How 9/11 Was a Relief for Whales
For the rest of the day on September 11, 2001 after the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, whales in the North Atlantic must have been heaving a huge sigh of relief. They could hear properly again.
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Westminster Porn Show
One of the world's few remaining pageants of objectification and commoditization.
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The ‘Animal Rights’ Paradox
How's the animal rights movement doing? If you rate it by the simple question "How many animals have rights?" you'd have to say "Not very well." Call it the animal rights paradox.
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At Sundance, a Triumph for "Unlocking the Cage"
Premiered at Sundance, the movie follows attorney Steven M. Wise as he argues to a high court judges that chimpanzee Tommy has the capacity for legal rights and should be set free…
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Pigs: Smart & Machiavellian
Winston Churchill famously said: “A dog looks up to you; a cat looks down on you; only a pig treats you as an equal.” But that, of course, is hardly how we treat them…
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Half the World’s Wildlife Destroyed in the Last 40 Years
In a sane world, it would be headline news. Everything else would immediately come to a screeching halt to make way for a massive, worldwide attempt to turn things around. (Of…
The Whale Who Took Down SeaWorld
Egg Industry Concession Is No ‘Victory’
For Chimps, the End of Vivisection, Almost
Cecil Is the Least of It
Dolphins Surf with Boy
Keith Overton was recording video of his son, Mitchell, wake surfing behind their boat near St. Pete Beach, Florida yesterday. A couple of dolphins decided to join in on the fun.
PETA and SeaWorld Square Off at Court Hearing
Yesterday, a Federal Court in San Diego held a hearing on a Motion to Dismiss filed by SeaWorld in a case where PETA claimed that SeaWorld was enslaving orcas in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
War Dogs Get Robo-Trainer – ‘RATS’
It’s the Rugged Automated Training System – RATS, the latest Pentagon venture to turn furry animals into bomb detectors.
Dogs With a Nose for Poop
Scientists trying to determine why killer whales are dying off are getting help from dogs; specifically, their keen sense of smell. In Washington State’s Puget Sound, scientists are examining the feces of killer whales to determine if factors such as pollution, boat traffic, and eating habits are to blame for the mammals’ declining population.
Dolphins at War – 40 Years Ago
After seeing our report on the U.S. Navy once again deploying its dolphin conscripts to the Persian Gulf, a reader wrote in to remind us about a 60 Minutes story from back in 1973, when Morley Safer interviewed various dolphin trainers and military personnel.
Whale and Dolphin Playing Together?
Many species interact in the wild, most often as predator and prey. But recent encounters between humpback whales and bottlenose dolphins reveal a playful side to interspecies interaction.
Peter Singer on the Dolphin Conscripts
Animal rights philosopher Peter Singer weighs in on the question of whether the U.S. military has any right to use dolphins as minesweepers in the Persian Gulf.
Dolphins Deployed to Persian Gulf
In 2010, the Seattle Times reported that the Navy has 80 bottlenose dolphins in the San Diego Bay alone. They are taught to hunt for mines and drop acoustic transponders nearby.
The Crow Who Goes Snowboarding
Can anyone doubt that this crow is simply having a great time in the snow with his/her “snowboard”? This amateur video, shot from a high-rise window in Russia, speaks volumes about a crow’s inner life. That it is play is undeniable. And there’s much more: tool use, planning, the emotion of fun.
Orcas Frolick in the Ocean near Seattle
A family of orcas in Puget Sound off the coast of Seattle yesterday.
How to Get a Good New Home: Get Gassed!
Check this out: An “unadoptable” pet gets gassed at the shelter, but survives and finds a home. So now they’re looking for better ways to kill the dogs and cats!
Bird Flu – "Not If But When"
The H5N1 virus (aka bird flu) is rearing its head again in Asia, where huge, dirty, inhumane chicken markets are a breeding ground for dangerous bugs and viruses that can be carried around the world by humans, by birds or by other animals.
Happy New Year, Baby Orca J-48
Keep baby J-48 in your thoughts this Holiday weekend. She’s the third calf to be born to the extended family of orcas (killer whales) known as the J pod. The calf, the third to be born this year among the three pods, was first observed last weekend by NOAA researchers.
Chimp Research: The End in Sight?
The good news is that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has accepted the recommendations of an expert panel to cut way back on using chimpanzees in medical research.
More Chimps Go to Sanctuary
It’s first-class travel for Bradley the chimp. He’s one of the last of the chimps on their way from the former Coulston Research Facility to a new home in Florida.
Polite Bear Waves Back
This friendly bear is like the classic old guy on the front porch who waves at passing cars. The bear was just hanging out at the Olympic Game Farm sanctuary in Washington state when a family drove by.
Looking Up for Elephants and Orcas
There’s a lot of long, hard work to be done on behalf of these animals and others. But never before have there been so many lawsuits and government actions being leveled against the captivity industry.
Daniel the ‘Miracle’ Dog Goes on TV
Daniel, the dog who survived the gas chamber at an Alabama pound, made his first TV appearance on Anderson Cooper’s new daytime TV show
‘Look Where I’m Pointing’
We humans point at things with our fingers, or by motioning with our head and eyes. Other apes do much the same thing. Now we know that raven do it, too. In their case, they point with their beaks.