Uncategorized /
Creating a Safer World for Cats and Wildlife
There’s a lot of attention to the age-old conflict between cats and birds this week, with the release of a new study of cat predation on native wildlife species. The limited study tracked only a few dozen cats (less than one feline subject for every million pet cats in the U.S.) but found that a majority of kitties in the group did not stalk, chase, or kill any songbirds or other wild animals while they were roaming outdoors.
Ballot Measures, Elections /
Tuesday's Primary Results Fare Well for Animals
A number of states held primary elections yesterday, including competitive open seats and incumbent-versus-incumbent races, and there were several important outcomes for animal protection advocates. Here is a wrap-up of some of the noteworthy election results:
Uncategorized /
New Public Health Concerns Emerge as Horse Slaughter Once Again Rears Its Head
Boosters of horse slaughter have been venue shopping—from Missouri to New Mexico—in their bizarre attempt to re-open equine abattoirs on American soil. When horse slaughter plants previously operated in the U.S. they were typically a blight on their communities, causing housing prices in nearby areas to decline and local economies to suffer. So far, no community in the nation wants to be known as the one that is killing Mr. Ed
Animals in Research /
Senate Panel Passes Bill to Save Chimps, Tax Dollars
The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works this morning gave its approval to S. 810, the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act, marking a major step forward for the legislation to end invasive experiments on chimpanzees and to retire federally-owned chimps to sanctuaries.
Uncategorized /
Phony Front Groups are the Only Chickens in Hen Debate
It’s not uncommon for Washington lobbying groups to set up phony organizations that sound like they are advocating in the public interest, rather than for corporate special interests.
Uncategorized /
U.S. Senate Passes Animal Fighting Amendment
The U.S. Senate tonight voted in favor of an amendment to the Farm Bill, introduced by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., to make it a federal crime to attend a dogfight or cockfight, and a felony to bring a child to an animal fight. The vote was an overwhelming 88 to 11.
Uncategorized /
Preliminary Victories and Setbacks on Federal Animal Welfare Issues
During the last 24 hours on Capitol Hill, there have been some major debates on animal protection—with some preliminary victories and setbacks. Here’s my report from Washington:
Uncategorized /
Lawmakers Speak Out on Animal Protection
The Hill newspaper today published its annual special edition on animal welfare, which demonstrates again the importance of animal issues to lawmakers and their constituents. This special edition provides a great overview of important animal welfare policies now being debated in the U.S.
Uncategorized /
Momentum Builds for Hen Welfare Legislation
I wrote a round-up in March of some of the nation’s largest newspapers that have published editorials endorsi
Elections /
Wag the Dog: Canine Issues the Presidential Candidates Should be Talking About
The presidential campaign is in full swing, and animal lovers have surely noticed there is more talk about dogs than in previous elections: Mitt Romney’s family vacation in the 1980s in which Seamus, the Irish setter, became sick during a 12-hour trip on the roof of a station wagon; and Barack Obama’s writing that, as a child, living with his stepfather in Indonesia, he once ate
Uncategorized /
Pork Industry Needs to Clean Up Its Act
[Please note: Includes graphic descriptions of animal abuse.]
If you follow the issue of farm animal welfare closely, you are probably aware of the “flat-earth” types out there in Big Ag beyond the fringes of reality. If you point out to them the cruelty of certain factory farming practices, like the lifetime of misery spent by breeding pigs in tiny crates, the flat-earthers are ready with knee-jerk denials. If you show them video proof of animals being mistreated, they brush off the pictures as somehow “edited” and that, really, there is nothing wrong.
Uncategorized /
Maryland Court Unleashes Canine Profiling
Dog lovers across the country are barking mad over last week’s Maryland Court of Appeals decision declaring that all pit bull-type dogs are “inherently dangerous.” The misguided and overreaching ruling treats all pit bulls and pit bull mixes as a category, rather than individual animals.
