90% “live release” mandate failed catastrophically in less than 90 days PUEBLO, Colorado––“You can’t manage an animal shelter to a number,” Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region president Jan McHugh-Smith told Pueblo Chieftan reporter Anthony A. Mestas, hours after her organization returned to running the Pueblo Animal Services shelter on April 9, 2019, […]
Diane Whipple died for the sins of dangerous dog advocacy
Murder-by-dog convict Marjorie Knoller is denied parole SACRAMENTO––The California Board of Parole Hearings on February 7, 2019 denied parole to Marjorie Knoller, 64, convicted of murder-by-dog for the January 26, 2001 death of St. Mary’s College lacrosse coach Diane Whipple, 33, at the door to her San Francisco apartment. Knoller will be allowed to seek parole […]
Stray: A Shelter Veterinarian’s Reflection on Triumph & Tragedy
by Dena Mangiamele, DVM, MPVM, MFS https://www.doctordena.com/ Kindle edition: $9.99; paperback $14.99; color edition $30.82. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Stray: A Shelter Veterinarian’s Reflection on Triumph & Tragedy, by Dena Mangiamele, is only the third fully realistic book about animal sheltering to come my way in more than half a century of reading everything I […]
End of Debi Day for Nathan Winograd follows Charlottesville debacle
Winograd tries to distance himself from Day, who tries to distance herself from herself OAKLAND, California––No Kill Advocacy Center founder Nathan Winograd on August 15, 2017 distanced himself from No Kill Nation founder Debi Day, his longtime leading funder and prominent ally in pit bull advocacy. Winograd acted four days after photos and video […]
What was No Kill Nation founder Debi Day doing in Charlottesville?
Photographed & videotaped among the alt-right in New Orleans, too CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia––No Kill Nation founder and pit bull advocate Debi Day appears to have been among the self-described “Freedom Keepers,” neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klansmen, and other “alt-right” participants in “Unite the Right” protests held on August 11 and 12, 2017 against the removal of […]
Bulldogs, bullying & bravado: the heart of pit bull advocacy
by Beth Clifton What do pit bulls have in common with other dogs? Not much actually, besides the obvious four legs, fur, two ears, and a tail––unless the ears have been cropped to make the pit bull look more dangerous. To deny that pit bull genetics predisposes them to kill other living beings, and that […]
“Rescue hoarding” cases horrify Iowa
Iowa cases exemplify national trend DES MOINES, Iowa––Arrested on February 13, 2017, Bully Breed Miracle Networking & Rescue founder Lindsey Morrow, 41, is awaiting trial in Warren County, Iowa, on five counts of animal torture, five counts of animal neglect, second-degree theft, second-degree fraudulent practice and ongoing criminal conduct. Alerted to conditions of severe […]
Street dogs in the U.S.? Nathan Winograd has gone barking mad.
by Merritt Clifton Among the most vociferous critics of ANIMALS 24-7 guest columnist Jeff Young’s essay We cannot adopt, warehouse or rescue our way out of dog & cat overpopulation! was No Kill Advocacy Center founder Nathan Winograd. Winograd’s own recommendations in response to the homeless dog and cat problem have long been a hodgepodge of wishful […]
Pit bull crime doubled in 2016
Surging use of pit bulls as offensive weapons WASHINGTON D.C.––Violent crime involving dogs approximately doubled in 2016, almost all of it involving pit bulls, according to the best available data. Rarely reported before 2013, known arrests of perpetrators who used pit bulls as adjuncts to armed robbery, rape, kidnapping, and murder, exclusive of manslaughter […]
No-kill pioneer Richard Avanzino to retire after dispensing $153 million in Maddie’s Fund grants
by Merritt Clifton PLEASANTON, California––Maddie’s Fund on March 25, 2015 announced that founding president Richard Avanzino is to retire in June, at the end of the current fiscal year. Said David Duffield, who cofounded Maddie’s Fund with his wife Cheryl, in honor of their deceased schnauzer Maddie, 1987-1997, “We truly appreciate […]