Claim that killing barred owls & Catalina mule deer is to protect endangered species is at best questionable SALEM, Oregon; LOS ANGELES, California––Blazing gunfire directed at barred owls in the Coast Range of Oregon and at mule deer on Catalina Island, 26 miles west of Los Angeles, again demonstrates how successfully adaptive species can become […]
Hunting lobby Michigan United Conservation Clubs goes bust
Would culling the Michigan hunter population have prevented the collapse? LANSING, Michigan––Once reputedly the most influential state-level pro-hunting lobbying voice in the U.S., the Michigan United Conservation Clubs are “dissolving after almost 90 years because of ongoing financial struggles,” reported Dan Basso on May 6, 2026 for the Lansing State Journal. The fiscal collapse of […]
“Kill the barred owls!” agree U.S. Senate Democrats with Republicans
Scheme to kill barred owls allows timber industry to log off northern spotted owl habitat WASHINGTON D.C.––Twenty-nine days into a U.S. government shutdown due to a partisan impasse over a budget bill, Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Senate on October 29, 2025 overwhelming agreed in favor of massacring barred owls to protect northern spotted […]
Mute swans & trumpeter swans: bird artist Barry Kent Mackay testifies
“The trumpeter swans where I live, in southern Ontario, associate with non-native mute swans” Barry Kent Mackay, a friend for 47 years, a longtime colleague on the animals and nature news beat, and among the senior animal advocates in Canada, also happens to be a distinguished ornithological painter with an especially strong fondness for waterfowl. […]
California starts open season on mute swans, who will be “sitting ducks”
Shooting mute swans may be a little harder than shooting fish in a barrel, but not much SACRAMENTO, California––Open season on mute swans begins in California for five years, at least, on January 1, 2026. A bill establishing the open season was introduced by California state assembly member Jeff Gonzalez, a Republican from Indio, a […]
Bill to save barred owls heads to U.S. Senate floor––but when is the vote?
Barred owls, close to massacre in name of saving northern spotted owls, find unexpected friends on the right WASHINGTON D.C.––U.S. Senate Joint Resolution 69, to stop the impending massacre of barred owls in the name of saving northern spotted owls, on October 15, 2025 cleared the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works. […]
Pigeon shoots, pigeon racing, gambling, theft, & multiple murders
What about pigeons attracts the worst sorts of people? HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania; CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas; BRUSSELS, Belgium––Pigeons and disreputable human conduct appear to go together like statues and guano, with the most and rankest guano accruing to the high and mighty. Investigative reporters including Stephen Caruso of Spotlight PA, Kevin Sieff of the Washington Post, and […]
Why did William Custis Smith get just a day in jail for killing 20+ bald eagles?
Sentence raises questions & eyebrows HALLWOOD, Virginia––Who is William Custis Smith, 74, of Hallwood, Virginia, population 206, and why did he get away with just one day in jail, two years on probation, 50 hours of community service, and a fine of $9,800 for allegedly killing at least 20 bald eagles and other birds of […]
Michigan DNR offers hope for an end to non-migratory Canada goose killing
Pressure from In Defense of Animals & United Poultry Concerns contributes to policy change LANSING, Michigan––Michigan Department of Natural Resources director Scott Bowen on May 9, 2025 “paused” scheduled massacres of “nuisance” non-migratory Canada geese, in favor of “alternative options for managing human-goose conflicts and health and safety concerns.” Possible translation: the Michigan Department of […]
Pigeon shoot host John Waldrop fined $900,000 for dead bird trafficking
Waldrop “preserved” birds stuffed & mounted BROOKLYN, New York–– Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Rachel Kovner on April 9, 2025 fined orthopedic surgeon John Waldrop, 76, of Cataula, Georgia, $900,000 for conspiracy to smuggle wildlife and Endangered Species Act violations. Kovner also ordered Waldrop, who pleaded guilty to the charges in August 2024, to serve three […]