Animal rescue activity is nearly completed in evacuated parts of Israel attacked by Hamas AL ZAHRA, Gaza; TEL AVIV, Israel––Amid the explosions and chaos of the Israeli Defense Force incursion to destroy Hamas tunnels, dogs run, cats hide, and the Gaza donkeys go on working. Indeed, the surviving Gaza donkeys are working perhaps harder than […]
Wild horses chased by choppers in U.S.; shot from choppers in Australia
Australia has no Wild & Free-Roaming Horses & Burros Act DAVIS, California; SYDNEY, Australia––“Now through February,” American Wild Horse Campaign currently warns via social media, “over 7,000 wild horses will be chased by helicopters, ripped from their families, injured, or in the worst case, killed. “The survivors will be funneled into overburdened holding facilities, sometimes […]
Donkeys haul Gaza refugees south ahead of Israeli pursuit of Hamas
Balaam’s talking donkey needed to report on the animal aspects of the crisis GAZA CITY, TEL AVIV––If only the donkeys could talk, instead of a small army of metaphorical jackasses with official positions and microphones! Unfortunately, the reputed first and only talking donkey in all the long history of Israel and Palestine belonged to the […]
Israel & Gaza: dogs, cats, donkeys, cattle, sheep, & chickens under fire
Animal casualties could outnumber the human deaths, but no one seems to be counting RAMAT GAN, Israel; GAZA CITY, Gaza––“The war is still going on,” Sulala Animal Rescue founder Saeed Al Err posted to Facebook from Gaza City as a fifth day of intense combat drew to a close in Gaza and adjacent parts […]
After the earthquake: donkeys & a lucky puppy rescued in Morocco
The London-based Society for Protecting Animals Abroad and the Massachusetts SPCA subsidiary American Fondouk are still the only major outside animal charities with boots on the ground in Morocco. MARRAKECH, Morocco––Most outside relief organizations, including animal charities, continue to be excluded from Morocco following the September 8, 2023 earthquake that flattened whole villages in the […]
All we know about animals after Morocco earthquake & Libya floods
Uncertain status of the Sahara sand cat is emblematic of the many unknowns following double disasters TOUBKAL NATIONAL PARK, Morocco; EL KOUF NATIONAL PARK, Libya––Little as yet can be reported about the plight of animals in either Morocco or Libya after the catastrophic earthquake that hit central Morocco on September 9, 2023 and the flooding […]
Vultures: canaries in the pharmaceutical waste coal mine?
Diclofenac-related vulture death in Spain may point toward a much bigger problem Should the end times be near, whether through global warming, loss of fish from the oceans, nuclear war, or any of myriad other calamities, vanishing vultures might be among the early harbingers of the apocalypse. Vultures might be expected to descend on the […]
Jan Salter, 82, mastered the arts of animal & human aid in Kathmandu
Founded leading Nepal humane organization past age when most people retire KATHMANDU, Nepal––Jan Salter, 82, artist, humanitarian, and founder of the Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre in Nepal in 2004, died in Lyme Regis, United Kingdom, on April 29, 2018. Word of her death did not reach ANIMALS 24-7 until nearly 90 days later. Born Janette […]
Mark Twain’s Book of Animals
Edited with Introduction, Afterword, & Notes by Shelley Fisher Fishkin University of California Press https://www.ucpress.edu/ 325 pages, hardcover. $27.50. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Wrote Ed Duvin, whose 1989 Animalines newsletter essay “In The Name of Mercy” prophesying “no kill” animal sheltering is widely considered a classic of humane literature, to ANIMALS 24-7 a few days […]
California Equine Retirement Foundation runs into deep muck
Current leadership allegedly squandered assets & 27-year positive track record under ousted founder SAN JACINTO, California––Among the 80-odd animal shelters, sanctuaries, and nonprofit rescue organizations foundering in 2019, the California Equine Retirement Foundation (CERF) has probably run through the most money over the past five years. Along the way, CERF blew the the best reputation […]