Alerts

I open this weekly alert on a personal note. Those of you who have been on the DawnWatch list for some time know that I lived on the bluff in Pacific Palisades for two decades, from 1999-2020. I then moved to Santa Barbara, where my brother, Josh Garret, and the DawnWatch office remain, and then to Austin where I have been physically safe over the last week.   Last summer I spent a few days on that beautiful Palisades bluff at my best friend’s house, enjoying sunsets with beloved neighbors, as I had done for twenty years. And last Tuesday, my ex-partner, Jim, and I, sat on the phone together in front of our TVs watching a horror show, as...

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Happy New Year!   Those who have read the DawnWatch End-of-Year Roundup know I cited avian flu as the number one animal story of last year. We have it back on the front page of the Los Angeles Times, the first weekend of 2025. We see heartbreaking, prominently displayed news in the Washington Post about the orca Tahlequah’s newly diseased calf. On a happier note, the Washington Post has also just released a piece about the “surprisingly pro-animal” line-up of incoming President Trump’s cabinet! The New York Times Magazine this week shares a gruesome tale of a fatal mountain lion attack on a hunter. The San Diego Union Tribune ran a pair of op-eds debating the rodeo. And today’s Canadian papers...

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At the end of year I like to take stock, to sort through the animal news I’ve covered over the year, and share the highlights for us all to enjoy, perhaps over a glass of something bubbly, with furry friends at our feet or on our laps. This New Year’s Even I bring you a Top 12 for 2024: 1) AVIAN FLU Avian Flu, H5N1, has undoubtedly been the number one animal story of 2024, in terms of the number of articles and op-eds, their prominence, and what they say about our relationships with other species. We started the year, January 1, with a front-page warning from the Mercury in Northern California: “Bird flu infects Northern California’s historic poultry region, putting...

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Today I share a shocking New York Times report on government conservation spending that goes to a program that raises pheasants for people to shoot. At least I get to balance that with a heartwarming Los Angeles Times story about a marine base that doubles as a tortoise rescue center, all the more buoying thanks to its front-page, above-the-fold, lead story placement in yesterday’s paper. And Saturday’s Toronto Star had a sensitive lead piece about the five animals who died this year at the city’s zoo. Before I share those, let me thank every one of you who has written to the Los Angeles Times with regard to its coverage of the spread of Avian flu, while I share a perfect...

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Angelenos: Canine blood banks, where dogs spend their lives in cages so that other dogs, lucky enough to be loved, can have access to their blood when needed, were supposed to be a thing of the past in California. This front-page story in today’s, Monday December 23, Los Angeles Times, explains how a loophole has meant that almost all canine blood in the state still comes from them. Here’s an AOL link in case you hit a paywall at the Los Angeles Times (though please know there are fabulous subscription deals and we are lucky to have a paper worth supporting). I hope you’ll be inspired (or incensed) to respond.  Those dogs need our voices. As always, I thank Elaine...

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The current edition of the renowned New York Review of Books has Professor Marth Nussbaum discussing slaughterhouses as she reviews three relevant books. The same publication covers the latest novel from Richard Powers, which has fish sentience as a theme. UK Media this weekend, including the Times, covers Chris Packham’s decision to leave the RSPCA over troubling video from some slaughterhouses that the organization had labeled humane. And the Los Angeles Times’ strong bird flu coverage has included a chilling op-ed that needs our voices. And Paul Watson is free! Before I discuss those stories, let me thank all of you who have written to the Los Angeles Times about its superb coverage of the animal shelter crisis. This week Angeleno’s...

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Angelenos: The wonderful Los Angeles Times has an editorial (the paper’s official opinion) today, Wednesday December 18, page A10, titled, “Let’s Stop Killing Animals in Shelters and Get More Adopted.” I can share this Yahoo link for those who hit a paywall at the LA Times website. It opens: “Life in an animal shelter for dogs and cats and other creatures that have the misfortune to end up there is never great. They can languish for months, waiting to be adopted out to what animal advocates hope will be a ‘forever home.’ Or worse, they can end up killed — or as shelter officials prefer to call it, ‘euthanized.'” On the Mark Thompson Show this week, we discussed Scrim, a...

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Today’s, Sunday, December 15, New York Times has a long and depressing essay telling us we should accept factory farming. The Los Angeles Times has an article about a humpback whale, entangled in rope, who rescuers have tried but failed to free. At least we have good vegan-friendly news from the BBC cooking show, Saturday Kitchen, and more good news from San Antonio, which is now the most recent city to ban horse-drawn carriages, though with a five-year phase in period for the ban. I share that San Antonio news with thanks to all those in Texas, or passionate about horse-drawn carriage issues, who wrote to the San Antonio Express-News in support of the ban. I was pleased to have...

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Avian flu is currently the number one animal story, as it spreads across species, threatening their health and ours, and is behind gruesome mass culls via ventilation shutdown plus heat. It was on the Los Angeles Times front page yesterday, with a follow up story today noting its appearance in a second California child. And Time Magazine has just released a superb essay on it coauthored by Our Honor’s Crystal Heath and Farm Sanctuary’s Gene Baur. A New York Times op-ed on the topic, which I will share, has covered some of the same ground but with no discussion of our unconscionable treatment of animals. Before I share those, let me share responses to the superb Los Angeles Times coverage...

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Hello fellow Texans: With a vote coming on a ban on horse-drawn carriages in San Antonio, Saturday’s (Dec 7) News-Express ran an op-ed by Jeff Quinn, “a former River Walk boat captain, trainer and the 2016 Certified Tourism Ambassador of the Year for San Antonio,” titled, “Carriages hurt no horses, delight visitors and residents.” Here’s how it opens: “I anticipate a lively discussion Thursday when the issue of eliminating horse-drawn carriages from downtown again comes before the San Antonio City Council. “I’m an avid proponent of deferring this matter indefinitely until there are better reasons for banning horse-drawn carriages. The carriage rides are an integral part of San Antonio tourism, as much as the boats on the San Antonio River,...

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