London Times on shellfish cruelty, NY Times on fur stigma wane, egg prices +more 2-17-25

I am glad I fell asleep while trying to get yesterday’s weekly round-up out, because there is so much happening in animal news today (Monday February 17)!

The New York Times has the price of eggs on the front page, while yesterday’s, Sunday NY Times, looked at an apparent weakening in the stigma around fur. Today’s London Times has a surprisingly strong editorial complimenting an article on Waitrose’s choice to stun prawns before cooking them. CBS Sunday Morning aired a tender tour of Black Beauty Ranch with Kitty Block, CEO of what was HSUS, but which has now been rebranded to Humane World for Animals. That and more below.

First let me thank all of you who responded to last Monday’s Los Angeles Times front-page story on regulations on the crabbing industry to protect whales. The paper published two letters, one from the Center for Biological Diversity discussing the ways we can protect whales and then, the following day, a welcome follow-up from PETA discussing the need to protect crabs! I’ve displayed both on X to inspire you! Please know that when you write about animals to your paper but you are not published, your contribution is still of great value, because receiving numerous letters on a topic (individual original letters) lets a paper knows that the topic matters to readers, making it more likely that at least one letter will be printed.

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Though the online title, “What Happened to the Stigma of Wearing Fur?” gives us pause, Sunday’s Style section print title clarifies the issue: “Wearing It Proudly, and Pre-Owned.”

The article opens:

“A few weeks before the Manhattan Vintage Show opened this month, its owner, Amy Abrams, was predicting a ‘fur-a-palooza,’ with vendors fielding an uptick in demand for fur. ‘It’s happening now,’ she said.”

We read:

“After decades of coordinated campaigning, involving protests and even personal attacks outside stores and fashion shows, at workplaces and people’s homes, the anti-fur movement, led by organizations like PETA, seemed to have finally shifted the tides in their favor. Many brands, and customers, decided being fur-free was a better look.”

We are told there is an increasingly common exception for vintage fur. And we read:

“Animal rights groups see vintage fur as a dangerous trend. ‘If someone sees a person wearing used fur and they don’t know it’s used, they could very well go buy new fur,’ said PJ Smith, the director of fashion policy for the Humane Society of the United States.”

(Actually, PJ is now with Humane World for Animals — See below.)

Those of you who have read “Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the way we Treat Animals” may recall I also made that point, in the section, “Do nice girls fake it?”

Here’s a gift link to from DawnWatch to the article.

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Today’s New York Times front page story on the price of eggs, “With the Cost of Eggs Soaring, Breakfast Diners Feel the Pinch” includes this welcome paragraph:

“Broken Yolk Cafe has tried to hold menu prices firm, even as the price of its primary ingredient soared. Instead, it tried to cut other costs, such as reducing credit card fees and working with suppliers to reduce the cost of restaurant supplies. It has also tried promotions of non-egg dishes, like a vegan burrito, but, Mr. Powers said, the chain has little choice but to increase prices for menu items made with eggs.”

Here’s a gift link to the full article.

If you are inclined to lend animals your voice by responding to either article with suggestions for better choices than either fur or eggs here’s the info you’ll need.

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The Los Angeles Times’ most recent coverage of the egg crisis was in Saturday’s paper, titled, “California sits at the center of the country’s egg crisis.” Here’s a Yahoo link to the same story.

It tells us:

“The primary factor behind the jump in egg prices is an avian flu epidemic, which has led to the deaths of more than 21 million chickens, including 13 million in December alone.”

I bet you can come up with some animal friendly answers to one of the article’s subheadings , “Is there anything I can do to save money?”

If you would like to weigh in on behalf of animals, the paper takes letters here.

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NPR covered egg prices over the weekend on “It’s Been A Minute” with host Brittany Luse noting,  “But over 20 million egg-laying chickens have gone up to that golden coop in the sky in the last five months alone.”

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Today’s, Monday February 17,  London Times includes a story that brings us good news, while informing us of some of the worst humans do. The headline, “Waitrose to stun prawns as ‘atrocious’ deaths revealed,” carries the shocking subheading, “Rivals have been urged to follow suit and improve conditions amid outcry over farming practices including ‘eyestalk ablation’.”

The article spells that out:

‘Rival retailers have been urged to follow suit and publicly commit to banning farming techniques that can include cutting off the eyes of female prawns to try to accelerate the production of young.”

The very good news is the response from the Times, a conservative paper that traditionally has little to say about animal welfare. The paper has run an editorial (page 8), the paper’s view, touted as a “leading article,” under the heading, “The Times view on the ethics of eating seafood: Prawn Protection” with the subheading, “A concern for the welfare of shellfish is good retailing practice.”

It opens:

“Shellfish are a crucial element in the food chain linking marine life, including seabirds, and our own species. But there is an inevitable element of moral questioning involved in their consumption by us humans. At the extreme end, lobsters are often brought to the kitchen alive and then plunged into boiling water. And the harvesting and preparation of other crustaceans and molluscs requires an honest examination.”

It includes:

“Research into the capacity of sentience has already prompted legislative change in Britain to protect species including octopuses, lobsters and crabs. And it is only right that retailers and consumers in partnership, as well as policymakers, scrutinise how shellfish are treated.”

And it acknowledges the “important perspective” that we vegans provide! It ends with:

“Advocates of abstaining from all animal products are prominent and voluble in public discourse, and they provide an important perspective. For those who relish meat and fish, and who are able to ethically reason the case for consumption, the responsibility remains to inflict no wanton cruelty and ensure sustainability. A concern for prawns is not a tangential issue; it involves reasoning about human obligations to the planet.”

The paper sure deserves some appreciative letters for that one! It advises:

“Letters to the Editor should be sent to letters@thetimes.co.uk for The Times or to letters@sunday-times.co.uk for The Sunday Times. Letters must be exclusive and may be edited. Please include a full address and daytime telephone number.”

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CBS Sunday Morning took us on a tour of Black Beauty Ranch, the sanctuary founded by Cleveland Amory of Fund for Animals, and is now run by the organization which was, until very very recently, the Humane Society of the United States but is now A Humane World for Animals. CEO Kitty Block explains the thinking behind that in the sweet segment.

One of the most effective ways to thank CBS for that segment is to share it, which will also help animals. I have it shared on the DawnWatch X page and DawnWatch Facebook page, with CBS Sunday Morning, correspondent Conor Knighton, Kitty Block and A Humane World for Animals all tagged.

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Georgia DawnWatch subscribers got an alert yesterday about a lead article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution titled, “Animal law prosecutor fights for more than dogs” which tells us,  “Georgia’s animal crimes prosecutor, Jessica Rock fights for those unable to speak for themselves.”  Even if you are not in Georgia you may wish to check it out and respond with a letter sent to  Letters@ajc.com . (Always include your full name, address and telephone number for verification purposes.)

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And in other major media animal news, which I posted over the last week to the DawnWatch X page and DawnWatch Facebook page:

The New York Times ran a thoughtful article discussing how overbreeding for desired traits in dogs can lead to health issues. Here’s a gift link from DawnWatch to that one.

The Los Angeles Times discussed vegan comedian Felipe Esparza’s “Meaty” new Netflix special “Raging Fool” which premiered on Tuesday (and which I am yet to view.)”

The Los Angeles Times also covered the great news that legislators have introduced three different bills to help crack down on loopholes that allow sales of puppy mill dogs.

USA Today ran a gorgeous front-page story exploring how turtles consciously learn to follow magnetic fields. It seems the more we learn about other species, the more we see talents beyond our own.

Vox brought us another great story on the horrors of factory farming, this one titled, “They spoke up about factory farming. Now, they’re being threatened by their neighbors: How Big Meat silences its critics.”

And the Guardian publicized a study I found hard to read about, and even harder to see illustrated on the page: “Domestic violence study that strangled rats should not have been approved, animal advocates argue.”

I hate to end on the sorrowful tale of the horrors we inflict on other species, in this case to investigate those we inflict on our own, but don’t forget that things are changing – remember, the London Times is editorializing on compassion for shellfish! And every letter we write and appreciative comment we leave on animal-friendly material helps them change.

Yours and all animals’,
Karen Dawn of DawnWatch