Skip to content

Archive for

Fur is Back?

In this morning’s Guardian Unlimited (UK), we learn that fur is back in vogue in the US and Italy, but some are trying to ban it from catwalks, where recently Jean Paul Gaultier’s couture show included a fur coat “replete…

Read more

Be Worried if Your Kid is Psyched for Dissection

Recently, a friend said of his seven-year old, Joey, “He’s gonna be a scientist. He’s so excited to start dissecting stuff. I can’t wait to get him his own dissection kit.” And this is a super-bright, 40-something guy. I did…

Read more

Central Park Carriage Horse Dies

In For Central Park Carriage Horse, Death Arrives Inelegantly in this morning’s New York Times, Corey Kilgannon reports that Juliet the carriage horse, who took tourists around Central Park for twenty years, died at 5 am and her owner, Antonio…

Read more

The No-Kill Shelter Debate

I had lunch with a philanthropist-friend of mine yesterday who wants to get more involved with helping animals. Music to my ears! He was particularly enraged by Palm Beach County’s recent killing of over 500 dogs, some of whom had…

Read more

Fish Kills Spear-fisher

In what can only be called an act of self-defense, and that’s if the events as portrayed in “Fish kills spear-fishing diver off Florida” (Miami, Reuters, 09/14/06) are accurate, a Florida diver was killed by a large grouper. Let’s deconstruct:…

Read more

MEAT MARKET by Erik Marcus

If you’re feeling like you know enough about agribusiness and you do enough as an activist, read MEAT MARKET: Animals, Ethics, & Money (Brio 2005), by Erik Marcus for a reality check. What Marcus does that is most impressive (and…

Read more

Mass Killing of Dogs in Palm Beach County

In yesterday’s Palm Beach Post, Stacey Singer reports that hundreds of dogs were killed and incinerated due to dog flu (and lack of space). Here’s the situation, according to Singer in “A time to kill? Shelter insists it had no…

Read more

A Viable Alternative to Violence

In “Feinstein pushes tought penalties for animal rights violence” in Saturday’s San Francisco Chronicle, Edward Epstein writes of a bill that: would toughen federal criminal penalties for causing physical harm to people or making threats to researchers or their families….

Read more

Greyhound Knocks Woman Unconscious

I was walking Violet and Charles this morning, and we were on a walking path that’s like a corridor, where there’s nowhere for them to escape. I unhooked their leashes so they could run at full speed for a couple…

Read more

UPDATE: Auctioned Horses

Remember the post about James Robbins, who was prosecuted and sentenced to 240 days in jail for his abuse of his four horses? And remember how I wrote to the reporter of the article that started my mini-crusade, asking him…

Read more

The Nuances of the Horse Slaughter Debate

In “House votes to ban horse slaughter” (AP, 09/07/06), Libby Quaid reports that horses will no longer be slaughtered in the US for human consumption abroad. DISCLOSURE: I wrote to my representative, Clay Shaw, and urged him to support HR…

Read more

Another Merger for the Humane Society

In this morning’s Washington Post, Judy Sarasohn reports of the latest merger of The Humane Society of the United States (“Merger Adds to Humane Society’s Bite “), which is based in DC. The HSUS had already merged last year with…

Read more

NYT Op-ed “Appreciates” Steve Irwin

In the Opinion piece, Appreciations: “Crikey”, in The New York Times this morning (09/06/06), Lawrence Downes appreciates Steve Irwin’s work. Now, I’ve received calls and e-mails calling my post harsh, so let’s get one thing clear: A woman lost her…

Read more

The Truth About The Catskill Game Farm

When I read “Catskill Game Farm to Close” by Marco Leavitt (The Business Review, 08/04/06), I knew I had to write about it, but I also knew I needed to do some research. I was so appalled by what I…

Read more

Crocodile Hunter Killed By Stingray

Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin was killed today, as reported by the Associated Press (CAIRNS, Australia, 09/04/06). He was filming a segment on the “Ocean’s Deadliest,” and a stingray’s poisonous barb pierced his chest, then his heart. Watching The Crocodile Hunter…

Read more