Most of the Chinese dog meat traffic is already illegal, lawyers contend

July 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:

Beijing–Most of the Chinese traffic in dogs for human
consumption is already illegal, and therefore should be stopped
immediately, without awaiting passage of a national humane law,
attorneys Lu Xun, An Xiang, and Cai Chunhang told a two-hour press
conference convened in Beijing on June 15, 2011 by the Shangshan
Animal Foundation.
The lawyers joined China Veterinary Association Pet Clinic
Branch vice president Liu Lang to discuss the implications for rabies
control resulting from investigation of an incident on April 14,
2011, when Beijing activists intercepted and eventually rescued
approximately 500 dogs from a truck transporting them from Henan
province to dog meat restaurants in Jilin province.

Sketchy Government Accounting Office report tends to favor horse slaughter

July 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:

WASHINGTON D.C.–The title of Horse Welfare: Action Needed
to Address Unintended Consequences from Cessation of Domestic
Slaughter hints at the conclusions and recommendations that the
Government Accountability Office report offered to Congress on June
23, 2011.
But the GAO report includes numerous acknowledgements of a
lack of data supporting the conclusions and recommendations. Failing
to discover and use data collected by the humane community about
trends in horse neglect and abandonment, including data collected by
ANIMAL PEOPLE and Pet-Abuse.com which is readily available online,
the GAO authors relied heavily on unsubstantiated anecdotal claims by
sources within the horse and livestock industries, including 17
state veterinarians whose duties are primarily to facilitate horse
and livestock commerce.

Australia halts “six month” suspension of live cattle exports to Indonesia after 30 days

July 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
CANBERRA–Australian agriculture minister
Joe Ludwig on July 7, 2011 lifted a 38-day
suspension of live cattle exports to 11 specific
Indonesian slaughterhouses and a 30-day
suspension of live cattle exports to anywhere in
Indonesia without visibly and demonstrably
accomplishing anything to improve animal welfare.
Ludwig on June 8, 2011 announced a
six-month suspension of livestock exports to
Indonesia, and a review of live exports to all
overseas buyers, including those in the Middle
East. Ludwig had suspended exports to the 11
specific slaughterhouses on June 1, 2011, hours
after the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
program Four Corners aired video documentation of
alleged halal slaughtering procedures in Jakarta,
Bogor, Bandar Lampung, and Medan which “crossed
the boundaries of ignorance and cultural
difference into the realm of sadistic brutality,”
assessed Penelope Debelle of the Adelaide Advertiser.

VictoryLand greyhound track closes

June 11, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2011:

SHORTER, Alabama–Greyhound racing ended at VictoryLand in
Shorter, Alabama on May 30, 2011, 27 years after the track opened
in September 1984.
Then called the Macon County Greyhound Park, the track at
peak employed 2,000 people. Only 200 people worked there when
spokesperson Bill Cunningham announced the end of daily racing on May
10, 2011. Five more racing days were held to fulfill contractual
agreements. The track was reportedly six months in arrears on
property taxes. “The only viable way to keep the live greyhound
racing was to have electronic bingo,” Cunningham said.

Gojira is now Brigitte Bardot

June 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2011:
LA CIOTAT, France–The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
fast interceptor and scout vessel that pursued Japanese whalers in
the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in 2010-2011 as the Gojira,
Japanese for “Godzilla,” was on May 25, 2011 renamed in honor of
French actress-turned-activist Brigitte Bardot. The owners of the
Gojira and Godzilla film monster trademarks had objected to further
Sea Shepherd use of the names. Launched as the Cable & Wireless
Adventurer, the vessel now called the Brigitte Bardot in 1998 set a
record for powered craft by circling the world in 74 days.

Activists & Organizations

Pennsylvania SPCA closes two more shelters, renegotiates Philadelphia contract

June 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2011:
PHILADELPHIA–Downsizing for the fourth time in four years,
the Pennsylvania SPCA on April 30, 2011 closed its Wellsville
shelter and transferred the Montrose shelter in Susquehanna County to
a new organization which will operate the shelter as True Friend’s
Animal Welfare Center.
The Pennsylvania SPCA in January 2008 closed its former
shelter in Clarion County, and closed its Monroe County shelter in
Stroudsburg at the end of January 2009. Managing six branch shelters
at the close of 2007, the Pennsylvania SPCA now has only two branch
shelters, in Danville and Centre Hall.

Dogs Deserve better lands ex-Vick property

June 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2011:
Tipton, Pennsylvania–The anti-dog chaining organization Dogs
Deserve Better on May 27, 2011 closed a deal to buy the site of
football player and convicted dogfighter Michael Vick’s Bad Newz
Kennels, on Moonlight Road in rural Surrey County, Virginia.
The property is to become the new Dogs Deserve Better head
office and rescue center, called the Good Newz Rehab Center for
Chained & Penned Dogs.

Verdicts split in recent cases with implications for animal shelter liability

June 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2011:
SACRAMENTO, SALT LAKE CITY, ST. LOUIS–Three court cases
with implications for animal shelters and adoption agencies that hold
and rehome dogs who subsequently attack a person recently split with
one verdict for the defendant, two for the plaintiffs.
In the one case actually involving an animal shelter, the
Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District on April 26, 2011 upheld
a previous circuit court ruling that the Humane Society of Missouri
should not share liability with adopter Linda D. Rich of St. Louis
for a dog attack that occurred more than a year after Rich adopted
the dog.

Texas fatal dog attacks bring proposed life sentence & new breed-specific injury data

June 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2011:

AUSTIN, SAN ANTONIO–The Texas House of Representatives on
May 4, 2011 approved by a vote of 123 to 7 a bill which could send
the keepers of a dog who kills a child or a senior citizen to prison
for life.
Assigned to the Texas Senate criminal justice committee on
May 5, the bill appeared to be unlikely to advance before the May 30
close of the Texas legislative session, but appeared to have public
as well as political favor, and–if stalled–is likely to be
reintroduced in the next session.

« 1 … 8 9 10 11 12 … 648 »