Today is the anniversary of PETA’s killing of Maya. On October 18, 2014, two PETA representatives backed their van up to a home in Parksley, VA, and threw biscuits to Maya, who was sitting on her porch. They were hoping to coax her off her property and give PETA the ability to claim she was a stray dog “at large” whom they could therefore legally impound. Maya refused to stay off the property and after…
The University of Denver has announced that they have completed research on the economic impact of Denver’s “pit bull” ban. The work — a collaboration that includes departments focused on law, public policy, animal studies, social work, economics, and business — found that enforcement of the ban has cost taxpayers over $100,000,000 over the last 30 years, but has not resulted in a measurable impact on public safety. The research also determined that enforcement is…
Petco announced this week that they will no longer be selling shock collars. In a press release, the company said shock collars cause “stress,” “fear,” and “pain” and have “no business” being sold by a company “dedicated to improving” the lives of companion animals. The company also said it was calling “on the rest of the pet industry” (i.e., Petsmart and other companies) “and anyone who loves pets to join our movement and help us…
If you could sit down and have a drink with any five people in history, who would be on your list? For everyone at the Winograd house, the top five always includes Henry Bergh. To those who have seen Redemption, my documentary film about the No Kill revolution in America or read the book on which it is based, Henry Bergh needs no introduction. To those who haven’t, Henry Bergh was a 19th Century animal…
For those who have been with me on this decades-long journey of saving animals, you know I have worked with legislators from both political parties to pass animal protection laws at the local, state, and federal level. You also know that I have worked with Democrats and Republicans to create No Kill communities in both blue states and the reddest parts of the reddest states. And you know that I have not shied away from…
As a society, we will soon stop feeding animals to other animals. For the first time, Bond Pet Foods grew real chicken protein in a biotech facility without harming any chickens. The chicken protein — grown from a one time draw of stem cells from a chicken — looks the same as chicken, tastes the same as chicken, and is molecularly identical to chicken because it is chicken. But no chickens suffered and no chickens…
The New York City Comptroller’s Office released its audit of the city pound system as part of its oversight to ensure “compliance with the requirements of its contract with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) regarding shelter conditions and animal care.” The audit found, “unacceptable humidity levels,” cats, rabbits and other small animals exposed to the sounds of barking dogs, expired food, expired medication, failure to vaccinate, “as well as a high rate…
The New York City pound announced it is going to kill dogs and it is blaming the victims. How? It treats dogs poorly. And because it does, the dogs become stressed. And because they are stressed, City officials have announced that they will be killed. “Chronic stress can really put behavioral health into question,” they recently announced, “and we are reaching a point with some of our dogs where keeping them alive but confined is…
An animal rescue group has filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, its pound system, the City’s mayor, and the General Manager of the pound for failing to take in stray and injured animals. It claims that animals are being turned away in two ways. First, by closing two of the city’s six shelters. Second, by often failing to accept them at the other four, using the pandemic as the excuse. According to…
In April of last year, National Park Service biologists in the Santa Monica (CA) Mountains tracked a mountain lion’s GPS collar after it sent out “a mortality signal.” They found the mountain lion, dubbed P-47, dead. P-47 weighed 150 pounds, the largest and most robust of any in the region. He was only three years old. What killed him? “[P]oisoning from anticoagulant rodenticide, commonly known as rat poison. Testing on a sample of his liver…