Excessive secrecy hinted at deteriorating conditions for years STANWOOD, Washington––Lori Keene Rutledge, 66, for thirty years often among the go-to people in parrot rescue, was on March 14, 2022 removed from her Cockatoo Rescue & Sanctuary in a rural area southeast of Stanwood, Washington by emergency medical services. Animal control personnel who obtained a search-and-seizure […]
Coyotes, parrots, & the ghosts of George & Joy Adamson
Four older books offer current lessons: The Wilderness Family: At Home with Africa’s Wildlife by Kobie Kruger Ballantine Books (c/o Random House, 299 Park Ave., New York, NY 10171), 2001. 381 pages, hardcover, $26.95. The Daily Coyote, by Shreve Stockton Simon & Schuster, 1230 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY 10020), 2008. 279 pages, […]
Animal-friendly energy: solar takes flight, wind power gets the bird
But even bird conservationists favor wind over fossil fuels & nukes CHEYENNE, Wyoming––Charged with killing at least 150 bald and golden eagles over the past decade at wind farms in eight states, the NextEra Energy subsidiary ESI Energy on April 5, 2022 pleaded guilty to three counts of violating the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. […]
USDA proposes to cover birds under the Animal Welfare Act––sort of
Disease outbreaks afflicting poultry producers lend regulatory urgency to protecting birds––some birds, anyhow––that 50 years of activism did not WASHINGTON D.C.––The worst outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza on record, ravaging European flocks both wild and domestic since 2020, now killing birds by the million in poultry barns, especially in the upper Midwest, may soon help […]
Cats, mice, & even octopi sacrificed to false gods of conservation
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.) […]
Audubon writer allegedly recommended poisoning cats
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 […]
What does the Taliban mean for animals in Afghanistan?
Sharia law may be much better for animals than for western-funded animal advocacy organizations UPDATE: The Economist of May 20, 2023 reported that both the Mayhew International street dog spay/neuter program in Kabul and Nowzad are back up and running, and that the Taliban mayor of Kabul recently joined Mayhew International in celebrating 30,000 spay/neuter […]
Shooting war: cats win, feeders lose in East Bay Regional Park District
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 […]
Factory farming scheme in Zambia threatens wildlife over half of Africa
Straw-colored fruit bats, giving birth in just one place, pollinate trees throughout central Africa LUSAKA, Zambia––Public comment on what appears to be one of the most ecologically destructive development projects in all Africa, menacing Kasanka National Park, Zambia, and especially threatening to straw-colored fruit bats, closes on June 16, 2021. Who cares about African […]
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 […]