Leading influence on rise of animal rights movement Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 1929-1968, in whose honor we celebrate Martin Luther King Day, never had any visible direct involvement with animals or animal issues––but he was profoundly influenced by several African-American evangelists who were animal advocates. (See Four black leaders who built the […]
Lab Dog: A Beagle & His Human Investigate, by Melanie D.G. Kaplan
Lab Dog: A Beagle & His Human Investigate the Surprising World of Animal Research by Melanie D.G. Kaplan Seal Press 352 pages $32.00 hardcover; $18.99 ebook. Order online: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/melanie-d-g-kaplan/lab-dog/9781541604988/?lens=seal-press Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Perhaps the best way to start a review of Lab Dog: A Beagle & His Human Investigate the Surprising World of Animal […]
Kaporos, October 7, Israel, Gaza, antisemitism & the animal rights movement
Days that live in infamy NEW YORK, N.Y.––Kaporos, the chicken-swinging ritual practiced annually by the men of about 130,000 Hassidic Jewish households worldwide, mostly members of the evangelical Chabad sect, will occur during the early morning hours from September 20, 2025 to October 1, 2025, the day immediately preceding Yom Kippur. A week after that […]
When the cats are away, will vivisectors play more hell with rats & mice?
White Coat Waste Project “lays waste” to cat experiments, but are buildings & equipment still in use on other species? WASHINGTON D.C.––U.S. Navy Secretary John C. Phelan on May 27, 2025 announced that, “Today it gives me great pleasure to terminate all Department of the Navy testing on cats and dogs, ending these inhumane practices […]
Fugitive “animal rights terrorist” Daniel Andreas San Diego busted in Wales
Arrest in $541,344 Welsh hideout ends 21-year flight from justice LLANWRST, Wales, U.K.––Alleged “animal rights terrorist” Daniel Andreas San Diego, 46, arrested on November 26, 2024 in rural north Wales after a 21-year international manhunt, was in truth only a bit player, even at the height of his infamy, in perhaps the longest running saga […]
“Animal rights” is not a “left” or “right” cause, & never was
Attempts to force “animal rights” into either a “left” or “right” political agenda both miss the point OAKLAND, California––The venerable Eric Mills, among the oldest, longest involved, and still most dynamic of politically left-leaning animal rights activists, was among the first to forward to ANIMALS 24-7 an August 7, 2024 Vox opinion piece entitled “If […]
How Jewish vegan Lewis Gompertz founded animal advocacy
Lewis Gompertz: Philosopher, Activist, Philanthropist, Inventor by Barry Kew Resource Publications c/o Wipf & Stock Publishers 199 W. 8th Ave, Suite #3 Eugene, OR 97401 One might get the impression from practically all conventional histories of the humane and animal rights movements––which Lewis Gompertz: Philosopher, Activist, Philanthropist, Inventor is not––that neither African-Americans, Jews, nor vegans […]
Money, power, & farmed animal advocacy: Jeff Thomas tells all
The Farm Animal Movement: Effective Altruism, Venture Philanthropy, & The Fight to End Factory Farming in America by Jeff Thomas Lantern Publishing & Media, P.O. Box 1350, Woodstock, NY 12498 200 pages; $19.95 paperback. www.lanternpm.org Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Former Humane Society of the United States [HSUS] policy analyst Jeff Thomas has previously been mentioned […]
More Than a Meal: Thanksgiving, turkeys, tradition & Karen Davis
First condemned, then pardoned, without a statement of rights WASHINGTON D.C.––Perhaps nothing could underscore the role of turkeys as Thanksgiving sacrificial victims than the annual ritual at which U.S. President Joe Biden on November 21, 2022 “pardoned” the 46-pound and 47-pound turkeys Chocolate and Chip on the South Lawn of the White House. For what […]
Karen Davis, Ph.D., United Poultry Concerns founder, dead at 79
Karen Davis was a frequent ANIMALS 24-7 guest columnist & commentator MACHIPONGO, Virginia––United Poultry Concerns founder Karen Davis, or Karen Davis, PhD., as she always signed her writings, “passed away peacefully on the morning of November 4, 2023 at the United Poultry Concerns sanctuary, surrounded by her beloved birds,” the organization announced, pledging to “continue […]