Also: Pit bull rescue scammer Steffen Baldwin loses appeal. Plus Miranda’s Rescue conditional use permit is again revoked. FERNDALE, Washington; LIMA, Ohio; FORTUNA, California––The first week of Pit Bull Awareness Month 2026, opening with the mauling death of three-year-old Waylon O’Mary Coronna, of Sulligent, Alabama, concluded with a coast-to-coast furor erupting after the Whatcom County […]
Low-cost vet care provider/funder offers another view of Rich Avanzino
by Bob Christiansen, co-founder, The Boca Fund (See also How to heal pets, heal the humane community, & heal the veterinary profession and Is the Veterinary Profession Serving All Companion Animal Medical Needs in America Today?, subtitled “A Case for Full-Service, Low-Cost, Non-Profit Community Veterinary Care Centers,” by Bob Christiansen.) For anyone involved in animal […]
First “Pit Bull Awareness Month” 2026 fatality is Alabama three-year-old
Multiple family members of the victim kept pit bulls SULLIGENT, Alabama––Three-year-old Waylon O’Mary Coronna, of Sulligent, Alabama, identified by the Otis Funeral Home as the son of Destiny Hollis and Justin O’Mary, on October 2, 2026 became the first known human fatality of “Pit Bull Awareness Month.” Waylon O’Mary Coronna, according to unconfirmed Facebook postings, […]
Rich Avanzino, 84, one of the suspected “fathers” of bastardized no-kill
Avanzino in 23 years at the San Francisco SPCA helped to create the “no kill movement,” but in 17 years as founding president of Maddie’s Fund tended to discredit the concept PLEASANTON, California––Maddie’s Fund on September 29, 2026––nine days after Richard Avanzino’s actual death, announced that “Rich Avanzino, affectionately and widely known as the father […]
Pit bulls, the humane movement, & the elephant in the room, by Ed Duvin
“A compassionate movement can’t exist in a state of intellectual & moral bankruptcy & maintain its credibility.” Editor’s note: ANIMALS 24-7 guest columnist Ed Duvin began his long career in social justice movements in civil rights and anti-poverty work during the Lyndon Johnson presidential administration. He later advised animal advocacy organizations including the Humane Society […]
Pit bulls in court: dead include three babies, a grandma, & a grandpa
Yet another baby killed by pit bull/Akita as this article was posted VIDOR, Texas; GREENVILLE, Ohio; MARKLE, Indiana; TULLAHOMA, Tennessee––Orange County, Texas sheriff Bobby Smith on September 19, 2026 confirmed to Scott Lawrence of KFDM television news in Beaumont that a pit bull/Akita cross killed a month-old baby girl at about 2:50 a.m. that […]
Ed Duvin: “I saw the best minds of animal advocacy destroyed by madness”
The no-kill movement is not yet old enough to be suffering from advanced dementia This will be a different essay than I normally write, not carefully constructed and edited, but a stream of thoughts shared with fellow activists. Why? Issues that should elicit a sense of urgency in the movement, from the rising bloodshed by […]
1st Hong Kong fatal pit bull attack in 10 years rouses public more than 41 in U.S.
“JoJo” was a “dog slave” who tried to save them all, but died as a pit bull’s dessert HONG KONG––Wong Cho-yee, 33, dog rescuer and trainer, “JoJo” to her friends, was not much different from thousands of young American women, and others around the world, who dream of earning their livings helping animals. Wong Cho-yee […]
Guest column by Ed Boks: Finish the job that no-kill started
This ANIMALS 24-7 guest column originally appeared as the September 1, 2026 installment of author Ed Boks’ own blog, Animal Politics with Ed Boks. Boks may be reached at animalpolitics8@gmail.com. Ed Boks’ resumé in animal welfare includes having headed the animal control departments in Maricopa County, Arizona; New York City; Los Angeles; and Yavapai County, […]
Pit bulls get their kicks near old Route 66, killing men in Illinois & New Mexico
Killer pit bulls in Illinois and New Mexico cases had priors WASHINGTON PARK, Illinois; SANTA ROSA, New Mexico––Historic Route 66 linked the pit bull attack deaths of James L. Gibson, 68, on August 27, 2026 in Washington Park, Illinois, and Randall “Randy” Wade, 73, the following day in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. So did the […]