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 […]
San Diego showdown: trap-neuter-return advocates sue vs. return-to-field
Court case hinges on the difference between a truly feral cat and a tame, friendly cat found at large SAN DIEGO, California—A lawsuit brought against the San Diego Humane Society & SPCA by the Southern California animal rescue charities Pet Assistance Foundation and Paw Protectors seeks to establish, for the first time, a clear legal […]
British feds to cull badgers, ignoring lessons of 1,000 years
Bio-xenophobia hits pine marten & grey squirrels, too LONDON, U.K.––Though culling predators has come to be recognized as one of the larger ecological mistakes of the Romans, the Normans, the Georgians in the 18th century, and 20th century British governments, British environment secretary Owen Paterson on February 27, 2013 announced that badgers will be culled […]
Animal charity management: mobilized millennials bumping off boomers?
Regime change underway at Animal Legal Defense Fund, National Audubon Society, & Tony La Russa’s Animal Foundation COTATI, WALNUT CREEK, California; NEW YORK, N.Y.––Are unionization at the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the resignation of five members of Tony La Russa’s family from Tony La Russa’s Animal Foundation, though not La Russa himself, and the exit […]
Cat killer “Doctor Quack” paid well by East Bay Regional Park District
Shotgun-wielding biologist took home $182,951, left dead cats in dumpsters OAKLAND, California––East Bay Regional Park District biologist David “Doctor Quack” Riensche may have been paid more per feral cat he allegedly killed than the $3,000 that “Joe Exotic” paid to Frank Allen Glover in his foiled plot to murder Big Cat Rescue founder Carole […]
Predation is nature’s disease control, including for Tweety & Sylvester
Too few cats around bird feeders means pine siskins die by thousands SACRAMENTO, California––When are free-roaming cats watching a bird feeder the birds’ best friend? When infectious disease is at large among common bird feeder species, spreading rapidly from bird to bird in the absence of predators to kill and consume the sick and […]
L.A. city council approves TNR: “project does not encourage feeding”
Not encouraging feeding sidesteps most objections to new Los Angeles neuter/return cat control program LOS ANGELES, California––The long-awaited Los Angeles Citywide Cat Program on December 10, 2020 won unanimous approval from the Los Angeles City Council. “The Council vote clears the way for the city to use municipal funds to operate the Citywide Cat […]
How Henry Bergh threw pigeons to the dogs for the next 150+ years
ASPCA founder Henry Bergh hated pigeon shooters, except when he wanted something from them Henry Bergh, who founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1866, might have perfectly understood Showing Animals Respect & Kindness founder Steve Hindi’s frustration, expressed on November 14, 2020 in his ANIMALS 24-7 guest column “Talk […]
Jan Salter, 82, mastered the arts of animal & human aid in Kathmandu
Founded leading Nepal humane organization past age when most people retire KATHMANDU, Nepal––Jan Salter, 82, artist, humanitarian, and founder of the Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre in Nepal in 2004, died in Lyme Regis, United Kingdom, on April 29, 2018. Word of her death did not reach ANIMALS 24-7 until nearly 90 days later. Born Janette […]
Cats, tahrs & feathers on Table Mountain, South Africa
Goats gotten, South African National Park Service scopes in on feral cats CAPE TOWN, South Africa––Have feral cats succeeded feral Himalayan mountain goats, called tahrs, as the purported greatest threat to native South African wildlife at Table Mountain National Park? The few remaining Table Mountain tahrs, a cause celebré from 2001 to 2004, are descended […]