Murderous vegan gang, Marineland, slaughtehouses + more 2-24-25

I must admit to procrastinating about sending out this week’s alert, as the most prominent story relevant to animal rights over the weekend was that of a murderous gang of vegans, who appeared on Sunday’s Los Angeles Times front page, and on some front pages in Canada on Saturday. That’s not the kind of news I love to spread, but with the papers doing that so prominently, perhaps we can undo some of the damage and reshape the story. We have also had news from Canada regarding Marineland, and a great piece on a shocking slaughterhouse expose. Those and more below.

First, let me thank all who responded to the Los Angeles Times story last week about three bills being introduced to combat puppy mill sale loopholes in California. The Times published two letters, under the lead headline, “The Dogs Killed in California Shelters” with a beautiful photo of a shelter pup, which I have displayed on the DawnWatch X page. One from Melissa Klaskin details the horrors of what happens to unwanted dogs at the shelter, and the other, from Rita Burton, praises the paper for calling attention to Marc Berman’s bill to close a loophole. A third letter, by Irene Oppenheim, printed Thursday, noted that exorbitant pet fees as part of rental price-gauging after the Los Angeles fires have led to even more animals crowding the city shelters.

And thanks to all who have written to the Los Angeles Times about the avian flu crisis and the price of eggs. Today, Monday February 24, the paper has printed a letter on the issue under the headline, “You Don’t Have to Pay for Eggs.”  Andrea Boyd (from South Carolina) notes, “The crisis isn’t that eggs are now more expensive. The crisis is that there are billions of chickens being tortured and slaughtered to provide meat and eggs. And now, more chickens are being killed because they have the flu.”  She reminds us that there are many other breakfast options and ends with “But I think the cost of eggs should be way more than it is now, because a chicken’s life is worth a lot.”

I share that in the hope it might inspire you when you see articles about the cost of eggs in your own paper.

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How utterly undelightful to see Sunday’s Los Angeles Times front page headline, “Vegan group with Bay Area ties linked to deaths in U.S.; Computer savants and activists investigated, charged or deemed persons of interest.”

The story opens describing an attack on a man who was unlucky enough to have rented space to the gang, and who is killed before he can testify against them. Seeing a photo of him cuddling a wild goose he had befriended helps make the whole thing heartbreaking. Others killed have included the parents of one of the gang members, and a border control officer.

Looking for a version where you won’t hit a paywall I found the same story here on Natura Hoy though, sadly and oddly, with no LA Times attribution.

As I share the Los Angeles Times story, I notice that the paper’s headline didn’t note that the group is largely trans, as most other headlines did. That makes sense given that isn’t particularly relevant to their crimes, but neither is their veganism which is splashed across the front page.  Bummer.

I share the story knowing that the letters page at the Los Angeles Times tends to be vegan-friendly, and therefore hoping that some of you might be inspired to put in a good word for veganism – perhaps mentioning more pleasing vegan celebs, or the non-violence at the root of much veganism, or the animals. Anything that occurs to you might be worth sharing with the Los Angeles Times,  in a tone, please, that shines a better light on vegans than that story does!

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In Canada, on Saturday (Feb 22) the Hamilton Spectator and Waterloo Region Record front page headlines read, “How a Waterloo math genius died in a shootout after joining vegan, transgender death cult.” The subheading goes on, “A friend says she warned Felix (Ophelia) Bauckholt about the dangers of becoming involved with the ‘Zizians,’ a group linked to six homicides, including a shootout with border agents in Vermont that claimed the lives of Bauckholt and an officer.”

I hope Canadians might check out that story and then put in a good word for vegans and/or veganism at the Hamilton Spectator via letters@thespec.com or the Waterloo Region Record via letters@therecord.com .

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Canadians received an alert on Friday about a superb op-ed by Jessica Scott-Reid in the Vancouver Province, about a shocking video depicting blatant animal welfare violations at slaughterhouses, and also pointing to front-page stories in the Niagara region papers discussing Marineland’s future.

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

An Associated Press story, published on Yahoo and elsewhere, covered pushback from some ranchers against pig-farming Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen’s attempts to ban slaughter-free, cell-cultivated meat, with the owner of Morgan Ranch saying,  “Stifling competition in a free market should be anathema in a Republican-dominated state like Nebraska.”

The Los Angeles Times covered house cats contracting avian flu, deadly to them, from dairy workers.

Sunday’s Non Sequitur cartoon by Wiley is well worth checking out, discussing the injustice of humans dragging all the other animals with us down our path of self-destruction.  (I thank Elaine Livesey-Fassel for making sure we got to see that.)

The Cardinal News in Virginia ran a lovely story titled, “For Stanley, nearly 15 years in the state Senate means 15 years of animal advocacy “ which includes his quote, “We have an obligation as human beings to take care of these beautiful animals that God gave us.”

Finally, the Washington Post has released, online, surely soon to be in print, an essay titled, “In Suriname, a shadowy hunt for traffickers selling jaguar parts to China,” with the subheading, “Wildlife trafficking is the fourth-largest source of illicit revenue globally after drugs, human smuggling and counterfeit goods, according to Homeland Security Investigations. Here’s a gift link from DawnWatch. Leaving a comment lets the paper know these stories matter to readers.

Yours and all animals’,
Karen Dawn of DawnWatch