Front pages on Korean pets, SF ZOO, Dog Rights + more 10/13/24

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 herds, and the far happier spread of Beyond Chicken into European McDonalds.

Today’s New York Times front-page story, by Choe Sang Hun, is titled, “A Nation of Small Households Treats Its Dogs Just Like Family.” It tells us:

“Not long ago, South Korea often made global headlines — and raised the ire of animal rights groups — for its tradition of breeding dogs for meat. But in recent years, people here have gravitated toward pets, especially dogs.”

I can provide a gift link from DawnWatch .

————————

The San Francisco Chronicle front-page headline reads, “S.F. Zoo ‘unsafe,’ scathing report says.”

Lest anybody doubt the power of the media, we read:

“The commission’s report came in response to a Chronicle article published in April that outlined serious concerns among staff about animal welfare and employee safety at the zoo. According to the report, many of the zoo’s enclosures ‘fail to meet’ animal welfare standards the commission expects…”

If you check out the article I hope you will consider a response that questions holding animals captive for human entertainment.

You may be inspired by some of the local television coverage, including NBC and ABC segments. .

————————

Saturday’s Detroit Free Press front page headline asks, “Should dogs have rights?” Reporter Jamie La Reau discusses the documentary “Dogs are People Too: A Four-Legged Civil Rights Movement.” She writes that it “takes a hard look at some cases in Detroit and metro Detroit in which police officers killed family dogs.” And, “It then examines the important place dogs occupy in society and asks what rights humans should give them. It is sponsored by two animal law groups.”

We learn that the producers, one of whom is vegan, say, “The movie is meant to make people think about animals in a complicated way.”

The front-page story opens the door for letters that call for animal rights!

———————————

John Cleveland’s piece in The Hill, on Friday, opens:

“Alabama’s ban on the sale of cultivated meat goes into effect this month, with violators facing a $500 fine and up to three months in jail. It’s a stunningly anti-free market sop to the in-state meat industry and a likely violation of the Interstate Commerce Act, which prohibits states from unduly burdening the free flow of commerce across state lines.

“Yet, it’s nothing new for big agricultural interests in their ongoing fight against pro-animal products and compassionate welfare reforms. In the battle against so-called “activists,” the anti-animal lobby regularly skirts the law — and the Constitution.”

It, too, begs for responses that speak for animals!

—————-

The report on San Francisco’s Zoo, above, seems in stark contrast to a Los Angeles Times story which ran yesterday, about a different zoo, on page B3, titled,  “Noni, a bear deemed too friendly for wild, dies at North Coast zoo.”  The photo of Noni in her enclosure, 100 feet off the ground in a redwood, at least makes one feel good about the Sequoia Park Zoo habitats, plus the article suggests that the humans who work there are keenly attuned to the animals’ needs and relationships.  Clare Harter writes of Noni and Tule:

“Noni was found orphaned in Shasta County in 2022 and was taken to Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care for rehabilitation, where she instantly bonded with fellow orphaned cub Tule.

“Noni was deemed too friendly with humans to be released safely into the wild, while Tule suffered from a skin condition that stopped him from developing a thick enough coat for survival on his own. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife decided that the pair would be most successful as animal ambassadors for their species at the Sequoia Park Zoo.”

The very idea of zoos is problematic, but some are far better than others and occasionally may even have a true purpose beyond entertainment. If you hit a paywall at the LA Times link above you can check out the same Los Angeles Times story at this Yahoo link

though without the photos.

—–

The same paper, Saturday, October 13, brought us the story,  “Reward is offered in killing of sea lion” by Nathan Solis, on page B2.  We learn:

“A wounded sea lion found at Bolsa Chica State Beach this summer died from a gunshot to its back,” and, “Typically, the Pacific Marine Mammal Center encounters six to 12 marine animals with gunshots a year.” That one is also available on Yahoo for those who hit a paywall at the LA Times.

—-

Friday’s Los Angeles Times, October 11, brought us a lead story, page B1, by Susanne Rust, titled, “Bird flu spreading rapidly among dairy cows.”  The online summary is:

•            93 California dairy herds have tested positive for the H5N1 virus as of Oct. 9.

•            California has roughly 1,100 herds and 1.7 million cows. It accounts for 20% of the milk produced in the country.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has the same story online.

————————-

And Friday’s good news from the Los Angeles Times was titled, “Faux cuisine? France is getting McPlant Nuggets.” The story, by Laurence Darmiento announced:

“McDonald’s is putting Beyond Meat’s plant-based chicken McNuggets on its French menu, marking an expansion of the El Segundo company’s European business.

“The Veggie McPlant Nuggets, made from wheat and pea proteins, will be served at all of McDonald’s 1,560 restaurants in France on a permanent basis, the fast-food company said this week.

That same LA Times story is on the AOL site here.

——————————————

Any of those four stories opens the door for letters to the wonderfully animal friendly Los Angeles Times, so may I ask you to respond to whichever moves you, helping to give animals a voice in one of the world’s most influential newspapers? It will be a few minutes well spent.

As always, I thank Elaine Livesey-Fassel for keeping such a close eye on the LA Times for us.

————

In other mainstream media animal news, shared to the DawnWatch Facebook page over the last week:

— NPR has done a stunning investigation on the “bloodbath” that is the government’s Wildlife Services department.

I hope you will share it widely.

— Madison’s Isthmus has run a report by Bill Lueders, which looks at animal cruelty charges as Ridglan Farms dog breeding and research facility, and an upcoming hearing, on October 23.

— The Los Angeles Times brought us superb news about rat poison:

“California has become the first state in the nation to restrict use of all blood-thinning rat poisons due to their unintended effect on mountain lions, birds of prey and other animals…

“The law text notes that animals ‘are able to subjectively feel and perceive the world around them’ and that the ‘Legislature has an interest in ensuring that human activities are conducted in a manner that minimizes pain, stress, fear and suffering for animals and reflects their intrinsic value.’”

— The Wall Street Journal brought us distressing news under the headline, ‘African Nations Kill Elephants To Feed Hungry.’

— The Guardian announced that cultivated meat could be on sale in Europe within a few years.

— Jefferson Public Radio ran a thoughtful interview with Carol Mithers about her book on the interconnection between dog rescue and social justice, “Rethinking Rescue: Dog Lady and the Story of America’s Forgotten People and Pets.”

— MSN shared that another beluga, the fourth in one year, has died in Canada’s Marineland.

— NPR’s Weekend edition covered “Project Pooch: Oregon program helps incarcerated youth and adoptable dogs alike.”

And finally, the Washington Post shared, online, a sweet story titled, “How farm animals survived Milton: ‘Animals are smarter than us’” which shared the tale of a couple during Hurricane Milton, with a farm full of animals they clearly adore:

“‘We’re not evacuating, and please don’t ask me to,’ Weldon said in a tearful video, which has been viewed 4.2 million times. ‘We’re not leaving them.’”

I thank Susan Costello for making sure we saw that one, and I can share this gift link https://wapo.st/4eY4PUm from DawnWatch.

Enjoy!

Yours and all animals’,
Karen Dawn of DawnWatch