Alerts

Today’s, Wednesday August 28, New York Times includes an article on the deli meat market’s challenges, and a thoughtful write-up on the HBO series “Chimp Crazy.” The latter refers to an edition of New York Magazine that I am sorry to have missed when it came out but was happy to still find on newsstands today, which focuses on our relationships with the nonhumans in our families — whether they are good for them and us. I will share more on that below. Also, today’s Charlotte Observer has a front-page story on a lawsuit filed by Perdue against a whistleblower. Before I discuss those, let me thank all of you who wrote to the New York Times regarding the “What to eat...

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Canadians: The Toronto Star has run a superb column, by Linda McQuaig, on page 13 of the Thursday August 22 paper, titled “Ford helps factory farmers keep secrets.” It is also available on Rabble. Will you take just a moment to jot off a very quick note of thanks to the editor , which says something on behalf of animals? Yours and all animals’, Karen Dawn of DawnWatch

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Angelenos: It’s pretty darn depressing to see, as the headline on the lead Entertainment story, page E1, in the Tuesday August 20 Los Angeles Times, “Chasing a Dream in Rodeo Ring.” The subheading reads, “Grab a seat at the Bill Pickett Invitational as a photographer documents Black Cowboy Culture.” The story, by Adam Davis, opens with: ” As someone who’s spent the better part of a decade living and photographing in Los Angeles, few things felt more exciting than capturing my first rodeo here and the Black riders who personified athleticism, passion and courage. As part of my journey over the past several years to find Black faces and places to document in ways only my ancestors could have dreamt...

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After a short dearth, as everybody focused on the upcoming elections, we have had an explosion of animal news over the last few days! Both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times look, today, at the inequity making it harder for people of lower economic means to keep beloved pets. Today’s New York Times also includes an article about persuading people to eat more beans, as part of its “What to Eat on a Burning Planet,” series, and yesterday the New Times International Edition covered the transformation of a pig farm into a mushroom farm. Numerous Canadian papers have covered fines levied on Marineland related to its treatment of bears. Meanwhile Vox has released an extraordinary series on ending factory...

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Canadians: Numerous papers have covered, yesterday and today, Marineland being fined for “failure to comply” after having been ordered to improve the conditions in which three bears are housed. The Canadian Press version of the story, by Paola Loriggio, was on page 2 of the Friday, August 16 Toronto Sun and is on page 10 of the Aug 17, 2024, Waterloo Region Record. But the Niagara Falls Review, Welland Tribune and St Catherine’s Standard have the story, penned by Alison Langley, on the Saturday August 17 front page! I was truly shocked when I read of the paltry size of the bears’ enclosures, and don’t think there is much question as to whether or not the living conditions constitute cruelty....

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Yes, as numerous folks let me know today (thanks Lew Regenstein, Carole Hamlin and Karen Rubio), Nicholas Kristof has done it again! Before I share his extraordinary column comparing the way human society treats dogs vs pigs, let me thank all of you who responded to the Los Angeles Times article on the dangers of deep sea mining and share the two letters printed in response, one by marine ecologist Dennis Lees who expressed concern about how little we know about the potential impact on the “critters” of the sea, and one by Linda Nicholes who notes that animals flee deep-sea mining areas and that battery minerals are recyclable at a 95% rate so we should “leave our precious oceans alone.”...

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Captain Paul Watson’s arrest and uncertain future are featured in the various August 1 editions of the Guardian. The Los Angeles Times ran an urgent lead story yesterday, July 30, on the fight against deep-sea mining. And numerous papers today, including the Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe, are carrying reports on Turkey’s highly politicized decision to round up stray dogs. Meanwhile in Fort Worth Texas, we read about two beloved Labradors who were shot when they wandered onto church grounds. Before I cover those stories, let me send thanks to all who wrote in response to the recent Boston Globe Magazine story about three cows who were “rescued” and taken care of by a “humane” farmer, and then slaughtered....

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Two rough articles need our attention today. There is an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times calling for hunters to kill more bears, and a New York Times front page story about a cow rescue gone wrong, with the worst of human nature on display on every front. At least during the week the New York Times printed, on Wednesday, the gorgeous op-ed I shared last Sunday, on the pleasures of cuddling with cows, giving you another chance to respond – maybe in light of today’s sorrowful front-page story. And at least before we get to any of that, I get to thank all of you who wrote to the Los Angeles Times in response to the editorial calling for...

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Californians: The state’s capital paper, the Sacramento Bee, today has run an op-ed by PETA’s Rebecca Libauskas , on page 18, titled, “Reef rescue: Reasons to go vegan for ocean.” It could definitely use some appreciative responses, especially from all in Sacramento,  but from others in the state too. The op-ed is available via MSN, and, interestingly, whereas when I read it in the Sacramento Bee I noted it could use letters that discuss what animals go through, the version on MSN includes the following paragraph, which the Sacramento Bee and some other papers have omitted, near the end just before the paragraph on vegan fish products: “Fish experience pain, form friendships and enjoy playing games. Some fish even have...

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Today’s New York Times brings us three important articles, the best of which, in praise of cow cuddles, is as yet only online but is well worth sharing. A Los Angeles Times editorial (the paper’s opinion) shows care and sensitivity to wildlife, and a Miami Herald story details how bad conditions were at the Miami Seaquarium when Lolita/Tokitae died. Before I cover those, let me thank all Canadians who responded to an alert sent out last week about a nauseating op-ed in the Calgary Herald praising the animal welfare improvements at the Calgary Stampede. All who wrote helped Jo-Anne McArthur’s wonderful letter get published yesterday under the heading “Speaking for the Stampede Animals.” Given that paper tells us that three animals...

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