But preserving profits, “red state” votes, and keeping workers on the job despite risk were of paramount concern SIOUX CITY, Iowa––Risk of a U.S. food shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic had nothing to do with the April 28, 2020 decision of U.S. President Donald Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act to keep slaughterhouses running. […]
Meat-heavy diet must go the way of Neanderthals, German economists warn
Bigger people will do better in a smaller world on grains & veggies GOETTINGEN, Germany––Better-fed people get bigger. This trend has been evident in paleontology since our omnivorous but mostly plant-eating Cro-Magnon ancestors circa 40,000 years ago gradually reduced our much older, shorter, and mostly carnivorous Neanderthal cousins to a handful of recessive genetic traits […]
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 […]
Will feral pigs eat Hong Kong before Hong Kong eats the pigs?
Feral pigs may be poached as African swine fever & trade war cut off pig imports HONG KONG––A three-way collision among African swine fever, feral pigs, and the global pork industry, U.S. interests included, may be only days away in Hong Kong. Whatever the outcome, pigs––both factory-farmed and living free––are already the big net […]
Can plant-based “meat” be made to satisfy the Yellow Vests?
Demand for more & cheaper meat underlies strikes over high fuel cost PARIS, SAN FRANCISCO–– The “yellow vest” riots ripping apart France, bringing at least 412 arrests on December 1, 2018 alone, more than 260 injuries, half of them in Paris, and two reported deaths, are behind the scenes adding a social peace-and-justice imperative […]
Shellfishing & oil minions blame sea otters for effects of global warming
Still endangered after century of recovery, sea otters become scapegoats ANCHORAGE, Alaska––Sea otters are now taking the rap from frustrated Alaskan shellfishers for one of the best-documented and longest foreseen effects of global warming: oceanic acidification, inhibiting the ability of species such as abalone, urchins, clams, crabs and sea cucumbers to build and maintain shells. […]
Two inches of rain means life or death to animals in Kenya
Flash floods broke devastating drought, but not drought cycle menacing wildlife & livestock NAIROBI, Kenya––Just two inches of rain over two days, about what Seattle gets on average in just two weeks, in mid-March 2018 triggered flash floods killing at least 15 Kenyans, marooning six tented camps for wildlife tourists in the Maasai Mara […]
A Perfect Day dawns for dairy cows, 7,000 years after domestication
Brewing beer for 9,000 years, humans learn to brew milk without using cows or other mammals BERKELEY, California––Using fermentation to produce food and beverages apparently originated in China circa 9,000 years ago. Keeping dairy cattle appears to have begun in Anatolia, the eastern part of Turkey, circa 7,000 years ago. The commercial dairy industry […]
Can Brother Wolf sell going meatless to dog-&-cat shelters and rescues?
Others have tried for nearly 200 years ASHEVILLE, North Carolina––“We’re a traditional dog and cat rescue group,” opened Brother Wolf Animal Rescue community outreach manager Caitlin Campbell in a recent media release, “and we’ve started a campaign to encourage fellow animal rescue groups across the country to adopt a public vegan policy in response to the […]
The untold story of the conflict in Laikipia, Kenya
by Sebastian Mwanza (Sebastian Mwanza is media representative for the Africa Network for Animal Welfare) Heavily armed pastoralist groups numbering about 10,000 from the Samburu, Baringo, Pokot and Isiolo districts of central Kenya, bringing more than 135,000 cattle with them, have over the past four months forcefully moved into ranches and conservancies in Laikipia county, […]