Eclipsed by solar eclipse, European Union negotiations, mink farm release, and even Reykjavik traffic REYKJAVIK, Iceland; PARIS, France––Paul Watson, 75, founder of the Paul Watson Foundation in 2022 after getting the boot from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society he founded in 1977, is counting on global publicity and outrage over the resumption of Icelandic whaling to […]
Inotive bankruptcy suggests laboratory monkey business is in a death spiral
Monkey business boom & bust cycle echoes the beginning of the end for chimp use in biomedical research WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana––The June 3, 2026 bankruptcy declaration of laboratory monkey supplier Inotiv, Inc. and 18 affiliated debtors may signify that biomedical research use of monkeys has entered the same boom-and-bust death spiral that killed biomedical research […]
Animals look to be the big losers in British deal with European Union
Labour government looks to sacrifice fur-bearers & ducks and geese raised for foie gras to regain favored access to European Union markets LONDON, U.K.; NEW YORK, N.Y.––Ten years after Brexit, the 2016 exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, at least some of the worst predicted for animal welfare seems to be happening. […]
Dogs Trust, after initially insuring XL Bullies, breaks trust with insurees
There is a reason why Lloyds of London insurers want 18 times more to cover a Staffordshire pit bull & 36 times more to cover an XL Bully LONDON, U.K.–– Dogs Trust, with the Royal SPCA one of the most aggressively pit bull-pushing British charities, appears to have learned the hard way why insurance brokers […]
Make cruelty unprofitable again, by Lewis Bollard
How to crack the cruelty collective action problem Lewis Bollard heads the Farm Animal Welfare Program at Open Philanthropy. Lewis Bollard’s ANIMALS 24-7 guest column, below, originally posted to Bollard’s own Substack blog, spotlights a situation in the United Kingdom paralleling what would happen in the United States if U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Committee […]
New Year’s resolutions for animals, or just more political promises?
Europeans expect advances, Americans will have to defend gains, & Indian government dithers on WASHINGTON D.C.; LONDON; ROME; NEW DELHI––If political promises can be taken as New Year’s resolutions, 2026 might become an even better year for animals than was 2025. 2025 ended with a salute from Francisco Vásquez Neira, president of the international animal […]
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 […]
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 […]
Good news for brown bears (so far) in Lithuania & British Columbia
Brown bear macked into Lithuanian capital city, but was not shot; Texada Island grizzly is also still alive & well VILNIUS, Lithuania; TEXADA ISLAND, British Columbia, Canada––A two-year-old female European brown bear in mid-June 2025 found her own way out of trouble in Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania. Whether her distant cousin, a […]
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 […]