Alerts

It’s been quite a week. Today I will share a quick round-up of news for animals from the US election, as well as superb news, in today’s New York Times, that the Alamogordo chimps are moving to sanctuary, and the frustrating news, on Canadian front pages, that while yet another Beluga has died at Marineland, the fifth in a year, the facility declares it has no water problems. Before I get to those, let me thank all of you who wrote to the Los Angeles Times in response to Carla Hall’s lovely piece suggesting elephants need sanctuary. I was surprised that the paper ran my letter, as its lead letter, on election day, Tuesday November 5, under the heading, “Would...

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This weekend we have incredibly good news likely to affect millions of animals, and shockingly bad news for two animals, which has taken the news media and internet by storm. Starting with the great news — Starbucks is removing its surcharge for nondairy milk. The shocking news involves an internet star named Pnut the squirrel, and his brother Fred the Raccoon, who were taken from their home, a nonprofit horse sanctuary, and put down by New York’s government. I will also share, below, a particularly strong piece from the Los Angeles Times about elephant captivity. — First the great Starbucks news, which didn’t make a whole lot of mainstream media, but which, unsurprisingly, Vox did a particularly good job of...

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Angelenos: With election coverage dominating the news cycle, how wonderful to see two strong animal pieces in today’s, Friday November 1, Los Angeles Times. Carla Hall, from the paper’s editorial desk, writes the piece, “Oakland Zoo is right to rethink keeping elephants” (page A10). It is a touching piece, in which Carla discusses her own meetings with elephants in zoos, the resulting heartbreaks, and calls for their release to sanctuaries. (If you hit a paywall at the link above, try cutting and pasting the URL into a different browser, or rewarding the Los Angeles Times for its stellar job covering animal issues by subscribing — it offers new online subscriptions for $1 for six months.) Then on the front page...

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A Vox online article about “livestock auctions”, which came out today, is not to missed. And it relates to a New York Times front page story on Friday, about a couple of extremely rare horses who were found at a livestock auction. That paper also covered a new bill, in New York, that would let people take their sick leave days to care for ill pets. Plus, coverage of the Maryland bear hunt needs attention. Before I look at those, let thank Pennsylvanian subscribers who responded to an alert I sent them about a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial (the paper’s opinion) bemoaning that “a provision was sneaked into the state budget allowing large-scale, nationally operated rodeo companies to select up to...

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Pennsylvania: Today’s Pittsburgh Post Gazette includes an editorial (the newspaper’s opinion) titled “Rodeos might be fun, but not at the cost of our city’s right to rule itself.” It opens: “In 1992, after an incident at a rodeo in which a bull had to be euthanized, the city of Pittsburgh banned the use of electric prods, spurs and straps used to drive the bull to buck — effectively preventing any rodeo from being held within the city limits. “The ban made Pittsburgh an outlier in the state of Pennsylvania. We are the only municipality with such an embargo on the books. It’s the kind of ordinance a city ought to be able to enact, representing the wishes of the city government...

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Pandas are in the news, as the San Francisco Zoo vies for them and the New York Times releases a distressing report on the industry around them. Meanwhile the Los Angeles Times today has a front-page story on attempts to reopen an offshore oil pipeline that killed at least hundreds of marine mammals and birds, and countless fish in 2015. Before I look at those and other stories below, let me thank all of you who responded to the San Francisco Chronicles report on zoo conditions. The interest shown by readers surely made it easier for an op-ed to get published that slams the zoos attempts to bring in pandas. The paper ran that op-ed this week, penned by Justin...

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We have a lot of front-page animal stories this weekend! The New York Times front page discusses the pampering of pet dogs in Korea, opening the door for letters about any aspect of our relationships with other species. The San Francisco Chronicle front page covers a scathing report released about the San Francisco Zoo. Saturday’s Detroit Free Press (there is no Sunday edition) covers a new documentary on animal rights, “Dogs are people too: A four-legged civil rights movement.” Meanwhile The Hill has covered Big Ag’s interference with cultured meat and animal welfare measures. And the Los Angeles Times has covered, the intentional killing of a sea lion, the death of a beloved bear, the spread of bird flu among dairy...

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While papers have been largely packed, over the last week, with coverage of the upcoming election, today’s lead story, Sunday October 6, page one, above the fold, including a painfully adorable photo of a tiny jaguar cub, is  “Jaguar cub’s journey to sanctuary.” The article, by Brittny Mejia, has the subheading, “One mistreated animal’s story exemplifies the exotic pet trade’s dark underbelly.” It opens: “At less than a month old, unsteady on his small paws, the jaguar cub was already working. “While others born in the Amazon rainforest were still being nursed by their mothers, he was rented out to do a photo op in a Texas hotel room for $1,000 an hour. “People snapped their fingers to get the cub’s...

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Given the mission of DawnWatch is to encourage better coverage of animal issues in the mainstream media, so that people can make informed choices in line with their values, there is little that could delight me more than the headline “Confined Swine,” with a close-up of a sweet pig face taking up most of the front page of The Oklahoman this Sunday, and a four-page spread, mostly on gestation crates, from pages 9-12. The Oklahoman! Meanwhile we had coyotes on the front page of Friday’s Wall Street Journal, and the current edition of Nature has a strong piece on plant-based and cell cultivated meat. Before I share those, let me thank all who wrote to the Los Angeles Times regarding human/bear...

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Californians: The wonderful Los Angeles Times deserves some attention today! The lead front page story, by Lila Seidman, is titled,  “A bear swipes at a woman and a furious wildlife debate ensues.” It is extraordinarily thoughtful, including the information that the woman swiped and injured by Victor the Bear, who was then killed by authorities, “didn’t want her brother bear to hurt.” If you are stopped by a paywall, you’ll find the same article online at the Gazette Extra. The lead California Section story, Page B1, by Melody Gutierrez and Alene Tchekmedyian, is titled, “Action urged to rein in illicit puppy trade.” The online version opens with three bullet points which summarize it: –A Los Angeles Times investigation found a pipeline of puppies from Midwest...

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