tagged w/ Animal Abuse
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VegNews...
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Dogs Saved from Slaughter
A Chinese blogger's call to action has saved the lives of more than 1,100 dogs that were destined for dinner plates.
By Hilary Pollack
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A vigilante blogger in China saved the lives of thousands of dogs by posting an online plea to have them saved, according to China Daily.
After spotting more than 1,100 dogs tightly packed into stacked crates on a flatbed truck, a blogger with the Chongqing Small Animal Protection Association posted a call to action online to intercept the animals and save them from their fate at a butchery.
Other similar stories have taken place in China this past year, as in April 2011, a truck was blockaded by activists who negotiated the release of hundreds of dogs, and last September, residents of Qianxi protested and successfully cancelled an ancient dog-slaughtering ritual for the first time in 600 years.
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Dogs Saved from Slaughter
A Chinese blogger's call to... more
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Los Angeles Times...
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Tejon Ranch halts hunting after state probe of cougar killings
Suspension is likely to be lifted by the fall hunting season, after ranch officials investigate operations. Kern County prosecutors are weighing charges in illegal hunting of the mountain lions.
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A tule elk on Tejon Ranch is shown. Hunting has been suspended on the property after California officials found mountain lions had been killed illegally.
(Los Angeles Times)
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By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times
January 21, 2012
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Tejon Ranch announced Friday that it plans to suspend its lucrative hunting operations after a California Department of Fish and Game investigation into the illegal killing of mountain lions on the 270,000-acre property.
The yearlong investigation was prompted by claims in a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by a former Tejon Ranch hunting guide who alleges that he was fired after he complained about the illegal killing of mountain lions at the direction of the company.
Bron Sanders made the claims in a lawsuit filed May 3 in Kern County Superior Court. In an earlier interview, Sanders said he personally witnessed 20 mountain lions that were killed without authorization.
Sanders said the killings were motivated by angry sentiments among ranch managers toward a 1990 law that made hunting mountain lions illegal in California. He said managers also blamed mountain lions for eating game prized by trophy hunters who pay up to $20,000 to shoot elk on the ranch, about 60 miles north of Los Angeles.
Tejon Ranch officials said the lawsuit was recently settled.
State wildlife authorities completed their investigation late last year and forwarded the findings to the Kern County district attorney's office, which is weighing possible charges. Kern County prosecutors declined to comment on the case.
Tejon Ranch officials initially denied the allegations, claiming they were "ridiculous and untrue."
But in a statement Friday, Robert A. Stine, president and chief executive officer of Tejon Ranch Co., said the investigation determined that mountain lions were killed without authorization "in clear violation of company policy and the state statute regulating the take of mountain lions in California."
"I was appalled and outraged when I learned the results of the investigation," Stine said. "Tejon Ranch did not then, and certainly does not now condone such activity, and we sincerely regret that such activity took place on our ranch. Accordingly, we are taking every step necessary to ensure it won't happen again."
Tejon Ranch officials said the suspension will begin Jan. 30 with the cooperation of state and federal wildlife authorities and remain in force until the company completes an evaluation of its hunting operations, which generate up to $2 million a year in revenue for the company.
Tejon Ranch spokesman Barry Zoeller said: "We expect to resume hunting operations in time for the fall hunting season, but with more restrictions and fewer hunters."
State law permits the killing of a mountain lion only if it poses a threat to humans or livestock. The hunter must obtain a state-issued permit and must present the carcass within 24 hours of the kill.
Any violation of the permit requirements is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year or a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
Sanders said his problems started in July 2005 after he killed his first mountain lion. The ranch had a permit for the kill, but Sanders said that Don Geivet, vice president of Tejon Ranch operations, told him: "Don't call anyone about this, and do not turn that carcass in."
Sanders said: "We got two to three mountain lions with that one permit."
.Los Angeles Times...
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Tejon Ranch halts hunting after state probe of cougar... more
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Los Angeles Times...
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L.A. Zoo's only hippo euthanized after weeks-long illness
January 20, 2012 | 6:56 pm
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Jabba the L.A. Zoo's hippo had to be euthanized
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The sole hippopotamus at the Los Angeles Zoo was euthanized Friday after being ill with an unknown ailment for a month and not responding to treatment, zoo officials said.
Zookeepers noticed in December that the 28-year-old hippopotamus, Jabba, had a decreased appetite, abnormal bloating and was not responding to medication, zoo spokesman Jason Jacobs told City News Service. The hippo was under close veterinary care, but his condition rapidly worsened in the last few days.
The zoo's staff made the "difficult decision" to euthanize Jabba, according to a statement released by the zoo.
Jabba had been at the zoo since 2009. Before that, he lived at the San Diego Zoo for several years, where he sired several calves.
His body will be taken to the California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory System at UC Davis for a necropsy.
.Los Angeles Times...
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L.A. Zoo's only hippo euthanized after... more
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Los Angeles Times...
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Tucson zoo fight involves elephants, Bob Barker
January 18, 2012 | 3:52 pm
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Elephant herd at San Diego Zoo's Safari Park
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Connie is an Asian elephant, Shaba an African one. Nonetheless, they formed a bond, paling around together for three decades at Tucson’s Reid Park Zoo.
So when zoo officials announced plans last year to move Connie to the San Diego Zoo –- without her buddy Shaba -– animal activists were enraged.
The Tucson zoo was planning to bring in a herd of African elephants from San Diego, the Arizona Daily Star reported. Because zoo accreditation standards demand that new herds not mix African and Asian elephants, "due to multiple species differences and possible disease transmission issues," Connie would join other Asian elephants in San Diego.
But local activists Tracy Toland and Jessica Shuman considered the separation cruel. It “defies everything we know about elephants: their intelligence, profoundly deep social bonds (females remain with their mothers for life) and the capacity for deep emotion,” they wrote in the Daily Star.
The women launched a campaign to keep Connie, 44, and Shaba, 31, together and added some celebrity sizzle to the debate. At their behest, former “Price Is Right” host and well-known animal advocate Bob Barker recently offered to contribute $500,000 to send the elephants to a California sanctuary if others could raise matching funds.
This week, Tucson zoo officials reversed course, announcing that Connie and Shaba could both move to San Diego, the Daily Star said. Turns out, San Diego’s Asian elephant herd already has an African member, so Connie and Shaba’s cross-species kinship will fit right in.
.Los Angeles Times...
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Tucson zoo fight involves elephants, Bob Barker
January... more
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Animal Equality...
International Organization for the Abolition of Animal Slavery
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31 December 2011
Make it your New Year's resolution to Help Animals!
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Each year Animal Equality carries out many vegan outreach activities and investigations in defence of animals. With this work we aim to touch peoples’ hearts, in the hope that they will discover a lost empathy towards non-human animals. We aim to show them that it is easy to create a world without animal exploitation.
Much impassioned work was carried out during 2011, and it would not have been possible without the dedication of new volunteers and supporters just like you.
Read ahead to see how we carried out activism for animal rights in the UK and elsewhere in Europe throughout the year.
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2011: a year growing up!
We believe that human education is the first step to equality, and a truly kind world. During 2011, we carried out dozens of events and info-stalls in the UK.
Here are some examples of our work:
• In the UK alone, during our Demonstrations promoting veganism and free vegan food giveaways, we handed out 12,000 vegan leaflets.
• We launched a brand new website called ChooseVeganism.org, Thanks to the website’s new video, 'A message of respect', we received more than 11,000 visitors in a few days.
• Hundreds of vegan outreach events were carried out in Spain, Poland, UK and Venezuela, more four undercover investigations.
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Our dedication did not stop in these countries; in India we started to work to convince the Indian Government to prevent elephant deaths on railway tracks.
Another important event during 2011, was the creation of a new branch of Animal Equality in Italy, based in Rome!
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International Animal Rights Day 2011:
A fantastic celebration of the International Animal Rights Day 2011, marked this year as being such a success in terms of recruiting new activists and achieving excellent worldwide media coverage on our activities. A brief summary of our events to mark this important day are as follows:
• LONDON (UK): Crime scenes featuring the outlines of the victims of the speciesism calling on passers-by to adopt a vegan lifestyle.
Photo gallery: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjxhi5Na
• MADRID (Spain): 400 activists gathered to show 400 corpses of dead animals, and demand justice for the billions of animals who continue to die each year as victims of speciesism.
Photo gallery: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjxgLviM
• ROME (Italy): For six hours, the Pincio's square was covered with 100 crosses, each one accompanied by a photo of an animal who had been exploited and/or killed for human consumption.
Photo gallery: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjxhWfTD
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Investigations:
Behind the closed doors of the animal exploitation centers, Animal Equality's Investigation Team with hidden cameras exposed the reality and misery of animals' lives. With our investigation work, we aim to change society into one that respects animals by promoting a vegan lifestyle.
Some examples of our investigation work are as follows:
• We recording of the brutal killing of minks on one of the biggest fur farms in Spain.
• We carried out a unique and intensive undercover investigation into the most important zoos in Spain.
- Visit the website: Spanishzoos.org
• We infiltrated Tordesillas, one of the biggest bullfighting traditions in Spain.
• We documented the gruesome ritual slaughter of 6.000 lambs for the ‘Feast of Sacrifice’ in Melilla, Spain.
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.Animal Equality...
International Organization for the Abolition of Animal Slavery... more
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Animal Blawg...
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Link Between Domestic Violence and Animal Abuse?
Posted on January 1, 2012 by David
Ciara Smyth
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On November 26th, 2011, Chicago police officers responded to a call and found little Christopher Valdez dead had been beaten to death in his home, as his family prepared to celebrate his fourth birthday. The boy was found to have died from multiple blunt force trauma and his death was ruled a child abuse homicide Saturday. Police were alerted to the house after he was discovered by his aunt and uncle, who had come to investigate after a neighbor told them that Christopher was sporting a black eye when he attended Thanksgiving at their home the previous day. Police charged the toddler’s live-in boyfriend, Cesar Ruiz, with first degree murder, concealment of a homicidal death, and for having a suspended driver’s license. The mother of the toddler was originally charged with concealment of a homicidal death and with endangering the life of a child. However, after it was revealed through police questioning that she observed Ruiz beating her son earlier in the week he was murdered, and had joined in by spanking the toddler herself, the charges against the mother were upgraded to include first-degree murder. Steven Valdez, the boy’s great uncle, previously described Ruiz, as anti-social and violent. He said that two weeks before the boy’s death, Ruiz beat a dog severely after it relieved itself in his home.
Family members want to know why Christopher was allowed to stay with his mother and Ruiz following her conviction in October for domestic battery after she admitted to punching Christopher in July “because she was angry” and to using make-up to cover his injuries. She was sentenced to parenting classes, given a conditional discharge, and was not sentenced to jail. Following the incident, but prior to her conviction, the Department of Children and Family Services determined that that there was “no credible evidence” of abuse and allowed the boy to remain in the home. The toddler’s death this month has naturally raised a lot of discussion and commentators to ask questions on DCFS’s oversight in allowing the child to remain at home.
What is disturbing to me however, is the statement by the toddler’s uncle that just two weeks prior to the deadly beating, the alleged killer had just severely beaten a dog for relieving himself in the house? This statement deserves further examination and attention, just as DCFS’s oversight does. His family wondered how little Christopher could have been allowed by social services to remain with his mother after the domestic battery incident. The next natural question that should follow is how the family let him stay with her and her live-in boyfriend after they knew he severely beat a dog just two weeks prior to beating the boy to death. And the fact that no one called the police to report that an animal had just been severely abused is beyond disturbing! Had that been done, perhaps the creep would be behind bars, which would have made it conceivably more difficult for him to beat the toddler to death. After all, under Illinois law, severely beating a dog could potentially constitute the felony of Aggravated Cruelty, pursuant to 510 ILCS 70/3.03, or even possibly Animal Torture, pursuant to 510 ILCS 70/3.02, depending on the facts. Sentences for both felony charges can involve jail time.
In a Utah State University study done in 1997 by Frank R. Ascione, Ph.D, Claudia V. Weber, M.S., and David S. Wood, on the connection between domestic violence and animal mistreatment and cruelty, women in domestic violence shelters were more likely to report that their partners had threatened to hurt their pets (52%) than the sample of women who were not living in domestic abuse shelters (16.7%). The severity of these threats was also higher in the shelter sample. Actual hurting or killing of pets was reported by 54% of the shelter women but only 3.5% of the women sampled who were not living in shelters. In the majority of cases, shelter women reported that multiple incidents of hurting or killing pets had occurred. In the shelter group, nearly one in four women reported that concern for their pets had kept them from coming in to the shelter sooner. Regardless of group membership, some women indicated that pets had been hit or kicked, or had been shot. The more horrific instances seemed to be restricted to the reports of shelter women who reported the following examples (among many others): pet was drowned, pet was nailed to the woman’s bedroom door, pet was given alcohol and poison, pet’s entire fur coat was shaved during the winter, and pet was thrown out of a moving car. Most of the incidents involved cats or dogs, but in the shelter groups, birds, gerbils, and rabbits were also mentioned as victims of abuse or killing.
The Animals & Society Institute’s website contains several links to recent studies that have been done on the connection between violent criminals and animal abuse. One such study done in 1997 by Northeastern University in conjunction with the SPCA in Massachusetts (MSPCA) revealed that 40% of all animal abusers had committed violent crimes against humans.
Studies also found that a history of animal abuse was found in 25% of male criminals, 30% of convicted child molesters, 36% of domestic violence cases and 46% of homicide cases.
While these studies reveal a lot of numbers and percentages, they also open the door to further examination on whether animal abuser is an indication of abuse against spouses, children, and other humans. In fact, taking into consideration what is potentially at stake, further exploration should be demanded. Consider the situation with little Christopher Valdez: in looking at the brutal bruises that covered his body from head to toe, police were shocked and horrified that a grown man could unleash so much violence on such a small little frame.
In conclusion, little Christopher Valdez died in vain. But perhaps he did not have to. Had this community stepped up to the plate and protected its most vulnerable members when required to, perhaps he would still be alive. I hope this brings encourages everyone person who has read or heard about this case in the news, to never take animal abuse lightly.
.Animal Blawg...
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Link Between Domestic Violence and Animal Abuse?
Posted on... more
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ButterballAbuse.com...
Mercy For Animals....
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Butterball has become synonymous with turkey. But how do the millions of turkeys who end up in the grocery store, or served at restaurants, under the Butterball brand, really live and die?
A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation reveals the truth: extreme cruelty and violence is the harsh reality for birds on Butterball's factory farms.
Between November and December of 2011, an MFA undercover investigator documented a pattern of shocking abuse and neglect at a Butterball turkey semen collection facility in Shannon, North Carolina.
Hidden-camera footage taken at Butterball reveals:
Workers violently kicking and stomping on birds, dragging them by their fragile wings and necks, and maliciously throwing turkeys onto the ground or into transport trucks in full view of company management;
Employees bashing in the heads of live birds with metal bars, leaving many to slowly suffer and die from their injuries;
Turkeys covered in flies, living in their own waste, with some unable to access food or water and suffering from severe feather loss
Birds suffering from serious untreated illnesses and injuries, including open sores, infections, rotting eyes, and broken bones; and
Severely injured turkeys, unable to stand up or walk, left to die without any veterinary care, because treating sick or injured birds was too costly and time consuming, as the farm manager explained to MFA's investigator.
After viewing the undercover footage, Dr. Sara Shields, research scientist, poultry specialist and consultant in animal welfare, said, "Turkeys are fully capable of feeling pain, fear, stress and of suffering, and the way they are treated in the video is clearly abusive."
Dr. Debra Teachout, a practicing veterinarian with experience in farmed-animal welfare, agrees, stating, "The birds are not living a life remotely worth living. Their world is full of fear, distress, pain, injury and illness as witnessed by this video. A culture of blatant and severe animal mistreatment has been allowed to flourish unchecked, and for that reason, this facility should be shut down immediately."
Following the investigation, MFA immediately went to law enforcement with extensive video footage and a detailed legal complaint outlining the routine violence and cruelty documented by the investigator at this Butterball facility. On Thursday, December 29, state law enforcement officials obtained a warrant and raided the facility on grounds of cruelty to animals.
Unfortunately, the lives of turkeys in Butterball's factory farms are short, brutal and filled with fear, violence and prolonged suffering. While wild turkeys are sleek, agile and able to fly, Butterball's turkeys have been selectively bred to grow so large, so quickly, that many of them suffer from painful bone defects, hip joint lesions, crippling foot and leg deformities, and fatal heart attacks.
This genetic manipulation creates birds that are so large they cannot even reproduce naturally, meaning that artificial semen collection and insemination have become the sole means of turkey reproduction at Butterball facilities.
Even though domestic turkeys have been genetically manipulated for enormous growth, these birds still retain their gentle, inquisitive and social natures. Oregon State University poultry scientist Dr. Tom Savage says that turkeys are "smart animals with personality and character, and keen awareness of their surroundings." In fact, animal behaviorists, veterinarians, and scientists now agree that turkeys are sensitive and intelligent animals with their own unique personalities, much like the dogs and cats we all know and love.
While MFA works to expose and end animal abuse at Butterball and other giants of the meat, dairy and egg industry, consumers can help prevent the needless suffering of turkeys and other animals by adopting a compassionate vegan diet.
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http://a.abcnews.com/images/Blotter/ht_butterball_abuse_tk_111228_wg.jpg
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Click here to view undercover video:
http://www.butterballabuse.com
.ButterballAbuse.com...
Mercy For Animals....
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Butterball has become... more
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Los Angeles Times...
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Los Padres sanctuary goes to the rescue of wolf dogs
29 animals are seized from an Anchorage attraction accused of possessing them illegally. 'It was heartbreaking to see,' one of the rescuers said.
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PHOTO:
Matthew Simmons is greeted by one of the 29 wolf dogs rescued from a roadside attraction near Anchorage and brought to the Lockwood Valley Animal Rescue Center in the Los Padres National Forest. "Overall, they honestly seem to understand that this is a better environment than where they came from," said Simmons.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times / December 22, 2011)
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By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times
December 27, 2011
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Chained to posts on a half-acre lot, the 29 wolf dogs languished for years behind stockade fencing at a roadside attraction near Anchorage.
The wolf hybrids were unable to touch one another except when they were bred through chain-link fences. Several had sore backs and legs because they had never been able to move more than a few yards at a time.
The animals were seized by Alaskan authorities as evidence in an ongoing criminal investigation and scheduled for destruction before the Lockwood Valley Animal Rescue Center intervened. The center had the wolf dogs spayed and neutered, then transported by plane and truck to its sanctuary in the Los Padres National Forest, about 90 miles north of Los Angeles.
They arrived at the 20-acre sanctuary Dec. 12 and will live the rest of their lives unchained, in sprawling enclosures and networks of wire holding pens.
Striding toward a pen shaded by scrub oaks and pine trees, Lori Lindner, co-founder and president of the nonprofit sanctuary, introduced visitors on Thursday to members of her new "packs": a black female with dark honey-colored eyes featured in Sean Penn's 2007 film, "Into the Wild," and a large male that fathered seven of the rescued wolf dogs.
Lindner, 46, recalled with a sigh arriving at the Wolf Country USA attraction in Anchorage earlier in the month to begin preparing the animals for the long trip to California.
"It was heartbreaking to see so many of these animals on chains," she said. "Wolf dogs are products of human vanity and machismo."
The trouble is that crossing wolves, which have been bred by nature for millions of years to be wild, with dogs, which have been genetically manipulated for thousands of years to serve humans, creates a conflict of innate behaviors. As a result, they are often chained up or given away, turned loose or killed, or they escape and are shot or poisoned.
In a 2½-acre enclosure dubbed "wolf mansion," Lindner's husband, Matthew Simmons, called out to six juvenile wolf dogs that were adjusting to a measure of freedom.
"No more pain," said Simmons, 38. "They're getting along amazing well, although there have been a few tussles in which one girl pushed another girl around. But overall, they honestly seem to understand that this is a better environment than where they came from."
The Humane Society of the United States has taken a hard stand against wolf dogs as unpredictable, destructive and rarely trainable. At least 16 states ban them, and California and 20 other states have restrictions on ownership. Alaska prohibits ownership of wolves or wolf dogs unless they are spayed or neutered, fitted with microchips and registered with state authorities.
Lindner and Simmons were alerted by sanctuary accreditation officials that Wolf Country USA was under investigation, accused of illegal possession of wolf dogs. The zoo-like attraction boasted "the largest wolf pack in Alaska" and charged $5 to walk along a path close enough to the animals to take snapshots and, in certain cases, pet one.
"We flew to Alaska and met with the assistant attorney general," Simmons said. "He told us that the state had no place to keep them, and if we didn't take them he was going to dispatch state troopers to shoot them and toss them into a freezer until the court battle with Wolf Country USA was resolved."
In a telephone interview, Werner Shuster, owner of Wolf Country USA, denied that the wolf dogs had been mistreated or that he had broken the law.
"We raised them since they were pups, each one had 12 to 15 feet of space and they were the healthiest animals on the planet," said Shuster, 82. "They do better on chains. That way they don't fight, and people can pet them."
Money to take the wolf dogs to the sanctuary came from a $5,000 donation from the Humane Society and a "very, very large donation" from Bob Barker, who hosted the TV game show "The Price is Right" for 35 years, Simmons said.
Because of their histories, size, strength and often unstable temperaments, the wolf dogs need lots of care. The nonprofit International Fund for Animal Welfare donated $43,000 to construct nine new enclosures with 10-foot-high fencing.
The sanctuary needs $3,000 a month for maintenance and about $350 a day for raw meat, day-old products bought from local grocery stores at a discount. It is also negotiating the purchase of a nearby 180-acre property that would be devoted to dozens more rescued wolf dogs and wolves. "We need $250,000 for a down payment on the property," Simmons said.
To help reduce the costs of the operation, which already housed 20 rescued wolf dogs, the sanctuary launched Warriors and Wolves, a program designed to pair wolf dogs with combat veterans volunteering there to try to overcome physical injuries and lingering anxieties.
Stanley McDonald, 48, who was diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder after he returned from the Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm, is among veterans who have become full-time volunteer ranch hands at the sanctuary.
Stepping through the gate of an enclosure where three wolf dogs paced warily, McDonald said, "I see a lot of myself in these animals. Like them, I was lost and troubled until I came here. Now, there's a lot of healing going on."
.Los Angeles Times...
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Los Padres sanctuary goes to the rescue of wolf dogs... more
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PCRM | PHYSICIANS COMMITTEE FOR RESPONSIBLE MEDICINE...
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Government Announces Plan to Replace Animals in Toxicity Testing
December 20, 2011
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The Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration just announced a joint effort to use high-throughput robotics—instead of animals—to test 10,000 chemicals and drugs for potential toxicity. I’ve asked PCRM’s Chad Sandusky, Ph.D., to provide details:
Current testing is largely based on experiments on animals—rodents, rabbits, dogs—and uses methods that are cruel, time-consuming, expensive, and in some cases use thousands of animals in a single test. For example, a reproductive toxicity study uses 2,600 animals and requires a minimum of two years at a cost of $380,000. PCRM toxicologists and government affairs staff have pushed government and industry scientists to implement nonanimal methods.
The new method was developed after the National Research Council issued a mandate (often referred to as Tox21) several years ago to replace antiquated animal-based (in vivo) toxicity testing with testing using mostly human cells and tissues. At PCRM’s toxicology department, we are convinced this will offer not only a dramatic reduction in animal use, but also a faster and cheaper approach to safety testing.
While Congress has been drafting revisions to the law that regulates chemicals (known as the Toxic Substances Control Act or TSCA), we’ve met with congressional offices to make sure that new nonanimal methods are required as they become more widely available. We’ve successfully gained support for these important changes, so animal testing will be greatly reduced—and eventually eliminated—when the bill is passed.
To learn more about how replacing animals in toxicity testing with this technology will make the world a safer place for people—and for the millions of animals now used in these cruel tests—visit www.ReformToxicityTesting.org
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White Wolf Pack...
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December 17, 2011
Feds Shoot Lonely Mexican Gray Wolf Attracted to Dogs
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SILVER CITY, N.M. – At the direction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an endangered Mexican gray wolf was shot dead on private land within the Gila National Forest of New Mexico Wednesday. The lone 4-year-old female wolf was reportedly attracted to a residence to consort with domestic dogs and was shot as a purported threat to human safety. Earlier this year the same wolf had mated with a dog elsewhere and given birth to five hybrid pups, four of which were captured and euthanized; the fifth has not been found.
“This very sad episode is a result of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s refusal to release enough wolves into the wild to allow this single female to find a mate of her own kind,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity.
The 1996 environmental impact statement on reintroducing Mexican wolves to the wild addressed potential hybridization and promised to minimize it in part through “reestablishing wolf populations in numbers sufficient that potential wolf mates are available for dispersing wolves.” But this has not occurred.
The document projected that by the end of 2006, 102 wolves, including 18 breeding pairs, would live in the wild, with the numbers expected to continue to rise after that; a 2001 scientific review concluded that the recovery area spanning the Arizona and New Mexico border had sufficient deer and elk to be able to support 468 wolves. Yet the highest number of wolves counted was 59 in 2006; at the end of 2010, only 50 wolves, including just two breeding pairs, could be found in the wild.
Despite this shortfall, over the past five years of the reintroduction program, which began in 1998, the federal agency responsible for helping endangered species has only released a single wolf from the captive-breeding pool into the wild (in November 2008) along with 11 wolves who had been captured from the wild in previous years.
Dozens of other wolves were captured and have been indefinitely locked up (and 11 other wolves were shot by the government for livestock depredations, though none in the past four years). Today, 12 once-wild wolves are biologically suitable and legally eligible for release into New Mexico.
“This lonesome wolf did not have to die,” said Robinson. “If there were enough potential mates for her to choose from, this social creature wouldn’t have desperately sought the company of domestic dogs. “To ensure another wolf doesn’t pay the same price, the Obama administration must release more wolves into the wild.”
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Via: http://www.mexicanwolves.org/
.White Wolf Pack...
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December 17, 2011
Feds Shoot Lonely Mexican Gray Wolf... more
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Philadelphia Examiner...
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She may not win Best in Show but she will win your heart
Amy Rossi's photo
Philadelphia Animal Welfare Examiner
December 14, 2011
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Looking at Lucy and hearing her story would make even the strongest person want to cry. She has lived a horrible, painful life. A life no animal should have to endure.
Lucy, a 3 1/2-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier, didn't always look like this. This is not the face she was born with.
This is the result of the awful abuse she endured while living in Bogota, Colombia before coming to the U.S.
The beatings she took from her former owner were so bad that her nose and jaw were broken and since they were not properly set, they healed like this. To correct it, the bones would have to be broken and reset, which would be awful.
But she doesn't need to go through that, because Lucy is beautiful and unique in her own way.
Some of her teeth were pulled so she could not fight off male dogs during repeated matings. She was able to get away but then found herself on the streets, emaciated and pregnant until someone saved her.
The vet who examined her found her uterus was twisted and had to make a decision to save her or her babies. He picked her. It was determined to be her fifth or sixth pregnancy. Her rescuer was told that she was used as a submissive dog to train aggression in fighting dogs.
This poor girl has had one sad, tragic, and tortured life so far.
She is now looking for a forever home where she can find the love, caring, acceptance, and safety she's missed out on so far.
They say she is shy with strangers, never aggressive, and needs to build up confidence with dogs and people, but she's just the sweetest girl who loves belly rubs. She is now spayed, up-to-date on shots, and has no trouble eating.
She is currently in boarding in New York and needs our help to find her special someone to take her home to receive unconditional love and happiness. This girl deserves nothing but that from this day forward.
If you are interested in opening your heart and home to Lucy by fostering or adopting, please call Vivianne at (646) 662-0251, or you can email her: vividogwalker@gmail.com
Please share for Lucy. She's waiting for her happy beginning.
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.Philadelphia Examiner...
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She may not win Best in Show but she will win your... more
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Time...
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Japan
Blood Money: Tsunami Recovery Funds Go to Japan’s Whaling Industry
By Krista Mahr | December 12, 2011
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PHOTO:
Sankei / Getty Images
Japan's research whaling fleet Nissin Maru returns its home at Oi Pier on April 12, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan.
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They’re baaaaaaaccck. Whale hunting season kicked off in Japan last week as three ships set off with a security vessel on their annual pilgrimage to cull hundreds of minke and fin whales in Antarctic waters. And so begins the annual showdown between the whalers and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the tenacious, publicity-savvy anti-whaling group that chases the Japanese fleet around the frigid waters of the sixth continent each winter. The yearly spectacle features scuba-clad activists zipping around in fast boats, lobbing stink bombs at the whaling ships and generally making life miserable for the crew who keep Japan’s 19th-century dream alive. The annual tussle even has its own reality show.
Whaling is not an easy practice to defend these days, particularly when recent polls have shown that 95% of Japanese eat whale meat rarely, if at all. The state-backed industry, which Japan considers its sovereign right to pursue as part of a centuries-old tradition, is under attack both by environmental groups at home and abroad. And yet the government did not do its beleaguered case any favors when it confirmed last week that $29 million of the national post-tsunami recovery fund had been allotted to the whaling industry, including to provide extra security for the whaling fleet.
They had to know that wasn’t going to go down well. Environmental groups in Japan are outraged that the disaster fund is being used to prop up an industry they have been fighting against for years. Though commercial whaling has been banned for decades, Japan is one of a handful of nations that continue their catch with the permission of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) for scientific purposes, culling about 1000 whales annually. “Pouring billions of yen into Antarctic whaling during this time of crisis is downright shameful,” Junichi Sato, head of Greenpeace Japan, told the Guardian last week. “Japan cannot afford to waste money on whaling in the Antarctic when its people are suffering at home.”
Tokyo says the whaling industry needs the support of the fund to get back on its feet after March 11 just like other fishing communities on the devastated northeastern coast of Japan. Port towns like Ayukawa that were built on the back of the multi-million dollar whaling industry were destroyed along with so much else, and, like their neighbors, residents there want to get their businesses back up and running, too. “Many people in the area eat whale meat,” an official from Japan’s Fisheries Agency told CNN. “They are waiting for Japan’s commercial whaling to resume and it is their hope for recovery.”
But padding the industry with reconstruction money is not the end of Japan’s efforts to protect its scientific endeavors. Last year, the government caved in to the pressure Sea Shepherd exerted on its ships and crew and called off the hunt early, with only about one-fifth of its intended catch. On Dec. 9, the Institute of Cetacean Research, the government body that manages the yearly cull, announced that it filed a lawsuit along with shipowner Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha against Sea Shepherd and its founder, Paul Watson. ICR and Kyodo Senpaku are seeking a court order to prevent “SSCS and its founder Paul Watson from engaging in activities at sea that could cause injuries to the crews and damage to the vessels.”
Watson, whose organization is based in the U.S. state of Washington, responded immediately to the news of the law suit. “We have not caused a single injury nor have we been charged with a crime or even reprimanded by anyone for our actions,” he is quoted as saying on the organization’s web site. “This is simply a case of using the courts to harass us. I don’t believe they have a case and I doubt a U.S. court would take this seriously. Unlike Japan, the courts in the United States don’t automatically do what the government demands that they do.” The organization is currently planning to send 88 crew members on three ships to do its yearly battle under the banner of “Operation Divine Wind.”
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Krista Mahr is a correspondent at TIME. Find her on Twitter at @kristamahr. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.
Read more: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/12/12/blood-money-tsunami-recovery-funds-go-to-japans-whaling-industry/#ixzz1gOb4SqJ7
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NFL Great Qadry Ismail Joins Anti-Animal Abuse Campaign
December 4, 2011 by Grace Sydney
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On the football field he earned a claim to fame as an offensive player, but now former NFL wide receiver Qadry Ismail is taking a defensive stance as he joins the team at the Baltimore Mayor’s Anti-Animal Abuse Advisory Commission to tackle the problem of canine and cat cruelty.
The Missile’s mission– like that of other animal-loving athletes such as Dizzy Grant of the Harlem Globetrotters, MMA fighter John Rallo and Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles, who have all taken part in the Show Your Soft Side campaign– is to prove to impressionable teens that a compassionate heart is the hallmark of a true man.
Posing for photographer Leo Howard Lubow, the portrait of the one-time Baltimore Raven and his fur family will be seen on posters and billboards throughout the city of Baltimore.
For more information regarding the “Show Your Soft Side” campaign:
visit www.facebook.com/ShowYourSoftSide
To purchase a My Soft Side Barks or My Soft Side purrs T-shirt (with proceeds benefiting The Mayor’s Anti-Animal Abuse Advisory Commission):
visit www.swagdog.com
Photo Credit: Leo Howard Lubow/Mayor’s Anti-Animal Abuse Advisory Commission
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Civil Penalties Assessed Against Feld Entertainment (Ringling Bros.)
Posted on December 9, 2011 by David
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Sarah Markham
A strong message of against animal cruelty has been delivered to the public, especially those who exhibit animals for profit, with the assessment of civil penalties against the Ringling Brothers. On November 28, the owner of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Field Entertainment, Inc., paid $270,000 in fines for violations of Animal Welfare Act pursuant to an agreement that have been reached with USDA.
The Animal Welfare Act requires that minimum standards of care be provided for animals exhibited to the public. PETA repeatedly urged the USDA to take action against Ringling Brothers for numerous violations of the Animal Welfare Act. In 2009, PETA led an undercover investigation to reveal “the saddest show on earth,” which included the exhibited animals being struck with bull hooks. In August of this year, an elephant ‘stumbled’ according to Ringling Brothers, but an eyewitness believed the elephant collapsed when the handlers were moving her.
The Animal Welfare Act was enacted in 1966, and was originally intended to prevent mistreatment of laboratory animals, but was expanded to include exhibits of animals in the 1970 amendments. Ringling Brothers paid the fine, but their press release did not admit any guilt or wrongdoing. Many people believe that the Animal Welfare Act is insufficient to protect animals, especially the animals in circuses. Bob Barker is advocating the Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act. Congressman Jim Moran of Virginia is supporting this bill, which aims to terminate the egregious treatment of the circus animals, i.e. extended periods of time in temporary living facilities and being constantly chained.
In the meantime, Field Entertainment, Inc. has agreed to train its employees to handle the animals in a manner that complies with the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act. Let us hope that this promise is not reneged on!
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Justice for Dog Whose Face Was Blown Off By Fireworks!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/441/petition-for-the-dog-whose-face-was-torn-off-after-people-put-a-lit-firework-in-his-mouth-and-later/
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Please sign the petition -- these two ugly humans need to be punished.
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care2 petitionsite
Justice for Dog Whose Face Was Blown Off By Fireworks!
Justice for Dog Whose Face Was Blown Off By Fireworks!
signatures: 90,724
deadline: ongoing
signature goal: 100,000
Target: Federal Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sponsored by: International workers for animal rights
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Please share Vucko's story on Facebook.
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SARAJEVO -- Two intoxicated youths duct-taped a firework in a German shepherd's mouth and blew off his face. But the torture didn't stop there. The poor dog, known as Vucko, wandered for five days, unable to eat and with maggots infecting the meaty pulp of his ruined face. Vucko was finally picked up by authorities and euthanized after vets were unable to perform reconstructive surgery.
Click on the link in the story if you can bear viewing EXTREMELY GRAPHIC footage of Vucko being examined by vets. Notice the firework's shell casing still embedded in the dog's head.
We must bring the animal abusers to justice and ensure that this inhumanity is never repeated; sadly, animal welfare laws are practically nonexistent in much of Eastern Europe. Sign this petition urging Bosnian authorities to hunt down the guilty parties, expose the severity of animal abuse, and create proper legislation that will protect animals. Don't let Vucko die in vain!
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Pas Vucko je uzasno stradao kad neki su zalepili vatromet za usta od psa I zapalili to. Od explozije je pas tesko bijo ranjen u lici. 5 dana se vrtio u ulice od Sarajevo dok su ga nasli. Na zalost nista nije se moglo ucinit da se ga spasi i Vucka se trebalo eutanizirat. Te ljude koji su ucinili tu uzast bi trebalo da se osudi.
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Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales Absent From Rose Parade After 58 Years
Expect fewer floats and the absence of a crowd favorite at the 123rd Rose Parade
By Hetty Chang
| Wednesday, Nov 30, 2011 | Updated 5:42 PM PST
Budweiser Clydesdales Missing from 2012 Rose Parade
Photo: Clydesdale horses lead the Anheuser-Busch float down the parade route.
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The clicking sound of their hooves down Colorado Boulevard has become somewhat of a staple at the Pasadena Rose Parade. But for the first time in 58 years, Anheuser-Busch’s team of Clydesdales will not be a part of the parade, a spokesman for the St. Louis-based brewer told the Pasadena Star News.
“We’ve truly enjoyed being a part of the Rose Parade, and appreciate the great work on our floats over the years,” said Anheuser-Busch Vice President Rob McCarthy.
The decision, which was made in May, was reportedly based on the company’s effort to reach new consumers.
“We’ve decided to invest in other types of events that create a more direct connection with beer drinkers, and where we can discuss and sample the Budweiser brand," McCarthy said.
The brewer told the paper that there were no immediate plans to return to the parade in the future.
Besides Anheuser-Busch, several Los Angeles-area cities, including West Covina and Beverly Hills, have abandoned the Rose Parade, the paper reported.
The 2012 Rose Parade, which is themed “Just Imagine,” will take place on January 2 with 41 floats participating.
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Updated: 10:10 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 | Posted: 10:10 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011
Man accused of cruelty can help dogs find homes
The Associated Press
HELENA, Montana
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A judge says a Jefferson City dog breeder accused of animal cruelty can work with the Humane Society to find homes for up to 70 malamutes that were seized from his property.
The Independent Record (http://bit.ly/uO5c7L ) reports Mike Chilinski told District Judge Loren Tucker on Wednesday about 70 people have contacted him about adopting the dogs.
Authorities say a man and woman reported Chilinski when they went to his house in September to buy a Malamute puppy and were horrified by the conditions. The Lewis and Clark Humane Society says the dogs were living in pens encrusted with feces and with little or no water, and many of them were underweight and had parasites and untreated wounds.
Chilinski faces 91 counts of felony animal cruelty, as well as unrelated drug charges. More than 160 dogs were seized.
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Updated: 10:10 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 | Posted: 10:10 p.m.... more
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Denver Westword...
..Colorado Crimes
Matthew Weatherspoon sentenced to 30-months probation for slashing bulldog puppy in face
By Michael Roberts Wed., Nov. 9 2011 at 12:33 PM
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In June, Matthew Weatherspoon claimed that he had repeatedly slashed a five-month-old bulldog puppy in the face out of self-defense. "I'm not a crocodile hunter," he announced.
Neither is he in jail -- not now. But he's been given thirty months of supervised mental health probation and more for the crime.
The puppy, named Diamond, reportedly nipped at the nineteen-year-old Weatherspoon -- a common-enough occurrence given the dog's age and the likelihood she was teething. But he reacted in a most uncommon way, slashing at her face and eventually stabbing her a total of five times.
Weatherspoon then reportedly tossed the dog out of his apartment at 6875 Iliff Avenue because he was upset she was bleeding all over the place.
Fortunately, the puppy was found wandering nearby and immediately transported to a veterinary hospital, where she underwent three hours of surgery. She was subsequently placed in a medical foster home, where she remains at present.
For his part, Weatherspoon was arrested on suspicion of aggravated animal cruelty. But when he sat down for a jailhouse interview with interview with 9News anchor Kyle Clark, he had plenty of excuses for his actions.
His reaction to the anger generated by the story? He told Clark he could imagine why people might be angry at him, and "I'm angry at myself, too," he acknowledged, "But I had no clue what to do at the time. I was panicking. It was either fight or flight."
Why not choose flight? After all, it wouldn't have involved stabbing. But Weatherspoon didn't go there, at least in the portion of the interview broadcast. Instead, he insisted that "the only people who can sympathize with me are the people who have been attacked by animals. I'm not a crocodile hunter. I don't know how to deal with animal attacks other than to defend myself."
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Problem is, cops didn't see any visible bite marks on Weatherspoon, whose previous record included busts for drug possession, assault and resisting arrest. But he still maintained that he'd suffered injuries: "She chipped my tooth. And my arm's all scratched up," he said.
He had plenty of time to heal; he's been in custody since his arrest. But after considering Weatherspoon's upbringing, the Denver District Attorney's Office determined that a thirty-month supervised probation sentence with mental health treatment was a better solution than imprisonment. In addition, he's been ordered to do 100 hours of community service and pay $6,800 in restitution -- and he can't own a pet until his probation has been satisfactorily completed.
And afterward? That's an unpleasant thought...
Click on link (above) to see a larger version of Weatherspoon's mug shot plus two 9News reports -- initial coverage followed by the aforementioned interview.
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Denver Westword...
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Matthew Weatherspoon sentenced to... more
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Justice for Three Murdered Family Dogs in San Diego
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Why this is Important
San Diego man "Patrick Caleb Land" , 25 was charged with brutally beating to death his girlfriend's three dogs.
According to investigators, Land was living with his girlfriend and her three dogs,
Josh, Pikanik and Jackie.
In September, Land called his girlfriend at work and told her that he found one of her dogs, "Josh", 8yrs old - a Great Pyrenees and Golden Retriever mix ... dead in the bedroom of the house.
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On October 14 , three weeks after the death of the first dog, Land called the woman again and said he found her other two dogs dead in a bedroom.
This time, she became suspicious and took the animals to a veterinarian for a necropsy.
One was a 9-year-old white shepherd mix named Jackie, and the other was a 4-year-old black and tan mixed breed named Pikanik.
"Jackie and Pikanik both died from severe trauma with apparent intention to kill them," from a report from the veterinarian that examined the dogs.
"They both appear to have been brutally beaten while restrained with something over their heads to keep them quiet and unable to bite defensively."
According to investigators, Pikanik suffered more severe injuries, suggesting he struggled more and was harder to silence.
Animal Service officers interviewed Land about the dogs' deaths on Oct. 15.
Land fled San Diego the next day and was arrested April 19 in Greensboro, N.C., officials said.
Investigators eventually tracked him down in North Carolina and extradited him to San Diego.
Land, who had scratches on him after Jackie and Pikanik died, said they happened when he fell into a bush, according to the prosecutor Randall.
However investigators believe DNA evidence found on Pikanik's nails links Land to the killings.
"The dog's front claws were preserved. (Land's) DNA was found under Pikanik, the younger dog's nails," said Randall.
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Sentencing DATE IS SET: Tuesday November 8th at 1:30pm,
Department 31 #rd Floor
Hall of Justice -
330 W. Broadway San Diego, Ca 92101
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PETITIONED BY THE MAYOR OF SAN DIEGO
QUICK-SIGN PETITION HERE:
http://www.change.org/petitions/justice-for-three-murdered-family-dogs-in-san-diego
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Justice for Three Murdered Family Dogs in San Diego
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Why this is Important... more
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The Occupy Wall Street protest spread to Times Square today, and at 6:25 PM the police come in on horses as barricades fall. Some protesters try to help the police restore the barricades to protect the crowds from the horses. One cop strikes at protestors' hands where they touch the barricades. Fear is quite visible in cops' faces. Footage ends with a heartfelt plea for unity.The Occupy Wall Street protest spread to Times Square today, and at 6:25 PM the police... more
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