Archive for August, 2016
Mammoth news about elephants and their status
The number of elephants in the African savanna is in drastic decline, their population having dwindled by 30 percent between 2007 and 2014, according to the Great Elephant Census, the first-ever pan-African survey of savanna elephants. The report, released today, was funded by philanthropist (and . . .
California leads again for animals — by banning bullhooks, orca breeding
California Governor Jerry Brown is poised to sign a budget bill this week, and tucked within it is a provision to bar any breeding of captive orcas in California – making the state the first to forbid this practice. SeaWorld supports this new policy, as . . .
Breaking news: HSUS investigation connects New Jersey pet stores to notorious Midwest puppy mills
An HSUS undercover investigation covering every known pet store in New Jersey that sells puppies has revealed that many of these businesses sourced animals from puppy mills with Animal Welfare Act violations. Federal inspectors, in some cases, found bleeding or injured dogs and even dead . . .
A wild name, and an amazing, vast, new marine sanctuary
Today, in an exhilarating lead-up to next week’s gathering of dozens of nations at the World Conservation Congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, President Obama announced his intention to expand the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, which will . . .
USDA may give us a different kind of Celebration
The annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration begins in Shelbyville, Tennessee, today — the high point of a months-long show season of torture and pain for walking horses subjected to the despicable practice of soring. The good news is, this may be the last year . . .
Grizzly bears under the gun in Yellowstone region
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming are aligned on the idea of removing federal Endangered Species Act protections for Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bears, and we could be looking at a federal delisting as early as this . . .
Oprah says ‘yes’ to Meatless Mondays
Arguably, no other animal advocate has the platform, the followers, and the influence of Oprah Winfrey. I was on her widely syndicated talk show years ago to speak on puppy mills and then again about Proposition 2 in California. But this past Sunday, it was . . .
Merci to France for saying ‘non!’ to wildlife traffickers
France has become the first European country to ban the domestic trade in ivory and rhino horn. This lifesaving policy, announced by Environment Minister Ségolène Royal, goes far beyond the European Union’s current wildlife trade regulations and follows a series of progressive steps that Royal . . .
Breaking news: No spearing, says Under Armour—but an underwhelming response on trophy hunting
“Under Armour and the Bowmars broke up today,” Sarah Bowmar declared in a tweet yesterday. “I’ll do a blog post in a few days when I am no longer crying. #AntisWon.” Yes, that’s Sarah Bowmar, who shot a black bear with a crossbow this spring . . .
New York sends lifeline to lab animals
In The Humane Economy, I muse about the life of my dog Lily—a mixed breed whose beagle background yowls most prominently—before a rescue group pulled her from a rural shelter that had her on a euthanasia list. A veterinarian with Lost Dog and Cat Rescue . . .
Preventing all creatures great and small from perishing in Louisiana’s parishes
Right in the middle of the 2016 hurricane season, a slow-moving low-pressure weather system has dumped as much as two feet of rain on numerous Louisiana parishes in just a 48-hour period causing massive flooding, homelessness, and an endless series of crises for people and . . .
Alberta says it will ban spearing as a hunting method as global furor grows over bear killing
Less than 24 hours after the news broke, the government of Alberta has spoken out about the depravity of the sick, self-filming, and unrepentant Josh Bowmar, the Ohio man who killed a bear with a homemade spear at a bait site in this western province . . .
