Animals 24-7

News & perspective for the humane community

Japan hands whales a Christmas gift camouflaged as coal

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Withdrawal from IWC covers for decision to halt Antarctic whaling TOKYO––Handing whales a Christmas Day gift camouflaged as coal,  Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga on December 25,  2018 confirmed months of speculation and decades of threats that Japan would withdraw from membership in the International Whaling Commission,  which has maintained a global moratorium on […]

Did Louisiana cop Terry Yetman do the dog?  If so,  why?

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Bestiality bust just before Christmas went viral BOSSIER CITY,  Louisiana––The animal story most often read,  worldwide,  during the five days before Christmas 2018 had nothing to do,  so far as is known,  with reindeer,  and probably nothing to do with donkeys,  lambs,  or wise men on camels,  either,  though the full details are yet to […]

Arun Rangsi, 39, “heart gibbon” of IPPL founder Shirley McGreal

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Arun Rangsi was living link to IPPL origins             SUMMERVILLE,  South Carolina––“The International Primate Protection League is devastated to report the loss of our first lab gibbon, Arun Rangsi,  who was also my ‘heart gibbon,’”  IPPL founder Shirley McGreal posted to social media. Arun Rangsi was a living link to IPPL cofounder Ardith Eudey,  Ph.D.,  a […]

Pseudo-science & the Alex Pacheco “Spay & Neuter” Cookie

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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 […]

Frustrated fishers push to kill West Coast sea lions & seals

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Newly formed Pacific Balance Pinnipeds Society gives voice to anger             VANCOUVER,  B.C.;  PORTLAND,  Oregon––Removing a longtime irritant to the British Columbia wild salmon fishing industry––and a major economic competitor––the British Columbia government and First Nations have agreed to phase out 17 commercial salmon farms operated since 1987 by a company called Marine Harvest off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.             The […]

Secrets of Marion Island: what NatGeo didn’t tell you

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Seabird recovery project haunted by ghosts of cats, in the form of voracious mice             CAPE TOWN––National Geographic writer Leslie Nemo omitted two of the most ecologically significant facts about the Marion Island Special Nature Reserve from her December 14,  2018 online feature “Saving a remote island’s birds—by getting rid of its mice.”              Lauding […]

“Educate yourself”: pit bulls in schools run amok

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More than 70 children injured & at least five killed in U.S. schools or on way to school since 2005             SEATTLE, Washington;  YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio––Two pit bulls escaped from a nearby home,  ran into St. Therese Catholic Academy in Seattle on December 13,  2018,  bit several students  and reportedly dragged 8-year-old Doris Dickerson.              Three teachers pulled […]

Four people who changed how humans see animals

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Charlie Russell,  Mary T. Hoffman, Aubrey Manning, & Dorothy Cheney  Russell made “Spirit Bears” famous            Canadian bear researcher and author Charlie Russell,  76,  died on May 7,  2018 in Calgary, Alberta,  from complications after surgery.             Born in Pincher Creek,  Alberta,  where his parents Andy and Kay Russell were hunting outfitters and guides,  Charlie Russell […]

Car raffle helps animals? We won’t bet on it!

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 “National Humane Society” behind the raffle uses the original name of the Humane Society of the U.S.           BOCA RATON, Florida––The web site for a shadowy entity incorporated in Delaware as the National Humane Society advertised for months that on December 14,  2018 the organization would raffle off a Porsche,  a Corvette,  a classic 1965 […]

Time for a national conversation about pit bulls

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by guest columnist Ed Boks Is it time for national animal welfare organizations to rethink their positions on pit bulls? This is the recommendation of ANIMALS 24-7,  voiced several times in so many words by social media editor and photographer Beth Clifton,  who is a former Miami Beach police officer,  animal control officer,  elementary school teacher,  veterinary […]