India Bans Dolphinariums
Good news, for a change! The Government of India has issued a nationwide ban on keeping dolphins in captivity. The ban had been under consideration for…
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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
Unintended Sky Burial with Vultures
A campaign against Griffon vultures has been gathering steam in France after the body of a hiker, who had fallen off a cliff to her death,…
Giant Governor Squishes Tiny Spider
One small spider: less than an ounce. One New Jersey governor: around 330 pounds. The governor heaves himself over to his desk in front of a…
The Nonhuman Rights Project
The great irony of the animal rights movement is that there is, to this day, still only one species that has any rights at all: humans.…
Orcas Race Boat
This may be the first ever video of orcas racing a boat for so long – an hour in this case. [readon] The boat was carrying…
What Happened to My Home?
Take note, fellow humans: What we do to the koalas’ homes we’re ultimately doing to our own home. (This little person’s home was demolished in Australia’s…
A Day for Lab Animals
It’s World Day for Laboratory Animals – April 24th. The day was set up in the U.K. in 1979 to mark the birthday of the heroic Air…
Of Humans and Persons
Are all humans “persons” as far as the law is concerned? Are all “persons” humans? People manage to get quite confused about this, and it’s a…
Four Reasons Why Cloning Extinct Animals Is Wrong
Last month, I wrote that the buzz about cloning extinct animals like the woolly mammoth isn’t really to do with conservation, as many of the people…
Are There ‘Better’ Ways to Kill Dolphins?
A new study by four scientists is arguing for more “humane” ways of killing the dolphins at the annual Taiji massacre in Japan. (That’s the massacre…
Dolphin Funeral Procession
Tourists on a whale-watching expedition off the coast of California were hoping for something like a dolphin stampede. Instead, they found themselves witnessing a funeral.
Why Dead Pigs Are Floating Down a Chinese River
First it was 7,500 dead pigs floating down the Huangpu River two weeks ago, as it was winding its way through Shanghai. A few days later, it had risen to 13,000. And right now it’s over 16,000.
No one seems to know where they came from.
Nor how 1,000 dead ducks were floating in the Nanhe river in China’s southwestern Sichuan Province.
The Other Iraq War
It’s the anniversary of the “shock and awe” invasion of Iraq. And while we’re all being reminded of the colossal cost of our ongoing wars and…
Conversation with a Whale
“I’m a whale. Not to brag, but my brain is really, really big.” “I’m a human. My brain is really big, too. In fact, we humans…
Dear Michael . . .
Dear Michael Vick, Sorry to hear you can’t understand why people are angry that you’re doing the rounds of the book stores with your new book,…
Couscous and Miss PoPsicle
Why did Couscous, a male lion at the zoo/sanctuary Cat Haven in California, attack and kill young intern Dianna Hanson yesterday? Why did he not just…
Morrissey v. Jimmy Kimmel
Singer Morrissey turned down an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” after learning that the stars of “Duck Dynasty”, a hunting show, would be appearing, too. “I…
Biggest Dolphin Stampede Ever?
Superpod of dolphins by whale-watcher Antonio Ramirez This “superpod” of dolphins had thousands of common dolphins spread out over an area 7 miles long by 5…
A Tale of Two Tanks
Candace Calloway Whiting compares how we treat pets like hamsters in our homes to how we treat orcas in captivity at marine circuses like SeaWorld.
SeaWorld Discloses ‘Risk Factors’ in IPO
SeaWorld Entertainment, apparently under pressure from the Securities and Exchange Commission, has filed a revised prospectus for its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. Corporations preparing to go public on the stock market are required to let potential investors know the “risk factors” that may be involved. And SeaWorld wasn’t too keen on letting investors know how public opinion could be starting to turn against these circus shows.