Alerts

The battle over elephants Billy and Tina, who are being moved from LA Zoo, has been a lead story in the Los Angeles Times and has now been covered by the New York Times, with the focus in that paper on rock star Cher’s involvement. Sunday’s Los Angeles Times’ front page covered a woman killed by a bear in her home, and the repercussions, while the New York Times Sunday Metro section cover featured efforts to save Central Park’s geese from extermination. Those stories and more below. — Angelenos got an alert last week about a lead story in the Los Angeles Times covering legal action aimed at preventing Billy and Tina from being moved to the Tulsa Zoo, as...

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Angelenos: Today’s Los Angeles Times has a lead story, page B1, titled, “L.A. Zoo is Sued Over Elephants’ Fate: They ‘have served their time.’” Here is a link to it on MSN for those who hit a paywall at the Los Angeles Times. The paper will surely publish letters in response, so I urge you to help make sure they speak for animals – not just Tina and Billy but for all held captive in zoos, or elsewhere, for human entertainment. Yours and all animals’, Karen Dawn of DawnWatch

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We have a new pope. On the Mark Thompson show last week, I discussed the loss of a voice for animals we suffered when Pope Francis died. Pope Leo at least seems to wish to follow his lead on environmentalism. I’ll discuss that, plus New York Times coverage of the trade wars, with an important note about animal welfare, plus a disturbing New York Times story about pigeon-napping. Meanwhile the news on the animal testing front gets better and better. Before discussing those stories, let me thank all of you who wrote to the New York Times in response to the sadly slanted coverage of university research funding, which moves me to discuss a challenging media situation: The New York Times...

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We have such extraordinarily good news happening for animals, those of us who have been committed to helping them for some time are pinching ourselves. Some of it, cuts on funding for university animal research, is shared in the New York Times with a ludicrous headline spin. The UK’s Independent has similarly spun coverage. Meanwhile, only the conservative Malaysian paper, The Star, seems willing to focus on yesterday’s wonderful announcement that the new National Institutes of Health head, Jay Bhattacharya, is actively moving away from animal research in favor of human models at the agency. The Washington Post has just released an editorial about the endangered Endangered Species Act, calling for subsidies to help landowners mitigate the cost of environmental regulation....

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Today’s news that Pope Francis has died brings animal advocates sorrow along with an opportunity for letters. Today’s New York Times has a piece, by Sy Montgomery on the horrors of the egg industry, while yesterday’s, Sunday’s, had an unfortunate fluff piece on a teenager who shows pigs. And sadly, today’s Los Angeles has a front-page story that seems intended to rile up hatred against wolves. – Pope Francis, who took his name from Francis of Assisi, known for his patronage of animals and nature, devoted his first encyclical to the environment. He wrote that we must “forcefully reject the notion” of a right to “absolute domination over other creatures” and that the bible has “no place for a tyrannical...

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I was on a forced vacation from DawnWatch last week while my computer was in hospital. What a joy to be back on track just in time for Nicholas Kristof’s latest New York Times offering on the horrors of animal slaughter! That paper also has two fiction book reviews likely to be of interest to animal rights folks. Today’s Los Angeles brings us the opportunity to connect animal cruelty with attacks on humans. The Boston Globe shares the wonderful news that the FDA plans to phase-out animal testing. That follows fast on the heels of news breaking last week that the EPA director intends to reinstate the previous Trump administration’s phase-out of animal testing. And NPR’s Weekend Edition today has a...

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Sunday’s Los Angeles Times ran a frontpage article announcing good news of dairy closures in an environmentally sensitive area of California, but with an unfortunate headline slant. That paper also announced the likely cancellation of the salmon fishing system due to low salmon numbers, and the finally successful two-year search for a beloved dog. Sunday’s Dallas Morning News front page celebrated hunting. The UK’s Sunday Express ran a strong piece against factory farming. Online today we have a beautiful coverage from the New York Times of animal friendly memoirs, a stunning Washington Post piece by Jane Goodall and Marc Bekoff against experimenting on dogs, and a disappointing piece in the Atlantic on the US public’s passionate return to meat. And...

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Texans, Today’s, Sunday March 23, Dallas Morning News has a sorrowful and shocking photo on the front page, above the fold, of a beautiful scimitar-horned onyx who was shot, being dragged away, and the headline, “Big Game and Big Revenue: Inside how exotic hunting helps support conservation in Texas.” One of the subheadings of the article is “Hunters as the ultimate conservationists.” It includes a description of “a good shot” where the animal ran off and collapsed about 600 yards from where he was shot.  We all know that others are not so “lucky.” The whole thing is heartbreaking. I urge you to respond, remembering that legislators look to letters pages as barometers of public opinion. Please also remember that...

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I’m traveling, but had to make sure that everybody saw the front page, above the fold, announcement in the New York Times that Mexico City has swapped its bloody bullfights for a bloodless version. I can provide a gift link to that story compliments of Teresa D’Amico. Here’s the Associated Press coverage. The Boston Globe has that on page A3, under the headline, “Mex­ico City bans viol­ent bull­fight­ing, spark­ing cel­eb­ra­tion — and out­rage.” Massachusetts activists should respond to that at letter@globe.com We are always most likely to be published in our city’s paper, though the New York Times prides itself on being read all over the world and is happy to publish letters accordingly. —– Meanwhile a Los Angeles Times...

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The weekend brought us a fascinating front-page New York Times story on the politics behind bans on cell-cultivated, or slaughter-free, meat, plus a slew of articles in the Los Angeles Times celebrating nature including a front-page love letter to sharks, an article on the reintroduction of bighorn sheep to Texas, coverage of the public’s dismay at the death of an eagle chick, and the celebration of a Filipino vegan bakery. And today’s Los Angeles Times covers a recently released condor who has died from lead poisoning. Meanwhile London’s Times has announced that thanks to Sir Paul McCartney and PETA, Peet’s coffee is dropping its plant-milk surcharge. Those and more below. First let me thank all of you who wrote to the...

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