Life sentence rendered after case was before the courts for five years CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas––David Keith Wills, 68, former Michigan Humane Society executive director and vice president for investigations at the Humane Society of the U.S., was on September 22, 2020 formally sentenced to serve life in federal; prison. Wills was convicted on October 8, […]
Kamala Harris: long record on animal issues, including pit bull attacks
Prosecuted two dog attack fatalities, enforced pit bull sterilization ordinance, but favors adoptions of fighting dogs SAN FRANCISCO––U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, named vice presidential running mate to Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden on August 11, 2020, brings to the election campaign both a strong record on animal protection and a mixed record in […]
Amazon et al may sell foie gras to Californians despite state ban, rules judge
2004 law prohibits sale but not purchase of product from tortured waterfowl LOS ANGELES, California––Foie gras, an oily spread made from the diseased livers of force-fed ducks and geese, may be legally purchased by Californians, but a 2004 state law prohibits selling it within California, Los Angeles U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson ruled on […]
Horse racing fails to win, place, or show in Georgia, despite HSUS support
Why is the Humane Society of the U.S. helping horse racing to expand into new territory? ATLANTA, Georgia––Again the perennial horse racing industry attempt to legalize pari-mutuel betting and introduce thoroughbred racing to Georgia failed during the 2020 state legislative session, closed on July 3. Opposition to legalizing pari-mutuel betting came chiefly from religious groups […]
Scotland to stop shooting seals to save salmon farm profits––but not until 2021
50-year effort by Scottish seal defenders––but Humane Society of the U.S. blasts out media releases claiming credit DUMBARTON, Scotland––Culminating a half century of effort by the Save Our Seals Fund, and Animal Concern Scotland, led for decades by John Robins of both organizations, the Scottish Parliament on June 17, 2020 ratified a new Animals & Wildlife […]
“That touch of mink” & COVID-19: Dutch outbreak hints mink may be host
Fur farming to end in The Netherlands by 2024 WAGENINGEN, The Netherlands––The discovery that ranched mink can become infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus may lend momentum to the Dutch national plan to phase out mink farming entirely by 2024. Concern that mink themselves might become a COVID-19 reservoir may also dampen Chinese enthusiasm for rebuilding […]
Add to COVID-19 toll expanded hunting on U.S. Wildlife Refuges
Trump administration appointees open more federal refuges to hunting than last three administrations combined WASHINGTON D.C.––Opponents of hunting might imagine that Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service chief Aurelia Skipwith waited until the public was distracted by soaring daily death tolls from the COVID-19 global pandemic to announce the biggest-ever […]
From gorillas to shelter dogs: animals caught in the COVID-19 crunch
No animals other than bats & humans are known to get COVID-19, but millions are affected by the human response WASHINGTON D.C.––Animals and animal-related projects from Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo to National Institutes of Health-funded laboratories are feeling the impact of the international COVID-19 scare underway throughout early 2020, […]
Former HSUS vp David Wills’ co-defendant gets 15 years for sex trafficking minor
Wills, facing multiple life terms, is yet to be sentenced CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas––The likelihood that former Michigan Humane Society president and Humane Society of the U.S. vice president David Keith Wills, 67, will spend the rest of his life in a federal penitentiary appeared to increase on December 18, 2019, when U.S. District Judge […]
Gadhi Mai 2019: more animals killed than in 2014, but fewer people watched
But drone videos show––again––that the body count was vastly lower than is often claimed BARIYARPUR, Nepal––More animals were slain at the 2019 Gadhi Mai sacrificial massacre in Bariyarpur, Nepal, than in 2014––a deeply disappointing discovery, after 15 years of international efforts to stop the every-five-years bloodbath held in honor of a local goddess. Drone video […]