Archive for February, 2017
Breaking news: Guatemala passes omnibus anti-cruelty law, striking blow against wide range of practices
Guatemala, Central America’s biggest and most populous nation with more than 15 million people, has adopted one of the world’s most comprehensive anti-cruelty laws – an omnibus measure that, in addition to its basic anti-cruelty provisions, creates protections for wildlife, companion animals, animals used in . . .
Which path will the USDA choose: Transparency or a cover-up and collusion?
The coalition of groups demanding that the U.S. Department of Agriculture restore inspection reports and violation notices called for under the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act is growing at a rapid pace and strengthening its reach. Last week New York Attorney General . . .
Cockfighters defy the law, and on national television no less
I am used to the nattering and claptrap of people who try to justify or excuse their acts of animal cruelty. They may dress it up as some kind of tradition, a personal right or freedom, a sort of social norm, or even an economic . . .
No time to be a bystander, as animals are threatened by hard-hearted politicians
Traveling home to their districts, members of Congress are hearing from riled-up constituents like never before – and right on the heels of a tremendously contentious election. On Capitol Hill, telephone lines are being overwhelmed repeatedly by the fresh concerns of Americans roused to action. . . .
Congressional effort to allow killing hibernating bears and wolf pups in their dens moves to U.S. Senate
Last week’s vote on H.J. Res. 69 was one of the most disturbing actions by Congress I’ve witnessed during more than a quarter century of political advocacy for animals. By a 225 to 195 vote, a narrow majority of the U.S. House voted to rescind . . .
Stateside shelters help attack mass euthanasia, other animal problems in Puerto Rico
We launched our Humane Puerto Rico program two years ago because animals are in crisis in this long-neglected, populous part of the United States. One fact, among all others, stared us in the face: some shelters in the Commonwealth had a euthanasia rate of 95 . . .
USDA bends to massive national campaign to restore animal care inspection reports
Nobody much likes what the U.S. Department of Agriculture did two weeks ago in purging thousands of inspection reports for the animal facilities and horse shows under its authority, and pledging not to post new reports on a go-forward basis. USA Today panned the action . . .
U.S. House sanctions killing hibernating bears, wolf pups in their dens on federal refuges in Alaska
What the U.S. House of Representatives did today – actually a very narrow majority of the House – was shameful. Cruel. Callous. Venal. The vote in favor of H.J. Resolution 69, authored by Alaska’s Rep. Don Young, was 225 to 193. Those 225 members voted . . .
Urgent alert: Your help needed to stop Congress from sanctioning cruelty to wolves and grizzly bears on refuges in Alaska
Today, The HSUS launched a television advertising campaign to expose a hard-to-stomach and hard-to-comprehend effort in Congress to overturn a federal ban on the most inhumane and unsporting practices seen in the recent history of American wildlife management. This gambit involves the sanctioning, among other . . .
More than 150 Republican and Democratic lawmakers urge president to stop cruelty to horses
Late last week, a bipartisan group of 154 members of the U.S. House of Representatives wrote to President Trump, asking him to give final approval to a U.S. Department of Agriculture rule that got sidetracked during the last days of the Obama administration. The rule . . .
Horse soring crowd conspires with USDA to bury vast trove of inspection reports
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s jarring removal of thousands of Animal Welfare Act and Horse Protection Act inspection reports from its website has caused anger among animal advocates, concern among many in the regulated industries who want to be able to show their clean records, . . .
Time to end the era of aerial gunning of grizzlies, other wildlife
One of the most despicable acts against animals in contemporary times is the aerial gunning of wildlife – chasing down these animals in aircraft and then strafing them with bullets, mainly as a way to wipe out local populations and artificially boost populations of moose . . .
