Animals 24-7

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

USDA proposes to cover birds under the Animal Welfare Act––sort of

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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 […]

Hearts out of place: transplants, pigs, chickens, “victories” & McDonald’s

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If “victories” for farmed animals meant beans,  that would be a substantial improvement BALTIMORE,  Maryland;  WASHINGTON D.C.––David Bennett,  57,  who on January 7,  2022 became the first human to receive a heart transplanted from a genetically-modified pig,  died on March 8,  2022 at the University of Maryland School of Medicine hospital. “The biggest barrier to […]

Iceland fisheries minister hints she may pull the plug on whaling

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But whaling baron Kristján Loftsson, 80,  will not go down without a fight REYKJAVIK, Iceland––Iceland minister of food,  agriculture,  and fisheries Svandis Svavarsdottir on February 4,  2022 indicated in a guest column for the newspaper and news web site Morgunblaðið that she may pull the plug on the nearly moribund Icelandic whaling industry. But Kristján Loftsson, […]

“Victories” that are not, & other views of big animal groups from “The Eejit”

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“Promises, promises,”  to the skirl of bagpipes Soon-to-retire longtime Animal Concern campaign director John Robins,  being a Scot who may never have seen a baseball game,  is not known to have ever used a metaphor borrowed from baseball. (See “Eejit” John Robins shuffles off after 41 years fighting for animals in Scotland.) Robins is known,  […]

Is mink farming “too dirty to die”? Or is pending bill the coup-de-grace?

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Some in the U.S. mink industry see COVID-19 as a growth opportunity  WASHINGTON D.C.––Will the COVID-19 delta variant finally kill mink farming in the U.S.,  after COVID-19 in all forms has killed more than 633,000 Americans? Or will HR 4310,  dubbed the MINKS Act as acronym for “Minks in Narrowly Kept Spaces Are Superspreaders Act,”  […]

Project Chimps paints walls in lieu of giving chimps daily outdoor time

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Paint job was not “whitewashing” because Project Chimps used bright colors BLUE RIDGE, Georgia–– Humane Society of the U.S. representatives once upon a time derisively denounced as eyewash meant to impress human visitors,  not the imprisoned animals, the common zoo practice of painting scenic backdrops on bare concrete walls. Staff and volunteers at the Project […]

Credibility,  GAP?  Global Animal Partnership 10 years later

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Farm Forward,  a former booster,  finds GAP approach bassackward––& is scarcely alone AUSTIN,  Texas––What a difference ten years of Global Animal Partnership have not made for factory-farmed animals! Indeed,  the biggest visible change associated with Global Animal Partnership [GAP] may be that Farm Forward has split with it. A faith-linked farmed animal advocacy organization,  Farm […]

How zombies from hell ate animal protection, by Steve Hindi

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“Zombie groups” raise funds & do little else [Video version is accessible at https://youtu.be/NleYZ6GAC8Y.] Hi folks.  I’m Steve Hindi for SHowing Animals Respect & Kindness. My friends Beth and Merritt Clifton of ANIMALS 24-7 on May 9,  2021 posted an article, Animal labs get free pass on inspections; AV groups mostly don’t notice,  that,  if anyone […]

China keeps a promise on behalf of animals used in cosmetics testing

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Chinese-made beauty & personal care products were already exempt from animal testing requirements.  Now most imported beauty & personal care products are exempt as well. BEIJING––The National Medical Products Administration of China on March 4,  2021 quietly kept an eight-year-old promise on behalf of animals,  announcing that after May 1,  2021 it will no longer […]

Anti-vivisectionism goes to the dogs

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Or,  “A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy,  except in their capacity to raise funds.” WASHINGTON D.C.––Lest there be any doubt that antivivisection advocacy in the 21st century has gone to the dogs,  the White Coat Waste Project,  the Humane Society of the U.S.,  and Stop Animal Exploitation Now in recent […]