No Justice for Animals

This past year, the big American agribusiness tried a novel new way to prevent the nation from seeing the truth about its factory farms – four states introduced bills that would’ve made all undercover filming of animals inside them illegal. All four attempts failed. Now, Finland has brought its own Kafkaesque twist to such efforts. In December 2009, Finnish media outlets stunned the nation by publishing disturbing video and photographs from inside 30 pig factory... Read More

2011 Walk for Farm Animals Aims to Raise $1 Million for Abused and Neglected Farm Animals

Source: Farm Sanctuary This fall, thousands of people in more than 35 cities across North America will gather for the 2011 Walk for Farm Animals, a series of fun, community-focused events that promote kindness to animals and raise vital funds to support the lifesaving work of Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization. For more information on the Walk and how to register, please visit walkforfarmanimals.org. Read More  Read More

More polar bear cubs die as Arctic ice melts

Source: Deborah Zabarenko, MNN Polar bear cubs forced to swim long distances with their mothers as their icy Arctic habitat melts appear to have a higher mortality rate than cubs that didn’t have to swim as far, a new study reports. Polar bears hunt, feed and give birth on ice or on land, and are not naturally aquatic creatures. Previous reports have noted individual animals swimming hundreds of miles to reach ice platforms or land, but this is one of the first to show... Read More

Mob Wipes Out Elephants, Tigers & Rhinos

Source: Wynne Parry, LiveScience Some of the world’s most charismatic and beloved species, including rhinos, tigers and elephants, are threatened by organized crime, which thwarts law enforcement to feed the illegal market for wildlife parts, according to a conservationist. Criminals have managed to prey upon wildlife and transport their black-market goods using sophisticated methods, such as hiding them in special compartments in shipping containers, and rapidly changing... Read More

Ivory burned to make point about elephant killings

Source: MSNBC Record prices for ivory are fueling a sharp increase in poachers killing elephants, even those in protected areas, conservation groups warned Wednesday — the same day that Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki burned five tons of confiscated ivory to highlight the problem. “We wish to firmly demonstrate to the world our determination to eliminate all forms of illegal trade in ivory,” Kibaki told the crowd, before lighting the 335 tusks. “Poachers and illegal... Read More

Neglected Dairy Calves Find Haven at California Sanctuaries

Source: Farm Sanctuary Farm Sanctuary, which operates the largest rescue and refuge network for farm animals in North America with shelters on the east and west coast, and Animal Place, which operates two facilities — a 600-acre sanctuary in Grass Valley, CA and a 60-acre farmed animal adoption center in Vacaville — have taken in five sickly calves, discards of the dairy industry. All five calves arrived Friday, July 8th, to Animal Place’s Rescue Ranch facility in Vacaville.... Read More

Endangered Tigers Find a Wild New Home

Source: LiveScience Kazakhstan has announced plans to open its arms to a group of oversized, furry immigrants from neighboring Russia — endangered Amur tigers. A vast land of sprawling steppes (the flat and open land that covers huge swathes of central Asia), Kazakhstan was once home to Caspian tigers, one of the nine tiger subspecies, but the big cats disappeared from the central Asian country — at the time a Soviet republic — in the late 1970s, driven to extinction by... Read More

Farm Sanctuary Celebrates 25 Years of Progress for Farm Animals

Source: Farm Sanctuary This year Farm Sanctuary, the organization responsible for bringing farm animal issues into the mainstream consciousness celebrates its 25th anniversary. As the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, Farm Sanctuary urged passage of the first U.S. laws to protect animals on farms, initiated the first cruelty convictions at stockyards and slaughterhouses, and established the first and largest rescue and refuge network for farm animals in... Read More

Loyal Dog in Japan Reveals Canines’ Social Roots

Source: Jenna Bryner, LiveScience A partially wet and muddied dog, seeming to shiver from both confusion and cold, runs toward a cameraman in the Arahama area of Sendai, Japan, leading him over to an injured fellow canine, lying among the wasteland of debris caused by the earthquake and tsunami that hit on March 11. “I think it’s an important story, because it stresses that not only do dogs bond with humans but they bond to one another as well,” said Marc Bekoff,... Read More

USDA Seeks Comments on Disabled Livestock Petition by Farm Sanctuary

Source: Farm Sanctuary The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is asking for public comments on a Petition for Rulemaking submitted by Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, requesting that regulations be extended, beyond cattle, to prohibit the slaughter of non-ambulatory pigs, goats, sheep and other farm animals. Non-ambulatory livestock, commonly referred to as “downers” or “downed” animals, are animals... Read More