Swiss exemption for pelts from body-gripping traps smells like Limburger GENEVA, Switzerland––Switzerland, effective July 1, 2025, will become the first country in Europe and likely the world to ban the import and sale of fur taken from animals by means defined as “cruel production methods.” The new Swiss law, introduced by the Swiss Federal Council […]
Soi Dog Foundation shuts down a Vietnamese cat slaughterhouse
Slaughterhouse operated in open defiance of 1998 cat meat ban HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam––“In a ground-breaking victory against the dog and cat meat trade in Vietnam, a cat slaughterhouse has been forced to cease operations,” announced Soi Dog Foundation director of international advocacy Rahul Sehgal in a March 23, 2022 appeal to potential donors. […]
How one lion & one bear survived the 2014-2017 ISIS occupation of Mosul
Father of Lions: Saving Starving Animals at the Mosul Zoo by Louise Callaghan 383 pages, 2020. Forge Book, c/o Tom Doherty Associates; available in multiple print & electronic formats c/o Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, and Kindle at prices from $12.99 up. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton “Good afternoon. I am writing because I want to […]
Mad Russians overrun Ukraine rabies belt; refugee canines flee west
Invasion stops progress against fox rabies outbreak raging since 2004 KHARKIV, Ukraine; ATLANTA, Georgia; SURPRISE, Arizona––The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] web site has quietly announced, without an accompanying media release, that it “is working to expedite import permit requests for dogs that originate in Ukraine and surrounding countries for persons wishing […]
Chickens were the most numerous casualties of the Beirut explosion
Animals Lebanon & Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals scramble to aid animal survivors BEIRUT, Lebanon––How many chickens lived and died to blow up Beirut? Probably millions, but that toll––like all others pertaining to animals––eludes estimation from the available data about the August 4, 2020 ammonium nitrate explosion that killed at least 158 […]
Will U.K. leaving E.U. mean leaving animal welfare behind?
Part I of a five-part series. See also Part II: Farmed animals & the Brexit “diet plan” and Part III: Farmed animals & money talks. Part IV: What Brexit means for “pet passports” & lab animals. Part V: Back to the Jungle Book: U.K. wildlife law post-Brexit. LONDON, U.K.––Will the June 23, […]