Animals 24-7

News on dogs, cats, horses, wildlife, zoonoses, & nature

Cats, mice, & even octopi sacrificed to false gods of conservation

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E.O. Wilson sidekick Thomas Lovejoy contributed to rationales for massacring some animals to save others              Thomas Eugene Lovejoy III,  80,  on December 25, 2021 quietly died from pancreatic cancer in McLean,  Virginia,  just 24 hours before the death of E.O. Wilson,  92,  in Burlington,  Massachusetts. (See E.O. Wilson, counter-evolutionary “evolutionary biologist,” dies at 92.) […]

E.O. Wilson, counter-evolutionary “evolutionary biologist,” dies at 92

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E.O. Wilson considered himself the Charles Darwin of our time,  but contradicted many basic Darwinian precepts Edward Osborne Wilson,  92,  better known as E.O. Wilson,  died on December 26,  2021 in Burlington, Massachusetts,  16 miles north of Cambridge,  where he was for 46 years a star member of the Harvard University biology faculty. Wilson was perhaps […]

New Aussie cat-killing method may hint retreat from trying to kill all ferals

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Scheme targets only specific cats who eat endangered marsupials             ADELAIDE, Australia––Australian cat-haters rejoiced and cat advocates threw up their hands in horror after Adelaide Advertiser reporter Michelle Etheridge on November 30,  2021  revealed the latest of generations of government schemes to poison feral cats and foxes who allegedly prey upon endangered small marsupials. Overlooked […]

Namibia reports oral rabies vaccination breakthrough for street dogs

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Oral vaccine achieves up to 78% immunization of dogs who cannot otherwise be vaccinated             WINDHOEK, Namibia––The Namibian Ministry of Agriculture, Water & Land Reform on November 11,  2021 told the Chinese national news agency Xinhua that it had successfully completed a first field trial of an oral rabies vaccine for dogs. The Namibian field […]

James Mcneelis: flukiest fatal dog attack ever, or killed by a dog unknown?

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Almost any explanation seems more plausible than that a sheltie/corgi mix killed a seven-year-old             KIEFER, Oklahoma––What animal killed 7-year-old James Mcneelis at around twilight on October 20,  2021 just outside Kiefer,  Oklahoma might eventually be established by forensics. Or maybe not. About all that can be said for now is that both the Creek […]

D.C. Cat Count confirms low feral cat population, lots of free-roaming pets

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Birder claims about feral cats hugely exaggerated             WASHINGTON D.C.––Three years & expenditure of $1.5 million after it started,  the D.C. Cat Count results are in,  if not yet formally published in scientific media. The D.C. Cat Count findings demonstrate chiefly what ANIMALS 24-7 has argued for decades:  both birder and cat advocacy organization claims […]

Audubon writer allegedly recommended poisoning cats

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Editor-at-large Ted Williams suspended, then reinstated WASHINGTON D.C.––National Audubon Society president David Yarnold on March 26,  2013 announced that Audubon magazine editor-at-large Ted Williams had been reinstated after a 10-day suspension for allegedly urging the use of the over-the-counter pain reliever acetaminophen to poison feral cats. Though the alleged recommendation was later withdrawn,  it received […]

Shooting war: cats win, feeders lose in East Bay Regional Park District

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East Bay Regional Park District agrees to ceasefire if cat rescuers remove cats from sensitive wildlife areas             OAKLAND, California––Histrionic headlines and activist alerts aside,  what the East Bay Regional Park District board of directors really did at a heated June 15,  2021 meeting over cat policy was to: Permanently reassign staff biologist David “Doctor […]

“Return to Field” from an animal care & control perspective

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by Dawn D. Danielson, RVT,  former director,  County of San Diego Animal Services The subject of intake, holding and release of cats into the community from which they were brought to a shelter is becoming an emotionally charged debate over, among other things, the lawfulness of programs operating under such names as “community cats,” “return […]

“Stand your ground” fails in both iguana case & pit bull attacks

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Florida attorney general’s office says “Stand your ground” law does not apply to animals WEST PALM BEACH, Florida––Rejecting a “stand-your-ground” defense,  Palm Beach County judge Jeffrey Gillen on May 28,  2021 ordered P.J. Nilaja Patterson,  43,  to stand trial on June 30,  2021,  for alleged cruelty to an iguana whom Patterson beat,  dragged,  and kicked […]