News analysis by Barbara Kay The news cycle of the last two weeks has turned up two remarkable pit bull-related stories in North America, both worthy of editorial mastication, so to speak. There is a third story, also noteworthy and included below, which didn’t make the mainstream news, but should have. The first story, out […]
Rollover crash reignites controversy over dog rescue traffic from U.S. to Canada
Two volunteers escaped with minor injuries EDMONTON––A September 13, 2014 rollover crash near Olds, Alberta that killed at least three dogs in a load of 30 has reignited debate over the practice of importing dogs from U.S. shelters into Canada. The seven a.m. accident came toward the end of a multi-day drive from the Los […]
Circus lion attack calls into question the will of Peruvian authorities to enforce wildlife performance ban
Why was the circus still on the road? CUZCO, Peru––Three years after Peru officially stopped the use of wildlife in circuses, a nominally banned lion named Smith nearly killed schoolteacher Roxana Guevara Huaraca, 32, during an August 14, 2014 performance of the Monaco Circus in Santa Rosa, in the district of San Sebastian, near […]
Sealers seem determined to go down with their ships in wake of WTO decision
ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland; Iqaluit, Nunatsiaq ––Ruling against an appeal by Canada and Norway against the European Union ban on imports of seal products, the World Trade Organization may have sunk the future economic prospects of the Atlantic Canada seal hunt. But Canadian sealers appear to be more inclined to go down with their ships […]
Elected on pro-animal platform, new Costa Rican president allows anti-dogfighting bill to become law without a signing ceremony
Former president left dogfighting law unsigned SAN JOSE, Costa Rica––New Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solís either failed to sign into law the anti-dogfighting law he helped to push through the legislature or did not announce signing it, but the law took effect anyway on May 29, 2014, when published […]
Miguel Ángel Palacios Montoya, 19, was killed defending a dog
Miguel Ángel Palacios Montoya, 19, also known as Michelangelo Palace, was allegedly killed by a machete-wielding drunken neighbor at about six in the morning on May 4, 2014 in Envigado, Colombia, after Palacios and his brother Juan Pablo went to the defense of a dog named Jerry. Juan Pablo Palacios was also injured in the […]
Colombian constitutional court upholds circus ban
Success for Animal Defenders International BOGOTA, Colombia––The Constitutional Court of Colombia on May 14, 2014 upheld a ban on the use of wild animals, native or exotic, in circuses and traveling animal shows. The ban was approved by the Colombian Congress in June 2013. The Constitutional Court ratified an earlier verdict by magistrate Jorge Iván […]
Al Oeming, 88, ran Alberta Game Farm for 40 years
Wrestling star turned zookeeper Al Oeming, 88, died on March 17, 2014 in Edmonton, Alberta, from complications of heart surgery. Born in Edmonton, Oeming and his boyhood neighbor Stu Hart served together in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II, then became professional wrestlers in Harlem, New York, in the National Wrestling Alliance, ancestral […]
Farley Mowat, 92, author of Never Cry Wolf, A Whale for the Killing, and Sea of Slaughter
Farley McGill Mowat, 92, collapsed and died on May 6, 2014 at his longtime home in Port Hope, Ontario, six days short of his 93rd birthday. Possibly the most widely read Canadian author ever, Mowat produced more than 40 books, mostly with pro-animal themes, which sold more than 17 million copies and were translated into […]
Donkeys, mules, & ponies struggle to survive Kathmandu brickyards
But some of the equines may outlive the brickyards themselves LALITPUR PATAN, Nepal––Some of the donkeys, mules, and ponies who have survived hard use in the brickyards of the southern Kathmandu Valley may long outlive the local brick industry. Given good sanctuary care, some of these hard-used equines […]