Violence in Context

Adonia David  Yesterday I received an email with a picture of cats that were force-fed toilet cleaner by Proctor and Gamble – an example of animal testing of the type that goes on every day.  The photo was posted by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), an umbrella entity that many view as a fringe and [...]

Ban on Domestic Horse Slaughter Lifted

 Gillian Lyons Since 2006, horse slaughter has been essentially banned in the United States, due to Congressional refusal to fund USDA inspections of horses at United States Slaughter Houses.  It is sad to say that on November 18th, this ban was silently lifted when Congress passed, and President Obama signed into law, a USDA spending [...]

The Power of Undercover Videos

Ciara Smyth             On Friday, November 18th 2011, McDonald’s and Target announced they were dropping one of their main egg suppliers after videos emerged showing the supplier’s employees engaging in multiple acts of cruelty against its animals.  The undercover videos  shot by the animal activist group Mercy for Animals show various acts of severe cruelty [...]

Recent Texas Court of Appeals Decision: Using Pets as Property to Gain Ground

Jillian Bittner In an opinion delivered by Justice Gabriel on November 3, 2011 inthe case of Medlen v. Strickland, the Second Court of Appeals of Texas, Fort Worth, reversed the trial court’s dismissal of Kathryn and Jeremy Medlen’s suit against Carla Strickland for the death of their dog. In what can only be considered a [...]

Workers Caught Harming Hens

More on the Sparboe mess…: George Buchanan   Sparboe Farms, which runs facilities in Colorado, Iowa, and Minnesota, that supply both Target and McDonalds with eggs, was dropped by the two companies due to animal cruelty. A group called Mercy for Animals filmed “hens crammed in crowded cages, workers burning beaks and one, trying to shove [...]

McDonald’s and Target Drop their Relationship with their Egg-Supplier, Sparboe Farms

Heather Schlemm             Mercy for Animals revealed an undercover video of five egg producing farms in three states that both McDonald’s and Target purchase from. Mercy for Animals had its people hired at Sparboe farms and wired them with hidden cameras from May 23rd to August 1st to document the animal [...]

Animal Abuser Registry Laws: NY is First, but Shouldn’t all States Jump on the Bandwagon?

Ally Bernstein Last month, with a unanimous vote by the Legislature, Albany County became the third county in New York, and the Nation, to require persons convicted of misdemeanor or felony animal cruelty charges to register on the animal abuse registry. According to “Local Law K,” first time offenders will remain on the registry for [...]

Nonnative Snakes Populating South Florida

Josh Loring Earlier this month it was reported that officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission encountered a 16-foot Burmese python in the Everglades (this issue has been previously raised in the Blawg here).  Officials felt compelled to kill the snake so to prevent the further re-producing of the species, as well as preventing [...]

The Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act

Elizabeth Rattner New legislation, titled “The Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act,” has recently been proposed by Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia. The legislation aims at cracking down on the use of exotic animals such as elephants, lions, and tigers in traveling circuses. The bill proposes that these animals cannot be used in the circus if [...]

Animal Welfare Claims on Egg Cartons should be Regulated

Sheila Rodriguez Most Americans care about the welfare of farmed animals. Egg companies know that, and many market their eggs with labels claiming the hens were treated well. What consumers don’t know is that many of the animal welfare claims on egg cartons are meaningless. In my article, The Morally Informed Consumer: Examining Animal Welfare [...]

Britain Set to Consider Required Video Surveillance in Slaughterhouses

Gillian Lyons As fellow blog writer Adonia Davis mentioned in her blog posted earlier today, in 2007 undercover videos shot by the HSUS at California slaughterhouses showed horrific footage of abuses being committed against downed cows.  Partially as a result of these videos, the State of California passed a law requiring that downed animals be [...]

Supreme Court to Rule on Treatment of Downed Animals

Adonia David   The horrors of slaughterhouses were brought home to many Americans in 2007 when undercover video shot by the Humane Society of the United States at a California slaughterhouse showed workers abusing cows who were unable to walk (“downers”) by dragging them with forklifts, using water hoses on them, and shocking them with electric [...]

Pet Store in California Caught Buying from Puppy Mills

Heather Schlemm              Many people decide to purchase animals from pet stores, regardless of the millions of animals killed in shelters annually. When a person purchases a pet from a store, they are not always guaranteed the animal was bred properly. Dogs bred in puppy mills are commonly sold in [...]

Remembering Charlie…

Gillian Lyons *** We here at the Animal Blawg have written many a post on New York City’s horse drawn carriages- evidence here, here, and here.  However, the issue has never been more prevalent than it is currently, due to the unfortunate death of Charlie- one of the city’s carriage horses on October 14th.  According [...]