by Wayne Pacelle with Merritt Clifton (Adapted and expanded from “The Persistence of the Myth of the Big Bad Wolf,” distributed by Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy on August 11, 2026.) On August 4, 2026, Senator Ron Johnson, a three-term Republican from Wisconsin, stood at his desk in the ornate U.S. Senate chamber […]
Pigs win U.S. Senate bean-shooter “Showdown at the Not OK Coral”
The Save Our Bacon Act, or SOB Act, fails to advance WASHINGTON D.C.––The much anticipated August 6, 2026 “Showdown at the Not Okay Corral” might as well have been fought with bean shooters––SNAP bean shooters––for all that the outcome meant toward passing a 2026 Farm Bill. The 2026 Farm Bill failed by an 11-10 vote […]
Showdown day at the Not Okay Corral comes to Congress
The “Save Our Bacon Act” a.k.a. the “SOB Act,” and the FIGHT Act head a long list of Farm Bill 2026 showdown items WASHINGTON D.C.––Thursday, August 6, 2026 is mark-up and amendment day, for reconciliation of the Senate and House of Representatives versions 2026 Farm Bill. That makes August 6, 2026 the showdown day at […]
“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 […]
Ex-CFO files lawsuit charging ASPCA with misuse of funds & wrongful firing
Former CFO accuses ASPCA of overspending on “no-bid” contracts NEW YORK CITY, New York––Former American SPCA chief financial officer Gordon Lavalette during the second week in May 2025 sued the ASPCA in New Jersey state court for alleged wrongful dismissal, further alleging substantial ASPCA misuse of donated funds. Detailed New York Post Manhattan civil […]
28 years later, FDA is “replacing animal testing,” new chief Makary says
Makary finally does what the FDA, EPA, & National Institutes for Health were petitioned to do in 1997, 50 years after key technology became available WASHINGTON D.C.––U.S. Food & Drug Administration commissioner Martin Makary on April 10, 2025 announced barely two weeks after taking office that the FDA is “replacing animal testing in the development […]
The USDA “milk mandate”: a black-&-white issue on school lunch trays
Bill to reform the USDA “milk mandate” could save 21,500 calves per year born to cows milked for the National School Lunch Program WASHINGTON D.C.–– The title of the Addressing Digestive Distress in Stomachs of Our Youth (ADD SOY) Act offers little hint that it might be considered either a civil rights bill or an animal […]