcas in […]
Walls, boar purges, & no-man’s-land fail to stop African swine fever
Wild boar to blame for only 1% of outbreaks, Chinese learn PARIS, France––Donald Trump is not the only world leader who has yet to learn that walls don’t work––not if the goal is really to keep a foreign threat out, as opposed to presenting the appearance to a political base of doing something drastic […]
Last acts for animal circuses in Russia, India, New Jersey, & Hawaii
Russian law protects Moscow State Circus monopoly MOSCOW, NEW DELHI––New legislation in Russia, whose circuses have for almost a century been the most attended worldwide, and in India, where the circus tradition started, appear to be among the final acts in several thousand years of traveling exhibitions of performing animals. The new Russian “Law […]
Russia bans “dogs of dangerous breeds” under new humane law
Vladimir Putin signs “Law on Responsible Treatment of Animals” into effect MOSCOW, Russia––Possession and handling of pit bulls and other dogs of dangerous breeds is to be strictly regulated throughout Russia, under a new national “Law on Responsible Treatment of Animals” signed into effect by Russian president Vladimir Putin on December 26, 2018. The new “Law […]
The gift of reindeer dwarfs the value of Christmas
Reindeer stand between us & the next Great Flood Admit it: you did not think about reindeer even once between the last Christmas season and this one. Even when you last did think of reindeer, you thought about them in association with Santa Claus. You probably never thought of reindeer as defenders of the Far […]
Drone video moves Russia to halt orca & beluga captures
Drone found 90 belugas & 13 orcas allegedly held pending sale to China VLADIVOSTOK, Russia––Responding to international outrage over drone video showing 90 belugas and 13 orcas in small holding pens in Srednaya Bay near Nakhodka, just north of Vladivostok in the Russian Far East, the Russian government in 2019 will prohibit whale captures, reports the […]