Uncategorized /
Hunting Industry Group Sets its Sights on Pets
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance takes aim at animals when they’re most vulnerable. Polar bears in the Arctic, as their ice floes are vanishing, body weights are declining, and populations are dwindling. Mourning doves in states where they’ve been protected for decades as backyard songbirds, still nursing their young during September target practice. Endangered antelope stocked in fenced pens for captive trophy hunts, where they have neither the opportunity nor the inclination to escape.
Uncategorized /
Play Misty for Me
The nationally syndicated comic strip MUTTS is read in more than 700 newspapers, and fans know that artist Patrick McDonnell turns his attention not only to humor, but also to the cruelties and challenges that face animals. He regularly features the stories of animals in shelters, and his new hardcover book, “Shelter Stories: Love. Guaranteed.,” celebrates these pets and the people who’ve rescued them.
Ballot Measures /
A Perfect Storm for Farm Animals
It’s been an exciting week for farm animal protection in America. On Sunday, more than one thousand animal advocates in 43 states gathered at our Party Animals events around the country to rally for laws to protect animals from the worst abuses of industrial factory farming.
Uncategorized /
State Lawmakers Horsing Around
When legislators want to duck an issue, they often say it’s outside their jurisdiction. Federal lawmakers tell you to deal with the states, and their state counterparts tell you to deal with the feds.
Uncategorized /
Companions in Creation
Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to the U.S. as pontiff was historic for many reasons, but for animal advocates it was especially noteworthy because of the pope’s long history of advocating for kindness and mercy toward animals. As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 2002, for example, he criticized some of the worst abuses of factory farming, including battery cages and foie gras:
Uncategorized /
Protecting Our Closest Living Relatives
Christine Kenneally recently penned a thought-provoking "Washington Post" column about how alike people and animals are in so many ways. Chimpanzees are perhaps the most striking example, as our closest living relatives understand and construct sentences and favor different tools for hammering and fishing. As Kenneally wrote, “chimpanzees make sense of the world in many of the same ways we do. The implication is indisputable: Humans are not unique.”
Elections /
Paoli and Penn Hills with Pigeon Shoots in Between
I’ve written before about the presidential candidates trotting out their hunting bona fides to strut their stuff in rural primary states.
Ballot Measures /
The Golden State's Golden Opportunity
Last week, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen certified the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act for November’s general election, setting the stage for this year’s biggest ballot box battle on animal protection. Thanks to 4,000 California volunteers who gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures, voters in the Golden State will have the opportunity to stop cruel and inhumane treatment of animals on industrial factory farms.
Talk Back /
You Asked
Today I’d like to respond to some questions and comments that readers have sent me.
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In response to Oprah’s show on puppy mills:
Just watched the program on Oprah about puppy mills and I was horrified. How can this be allowed to go on? I thought that there were laws against cruelty to animals. —Denise R.
Uncategorized /
Protection Orders Help All Family Members
Last week on Long Island, the law stood up for a duck named Circles. As far as I know, it was a first time that waterfowl rated such attention at the courthouse.
We can be delighted for the duck. And we can be thankful for our own sake. Increasingly, our society recognizes that cruelty extracts a terrible toll not just on the likes of Circles and other creatures, but on us humans too.
Uncategorized /
Lawmakers Can Lead by Example on Responsible Pet Care
Politicians have the blessing and the curse of being in public life, and every move they make is closely scrutinized. We have learned an awful lot about Hillary Clinton’s tax returns, Barack Obama’s pastor, and John McCain’s temper—even though for ordinary citizens those would be considered private matters.
It means that lawmakers and candidates have to worry about their personal behavior as much as they worry about their votes and policies. They not only have to obey the laws, but also have to exhibit good judgment and set a positive example for others.
