Animals 24-7

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

Do fish feel pain? Victoria Braithwaite proved it to science

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Led recognition of “metric tons” of fish as millions of sentient lives             UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania––The biggest news in the watery world of fisheries in early October 2019 was the appearance of the 447-foot Margiris,  reputedly the world’s second-largest trawler,  through the mists of the English Channel just 14 miles off Brighton,  East Sussex. “For […]

Last convicted shark-dragger Benac will get fishing license back in 2022

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If,  that is,  he does 250 hours of community service & finds an animal shelter that will take him for 125 hours             TAMPA,  Florida––Holding out for a lighter sentence under a plea bargain offer did not wholly pay off on September 12,  2019 for Robert Lee “Bo” Benac III,  30. But Benac did avoid […]

The SeaQuest empire, the Covino family, & who is “The Codfather?”

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PETA rap sheet lists 87 brushes with the law in only nine years DENVER,  LYNCHBURG,  FORT LAUDERDALE––SeaQuest Interactive Aquariums chain founders Vincenzo “Vince” and Ammon Covino might prefer right now that attention be focused on soon-to-open locations in Lynchburg,  Virginia and Fort Lauderdale,  Florida,  as well as on locations in Roseville,  Minnesota;  Trumbull,  Connecticut,  and […]

Elephants, giraffes, sharks, Asian otters & seahorses fare well in Switzerland

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African elephants win protection near where exports for display began             GENEVA, Switzerland––Live elephant exports from Africa for exhibition at least nominally ended by plenary vote at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Triennial Conference of the Parties on August 27,  2019 in Geneva,  Switzerland,  about 200 miles north from where the […]

Whaling harpoons Icelandic tourism & the whole nation suffers (UPDATE!)

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Iceland suspends whaling after ANIMALS 24-7 exposes how killing whales wounded a whale-watching industry that brings in twice as much money             REYKJAVIK, Iceland––The two remaining Icelandic whaling companies,  Hvalur,  killing fin whales,  and IP Útgerð,  killing minke whales,  on the afternoon of June 27,  2019 jointly announced that they will not go whaling this year,  […]

What “sportsmen” say about stomping fish dumped out of a barrel

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Fishers fight over sadistic display              KALISPELL,  Montana––Shooting fish in a barrel,  long a metaphor for the most unsporting forms of hunting,  has a correlative at Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s,  a Bass subsidiary since 2017. To hook children on recreational killing,  Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s stores from time to time offer free access […]

Do you eat dolphins? Does your cat?

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Don’t believe everything you read on can labels, say class action lawsuits Do you eat dolphins?  Does your cat? Not likely,  and certainly not knowingly––but three class action lawsuits filed on May 13,  2019 by nationally noted legal firms specializing in consumer affairs contend that if either you or your cat eats tuna,  the tuna […]

Wolves, grey whales, & sea lions targeted to preserve meat-getting traditions

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Cultural demand for killing wildlife is much stronger than economic interest             SEATTLE––The good news for wolves,  grey whales,  and California sea lions in the Pacific Northwest is that all three once-endangered predators,  now long off the U.S. endangered species list,  are reclaiming small niches in habitat that for millennia they dominated,  before human activity––especially […]

Mercury Toxicity as a Cause for Stranded Marine Mammals is not a Mystery

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by Bill McGraw (Ph.D. in aquaculture, Boquete, Panama;  www.newaquatechpanama.com) Approximately 37% of marine mammal species are in danger of extinction,  according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.  Among the most often reported concerns regarding deaths of whales and dolphins are the phenomena of these animals beaching or “stranding” themselves en masse. Episodic […]

Vaquita, totoaba:  Gunfire on the Sea of Cortez

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Alleged poacher tried to recover net confiscated by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society             SAN FELIPE,  Baja California, Mexico––An alleged poacher and two apparently uninvolved passers-by were reportedly hit by gunfire in a March 28,  2019 confrontation with Mexican marines in San Felipe,  Baja California,  Mexico. The shooting incident was among the most violent yet in […]