Choose wisely, as homeless animals have no choice. Editor’s note: ANIMALS 24-7 guest columnist Ed Duvin began his long career in social justice movements in civil rights and anti-poverty work during the Lyndon Johnson presidential administration. He later advised animal advocacy organizations including the Humane Society of the U.S., the No-Kill Conference, and In […]
Warren Cox: Dean of U.S. humane work
“Everything” about Warren Cox A few weeks ago Warren Cox called, while my wife Beth and I were putting up cat climbing ramps and resting boards in our new back porch “catio,” and asked if we could put together “everything” we had written about him into a little booklet, so that he could show his […]
Too many pit bulls: New York City shelters refuse intake, SF/SPCA lays off staff
Pit bulls bit the Achilles heel of collapsing New York City & San Francisco no-kill schemes SAN FRANCISCO, California––Pit bulls bit the Achilles heel of the San Francisco Adoption Pact, putting the whole “no-kill nation” model on crutches, but even as both the San Francisco SPCA and San Francisco Animal Care & Control stagger cold […]
Best Friends Animal Society cofounder and former CEO Gregory Castle, 83
Gregory Castle was multi-talented & well-liked by all, but the Castle dynasty at Best Friends has been a disaster for dogs, cats, pit bull victims, spay/neuter funding, and reaching realistic no-kill goals KANAB, Utah––Best Friends Animal Society cofounder and former chief executive Gregory Castle, 83, on May 17, 2025 died suddenly from an embolism. “Born […]
Cat advocate Joan Miller, 88, linked breed fanciers & humane world
Architect turned lobbyist won 1990 law requiring California shelters to do spay/neuter before adoption Joan Miller, 88, who for more than 30 years bridged the divide between cat fancy breeders and the humane community by directing funds into spay/neuter work and effort into collaborative projects, died from complications of pneumonia on May 16, 2023 in […]
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 15, 2022 again denied parole to Marjorie Knoller, 67, 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 was previously denied parole […]
Bernard Rollin, 78, addressed the big issues but often fumbled the facts
Author of Animal Rights & Human Morality and The Unheeded Cry FORT COLLINS, Colorado––Bernard Elliot Rollin, Ph.D., 78, better known as just Bernie Rollin, died on November 19, 2021. Remembered and appreciated as an entertaining, provocative, and often persuasive bridge among the animal rights, animal welfare, academic, veterinary, and legal communities during his 51 years […]
Caring for bears & a homeless woman contrasts to caring only about pit bulls
Help Asheville Bears founder stands up for human victim; Maddie’s Fund program director urges concealing dog attack risk to humans & other animals ASHEVILLE, N.C.; AUSTIN, Texas––Somewhere along the line, Help Asheville Bears founder Jody Williams learned the ethical principle of not causing harm to other living things, called ahimsa by Hindus, Buddhists, and […]
White hats & black hats revisited, 25 years into the “no kill” era
The 1994 San Francisco “Adoption Pact” recast the roles of animal control & humane societies––but not as intended Again, in hundreds of cities and towns across the U.S., and indeed around the world, factions are polarized in furious conflict over what their local animal control agencies, humane societies and shelterless, volunteer-run “rescues” should be doing. […]
“No-kill” debacle: will Pueblo bring “responsible sheltering” into vogue?
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, […]