Alleged killer had her favorite pit cloned, & was charged with trying to break into a pound to rescue pits who mauled a couple LOS ANGELES, California––Joyce Bernann McKinney, 68, once a globally prominent pit bull advocate, was on July 3, 2019 formally charged with assault with a deadly weapon, hit-and-run driving, and vehicular […]
Top GMO mouse lab closing; sponsor turns toward non-animal research
13-year-old, $38 million facility was British leader HINXTON, U.K. —The Sanger Institute, a global leader since 2006 in producing genetically modified mice for biomedical research use, on May 16, 2019 announced to staff that it will close by 2022, if not sooner. The impending closure is among the first […]
Should giving shelter dogs & cats to university labs count as “live release”?
USDA says pound animal giveaways to vet schools are not covered by the federal Animal Welfare Act BATON ROUGE, Louisiana; TUSKEGEE, Alabama––Recent transfers of shelter animals to the Louisiana State University and Tuskegee University veterinary schools have allegedly been reported by shelter personnel as “adoptions” or transfers to “rescue.” The disputed transactions appear to […]
Pseudo-science & the Alex Pacheco “Spay & Neuter” Cookie
No product, no scientists, nothing else that makes sense POMPANO BEACH, Florida––The pseudo-science in a “Spay and Neuter Cookie Science Update and Overview” fundraising appeal emailed by “600 Million Stray Dogs Need You” founder Alex Pacheco to potential donors on December 19, 2018 began in the first sentence beneath the headline. Pacheco has […]
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 […]
Nazi zombies from hell: VW monkey tests & New Zealand use of 1080
Pledging to quit animal tests, VW tries again to shake Nazi origin WOLFSBURG, Germany––Monkeys are no longer breathing diesel fumes. Volkswagen publicists are likely breathing sighs of relief. Nazi tactics and ideology live on elsewhere. Examples include the use of the Nazi-developed pesticide Compound 1080 to kill a targeted goal of two million feral […]
Animals In The Third Reich: Pets, Scapegoats, and the Holocaust
by Boria Sax Continuum International Publishing Group Inc., (370 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10017), 2000. 206 pages, paperback. $19.95. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Hitler was a vegetarian, probably in emulation of the composer Richard Wagner, Boria Sax asserts, but claims, as vegetarian historian Rynn Berry and others have documented, that “Hitler was probably […]
Hurricane Maria: monkeys hold on, horses endure
“Oh my goodness, how could anything have survived this?” CAYO SANTIAGO, Puerto Rico––Hurricane Irma mostly missed the renowned Cayo Santiago rhesus macaque colony, on an island just east of the Puerto Rican mainland, but Hurricane Maria hit it head-on, at full Category 5 strength. The thousand-odd macaques on Cayo Santiago are ninth generation descendants from […]
Fewer dogs & cats used in U.S. labs than ever before
Guinea pig, hamster, & rabbit numbers also low, but monkey use was up. Mice & rats? Who knows? WASHINGTON, D.C.––Are U.S. laboratories using more animals than ever before, or fewer, at least of most species? Laboratory animal use data from 2016 released on June 9, 2017 shows record reported lows in use of dogs, […]
SAEN asks USDA to close lab that paid near-record fine
Repeated Animal Welfare Act violations found in follow-up inspection EVERETT, Washington––Citing repeated and continuing alleged violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act by the Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories’ facility in Everett, Washington, Stop Animal Exploitation on June 19, 2017 asked USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service western regional director Robert Gibbens to terminate […]