Cruelty by Design
The fur issue is one of the easiest moral questions to settle. The animals are killed only for human adornment, often in particularly horrible ways, and there are functional and fashionable alternatives. If our societal standards against needless cruelty mean anything, they should be applied . . .
Talk Back: Readers Speak Up
Many readers responded to the two comments that were posted to the blog on Friday (see here). Below is a sampling of the remarks we received. If you would like to join the conversation, offer a comment below. These are the types of comments that . . .
A More Vivid Picture
You’ve probably heard the story of the blind man touching the elephant and thinking that the elephant is just the tail or the trunk. In the world of animal protection organizations, The HSUS is the biggest of them all—akin, in some ways, to the elephant . . .
Talk Back: Voices of Dissent
Two responses to the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act and the blog: I think that the people who voted for this bill need to butt out. We do not put bans on the things that you do and how dare you do this to us. . . .
Rebuilding for a New Louisiana
© iStockphoto Yesterday, I blogged on the efforts in the Louisiana legislature to rid the state of cockfighting. The fight in Baton Rouge is far from over, and the outcome is uncertain. But everyone agrees there is more momentum than ever to ban cockfighting. When . . .
Big Wins for Cockfighting and Horse Slaughter Bans
There have been some signature wins in state legislatures this week—particularly on two of the worst forms of animal abuse The HSUS has been campaigning to stamp out through the law. First, on Tuesday, in the Louisiana Senate, lawmakers passed an immediate ban on cockfighting . . .
Mad Pig Industry
The pork industry is bent out of shape about a two-sentence comment on the “possibility” that pigs may harbor a variant of mad cow disease, which appeared in my 16-page, single-spaced written testimony submitted to the House Agriculture Committee. In a section of my testimony . . .
Talk Back: Animal Welfare in Agriculture
Readers are talking about Wayne’s entry on the House Agriculture Subcommittee hearing and the misleading statements made by industry witnesses. Below is a sampling of the remarks we received. If you would like to join the conversation, offer a comment below. I wonder if our . . .
NFL Star at Center of Dogfighting Investigation
He denies any wrongdoing, but the information that has come to light looks awfully incriminating. Michael Vick, one of the most gifted talents in the National Football League and a quarterback with the Atlanta Falcons, is suspected of running a dogfighting operation out of his . . .
Alternatives for Pigs Crammed in Crates
There was a national Associated Press story out last week about some new research from Iowa State University regarding the confinement of breeding pigs in gestation crates. The story opens, “A new study is raising questions about the effectiveness of small, metal crates for pregnant . . .
Long Battle Results in Powerful Law Against Animal Fighting
It’s been a long time coming. Last week, President Bush signed the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act (H.R. 137), putting to a close a six-year battle in Congress to establish felony-level penalties for interstate and foreign commerce in dog fighting, cockfighting and other forms of . . .
House Agriculture Subcommittee Ignores Animal Welfare Reforms
Life is full of little ironies. This Tuesday, I appeared at a Congressional hearing before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry, where several people on a panel with me claimed that The HSUS is not active on animal sheltering issues. I had . . .
