Long uphill struggles pay off DENPASSAR, Bali, Indonesia––Fireballs and lava are no longer flying from Mount Agung, the reputed Balinese home of the gods, but smoke, steam, and noxious gases are still rising from thermal vents, keeping most humans at a distance, Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA) dog rescuers excepted. Rabies persists in three […]
Dolphin defender Ric O’Barry, cleared by Tokyo court, plans return to Japan
Three-judge panel rules O’Barry was wrongly barred entry & deported in 2016 TOKYO––“I’m gonna go back and do it again!” dolphin defender Ric O’Barry emailed to ANIMALS 24-7 late on October 3, 2019, after attorneys Megumi Wada and Takashi Takano won a Tokyo District Court ruling on O’Barry’s behalf that O’Barry is free to return to […]
Cockfighters vs. coal miners, Taiji vs. Hong Kong: animal suffering gets lost
What happens when animal issues are overwhelmed by current events? HARLAN COUNTY, Kentucky; TAIJI, Japan; BALI, Indonesia––A trainload of coal worth $1.4 million, blockaded for six weeks by illegally laid off miners whose last pay checks bounced, might at a glance appear to have nothing to do with an alleged cockfighting ring run by […]
Bali hotel dolphins rescued––but will they be freed?
10-year effort gets animals out of sub-par facility BALI, Indonesia––The Jakarta Animal Aid Network and Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project on August 7, 2019 celebrated the transfer of two dolphins and a menagerie of other animals from “deplorable conditions” at the Melka Excelsior Hotel in Lovina, North Bali, Indonesia to a variety of other Bali animal […]
Squee’s Great Escape
by Helene Hesselager O’Barry Illustrated by Cheryl de los Reyes Cruz Hardcover, 40 pages, $19.78, from https://www.amazon.com/Squees-Escape-Helene-Hesselager-OBarry/dp/0998646008/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522071083&sr=8-1&keywords=Helene+Hesselager+O’Barry Reviewed by Beth Clifton Through a young dolphin’s eyes in the vast ocean world, Helene Hesselager O’Barry, wife of Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project founder Ric O’Barry and partner with him in freeing dolphins from captivity for more than 20 years, […]
Do you eat dolphins? Does your cat?
Don’t believe everything you read on can labels, say class action lawsuits Do you eat dolphins? Does your cat? Not likely, and certainly not knowingly––but three class action lawsuits filed on May 13, 2019 by nationally noted legal firms specializing in consumer affairs contend that if either you or your cat eats tuna, the tuna […]
Dolphinaris Arizona deaths: it’s not about the desert
Four dead dolphins bring “temporary” closure of barely two-year-old swim-with-dolphins attraction SCOTTSDALE, Arizona––Already a target of protest before opening in October 2016, Dolphinaris Arizona, the newest U.S. marine mammal exhibition facility, is to be scene of yet another of many demonstrations on February 9, 2019. This demonstration, though, will have a bite to it […]
Japan hands whales a Christmas gift camouflaged as coal
Withdrawal from IWC covers for decision to halt Antarctic whaling TOKYO––Handing whales a Christmas Day gift camouflaged as coal, Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga on December 25, 2018 confirmed months of speculation and decades of threats that Japan would withdraw from membership in the International Whaling Commission, which has maintained a global moratorium on […]
Russ Rector, “the feared activist feared even among activists,” dead at 69
Said of marine mammal parks, “We’re all showing our age, but I don’t have to pass building inspections.” FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida––Russ Rector, 69, a former Ocean World dolphin trainer whose campaigns on behalf of marine mammals later closed Ocean World, unexpectedly died from natural causes at about 10:00 p.m. on January 7, 2018. Though […]
Vaquita captures suspended after death of female of breeding age
Two captures with only frozen tissue samples to show for it (Updates coverage of November 6, 2017.) SAN FELIPE, Mexico––VaquitaCPR and SEMARNAT, the Mexican Secretariat for the Environment & Natural Resources, have indefinitely suspended attempts to bring highly endangered vaquita porpoises into a captive breeding program, Sandra Dibble of the San Diego Union-Tribune and CBS News […]