Salon.com > Animals http://www.salon.com Fri, 03 May 2013 14:50:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Can slaughterhouses be humane? http://www.salon.com/2013/04/21/is_there_such_thing_as_a_humane_slaughterhouse_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/21/is_there_such_thing_as_a_humane_slaughterhouse_partner/#comments Sun, 21 Apr 2013 14:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13275471 Modern Farmer A $5.25 all-beef hot dog at the Stang’s Hot Dogs and Sausages stand in the Corte Madera mall in Marin County, California, is labeled with enough buzzwords to satisfy the most discerning of foodies. “Contains no nitrates.” “Organic grass fed.” “Certified humane raised.” Its producer, Prather Ranch Meat Company, claims to be the most sustainably raised meat available, and Prather’s hot dog is the most popular item on Stang’s menu. “People pay extra for it,” says owner Jon Stanger. “The name Prather Ranch holds a lot of weight around here.”

The sprawling and lovely 34,000-acre ranch headquarters is located at the northernmost corner of California, near the Oregon border, with the volcanic Mount Shasta providing a scenic backdrop for the sometimes thousands of grazing cows. Prather’s web site describes the operation as “a unique closed-herd operation that raises its own hay, breeds its own cattle and does its own slaughter and processing.” The ranch was one of the first ranches to be certified organic for beef products and to gain Certified Humane Raised and Handled approval.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/21/is_there_such_thing_as_a_humane_slaughterhouse_partner/feed/ 10 Ten amazing memories: Heartwarming stories of my dog, Brando (2000-2013) http://www.salon.com/2013/04/12/ten_amazing_memories_heartwarming_stories_of_my_dog_brando_2000_2013/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/12/ten_amazing_memories_heartwarming_stories_of_my_dog_brando_2000_2013/#comments Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13268360 When I was in first grade, I wrote my first "published" story, for our school's mimeographed weekly publication. It was a memoir actually. It was the story of our family cat, Puss, who had just passed away. It was only relatively recently that the significance of this first piece of writing came clear to me: This was, at that point in my life, a huge, mysterious event. It read, in its entirety, "My cat died.  My cat is dead." I hadn't learned to be sentimental. Later that year, I discovered one of my first favorite books, "The Tenth Good Thing About Barney," by Judith Viorst.  It was about a boy whose cat dies, and his mother tells him he should think of 10 good things to say about Barney when they have a funeral in their yard.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/12/ten_amazing_memories_heartwarming_stories_of_my_dog_brando_2000_2013/feed/ 13 Are wolves and lions man’s best friends? http://www.salon.com/2013/04/07/are_wolves_and_lions_mans_best_friends_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/07/are_wolves_and_lions_mans_best_friends_partner/#comments Sun, 07 Apr 2013 14:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13262844 International Business Times

"What were you, raised by wolves?”

Parents usually ask this to cow an unruly child, but actually, when you think about it, the track record of wolf-raised children is pretty good. Mowgli anchored a best-selling book and a Disney movie; Romulus founded Rome. While wild animal encounters don’t always turn out as pleasant as “The Jungle Book,” there are plenty of children and adults that have been saved by wild creatures.

In 2005, a 12-year-old Ethiopian girl was reportedly saved from a group of kidnappers by three lions. Seven men had abducted the girl to try and force her into marrying one of them, and they had beaten her repeatedly. But the lions apparently chased off the men and stood guard over her until the police and her family came.

The case is particularly amazing because lions are well-known potential man-eaters. A 2005 study published in Nature found that lions had killed more than 563 people and injured 308 in Tanzania alone. But in this case, the lions may have been moved to sympathize with the girl because she was crying after being beaten.

“A young girl whimpering could be mistaken for the mewing sound from a lion cub, which in turn could explain why they didn’t eat her,” wildlife expert, Stuart Williams, in 2005, told the Associated Press.

Take heed: If you’re in need of leonine assistance, your best recourse may be to start sobbing uncontrollably.

If you’re looking for more long-term help from the animal kingdom, your better bet might lie with wolves, as Mowgli discovered. Don’t forget that Man’s Best Friend is almost genetically identical to a wolf; that’s why wolves and dogs can interbreed. Wolves do occasionally attack people – especially if they’re starving, habituated to humans or rabid – but despite their fierce portrayal in fairy tales and Liam Neeson movies, wolves actually are more likely to turn tail if they see a person.

“Most people don’t realize this, but wolves are wimps,” Utah State University ecologist and researcher Daniel MacNulty last year told National Geographic.

There are stories of wolves assisting children in the wilds of Russia and India, but these are hard to verify. One of the more famous stories of such wolf children, two girls, Amala and Kamala, was based on a single claim by the reverend who claimed to have discovered the girls.

Wild dogs have also occasionally been reported to take in runaway children, like the feral “Mowgli Boy” of Romania, who allegedly fled an abusive father.

Dolphins might be the most reliably altruistic animals in nature, with accounts of them saving humans stretching back to Greek mythology. There are numerous accounts of dolphins assisting injured podmates, beached whales and humans. A group of dolphins was reported to have circled around four swimmers in New Zealand to keep a great white shark at bay. Another pod protected a California surfer who had just been mauled by a great white.

Other cetaceans have a knack for altruism as well. In 2009, a beluga whale at a Chinese theme-park pushed a foundering freediver to the surface after the human’s legs cramped up.

It’s still unclear what motivates an animal to save a drowning swimmer or protect a girl from kidnappers,or raise a lost child; it seems to defy evolutionary sense. But altruism and cooperation may be just as natural as predation. Some experiments in humans suggest that generosity can induce the same kind of pleasurable reward in the brain that we get from food or sex. And if we're hard-wired to enjoy being nice, there might be similar setups in brains across the animal kingdom.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/07/are_wolves_and_lions_mans_best_friends_partner/feed/ 12 Military-trained dolphin killing machines are not on the loose http://www.salon.com/2013/03/13/military_trained_dolphin_killing_machines_are_not_on_the_loose/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/13/military_trained_dolphin_killing_machines_are_not_on_the_loose/#comments Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:12:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13227725 Everyone relax, a Tuesday report that three combat-trained dolphins from the Ukrainian army escaped has turned out to be a hoax. You are free to safely restart your regimen of power laps in the Black Sea.

The story took off after Russian news outlet RIA Novosti quoted an unconfirmed report on the alleged military program, which, admittedly, sounds terrifying. "The killer-dolphins will be trained to attack enemy combat swimmers using special knives or pistols fixed to their heads," according to the unnamed source. "We are now planning training exercises for counter-combat swimmer tasks in order to defend ships in port and on raids."

But a Wednesday report revealed the unnamed "expert" was actually a disgruntled museum employee, and that all of the Ukraine's military dolphins (yes, they apparently have those if you believe reports like this) are safe and accounted for, knife-faces and all.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/13/military_trained_dolphin_killing_machines_are_not_on_the_loose/feed/ 2 Stop dogging Michael Vick! http://www.salon.com/2013/03/12/michael_vick_calls_off_his_book_tour/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/12/michael_vick_calls_off_his_book_tour/#comments Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:11:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13226988 Delete it from your iCal: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and convicted former animal abuser Michael Vick will not be appearing in a bookstore near you any time soon. His publisher announced this week he has withdrawn from a scheduled book tour due to "credible threats."  Nice grasp of how it works, bullies. Because nothing says I am a compassionate humanitarian who's on the higher moral ground than anybody else like throwing around a few threats of violence.

Vick, who served over a year and a half in prison after pleading guilty in 2007 to felony charges regarding a dogfighting ring, has spent the past six years trying to prove he's a changed man. Since serving his sentence, he's not just gone back to his football career; he's become a volunteer for the Humane Society, speaking out in schools and public events about animal abuse and dogfighting. Last year, his foundation gave $200,000 to renovate a rundown local Philadelphia football field. He even became a dog owner, and when the news of his family's new addition emerged, he announced, "I want to ensure that my children establish a loving bond and treat all of God’s creatures with kindness and respect. Our pet is well cared for and loved as a member of our family. To that end, I will continue to honor my commitment to animal welfare and be an instrument of positive change." And now, he's written a memoir for a Christian book publisher with the hopeful title, "Finally Free" – a tale his publicity materials describe as the story of "how a broken man sought and received forgiveness for his wrongs."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/12/michael_vick_calls_off_his_book_tour/feed/ 43 Save the rhino! http://www.salon.com/2013/03/09/save_the_rhino_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/09/save_the_rhino_partner/#comments Sat, 09 Mar 2013 20:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13222903 Like the dodo, the dinosaur, and the pig-footed bandicoot (maybe), the western black rhinoceros is now a thing of the past, hunted to extinction for its horn. And small wonder. Despite being banned in 1977, the rhino horn trade is flourishing. Twenty years ago, a kilo of horn went for $4,700. Today, it sells for $65,000, making it more valuable than either gold or cocaine. Poaching is on the rise, and by some accounts, the number of endangered (but not yet extinct) white rhino killed doubles each year. By 2035, African wildlands could be devoid of the animal.
Pacific Standard

As parties to the international Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) meet in Bangkok this week, a team of Australian conservationists are presenting an unusual—and controversial—proposal: in order to save the remaining African rhinos, farm them for their horns.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/09/save_the_rhino_partner/feed/ 14 Polar bear trade to remain legal http://www.salon.com/2013/03/07/polar_bear_trade_to_remain_legal/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/07/polar_bear_trade_to_remain_legal/#comments Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:11:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13221965 An Obama proposal to ban the trade of polar bear pelts, hides and other body parts was rejected by an international gathering of conservationists after a plea from Canadian Inuits. The ban was intended to help save the wild polar bear population, as global warming threatens to reduce its numbers by as much as two thirds in coming decades. But the Canadians claimed that “selling polar bear hides enables us to support ourselves,” Terry Audla, a spokesman for the Inuits, told the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), according to the Washington Post:

Canada is the only nation with polar bears that allows sports hunting. With two-thirds of the world’s polar bear population, Canada exports several hundred polar bear hides and parts for sale each year.

...Each year, an average of 3,200 items made from polar bears – including skins, claws, and teeth – are reported to be exported or re-exported from countries in which the animals live. Polar bear hides sell for an average of $2,000 to $5,000, while maximum hide prices have topped $12,000.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/07/polar_bear_trade_to_remain_legal/feed/ 7 My best relationship is with my dog http://www.salon.com/2013/02/23/dog_is_love/ http://www.salon.com/2013/02/23/dog_is_love/#comments Sat, 23 Feb 2013 14:00:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13208641 The bag of ashes is no bigger than a dimebag, but dense with the gray remains of what had been a beloved dog. The woman beside me murmurs his name—Poochie—when she takes the bag from a vet tech who can only say that he’s sorry. I instantly wish I hadn’t heard the name, as if the mere mention of poor doomed Poochie will jinx my Tova, my German shepherd. She’s flattened all 80 pounds of herself against my legs, smacking her mouth and whimpering.

We are here because Tova began pacing my apartment, her tongue shooting out of her snout; she worked her jaws and licked the air. The vet tech who answered the phone, the same one who hands Poochie’s owner a leash and collar with a heart-shaped tag, told me to bring her in right away: “It could be gastric torsion.” Gastric torsion: The belly, swollen with gas, crushes the diaphragm, pinches blood from the heart. It could kill my sweet girl—the one who finally wakes me with head-butts and nuzzling after the alarm has gone off; the one who dances when my key turns in the door—within an hour.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/02/23/dog_is_love/feed/ 43 Seedy side of the circus http://www.salon.com/2013/02/17/seedy_side_of_the_circus_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/02/17/seedy_side_of_the_circus_partner/#comments Sun, 17 Feb 2013 22:00:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13202048 In documenting the rough corners of 1970s New York, Jill Freedman brought out with her photography something old-school lurid; like the flashbulb exposures of Weegee and Brassaï in the decades before, she always offered a startlingly and very human view on her street subjects. When in 1971 the photographer, then in her early 30s, borrowed a white Volkswagen bus to join the circus for two months, she turned her 35-mm camera on the claustrophobia of the caged animals and strange lives of the clowns and performers.

Circus Days
Two photographs by Jill Freedman from “Circus Days” (1971), vintage gelatin silver prints

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/02/17/seedy_side_of_the_circus_partner/feed/ 0 Save the wolverines! http://www.salon.com/2013/02/17/save_the_wolverines_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/02/17/save_the_wolverines_partner/#comments Sun, 17 Feb 2013 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13202915 OnEarth When 18th century zoologists gave the largest land-dwelling member of the weasel family the scientific name Gulo gulo -- which translates, not so roughly, to gluttonous glutton -- they were foreshadowing what would be mankind’s rather one-dimensional view of the creature we now know as the wolverine. The black-and-white, 30-pound, bushy-tailed scavenger has come to loom as a voracious, flesh-ripping hellion in our popular imagination -- largely, it seems, because we don’t know much about it.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/02/17/save_the_wolverines_partner/feed/ 1 Scientists release most precise date of dinosaur extinction http://www.salon.com/2013/02/09/scientists_release_most_precise_date_of_dinosaur_extinction_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/02/09/scientists_release_most_precise_date_of_dinosaur_extinction_partner/#comments Sat, 09 Feb 2013 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13195721 Global Post

An international team of scientists has come up with the most precise date yet for the extinction of the dinosaurs, BBC News reported. Their radiometric dating analysis of rock and ash samples indicates that the dinosaurs died out 66,038,000 years ago, plus or minus 11,000 years.

The findings of the researchers, from the Berkeley Geochronology Center and the University of California at Berkeley in the US, Glasgow University in the UK and Vrije University Amsterdam in the Netherlands, appear in the Feb. 8 issue of the journal Science.

The new extinction date supports the theory that the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, which killed off all dinosaurs except the birds, was caused by an asteroid or comet slamming into what is now Mexico, BBC News reported. The revised date is no more than 33,000 years after an asteroid collision created a 110-mile-wide crater near the Mexican town of Chicxulub.

According to LiveScience:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/02/09/scientists_release_most_precise_date_of_dinosaur_extinction_partner/feed/ 7 Minn. cancels moose hunting as population plummets http://www.salon.com/2013/02/06/minn_cancels_moose_hunting_as_population_plummets_2/ http://www.salon.com/2013/02/06/minn_cancels_moose_hunting_as_population_plummets_2/#comments Wed, 06 Feb 2013 18:24:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13192599 MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota officials are canceling the state's moose hunting season because of a sharp decline in the moose population.

Department of Natural Resources officials say their annual aerial survey to estimate the moose population was "extremely disappointing," at about 2,760 animals.

Minnesota's moose population was estimated at a little more than 4,200 in last winter's survey. That number was already down by half from 2006.

Researchers are studying why one of Minnesota's signature animals is dwindling. Scientists think warmer weather, parasites and disease are contributing factors.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/02/06/minn_cancels_moose_hunting_as_population_plummets_2/feed/ 0 Is your dog smarter than other dogs? http://www.salon.com/2013/02/05/is_your_dog_smarter_than_other_dogs/ http://www.salon.com/2013/02/05/is_your_dog_smarter_than_other_dogs/#comments Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:08:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13191743 "Aren't you just the smartest little guy in the whole entire world?"

Be honest: You've probably said this to your dog before. Maybe it's because he once successfully fetched a tennis ball that was hidden by some bushes. Or how about that time he barked in the direction of your apartment keys while you were looking for them? Or perhaps it's how he can make toaster waffles for you in the morning. (OK, that last one is actually really smart.)

If you are looking to quantify that hunch about your pup's superior brain power, there is now an app for you.

Duke University's "Dognition" project is trying to revolutionize scientific understanding of canine cognition by crowdsourcing data about man's best friends from around the world.

"In a weekend, we could have 10,000, maybe 50,000 people give data," Brian Hare, associate professor in evolutionary anthropology at Duke, director of Duke's Canine Cognition Center and creator of the "Dognition" app, told LiveScience. "I can't even say how big of a quantum leap this will be."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/02/05/is_your_dog_smarter_than_other_dogs/feed/ 2 Chefs face jail time for serving endangered whale meat http://www.salon.com/2013/02/04/chefs_face_jail_time_for_serving_endangered_whale_meat/ http://www.salon.com/2013/02/04/chefs_face_jail_time_for_serving_endangered_whale_meat/#comments Mon, 04 Feb 2013 22:19:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13190783 A restaurant at the Santa Monica, Calif., airport closed its doors and its chef and parent company were charged with misdemeanors after a sting operation coordinated by federal agents and animal rights captured them offering "pink broad slices" of what turned out to be Sei whale, an endangered species. The operation was captured by a documentary film crew.

And now, three years later, two chefs and the ownership of the Hump's parent company are being charged with nine counts of conspiracy to import and sell whale meat, felonies that could carry hefty prison sentences.

As reported by the Los Angeles Times:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/02/04/chefs_face_jail_time_for_serving_endangered_whale_meat/feed/ 9 Killer whales escape wall of ice in Canada’s Hudson Bay http://www.salon.com/2013/01/10/a_pod_of_killer_whales_trapped_in_ice_near_quebec/ http://www.salon.com/2013/01/10/a_pod_of_killer_whales_trapped_in_ice_near_quebec/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:30:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13166186 Updated: Thursday, January 10 at 1:29 PM

Happy news! A report from the BBC confirms that the 12 killer whales trapped in a frozen bay have escaped through an opening in the ice.

On Wednesday, residents of Inukjuaq, a nearby fishing village, asked the Canadian government to send icebreaker ships to help free the whales, but Inukjuak Mayor Peter Inukpuk said the ships were too far away to help.

--

About 12 killer whales have been trapped in a small ice breach near northern Quebec since Monday. Miles of ice separate the animals from open water, requiring an ice breaker to free them.

That's the trouble, says Sarollie Weetalutuk, mayor of Inukjuaq, a nearby fishing village.

“People here have mixed feelings about the situation,” he told the Montreal Gazette. “We want to see them free but we also want them to go away. Killer whales eat seals and belugas. The seal hunt is a huge part of our economy.”

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/01/10/a_pod_of_killer_whales_trapped_in_ice_near_quebec/feed/ 16 Cute science: Pandas can help fight superbugs http://www.salon.com/2013/01/08/cute_science_pandas_can_help_fight_superbugs/ http://www.salon.com/2013/01/08/cute_science_pandas_can_help_fight_superbugs/#comments Tue, 08 Jan 2013 16:51:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13164765 Fighting drug-resistant microorganisms has never been so adorable!

Researchers at the Life Sciences College of Nanjing Agricultural University in China recently discovered that the endangered giant panda has a potent antimicrobial compound in its bloodstream. Known as cathelicidin-AM, the compound can kill a wide range of bacteria, including those that are resistant to antibiotics.

According to the Daily Telegraph, cathelicidin-AM was able to kill bacteria in less than an hour -- five hours faster than other widely used antibiotics.

The discovery may lead to increased interest in preserving the population of wild pandas. There are about 1,600 left in the wild, and more than 300 pandas live in zoos and breeding centers around the world, mostly in China.

And for those worried that this scientific breakthrough will lead to pandas being killed for their amazing antibiotic blood: fear not. The compound can be manufactured synthetically in the laboratory.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/01/08/cute_science_pandas_can_help_fight_superbugs/feed/ 0 Must-see morning clip http://www.salon.com/2013/01/02/must_see_morning_clip_82/ http://www.salon.com/2013/01/02/must_see_morning_clip_82/#comments Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:18:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13159524 This video probably won't help you follow-through on your New Year's resolutions, but it will at least make your Wednesday morning a little brighter:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/01/02/must_see_morning_clip_82/feed/ 0 Weird news: 60-foot beached whale dies on shores of New York City http://www.salon.com/2012/12/27/weird_news_60_foot_beached_whale_dies_on_shores_of_new_york_city/ http://www.salon.com/2012/12/27/weird_news_60_foot_beached_whale_dies_on_shores_of_new_york_city/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2012 20:50:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13156000 The "sickly" and "emaciated" 60-foot finback whale beached on the shoreline at Breezy Point in Queens, New York, yesterday, is now dead. The whale was originally given a grim prognosis, as biologists noticed that at 60 tons, the whale was extremely underweight. Mendy Garron, a marine-mammal rescue coordinator with the National Marine Fisheries Service, told the New York Times, "When large whales strand, it’s very difficult,” adding, "The minute they get on the beach they’re being compromised because their internal organs are being crushed by their weight.”

Now biologists are working on a necropsy plan and will determine how to dispose of the whale's large body; the finback whale is the second-longest animal on Earth, behind the blue whale.

Video of the beached whale via the New York Post, below:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/12/27/weird_news_60_foot_beached_whale_dies_on_shores_of_new_york_city/feed/ 5 Growing animal rescue group is work of teen actor http://www.salon.com/2012/11/27/growing_animal_rescue_group_is_work_of_teen_actor_2/ http://www.salon.com/2012/11/27/growing_animal_rescue_group_is_work_of_teen_actor_2/#comments Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:11:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13108161 LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The person behind one of the country's fastest-growing animal rescues can't even vote yet. And neither can most of the people leading its 10 chapters across the nation.

Lou Wegner, a 16-year-old actor and singer from Columbus, Ohio, started Kids Against Animal Cruelty when he was 14. The organization, which uses social networking to encourage adoptions at high-kill animal shelters, has helped 20,000 pets escape euthanasia in two years.

Lou said he became aware of euthanasia at shelters when he went to Los Angeles to make the short film "Be Good to Eddie Lee." The director suggested that he volunteer at an animal shelter.

Until then, Lou thought shelters were safe havens for strays and lost pets. "It was heartbreaking. All these dogs crying in their cages. Knowing they would be put down broke my heart," he said.

The group started with Lou and his friends, carrying signs on street corners, and a Facebook page with 47 friends. Now it has more than 12,000 U.S. members and 50,000 members, supporters and partner coalitions across the globe, he said.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/11/27/growing_animal_rescue_group_is_work_of_teen_actor_2/feed/ 0 Weird news: Spanish pol under fire for posing with deer testicles http://www.salon.com/2012/11/21/weird_news_spanish_pol_under_fire_for_posing_with_deer_testicles/ http://www.salon.com/2012/11/21/weird_news_spanish_pol_under_fire_for_posing_with_deer_testicles/#comments Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:52:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13104714 Bizarre pictures of Carlos Delgado, Minister of Tourism for Spain's Balearic Islands, posing with deer testicles and a deer corpse, have gone viral after being published in a Mallorca newspaper.

The photos were taken on a hunt last year, when Delgado served as the mayor of the Calvià municipality.

Chesús Yuste, of the Parliamentary Association in Defense of Animals, has deemed the picture an example of "animal abuse," saying, “This kind of action should disappear for the good of society and for the mental health of all. This is harming Spain's image and dragging the country back to the 11th Century."

“He is a minister for tourism, but what kind of tourism is he promoting here?” Yuste asked.

h/t Daily News

 

 

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