Pete Seeger, R.I.P.

David Cassuto

There’s not much that can be said that hasn’t been said by many more eloquent than I.  But a few years ago, I wrote this: https://animalblawg.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/pete-seeger-hope-animals/.  And I’m glad I did.

Obscure and Acute Laws

Seth Victor

We cover a lot of important and weighty issues on the Blawg, so today I want to share with you this list I found on NorthJersey.com listing some interesting (outdated?) laws involving animals. Admittedly, I have not researched the history of these gems, but I am certainly intrigued as to why they needed to be set down:

1. In Alaska it is against the law to push a live moose out of an airplane mid-flight.

2. In Arizona, you aren’t allowed to let your donkey sleep in the bathtub.

3. In California, animals can’t mate within 500 yards of a church or school.

4. In Colorado it is illegal to drink and ride a horse.

5. In Connecticut dogs with tattoos must be reported to the authorities.

6. In Georgia, people cannot give away goldfish at bingo contests (because it is a crime to stomp a goldfish).

7. In Idaho, there is to be no fishing while riding a camel.

8. In Iowa there is to be no eating of the fire hydrants.

9. Maryland movie theaters do not allow people to bring lions.

10. It is against the law to hunt whales in Nebraska.

White tigers: Tragic–not magic

Kathleen Stachowski   Other Nations

Kenny died in 2008. If you didn’t mark his passing (you probably didn’t even know about it), don’t feel bad. Kenny, you see, was not the beautiful white tiger on posters for glitzy magic acts. He wasn’t the star attraction drawing crowds of admirers to the zoo. As the product of unscrupulous white tiger breeding, Kenny’s life and death ran under the radar. It was only through the compassion of a wildlife refuge in Arkansas that he was able to live out his life in comfort and even found a modicum of fame (video)–one of the luckiest of the unlucky. He died at 10 years of age from cancer (source).  

Deer-feeding video draws praise, criticism

Biologists ask: Please don’t feed the deer – click image

Kathleen Stachowski   Other Nations

A man emerges onto his deck in a rural Colorado neighborhood. He whistles and calls, “Who’s hungry? Come on, who’s hungry? Single file!” Like a pack of trained dogs–Pavlov comes to mind–some 20 deer come running for the chow about to be dispensed. Watch it for yourself on Wimp.com (“Meet Mr. Snow White“).

I discovered this video on The Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights Facebook page (scroll down to one of the January 7, 2014 entries), and while, as a vegan, I largely subscribe to the abolitionist approach, I seem to inhabit a different universe where spectacles like the deer-feeding follies are concerned. I was dismayed.