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9:47 AM, November 19, 2008
From the Associated Press: LEWISBURG, W.Va. (AP) — A video released by an animal rights group on Tuesday claims to show horrific abuse of turkeys at West Virginia farms operated by major global poultry grower Aviagen Inc.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said the video, which includes workers stomping on turkeys' heads and twisting their necks to kill them, was shot by an undercover investigator who worked on the companies' farms for more than two months.
The undercover worker, who was not identified, described stifling, dusty barns where the animals were kept and caught video of several workers killing turkeys, slamming them into metal cages and bragging about previous abuse of the animals.
A company official told The New York Times that they "condemn the abuse of any of the animals in our care and will take swift action to address these issues." They said they would investigate the allegations, which could lead to firing employees who were involved.
Read more Just in time for Thanksgiving, allegations of turkey abuse »
2:11 PM, October 25, 2008
Trapped for nearly a month this summer in an intake channel near a Long Beach power plant, she was a 38-pound turtle in range of people who tried to snag it with hooks or impale her with makeshift spears.
After she was finally rescued, the green sea turtle was moved into the veterinary emergency ward at the Aquarium of the Pacific, where officials found she had suffered from a number of painful injuries: broken digits, infected lacerations in two front flippers, a 3-inch gash on her carapace and a fishing hook in her rear flipper.
The Times' Louis Sahagun writes: "She's been a good patient -- sea turtles usually are," aquarium veterinarian Lance Adams said. "Reptiles have an incredible ability to wall off infections, isolate them and heal around them."
This week, nearly two months after it was rescued, the turtle's condition had improved dramatically and it was cleared to return to the wilds within a week or two.
If the turtle's survival is remarkable, so is the place it will eventually be set free: a heavily industrialized stretch of the San Gabriel River where federal biologists recently discovered a resident colony of green sea turtles.
Federal biologists have launched a study of this unexpected colony to determine its size and, most intriguingly, why it appeared in what hardly could be called tropical waters.
The Times' has a comprehensive online package of the turtle's tale with not only Sahagun's story but a video he created (also below) and photo gallery by Mel Melcon.
--Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times
2:18 PM, October 23, 2008
From the Associated Press comes the latest on a pig abuse case in Iowa exposed by PETA: A company said it fired the manager of an Iowa hog farming operation where workers were videotaped abusing pigs and six were charged this week with crimes.
The announcement by Fairmont, Minn.-based MowMar Farms followed a decision by the Greene County sheriff on Wednesday to charge the six employees with animal abuse and neglect. The six farmworkers also are no longer employed by the company, MowMar said.
The company did not release the name of the fired manager, but a MowMar spokeswoman, Julie Becker, said Thursday that the person was not among those who have been charged.
The farm near Bayard, Iowa, supplies Hormel Foods Corp. of Austin, Minn.
A video released by the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals a month ago depicts workers hitting sows with metal rods, slamming piglets on a concrete floor and bragging about jamming rods into the anus of sows.
In the statement, company officials “expressed surprise and outrage over the images of animal mistreatment.”
PETA had complained earlier this week that the manager of the farm remained employed.
Abuse of livestock and aiding and abetting the abuse of livestock both carry penalties of up to two years in prison and a $6,250 fine, according to the Iowa attorney general's office. The neglect charge is punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $625 fine.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Associated Press
1:44 PM, October 10, 2008
The owners of a family-run horse ranch near Frazier Park were taken into custody this week after investigators allegedly found 55 malnourished horses on their property.
Joan Bor, 65, her son Ernie Bor, 30, and his wife, Cecilia Bor, 35, were arrested on multiple felony counts of animal cruelty after a search warrant was served at Cochema Ranch, Ventura County authorities said. The three were booked into Ventura County Jail on Wednesday on $10,000 bail each, said Capt. Ross Bonfiglio of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.
The Bors stabled more than 100 horses on the 21-acre ranch, located in the 16000 block of Curtis Trail in Lockwood Valley.
Investigators were called in when a neighbor reported that some of the animals appeared emaciated.
Thirty-eight horses were removed on Wednesday and taken to a Humane Society shelter in Ojai, Bonfiglio said. An additional 13 horses had already been removed Sept. 24 to another Ventura County shelter, he said. The remaining horses will remain at the ranch under the supervision of the Ventura County Animal Regulation Department.
An agent with the U.S. Forest Service was seriously injured during Wednesday’s confiscation when a horse reared up and struck her in the torso while another horse trampled her, Bonfiglio said. Heather Campbell was airlifted to the Ventura County Medical Center for treatment and was in stable condition Thursday, officials said.
-- Catherine Saillant
6:38 PM, September 27, 2008
From the Associated Press: HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — A wildlife group has increased its reward for information about 11 pelicans found with intentionally broken wings on a stretch of Southern California’s Bolsa Chica State Beach.
The Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach said this week that it was boosting its reward for information that leads to a conviction in the case from $5,000 to $20,000 after other groups added contributions. The birds washed into shore earlier this month with their wings snapped so that their bones were exposed. Only one pelican survived. The female bird is recovering at the center.
3:07 PM, September 25, 2008
A former Southern California slaughterhouse worker was sentenced Wednesday to nine months in jail and probation after being caught on undercover video abusing sick and injured cows, leading to the largest beef recall in U.S. history, the Associated Press reports: Daniel Ugarte Navarro, 49, was sentenced after pleading no contest in June to two felony counts of animal cruelty and two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to downed animals. (Navarro, left, is pictured above standing outside Chino Superior Court after his sentencing. With him is defense attorney Ruben Salazar.)
Navarro can serve his jail time on weekends in a work-release program, must attend counseling and must serve three years of felony probation, said Susan Mickey, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County district attorney. He could also serve the time through electronic monitoring at the discretion of the jail, she said.
Another worker, Rafael Sanchez Herrera, pleaded guilty in March to three misdemeanor counts of illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal and was sentenced to six months in jail.
The undercover video shot by the Humane Society of the United States led to a federal investigation and the recall of 143 million pounds of beef in February. The video shows workers at Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. dragging sick cows with metal chains and forklifts, shocking them with electric prods and shooting streams of water in their noses and faces.
Salazar told the Associated Press that his client was just following orders and that prosecutors overcharged Navarro to appease an angry public and animal-rights activists.
--Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: David Bauman / The Press-Enterprise via the Associated Press
6:42 PM, September 21, 2008
Police have arrested a 20-year-old man on suspicion of stealing dead animals from a veterinary hospital morgue and stuffing them into empty lockers at a Bay Area high school, the Associated Press reports: Police say Brian Goett admitted that he took the bodies of two cats and a 25-pound dog from an unlocked freezer behind the VetCare Hospital in Dublin. He said he then put the dead animals in lockers at Dublin High School before classes started Aug. 25.
Goett told police he thought it was a practical joke.
Goett was arrested at his Pleasanton home Friday afternoon on suspicion of grand theft, tampering with school property and improper disposal of animals.
The Bay Area CBS affiliate has a video report.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
3:07 PM, September 19, 2008
Eleven pelicans have been found on Bolsa Chica State Beach in Huntington Beach this week with their wings intentionally broken, prompting an investigation by federal wildlife authorities and the offer of a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
The sole pelican to survive is being cared for at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach, which put up the reward.
Ten of the birds were less than 1 year old and were probably feeding in the water; residents have reported seeing fishing boats close to shore in recent days, said Lisa Birkle, the center's assistant wildlife director.
"The birds targeted are new birds arriving from the Channel Islands," she said. "They are young and inexperienced and don't have a fear of humans. . . . Because they're so hungry, they'll go right up to people."
With ocean temperatures around 70 degrees, small fish that would normally provide food for the birds near the water's surface have submerged deeper in search of cooler water.
Nine pelicans were found Monday by a Bolsa Chica lifeguard. The two others were found near the same lifeguard tower in subsequent days. Birkle said the injuries were consistent.
"Someone is snapping the wings backward," she said.
Because the pelicans were found wet with sand packed into their exposed wounds, it is suspected that they were injured in the water and dragged themselves up on shore.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the incidents, Birkle said.
-- Mike Anton
Photo: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times
11:43 AM, September 19, 2008
The Associated Press reports:
DES MOINES --
The operators of an Iowa farm where an animal rights group captured video of workers abusing pigs said Thursday they are taking steps to ensure they stop mistreating animals.
MowMar LLP of Fairmont, Minn., said in a statement that it's "surprised and outraged" by the actions captured this summer in undercover video by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. MowMar purchased the Greene County, Iowa, farm last month from an Iowa company.
"As a family owned farm operation with over 30 years in the swine business, MowMar farms does not and will not tolerate the mistreatment of any animals under our husbandry and we take these PETA allegations very seriously," the company said.
MowMar officials said they met early Thursday with PETA officials to talk about what actions are being taken to correct the situation.
Among those are:
- Initiating an investigation of the incidents, policies and personnel that were in place before the acquisition of the farm.
- Firing employees who are found to have abused animals.
- Inviting an animal handling expert to the farm to review policies and procedures, and to serve as an independent authority providing additional guidance and best practices.
- Researching the use of video monitoring equipment as a tool to oversee herd care.
The company promised that any policies and procedures not consistent with generally accepted standards for the treatment of farm animals would be revised and strengthened.
The PETA video, shot by undercover employees from June through this month, graphically depicts workers castrating piglets and cutting their tails off without anesthetic, slamming piglets who aren't deemed healthy enough on the ground to kill them, repeatedly kicking pigs and hitting them with rods. In at least one instance, a pig had paint sprayed into its snout and onto its face. (The video is currently posted on L.A. Unleashed.)
Greene County Sheriff Tom Heater said Thursday that authorities have been interviewing employees at the hog farm near Bayard, about 60 miles west of Des Moines. There are a number of employees who still need to be interviewed, he said, but he hopes to meet soon with prosecutors and have charges filed by the middle of next week.
3:36 PM, September 12, 2008
 Remember the great white shark that the Monterey Bay Aquarium released after 11 days because it wouldn't eat? She had to be freed again, this time after getting caught in a fishing net.- A Glendora family came home last night to find a bear playing with a soccer ball in their front yard.
- An Australian animal rights group has launched a national search for a young man who was featured violently beating a kangaroo in an online video.
- A Texas software executive is in court for allegedly allowing hunters to kill 32 of his neighbor's bison because they roamed onto his Fairplay, Colo., ranch.
- Zoologists have captured a photo of a wild okapi, a relative of the giraffe with zebra-like stripes on its legs and rear. Scientist say the photographs are evidence that the creature, well known to zoo visitors, has survived in the wild in its native Democratic Republic of the Congo despite poaching and civil war.
-- Tony Barboza
Photos: Monterey Bay Aquarium; Associated Press/The Zoological Society of London
12:37 PM, September 12, 2008
A 28-year-old man pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of animal cruelty in a bizarre New Year's Eve incident in which he leaped off the San Diego-Coronado Bridge with an Oceanside police dog biting his arm. The dog died in the fall.
Cory Nathaniel Byron also pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony counts of drunk driving and evading arrest. The incident began with Byron being chased for 45 miles by Oceanside police along Interstate 5. When he stopped on the bridge, a police dog named Stryker was sent to subdue him.
Byron, who has two previous drunk driving convictions, suffered a collapsed lung and other injuries. He faces four years in prison when sentenced Oct. 29 in Vista Superior Court.
-- Tony Perry, in San Diego
10:57 AM, September 11, 2008
Considered to be the second break-in at a fur ranching outfit in Oregon this year, the Animal Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for last week's release of hundreds of mink from the S&N Fur Farm in Scio. Bryan Denson of the Oregonian reports: The saboteurs wrote that they released as many as 150 mink in Thursday's raid. But ranch owner Ed Sandberg confirmed today that 215 mink were set free after someone cut a hole in his fence.
The ALF saboteurs wrote a communique, passed to The Oregonian Monday morning, explaining that their actions were inspired by releases last month in Jordan, Utah of 600 mink and in Aldergrove, British Columbia of 6,000 mink.
"This is our path through this chaotic and frustrating world," the saboteurs concluded. "Our wisdom will appear to you long before we will. Till the last cage is empty, till all beings are free. ALF."
The ALF struck the Jefferson Fur Farm in April, releasing 53 mink, all of which were recovered, according to the ranch.
FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele confirmed today that agents are investigating the case. The bureau describes the Animal Liberation Front as one of the nation's leading domestic terrorist groups.
Fur industry officials told the Oregonian that captive mink, raised for coats and other garments, rarely survive in the wild after being released. Those not recaptured are often run over by cars or die of starvation or dehydration, the paper reported.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Steve Ringman / Associated Press
8:21 AM, September 5, 2008
The two-hour season premiere of the popular National Geographic Channel show "DogTown" tonight focuses on "Saving the Michael Vick Dogs," and Times' television critic Mary McNamara calls it some of the most compelling TV this summer.
Here's the 411 on the show: Last December, the Atlanta Falcons' star quarterback Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for operating an illegal dog-fighting venture on his Virginia property. Forty-seven pit bulls in various states of physical and psychological damage were found at Vick's Bad Newz Kennels; eight more corpses were buried nearby.
At the time, many animal rescue experts recommended that the dogs be put down; so traumatic had the abuse been, so long had been their imprisonment that rehabilitation seemed impossible.
Others, including the veterinarians and trainers at Utah's Best Friends Animal Society, argued that the dogs could be saved. A judge finally agreed, and more than half were turned over to various shelters and rescues; the 22 most troubled dogs were sent to Dogtown.
Located on 3,000 acres of canyon country in southern Utah, the Best Friends sanctuary is one of the largest and no doubt the most beautifully located no-kill animal facilities; Dogtown is its canine program. For the last two years, "DogTown" the show has chronicled the staff as it healed and trained various ill, hurt, abused, abandoned and behavior-issue-plagued dogs.
Ultimately, McNamara says, the show will grab you for how it tells the story, not just for the animal-related content likely to resonate with avid dog people: So if you ever wondered how bad dog fighting is, here's your answer. To its everlasting credit, "DogTown" does not sensationalize the abuse; the histories of the dogs are simply pieced together from behavior patterns and physical evidence, which is much more chilling and effective.
Last month, L.A. Unleashed told you that the Best Friends sanctuary in Utah was nominated as one of the best "Secret Spots of the West" in our Travel section.
--Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Molly Wald/Best Friends Animal Society
5:00 PM, September 4, 2008
After her SUV, phone and dog were stolen at a cemetery last month, Hemet resident Mary Michael tried to get Verizon to track the phone in the vehicle carrying her beloved pet, Rebel.
Verizon said it couldn't do so without a warrant. Rebel was found dead, prompting Michael to take aim at that regulation, The Times' David Kelly reports:
A distraught Michael said Rebel would be alive today if Verizon had traced the cellphone she had left inside the car.
"They could have saved Rebel's life," she said Tuesday during a news conference outside Riverside County Superior Court. "It's my phone. It has GPS capability. We should be able to use it."
Michael, who is originally from London and lives in Hemet, has started a campaign to make such tracking easier. Many wireless companies now require warrants before tracing phones, but Michael argues that obtaining a warrant takes too long when a life hangs in the balance.
Verizon spokesman Ken Muche said state and federal privacy laws make it impossible to trace a phone without a court order. He said criminals and stalkers had impersonated customers in the past to try to find cellphone users.
"We work with law enforcement and will respond to requests from the court like subpoenas and warrants," Muche said. "We have a policy in place so our customer service people are not in a position of having to determine a person's identity."
Had Verizon traced the phone, it could have pinpointed the location as close as 50 to 100 yards, he said.
That was cold comfort to Michael. "If this had been done, Rebel would not have had to suffer, and we would not be going through the pain of losing her in this terrible way," she said. "I can't bear to think of what she went through during those last hours. I can't go there, it's too horrible."
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times
4:02 PM, August 28, 2008
A veteran San Diego police officer pleaded no contest today to a misdemeanor charge of animal neglect.
Officer Paul Hubka, a 22-year veteran of the department, was ordered to pay a $411 fine and $4,941 in restitution for the death of his police dog.
The dog, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois, died of heat stroke after being left in the back of Hubka’s police car on a day when temperatures exceeded 100 degrees. Hubka was also ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and will serve three years’ probation.
It's the latest in a two-month long court battle in the case.
As criminal charges were pending, San Diego City Atty. Michael Aguirre refused to approve a $50,000 payment to Hubka, as part of Hubka's share in a settlement of a lawsuit filed by three officers alleging that they deserve extra pay for their duties as canine officers.
Aguirre then filed a civil complaint in Superior Court seeking damages from Officer Paul Hubka, whose police dog died of heat stroke while left in Hubka's squad car.Aguirre wants Hubka to pay the cost of acquiring and training a replacement for his dog. He said the cost exceeds $25,000.
After the death of the dog, named Forrest, Hubka was transferred out of the canine patrol, where he had served most of his career.
He said that leaving the dog in the back of his car was a mistake. He had returned home after an overnight shift and had left the dog in the car.
With 45 dogs for patrol and weapons and drug duties, the San Diego Police Department boasts the largest K-9 unit of any department in the country.
-- Tony Perry
7:30 PM, August 26, 2008
Writing about animals, it seems, doesn't make you an expert on how to treat them.
Eugene Scott, a reporter for the Arizona Republic, has been charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty for leaving his year-old puggle in his hot car for a half-hour in 100-degree while he got a bite to eat. And here's where it gets weird: the incident happened about a year after he wrote about a police sergeant doing nearly the same thing, the Republic reports: Scott was arrested outside the mall Aug. 15 after another shopper discovered his one-year-old puggle, a pug-beagle mix, barking inside an SUV and called 911. The dog was treated at an emergency veterinary clinic for possible heat stroke and returned to Scott, who was briefly detained in a police substation holding cell.
The incident happened the same day Chandler Police Sgt. Tom Lovejoy was found not guilty of misdemeanor animal-cruelty charges in the death of his Belgian Malinois police dog, Bandit.
While working as a public safety reporter last year, Scott had written initial stories about Lovejoy, the police sergeant who was accused of forgetting his dog in the back of a patrol vehicle a year before, according to the Republic. And then, in a strange coincidence, Scott, the reporter, was arrested on the same day Lovejoy was found not guilty in the death of his dog.
Since repetition clearly can't hurt, here are some tips for caring for dogs in hot weather. And lest history repeat itself, this reporter will pay special attention to pointer number one: "parked cars can become death traps in a matter of minutes."
-- Tony Barboza
11:32 AM, August 22, 2008
A Los Angeles pharmacist has pleaded no contest to killing his two dogs and putting one of them in the freezer.
Keith Chung made his plea Thursday to felony animal cruelty and faces up to two years in prison. He was arrested last year in the beating deaths of his two Schnauzers.
His lawyer says the 41-year-old will undergo a 90-day examination at a state corrections facility and return to court Dec. 18 for sentencing.
Police say they found one of Chung's Schnauzers in his freezer when they responded to a report of a dog barking as if in distress.
Chung's attorney says the other dog was not dead when officers found it in Chung's condo, but was euthanized several hours later.
-- Associated Press
8:57 AM, August 22, 2008
State wildlife officials are investigating a possible poaching case in which someone removed the gallbladder of a black bear -- which can sell for thousands of dollars in Asia -- after the animal was struck and killed this week by a car in the Lake Tahoe area. The Times' Jia-Rui Chong reports: The animal was found with its groin area shaved and gallbladder missing early Tuesday, less than 10 hours after a motorist reported striking the bear and California Highway Patrol officers moved it off the roadway. A surgical glove was discovered next to the bear's mutilated carcass.
"It appears that someone knew what they were doing," said Capt. Mark Lucero of the Department of Fish and Game's Northern Enforcement District.
It is illegal to take parts of dead wildlife left on the side of the road, Lucero said.
"A second violation would be if the gall was marketed on the black market," he added.
The penalty for trafficking in bear parts, a felony, is a $10,000 fine and a minimum six months to one year in prison.
The discovery of the missing organ was at least the third instance since May involving bear parts in the state, Chong reports.
On July 28, Fish and Game officials found a bear paw with some claws removed in an illegal marijuana grove in Tulare County. In May, a bag of severed black bear paws turned up on the doorstep of a home in Riverside.
Officials were not sure if they were intended to be sold, eaten or kept as trophies. An investigation determined the bears had been hunted legally, and there was no proof that anyone had tried to sell the parts.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: BEAR League
2:37 PM, August 20, 2008
An endangered tortoise has been found burned to death in a fire grate at Black Rock campground in the Yucca Valley area.
Joe Zarki, information officer for Joshua Tree National Park, says rangers are seeking information from anyone who knows anything related to the dead desert tortoise found Aug. 4. He estimates the tortoise was 45 years old.
Desert tortoises are a threatened species, protected by the federal Endangered Species Act as well as state wildlife laws. The desert tortoise also is California’s official state reptile.
--Associated Press
7:22 PM, August 18, 2008
A cattleman accused of housing cows in unsafe living conditions pleaded guilty today to a felony animal abuse charge, the San Bernardino Sun reports: Albert Buitenhuis, 28, accepted a plea deal in Superior Court in Chino that included a sentence of fines and three years' probation.
Prosecutors say he failed to remove dead cows from a barn at his Chino dairy.
There were six cow carcasses in the barn, including several in a water trough, said Beth Les, humane investigator for the Inland Valley Humane Society.
"I'm glad with what we got" for the sentence, Les said.
It's not the only Chino-based cow case still in the courts.
This year, the largest recall in U.S. history of beef was prompted by an animal rights group investigation of another Chino slaughterhouse where sick cows were being abused.
One of the workers accused of animal cruelty, Daniel Ugarte Navarro, pleaded no contest this summer in San Bernardino County Superior Court in Chino to two felony counts of animal cruelty and two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to downed animals.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Monday and could get up to a year in jail.
Another worker, Rafael Sanchez Herrera, pleaded guilty in March to three misdemeanor counts of illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal and was sentenced to six months in jail.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
2:14 PM, August 18, 2008
Riverside County authorities are looking for a woman who stole a couple's SUV at a cemetery and later abandoned it, leaving the owners' crippled dog inside to die in the heat, the Press-Enterprise reports.
On Saturday afternoon, Craig and Mary Michael, both in their 60s, were visiting Riverside National Cemetery to pay tribute to veterans on V-J Day.
The Hemet couple parked their Ford Excursion and left it idling to run the air conditioner for their 16-year-old wolf-malamute mix, Rebel, who suffers from hip dysplasia. They told the Press-Enterprise they were less than 20 feet from the vehicle when a woman got behind the wheel and drove off: "That is one of the most cowardly acts I can imagine," Craig Michael said. "She [Rebel] was my wife's heart and soul for 16 years."
If caught, authorities said, the suspect or suspects would face not only felony charges for vehicle theft -- contents from inside the car were stolen as well -- but also felony animal cruelty charges.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
9:58 AM, August 18, 2008
A Los Angeles man who killed his girlfriend's cat, telling her to "follow the blood trail to find Tweety," has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Blood was found in the girlfriend's apartment but Tweety was never found.
Scott Allen Atkinson pleaded no contest to two felony charges of animal cruelty and threatening the woman's life. He was sentenced Wednesday.
Prosecutors say that Atkinson, 46, killed the black-and-white cat after an argument in October, then he told the woman's daughter he was going to kill her mother.
-- Associated Press
6:34 PM, August 15, 2008
A veteran San Diego police officer was charged today with a misdemeanor in the heat stroke death of his police dog.
Paul Hubka, a 22-year veteran of the department, was charged under a state law making it a crime to leave a dog in a closed car on a hot day. Hubka's police dog, Forrest, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois, died after Hubka left it for hours in his police car outside his home in rural Alpine on a day when the temperature exceeded 100 degrees. A necropsy determined that the dog had died of heat stroke.
Friends have said Hubka was emotionally devastated by the dog's death. "I understand and share the strong emotional reaction to Forrest's death," said San Diego County Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis. "However, it's the only appropriate charge for these facts."
Hubka would face a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a fine if convicted. He is to be arraigned in Superior Court on Aug. 28. After his dog's death, Hubka was assigned to desk duty, at which he remains, according to the San Diego Police Department.
The department has launched an internal investigation into Forrest's death to see if departmental punishment is warranted. With 45 dogs, the San Diego Police Department says it has the nation's largest canine unit. The dogs are used for patrol and to detect drugs and weapons.
Dumanis, in a statement, noted that the law calls for a felony charge only in cases of intentional animal cruelty. If charged with a felony, a police officer is immediately suspended without pay.
"This case should serve as a reminder that no one should ever leave an animal inside a closed car, not even for a few minutes," said Dawn Danielson, director of the San Diego County Department of Animal Services.
-- Tony Perry, in San Diego
10:26 AM, August 8, 2008
 San Diego City Atty. Michael Aguirre on Friday filed a civil complaint in Superior Court seeking damages from Officer Paul Hubka, whose police dog died of heat stroke while left in Hubka's squad car.
Aguirre wants Hubka to pay the cost of acquiring and training a replacement for his dog. He said the cost exceeds $25,000.
"Since 9/11, police dogs have become hard to replace because of the high demand for them worldwide," said Executive Asst. City Atty. Don McGrath.
The Belgian Malinois, a medium-sized dog with great stamina and intelligence, is used by police departments across the U.S., including the Nashville Police Department, whose dog is seen above. Like the San Diego department, Nashville gets its Belgian Malinois from breeders in Europe.
Aguirre's announcements comes as the San Diego County district attorney is determining whether to file a criminal charge against Hubka under a law that makes it a crime to leave a dog in a car on a hot day. Hubka's police dog, a five-year-old Belgian Malinois named Forrest, died while left in his squad car on a day when the temperature exceeded 100 degrees.
Hubka, a 22-year veteran of the Police Department, remains on duty but has been removed from the canine squad.
Aguirre announced on Monday that he will not approve the payment of $50,000 to Hubka, his share of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by three officers claiming the city owed them extra pay for their canine duties. Hubka's attorney protested that the payment had already been approved by the City Council and was unrelated to the death of Hubka's dog.
Hubka allegedly left Forrest in his squad car after he returned to his home in Alpine after working an overnight shift. Hours later the dog was found dead. City policy requires officers on the canine squad to responsible for their dogs 24 hours a day.
With 45 dogs used for patrol and detection, the San Diego department says it has the largest canine unit of any department in the country. Among its dogs are German shepherds, Rottweilers, and Belgian Malinois.
All dogs undergo an eight-week, 120-hour training schedule.
-- Tony Perry, in San Diego
8:47 AM, August 5, 2008
San Diego City Atty. Michael Aguirre refused Monday to approve a $50,000 payment to a San Diego police officer whose police dog died of heat stroke after being left in a squad car.
The payment, endorsed by the City Council, was to be officer Paul Hubka's share of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by three officers alleging that they deserve extra pay for their duties as canine officers.
"I cannot justify payment of $50,000 to a police officer for care of an animal that he allowed to die under his protection," Aguirre said in a written statement.
Forest, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois, died June 20 after being left in Hubka's squad car outside his home in Alpine as temperatures exceeded 100 degrees. A necropsy confirmed the dog died of heat stroke.
The county District Attorney is determining whether Hubka, a 22-year veteran of the Police Department, should be charged under a state law making it a crime to leave a dog in a closed car on a hot day. A similar charge against another canine officer ended in a hung jury in 2001.
Hubka's attorney says he may go to court to force the city to make the payment.
Tony Perry, in San Diego
6:50 PM, August 1, 2008
 A dog breeder in the Northern California town of Boulder Creek was arrested on felony and misdemeanor animal abuse charges after authorities found at least 40 dogs along with dog skulls, a severed dog head hanging from a tree and severed dog paws on his property.- A 97-year-old Missouri woman, right, said her cat's yowling saved her from a house fire.
- Actress Kim Basinger is asking U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop plans to send two tigers to Iraq's Baghdad Zoo, saying in a letter that the animals "cannot be properly protected from the country's military conflict."
--Tony Barboza
Photo: Peter Franklin / Kansas City Star
5:46 PM, July 28, 2008
 A six-legged deer found in northern Georgia has found a home with a woman permitted to keep unique animals in captivity.- Police officials in Miami-Dade County, Fla., said their new handbook will include a reminder to respect people's freedom to practice religion when responding to calls about ritual animal sacrifice. The decision comes a year after police in Coral Gables raided and detained people at a home where Santeria practitioners were slaughtering goats, chickens and pigeons.
- Animal services officers in the Northern California town of Boulder Creek confiscated 38 dogs and puppies from a home over the weekend after finding "more dead dogs than we could count" and dog heads hanging from trees.
- An animal activist was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for making bomb threats to disrupt animal testing at UC San Diego.
- And celebrity chef Rachael Ray has started a line of dog food based on recipes she concocted for her pit bull.
-- Tony Barboza
Photo: Associated Press
6:22 PM, July 25, 2008
VACAVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Kim Sturla began bringing goats, pigs, chickens and cows once slated for slaughter to the Animal Place sanctuary 20 years ago, before supermarkets offered eggs from cage-free hens and beef was advertised on menus as being hormone free.
Two decades later, the treatment of farm animals is a national issue being debated in state legislatures and put before voters who want to have a say in how their food is raised. Footage circulated on the Internet of sick farm animals being kicked and beaten has intensified calls for reform.
“People want conditions to change,” said Sturla, who co-founded the Animal Place sanctuary for abused and discarded farm animals in 1989. “On this issue, you don’t have to give propaganda. In fact, you have to downplay the conditions or people will shut down. They’ll think you’re embellishing.”
This fall, California voters will consider the most comprehensive farm animal rights law in the country , a measure that would ban cramped metal cages for egg-laying hens, metal gestation crates for pregnant sows and veal crates for lambs — standard industry practices in which the animals are kept so confined that they can barely move.
The initiative follows more limited measures recently passed in several other states ...
Photo: Farm Sanctuary
Read more California farm animal rights law would require room to roam »
7:21 AM, July 18, 2008
 As previously noted on L.A. Unleashed, the world's largest outdoor rodeo remains mired in controvery. The Associated Press reports:
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Western heritage runs deep in this high plains city, and nothing typifies the local cowboy and ranching culture more than the 10-day Cheyenne Frontier Days celebration (the photo at left is from last year's event), which boasts the world's largest outdoor rodeo.
Yet, as this year's "Daddy of 'Em All" rodeo gets under way this weekend, the event is fighting off allegations of animal cruelty, which prompted the rock band Matchbox Twenty to cancel a scheduled performance. Animal-rights activists want certain rodeo events banned. Organizers and competitors are calling it an attack on Western tradition.
"I feel like it's like gun control. If you let him take one event, they're going to try to get another. And then, I think, it's just going to snowball from there," said Brian McNamee, a past rodeo competitor from Wyoming.
The culture clash comes amid a national debate on the treatment of sporting animals following the death of a racehorse in the Kentucky Derby. Animal-rights groups have long fought to eliminate cockfighting, dogfighting and game-farm hunts, and have advocated for better treatment of zoo and circus animals. But rodeos are starting to gain more of their attention, and in some cases protests.
Photo: Michael Smith / The Wyoming Tribune Eagle
6:06 PM, July 17, 2008
L.A. Now blogger Veronique de Turenne reminds us that the circus has come to town (at Staples), complete with acts, animals and controvery. PETA and other animal rights organizations would like all of us to boycott the circus, which has a few problems of its own.
This fall, Ringling Brothers is supposed to go to court for a trial over charges that it abuses its Asian elephants in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act. Ringling Brothers denies the allegations, as reported in the L.A. Weekly's article on a most unusual protest against the circus.
Photo: Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times
11:01 AM, July 16, 2008
California law requires stunning an animal — often with the use of a bolt gun — before slaughter so there is no pain, but a Watsonville slaughterhouse allegedly failed to stun a sheep before its death, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reports: Efrain Toledo, who owns Toledo Harkins Slough Ranch on Lee Road, was cited Monday for not stunning a sheep before killing it, as required by California law, said Todd Stosuy, the county's Animal Services supervisor.
Stosuy said he watched Toledo put the sheep in a contraption that flipped it upside down, and then Toledo slit the animal's neck. The sheep took a few minutes to die, Stosuy said.
Toledo was cited for allegedly failing to provide a humane death for being slaughtered.
"I think that people who eat meat don't want the animals they eat to have suffered," Stosuy said.
Toledo was already under investigation for improperly treating animals.
In May, as Stosuy drove down the road near the slaughterhouse, he first noticed an injured cow whose horn was squirting blood. More than two dozen sick and injured goats, sheep and rabbits and a cow eventually were removed from the facility, and Toledo was cited for animal neglect.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
7:15 AM, July 15, 2008
 Andre the two-legged dog was rescued last winter when a woman noticed the animal trailing blood across a country road. The mutt lost most of the lower half of his left legs after getting caught in an animal trap or snare. Now Andre has become a symbol in Alaska for what pet owners and animal lovers say is a gruesome and growing problem: pets accidentally caught in traps and snares meant for wild animals. Mary Pemberton of the Associated Press reports:
The problem, animal owners and advocates say, is increasing as more people move into and use areas of Alaska that were once wild. But the problem is not new. Tension between dog owners and trappers has been percolating in Alaska for decades, said Cliff Judkins, chairman of the Alaska Board of Game.
“I don’t know what the long-term answer is to it really. The Board of Game is caught in the middle between two groups,” he said. “This thing has been going on for a long, long time.”
Karen McNaught of Palmer, Alaska, nursed Andre back to health, although she initially didn’t think he would make it. “No one had seen a dog with two legs cut off like that,” she said. “The bone was sticking out on both of them. It was horrible.”
Now, Andre bounces around her back yard like a Pogo-Stick. When tired, he leans against the house or the fence. The plan is to fit him with artificial legs.
Read more Two-legged dog is a symbol for problems with traps »
11:57 AM, July 11, 2008
 Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was indicted last year by a federal grand jury in relation to the dogfighting investigation that took place at his Virginia residence.
When Vick's home was first raided in the spring of 2007, dozens of malnourished animals were discovered; later raids turned up buried remains of several pit bulls. It was suggested that dogs that wouldn't fight -- or lost their fights -- were shot, drowned, electrocuted, strangled or hanged.
So what happened to the dogs that didn't die? A federal judge involved in the case ordered each dog (that's one of them pictured) to be evaluated individually. And he "ordered Vick to pony up close to $1 million to pay for the lifelong care of those that could be saved." The Washington Post reports: Of the 49 pit bulls animal behavior experts evaluated in the fall, only one was deemed too vicious to warrant saving and was euthanized. (Another was euthanized because it was sick and in pain.)
...Of the 47 surviving dogs, 25 were placed directly in foster homes, and a handful have been or are being adopted. Twenty-two were deemed potentially aggressive toward other dogs and were sent to an animal sanctuary in Utah. Some, after intensive retraining, are expected to move on to foster care and eventual adoption.
Pit bulls seem to end up in a great many headlines that involve animal attacks, so how can it be that some experts believe some of these animals can eventually be placed with people, possibly people with families? Post writer Brigid Schulte has some of the answers.
-- Alice Short
Photo: Douglas C. Pizac / Associated Press
5:20 PM, July 10, 2008
Police arrested a man today for allegedly running a cockfighting operation in Sylmar, authorities said.
Genareo Vasquez, 52, was arrested in the 15000 block of Lakeside Street by officers from the Los Angeles Animal Cruelty Task Force after they received a tip, said Lt. Gil Moreno of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services.
"The officers’ preliminary investigation revealed numerous fighting roosters" housed at the location, Moreno said.
Officers seized and destroyed 42 roosters, 90 hens and 15 chicks, Moreno said.
It’s the second cockfighting bust this month.
On July 1, a man from South Los Angeles was charged with running a cockfighting ring after Los Angeles police received a tip about a cockfight in progress in the 1300 block of East 108th Street, according to a police report.
Israel Ramirez, 52, was arrested on a warrant charging him with felony cockfighting, animal cruelty, possession of cockfighting paraphernalia and possession of birds with the intent to fight, officials said.
Officers apprehended Ramirez and 10 spectators.
Cockfighting cases are handled by the City of Los Angeles animal cruelty task force. Reports of animal bloodsport and cruelty can be reported to the task force at (213) 847-1417.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
4:20 PM, July 8, 2008
 A dog beaten by an unidentified man at the U.S.-Mexico border is being cared for by the San Diego County Animal Services Department while authorities try to find the dog's assailant for prosecution.
The dog was rescued by the Border Patrol last week after a video from a security camera showed it being punched, strangled and thrown against the border fence. X-rays showed the dog, a 10-week-old terrier mix, has suffered multiple fractures of its right hind leg, officials said Tuesday.
"This is by far the most horrific video I have ever seen of an animal being abused," said Dawn Danielsen, director of animal services.
San Diego Animal Advocates and the Animal Rescue and Protection League have offered a $2,000 reward leading to an arrest and conviction. Tipsters are advised to call (619) 767-2624.
The dog, despite its injuries, is said to be perky, earning it the nickname "Spirit."
-- Tony Perry
Photo: San Diego County Department of Animal Services
9:18 AM, July 8, 2008
The annual running of the bulls began in Pamplona this weekend, but The UK'S Guardian reports that anti-bullfighting groups are planning various protests to capitalize on a 2006 Gallup survey that found 72% of Spaniards claim to have no interest in the sport: In the past, the festival of San Fermin has attracted nude protests from activists. On Saturday animal rights activists. above, wearing banderillas, barbed darts which are stabbed into the bull's neck during bullfights, stage a provocative protest before the start the nine-day San Fermin Festival on Sunday in Pamplona.
But within Spain a radical wing of the anti-bullfighting movement  has begun to stage more confrontational demonstrations in the hope of gaining a higher profile.
Two groups, Equanimal and Igualidad Animal, have invaded Spanish bullrings for the first time, in a new tactic that they intend to repeat throughout the bull-fighting season. Previous protests have been limited to placard-waving outside the bullrings.
Demonstrators invaded the ring at Madrid's prestigious Las Ventas during the Festival of San Isidro, the biggest date on the bullfighting calendar. At the El Monumental ring in Barcelona last month four protesters [one of whom is pictured at right] carrying signs saying "Abolition" jumped over the perimeter wall to get into the ring after the bull was killed. Igualidad Animal supporters claimed they were attacked by workers at the ring before police and security could intervene.
The festival of San Fermin in Pamplona, which runs until [Monday], attracts hundreds of willing "runners" from around the world, many inspired by [Ernest] Hemingway's book The Sun Also Rises, which is largely responsible for event's fame. After the bulls run through the narrow streets of Pamplona, they face the matador in the ring.
Anti-bullfighting campaigners say invading bullrings will not lead to violent clashes [or] damage their cause. Jordi Casamitjana of the Anti-Bullfighting Committee said: "I don't think this is heading towards extremism. It is still nonviolent. If you said to Gandhi that he could not stage his protests, where would we be today? This helps keep people aware of this cruelty."
But Luis Corrales, director of the pro-bullfighting Platform for the Defence of the National Festival, said: "If they want to make a point to society about bullfighting, that is up to them, and we have no problem with that. But invading the bullring is pure provocation.'
Bullfighting is a centuries-old staple of Spanish culture that was exported to Latin America, but has been under fire globally in recent years by activists calling it glorified animal cruelty. However, bloodless fights, which started in the United States after activists complained about bulls being harmed during traditional fights, are considered more dangerous for bullfighters because they lack a weapon for defense. The argument continues.
--Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo of nude protest: Alvaro Barrientos/Associated Press
Photo of bullring protest: Toni Albir/EPA
4:06 PM, July 3, 2008
Riverside County sheriff's officials are investigating the suspicious deaths of three cats recently reported in the La Quinta area, bringing the total to six felines found gutted, mutilated or shot in recent weeks.
Lt. Raymond Gregory, a Sheriff's Department spokesman, said investigators believe the first three cat slayings, which took place within a one-mile radius in the northern part of La Quinta, are linked. He said in those cases the cats had not been attacked by an animal.
Gregory said it was less clear whether animals could have killed the cats found more recently.
The first cat's carcass was found with gunshot wounds on May 29 in the gated community of Starlight Dunes. The next day, a second cat was found gutted on Desert Stream Drive near La Quinta Park. The third incident occurred June 18, when a resident told police his cat was found with its stomach slit open in front of his home in the 44000 block of Foxtail Circle.
Gregory said the owners discarded the animals before the Sheriff's Department could examine the carcasses.
"We didn't have any physical evidence on the cats," Gregory said. "And a few weeks went by, and it looked like isolated incidents until the third killing."
Gregory said the initial news reports about the killings generated more calls from cat owners about additional incidents, raising concerns by law enforcement officials that a cat killer -- whether human or not -- is on the loose.
The fourth suspicious cat death was reported Saturday, he said. The cat's body was found torn apart in Bermuda Dunes, an unincorporated area north of La Quinta.
"Animals may have had access to the body in that case," Gregory said.
A fifth cat's carcass was found Sunday at the Renaissance Housing Development, at Avenue 50 and Jefferson Street in La Quinta. Its location, in the heart of the small town, and the way the carcass was placed suggest that a human may have caused the death, Gregory said.
The sixth cat death was reported Monday when a mutilated cat was found near a housing development in La Quinta at Washington Street and Miles Avenue.
"That one is the most suspicious," Gregory said. "There were numerous cuts to the body and the skin was partially removed. And its location is more urban."
Unlike the first three cat deaths, in which the animals' carcasses were discarded by the owners, authorities have the bodies of the three most recently killed. As in human homicide investigations, officials photographed the scene of each death.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
4:50 PM, July 2, 2008
A South Los Angeles man has been charged with running a cockfighting ring, the district attorney's office announced today.
Israel Ramirez, 52, was arrested Tuesday night on a warrant charging him with felony cockfighting, animal cruelty, possession of cockfighting paraphernalia and possession of birds with the intent to fight, officials said.
Los Angeles police received a tip last month about a cockfight in progress in the 1300 block of East 108th Street, according to a police report.
Officers apprehended Ramirez and 10 of about 30 spectators who ran from the scene.
-- Joanna Lin
10:13 AM, July 2, 2008
A transient is facing trial for allegedly soaking a live cat in gasoline and torching it in the Rancho Cucamonga area, the Associated Press reports. Here's an excerpt: Timothy Kooyman was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on four felony counts of animal abuse and starting a fire. He will be arraigned July 15.
Investigators testifying at the 24-year-old man's preliminary hearing say Kooyman killed one of the cats by dousing it with gasoline and using a lighter to set it on fire while it was still alive.
The flaming cat then ran into a vacant lot and started a brush blaze.
Six hours after the May 13 brush fire, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputy Wendy Saucedo arrested Kooyman. She testified that Kooyman had a storage bin in his car with two mutilated, but alive, cats inside.
The cats had broken legs, and their tails were cut off.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
6:25 PM, July 1, 2008
A Lancaster woman has been sentenced to two years and eight months in state prison after pleading no contest to animal cruelty charges, CBS2 news reports: The charges stemmed from a dog and a horse that had to be put down after Animal Control officers found the neglected animals. Janis Ridgeway Damiani, 57, was the manager of a horse rescue in Pearblossom where, authorities said, a number of horses were kept in deplorable conditions that included being underfed.
Twenty-eight other animal cruelty charges filed against her earlier this month were dismissed as a result of the plea, according to John Nantroup, head deputy of the district attorney's Antelope Valley office.
Those charges involved 14 other horses and 14 cats that were starving or severely injured and had to be euthanized, authorities said.
4:38 PM, June 27, 2008
A 20-year-old man accused of trying to drown his Shih Tzu, Toby, after the dog defecated on a carpet pleaded no contest today to felony animal cruelty, officials said.
Casey Purser was charged with the single felony count on Oct. 4, 2007, following his arrest. Purser had been in jail on an unrelated drug case and was released on bail three days earlier, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.
When Purser returned to his Van Nuys home, he found that the Shih Tzu, one of his two dogs, had defecated on the carpet. He allegedly threw the dog into a bathtub and held it under water, Gibbons said.
A neighbor rescued the dog, gave it mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and took it to a veterinarian. The animal survived. Purser’s other dog, a pit bull puppy named Evesue, was taken by authorities when Purser was arrested at the veterinarian’s office.
At his arraignment hearing Friday, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Richard Kirschner ordered Purser to undergo a 90-day diagnostic study prior to sentencing, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Jane Creighton.
Released on bond, Purser was ordered to surrender on Aug. 4 for the study, Creighton said.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
5:36 PM, June 25, 2008
Riverside County sheriff’s officials are investigating a trio of cat slayings in La Quinta over the last few weeks in which owners found their felines disemboweled, gutted, or shot.
"We only get about half a dozen animal cruelty calls a month but nothing like this," said Lt. Raymond Gregory, a sheriff’s spokesman. "So this is too unusual and too weird."
Investigators believe the cat slayings are linked, Gregory said.
The latest incident occurred June 18, when a resident told police his cat was found with its stomach slit open in front of his home in the 44000 block of Foxtail Circle.
A gutted cat was found May 30 on Desert Stream Drive near La Quinta Park, the day after a feline was found shot in the gated community of Starlight Dunes. Gregory said the owners discarded the cats before the Sheriff’s Department could examine the carcasses.
"We didn’t have any physical evidence on the cats," Gregory said. "And a few weeks went by and it looked like isolated incidents until last week’s killing."
Gregory said it was clear that the gutted cats had not been attacked by an animal.
All three killings took place within a one-mile radius in the northern part of La Quinta, he said.
"This is a residential area so we are certainly urging the public to contact us if they see anything suspicious," said Gregory, who also serves as assistant chief for La Quinta Police, which is also investigating the cases. "The public should also keep an eye on their cats."
Gregory said if anyone saw violence against an animal in progress they should call 911. Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to call the sheriff’s station in Indio at (760) 863-8990.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
* An earlier headline on this post incorrectly said the incidents took place in La Corona.
9:29 AM, June 25, 2008
San Diego police and the county Department of Animal Services are investigating the death of a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois police dog named Forest who was found Friday in the back of his handler's squad car in Alpine, where the temperature soared to more than 100 degrees.
A necropsy has been ordered to determine the cause of death. The dog's handler, a 22-year veteran, has been put on desk duty pending a decision.
Two other Belgian Malinois police dogs have died in recent years of an intestinal condition common to the breed, San Diego officials said.
In 2000, a Superior Court jury deadlocked 9 to 3 to acquit a San Diego officer on a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty in the heat-exhaustion death of a police dog. The 7-year-old German shepherd had been left in a police car on a hot day. The judge then dismissed the charge, which had been recommended by the Police Department.
--Tony Perry
11:24 AM, June 24, 2008
An Adelanto dog owner has been arrested, accused of repeatedly throwing a puppy against a doghouse while drunk, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department officials said.
On Sunday night, after hearing yelps from the 12-pound pit bull-Labrador mix, neighbors confronted the puppy's owner, Donald Brown, said sheriff's spokeswoman Staci Johnson.
When Brown, who appeared intoxicated, didn't stop throwing the puppy, his neighbors called police, Johnson said.
"Brown was throwing the puppy in the doghouse with enough force to move the house," Johnson said. "He did this numerous times, and between each throw, hit the dog on the head causing it to yelp."
Brown, 55, was arrested Sunday night and booked for investigation of animal cruelty and being drunk in public. He is being held at West Valley Detention Center with his bail set at $30,000.
Johnson said authorities don't know why Brown was angry at the 3-month-old puppy, which is now in the care of the Adelanto Animal Control Division.
--Francisco Vara-Orta
6:01 PM, June 21, 2008
The Associated Press reports that a former Southern California slaughterhouse worker has pleaded no contest to animal cruelty charges after being caught on undercover video abusing sick and injured cows. The footage prompted the largest beef recall in U.S. history. Daniel Ugarte Navarro entered the plea Friday in San Bernardino County Superior Court in Chino to two felony counts of animal cruelty and two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to downed animals.
He could get up to a year in jail when he is sentenced on Aug. 25. Another worker, Rafael Sanchez Herrera, pleaded guilty in March to three misdemeanor counts of illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal and was sentenced to six months in jail.
2:26 PM, June 20, 2008
A 57-year-old woman charged with 30 felony counts of animal cruelty has pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Lancaster.
Janis Ridgeway Damiani, caretaker of a Pearblossom sanctuary for old and sick horses, is being held in Los Angeles County sheriff's custody on $600,000 bail. She made her plea Wednesday.
She was arrested at Equus Sanctuary on Monday after county officials said 15 horses in her care were emaciated, weak or had sores and that the facility lacked water and food.
The horses were euthanized, along with a dog and 14 cats that authorities said were also starving or injured. An additional 100 horses were confiscated from the sanctuary and placed at other facilities.
If convicted, Damiani faces up to 24 years in prison. A preliminary hearing in the case was scheduled for June 30.
-- Jill Leovy
2:53 PM, June 13, 2008
In a thoughtful essay titled "Animal Rights and the Church" the Rev. Richard Benson explores from a religious perspective moral questions concerning the use of animals.
Writing in the Catholic newspaper The Tidings, Benson notes that Christians are asking more and more questions about such issues as animal testing and industrial farming practices. For example, is the production of foie gras -- a frequent target of animal rights activists -- inhumane?
"So what is a Catholic supposed to think?" Benson writes. "Is there a line between the rights of humans and the rights of animals? If there is a line, where is it?"
As part of his answer, Benson offers comments from Pope Benedict XVI.
In a 2002 interview with German journalist Peter Seewald, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, addressed the issue of foie gras himself, thus raising consciousness about it, especially in cultures that were historically insensitive to the abuse of the animals in its production: "We cannot just do whatever we want with them," he said. "Certainly, a sort of industrial use of creatures, so that geese are fed in such a way as to produce as large a liver as possible, or hens living so packed together that they become just caricatures of birds, this degrading of living creatures to a commodity seems to me in fact to contradict the relationship of mutuality that comes across in the Bible. Animals, too, are God's creatures and even if they do not have the same direct relationship to God that human beings have, they are still creatures of God's will, creatures we must respect as companions in creation."
And speaking of animals and the pope, Benedict is a quite a lover of cats. In fact, his affection for felines inspired a book called "Joseph and Chico: The Life of Pope Benedict XVI as Told by a Cat."
-- Steve Padilla
Photo of geese: Danny Johnston/Associated Press
Photo of Benedict: Giancarlo Giuliani/Vatican Pool
6:34 PM, June 7, 2008
Deputies arrested a well-known animal rescuer in the Mojave area Friday, accusing her of abusing animals, the Bakersfield Californian reports: The new Grand Jury charges against Cynthia Bemis added to the dozens of animal cruelty charges already filed against the 59-year-old woman, according to the Kern County Sheriff’s Department. Bemis is facing 15 criminal charges of failing to care for animals in San Bernardino Court and 20 animal cruelty charges in Kern County Superior Court.
Under a court order, Bemis must submit to weekly inspections by Animal Control at her property located at East Trotter Avenue southeast of Mojave, said Sgt. Richard Wood with the Sheriff’s Department. Officers impounded two cats and nine dogs in a raid on Bemis’ property in February after a report of several animals being unhealthy.
Deputies also arrested Cynthia Trapani, 47, at Bemis’ property on Friday, deputies said. Trapani, who works with Bemis, is accused of shoving an animal control officer in an inspection in February, Wood said.
2:44 PM, June 5, 2008
The sign on the door of the Barnes & Noble at The Grove proclaims: "NO PETS ALLOWED." But Baby, a 14-year-old snow-white poodle, sauntered through, wrapped in Jana Kohl's arms, trailed by an entourage and greeted by an eager store official.
That's because Baby, a puppy mill survivor, was on her way to an autograph-signing for Kohl's new book, "A Rare Breed of Love," which has made a cover girl out of the little canine -- who is attractively shaggy and sans that overly manicured poodle cut.
The fact that Baby has only three legs hobbles her walk but not her presence. Despite Kohl's fretting over how many people pet her as she takes her on tour, Baby seems relaxed and calm.
Tonight, you can see Kohl and Baby at 7 at Borders in Pasadena at 475 South Lake Ave.
Read more Puppy mill survivor on tour -- tonight at Borders in Pasadena »
10:13 AM, June 3, 2008
A transient with a history of animal abuse is in a San Bernardino County jail, accused of torturing cats, the Associated Press reports.
Court documents show 24-year-old Timothy Kooyman was charged last week with six counts of felony animal cruelty and one count of recklessly causing a fire.
Sheriff's officials say Kooyman was found May 13 in Rancho Cucamonga with two cats that had broken bones and whose tails had been cut off. He later was linked to an arson where a cat had been doused with gasoline, lighted on fire and thrown into a field.
Records show Kooyman is on probation from a case last year where he was convicted of abusing cats. He was being held Tuesday without bail.
--Francisco Vara-Orta
Read more Rancho Cucamonga man charged with six counts of cat abuse »
10:44 AM, May 29, 2008
State wildlife investigators want to know whether a legitimate hunter or a poacher dealing in illegal animal parts left a pair of severed black bear paws in front of a Riverside home recently, The Times' David Kelly reports.
The paws, which were in a plastic bag, appeared on the doorstep of a home on Clifton Boulevard on May 4. But who dropped them off is a mystery, Kelly reports: "The hunter was a friend of a friend of a friend who nobody seems to know," said Riverside police spokesman Steven Frasher. "We don't know if the paws were discarded or what. The homeowner threw them out, but then a neighbor called the police.
"There is speculation that this was a trophy, but leaving meat products on the doorstep in Southern California is not a good preservation strategy."
The paws were put into storage, and the case was turned over to the California Department of Fish and Game. The Humane Society of the United States has offered a $2,500 reward for the arrest and conviction of whoever was responsible if, in fact, they were poachers.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
11:15 AM, May 26, 2008
 Perhaps you recall the cougar that was shot last month on the north side of Chicago? There was a great uproar among animal folk about the death and criticism (and praise) for the way the surprise appearance was handled. Now it turns out that authorities are investigating whether an arson fire near the Chicago mayor's summer home last month is linked to threats against Mayor Richard M. Daley from someone who is furious about the cougar killing. The Washington Post has an update:
Chicago FBI Special Agent Ross Rice said that "a number of letters were received at various locations throughout the metropolitan area blaming Mayor Daley and others for what the writer called the unnecessary death of the cougar, and threatening to take revenge against the mayor and other individuals."
Rice declined to reveal more details of the letters, one of which was sent to an elementary school near where the animal was killed. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Daley received a letter mentioning his wife and children and threatening to burn his home.
The FBI is investigating the letters.
--Alice Short
Photo: Chicago Tribune
3:48 PM, May 21, 2008
The government plans to close a loophole in meat inspection rules that led to the record recall of 143 million pounds of ground beef this year. The Baltimore Sun's Jonathan D. Rockoff reports: The Department of Agriculture will prohibit meat plants from slaughtering any cow that can't stand and walk on its own at any point after it arrives at a plant, Schafer said.
The rule would eliminate existing provisions that allow plants to send "downer," or sick, cows to slaughter if they fall ill after passing an initial inspection and then pass a second inspection.
"I believe it is sound policy to simplify this matter by initiating a complete ban on the slaughter of cattle that go down after an initial inspection," [Agriculture Secretary Edward T.] Schafer said in a statement. The new rule should be in effect by the end of the year.
The revision of the rules was prompted by an undercover Humane Society video showing abuse of sick cows at Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino that lead to a massive recall earlier this year.
-Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Cezaro De Luca/EPA
6:12 PM, May 19, 2008
Police say a 14-year-old Fullerton girl lethally poisoned her family's two dogs yesterday after arguing with her parents over bad grades, the Associated Press reports: Police say the girl fed her sister's medications to a Yorkie and a larger dog Sunday night after her parents left the house.
Sgt. Mike MacDonald says the girl has been arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty and is in custody at Orange County's juvenile hall.
The dogs were in shock when the family returned later that night, and the animals were rushed to a pet clinic, where they died.
Officers say the girl maintains she wasn't treated fairly when her parents told her Sunday afternoon they weren't happy with her grades. The girl's name has not been released because of her age.
3:32 PM, May 15, 2008
*3:21 p.m.: A suspected dogfighting operation has been broken up in rural Ramona, San Diego County animal services officials said today.
Ten pit bull terriers believed used in fighting were seized in a raid after officials received a tip, officials said. Some dogs were chained, others were entangled around stakes, and many had scars on their faces and legs.
 The property owner was not home when search warrants were served.
The dogs were taken to a shelter in Carlsbad and information turned over to the district attorney’s office for possible criminal charges.
Among the evidence seized were treadmills, medications, syringes, trophies and dogfighting schedules, said Lt. Dan DeSousa, supervising animal control officer for the county’s animal services department. The dogfighting schedules appeared to be in code, DeSousa added.
DeSousa said the owner appears to have been a “hobbyist” dogfighter, not a professional. While San Diego County has not been considered a center of dogfighting, officials are not discounting the possibility. “Dogfighting goes on here,” De Sousa said. “We’d be foolish to think it doesn’t.”
--Tony Perry
Photo: San Diego County Department of Animal Services
4:45 PM, May 13, 2008
Last week, the Associated Press reported that Trader Joe’s announced it will stop carrying eggs from a Central California farm where an animal rights group shot undercover video showing chickens being mistreated by workers. But it seems this story isn't over.
Now the AP is reporting that the farm is accusing an animal rights group of staging an undercover video that shows its workers mistreating chickens. A statement released Monday by Gemperle Farms claims an activist affiliated with Chicago-based Mercy for Animals coerced Gemperle employees into violating the farm's animal welfare standards.
Footage released last week by the group showed hens confined in crowded metal cages with rotting bird corpses. Monrovia-based Trader Joe's announced after the video was released it would stop carrying Gemperle eggs. Mercy for Animals executive director Nathan Runkle told The Modesto Bee the video was authentic and said the group would sue Gemperle for libel if it did not retract its statement.
5:19 PM, May 12, 2008
 Animal activism, it seems, is catching on in Europe. A report in the Houston Chronicle explains that the animal rights movement is affecting, among other things, bullfighting.
Spain's iconic sport, bullfighting, is known for its ferocity and flair. But the centuries-old spectacle may have met its match in an equally tenacious opponent: Europe's animal rights movement.
For the first time Thursday, doping tests were introduced at Spain's most prestigious bullfighting festival after allegations that bulls are given drugs to tip the balance in favor of the matador. Under pressure and falling ratings, Spanish TV has dropped bullfighting from its schedule.
The increasingly vocal anti-bullfighting lobby says it's only a matter of time before the sport is relegated to the history books.
"People in Europe are finally beginning to accept the animal welfare message," said Kate Fowler-Reeves, head of campaigns for Animal Aid, the U.K.'s largest animal rights group.
In Switzerland, dogs are about to benefit from a little activism as well. Starting Sept. 1, a law will require dog owners to take (and pay for) a two-part training course. Among other things, dog owners will be instructed on how to properly walk a dog on the street. For more on those wacky Swiss and their new rules about "social species," check out this report from the Times of London:  From guinea pigs to budgerigars, any animal classified as a “social species” will be a victim of abuse if it does not cohabit, or at least have contact, with others of its own kind. The new regulation stipulates that aquariums for pet fish should not be transparent on all sides and that owners must make sure that the natural cycle of day and night is maintained in terms of light. Goldfish are considered social animals, or Gruppentiere in German.
-- Alice Short
Bullfighting photo: Paul White / Associated Press
Goldfish photo: Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times
3:33 PM, May 12, 2008
 Rapper DMX was arrested Friday -- for the second time in a week -- in connection with a raid on his house last summer that allegedly turned up weapons, drugs, dog carcasses and abused pit bulls.
The Arizona Republic reports: After a 7-month investigation, Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies arrested Earl Simmons, better known as rapper DMX, at his Cave Creek home early Friday morning on suspicion of misdemeanor animal cruelty and felony drug possession.
The arrest stems from a raid by deputies on the rapper's home in August, which led to the seizure of 12 dogs that appeared malnourished and the discovery of three more dogs buried in the backyard.
The rapper tried to barricade himself in his bedroom while the search warrant was being served, but he eventually emerged, authorities said.
DMX had been arrested Tuesday on suspicion of driving up to 114 miles per hour on a highway.
It's hardly a surprise that a search of DMX's house would turn up pit bulls. After all, one of his recent albums was called "Year of the Dog...Again," and he does have song hooks that feature barking dogs.
DMX was convicted of animal cruelty in New Jersey in 1999 for housing 13 pit bulls in tight cages, and agreed to record a public service announcement against cruelty as part of his plea deal, according to the Republic.
To the surprise of sheriff's deputies, who found five pit bull puppies at his house Friday, DMX continued to keep dogs at his house even after the raid last summer. "He had to know that we were still investigating him," Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio told the Republic.
The puppies were taken away and will now be in the care of jail inmates.
-- Tony Barboza
Photo: Frank Miceotta/Getty Images
12:40 PM, May 9, 2008
Trader Joe’s announced Thursday that it will stop carrying eggs from a Central California farm where an animal rights group shot undercover video showing chickens being mistreated by workers, the Associated Press reports: Footage released earlier this week by the Chicago-based nonprofit Mercy for Animals showed hens at Gemperle Enterprises’ farms confined in crowded metal cages with rotting bird corpses.
The chain decided against carrying Gemperle eggs because "it is of utmost importance that all of our vendors abide by industry-established animal care practices," Trader Joe’s spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki said.
Previously, the chain’s Northern California and Northern Nevada stores had sourced conventional eggs from NuCal Foods Inc., which also distributes eggs from Gemperle and dozens of other farms to Raley’s and SaveMart Supermarkets.
Mochizuki said the Trader Joe’s ban on Gemperle eggs was indefinite.
Raley’s plans to continue to carry all eggs from NuCal, but "does not condone any acts of cruelty to animals," said spokeswoman Nicole Townsend. A SaveMart Supermarkets spokeswoman did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times
12:27 PM, May 9, 2008
An arrest warrant accuses a Texas man of animal cruelty and theft in the slaughter of 32 bison on a Colorado ranch near Fairplay in March, according to Times wire reports.
The warrant names Jeffrey Scott Hawn of Austin, who controls the ranch where the bison were shot. The bison were found in late March strewn across hundreds of snow-covered acres about 85 miles southwest of Denver.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
1:18 PM, May 8, 2008
Animal news this week has been especially grisly, with kittens in freezers, a dog set on fire and a camel-punching man. So you might be surprised to learn that we are also in the middle of Be Kind to Animals Week.
If you'd like to focus on respect for animals instead of wallowing in all the recent animal cruelty, stop by this event promoting the humane treatment of animals this Saturday at the North Central Animal Care Center in Los Angeles.
L.A.-area politicians will be there, as will Cesar Millan, the so-called dog whisperer. You can also bring your dog or cat and get it spayed or neutered for free, which as readers have reminded us, is a good way to help prevent the influx of baby cats we're seeing now that it's kitten season.
For more information call (213) 485-8855 or (888) 452-7381
--Tony Barboza
Photo: Carlos Chavez/Los Angeles Times
11:42 AM, May 7, 2008
Adelanto’s head animal control officer has resigned as he faces charges in the drowning of nearly 50 kittens, the Associated Press reported today.
Kevin Murphy, 36, was placed on paid leave in March after prosecutors accused him of drowning the kittens over a four-month period. He faces six counts of animal cruelty.
City Manager Jim Hart on Tuesday said Murphy’s resignation was effective May 1. Murphy couldn’t be reached for comment.
Adelanto is about 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
--Francisco Vara-Orta
3:42 PM, May 6, 2008
UPDATED AT 3:08 P.M.: The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved a reward of $5,000 to anyone who offers information leading to the conviction of whoever set a dog on fire in Lancaster on Monday night.
Anyone with information on the attack is urged to call the sheriff's Lancaster Station at (661) 948-8466.
-- Jean-Paul Renaud
10:47 A.M.: Investigators are searching for whoever set a dog on fire in Lancaster on Monday night.
Residents of the 300 block of East Lingard Street heard the pit bull mix yelping, then saw it running into the street, its fur ablaze, about 11:30 p.m., said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Ed Stewart.
One onlooker put a coat over the dog, extinguishing the flames, Stewart said. The dog was taken to a county animal shelter where it was being treated today for burns to its legs and back.
Stewart said the people responsible could face felony animal cruelty charges.
-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske
2:24 PM, May 6, 2008
Officials want to know how a pair of severed bear paws wound up in a Riverside neighborhood last weekend, the Press-Enterprise reports: Police were called Saturday afternoon to a home off Clifton Boulevard, north of the Riverside Municipal Airport, where residents found the paws wrapped in a bag, according to a Riverside police report.
Bear poaching, in which bears are usually killed and sold for parts, is a statewide problem, officials said. Bears are sought for their paws and gallbladder, which are highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine, said Patrick Foy, a California game warden. The parts are often used in healing potions or as an aphrodisiac.
While hunting of California black bears is legal with a valid hunting license and bear tag, any sale of bear meat or bear parts for profit is considered a felony.
The state Department of Fish and Game is investigating.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
12:16 PM, May 6, 2008
A necropsy found no evidence that Orange County sheriff's deputies at Theo Lacy Jail used a stun gun on a cat, the Times' Stuart Pfeifer reports: Orange County sheriff's officials have found no evidence to prove that deputies used a Taser electric stun weapon on a stray cat at the Theo Lacy jail in Orange, a spokesman said today.
Last month, the department disclosed that it was investigating inmate reports that deputies had shocked a cat with a Taser and that the decomposed carcass of a cat was found on the jail grounds.
Two newly hired deputies who had been assigned to Theo Lacy were discharged from the department after the investigation began, but there was no indication that their termination was related to horseplay with the Taser.
Deputies Joseph E. Mirander and Duy X. Tran each ended their employment with the Sheriff's Department on April 17, county personnel records show. Both had been assigned to Theo Lacy.
The department has been under fire recently for its treatment of inmates and its use of Tasers.
Sheriff's Deputy Jason Chapluk testified to a grand jury in August that the "Tased and Confused" episode of the TV program "Cops," in which officers use Tasers on suspects, was a favorite for deputies to watch on the job at the jail.
--Tony Barboza
10:56 AM, May 6, 2008
Investigators theorize that the killer of six sea lions on the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon arrived by boat and was familiar with trapping methods, closing the doors of two metal cages before firing a high-powered rifle at the animals within, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The sea lions' carcasses were found Sunday.
Wildlife agents had begun trapping sea lions last month to keep them from eating endangered chinook salmon.
The trapping has been suspended.
American Indian tribes protecting their fisheries and state governments representing commercial and sport fishermen had promoted the sea lion removal.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Don Ryan/AP
10:52 AM, May 6, 2008
An animal protection organization is throwing back the curtains on the West Coast's largest distributor of eggs, releasing a hidden-camera video that shows chickens being mistreated by handlers and locked in cages so small the birds can't spread their wings, The Times' Eric Bailey reports: The footage, shot covertly by an undercover investigator with the group Mercy for Animals, shows workers kicking and stomping on chickens and snapping the necks of sick hens. It also shows birds left with untreated wounds and crowded into cages, sometimes amid rotting corpses.
Officials with the animal protection group said the video was shot this year at Gemperle Enterprises, a Turlock farming outfit that supplies giant NuCal Foods Inc., the biggest supplier of eggs in the western United States.
The company's response? [Steve] Gemperle said it was unclear whether the new footage truly was shot at one of his family's farms, but said the mistreatment violated his company's policies.
The video comes on the heels of an effort to get a measure on the November ballot to outlaw the kinds of cages that the chickens in the photo above are contained within.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Mercy for Animals
5:04 PM, May 5, 2008
Vallejo police arrested a Santa Rosa man who they say assaulted a camel Sunday at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Times-Herald in Vallejo reports: Christopher Allen, 24, was dared by a friend to enter the restricted area where the animal was kept and punch it, police said.
He accepted the dare and was detained afterward by security personnel, but he soon escaped and tried to run from the park with his friends, police said.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
10:03 AM, May 5, 2008
Six federally protected sea lions were apparently shot to death on the Columbia River in Oregon as they lay in open traps put out to ensnare the animals, which eat endangered salmon. State and federal authorities are investigating, Times staff reports.
The discovery came one day after three elephant seals were found shot to death at a breeding ground in Central California.
Trapping will be suspended during the investigation, said Rick Hargrave, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, who was at the scene Sunday.
The Associate Press offers more details:
Oregon and Washington have been granted federal authorization to capture or kill up to 85 sea lions a year for five years at the base of the dam, where they feed on endangered salmon headed upriver to spawn.
Fishermen and American Indian tribes have pushed to protect the salmon and remove the sea lions, by lethal force if necessary, forcing a delicate balancing act by the federal government.
The Humane Society of the United States has gone to court to challenge the authorization, with another hearing set for May 8.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Don Ryan/AP
4:14 PM, May 4, 2008
Three northern elephant seals were found shot dead Saturday morning at the Point Piedras Blancas elephant seal colony near San Simeon, Calif., the Times' David Pierson reports.
The three seals -- each about 1,000 pounds and between 2 and 5 years old -- were discovered shortly before 9 a.m. by a docent conducting a seal count on the beach. They had been shot in the back of the head.
"They were found in a pool of blood," said Leander Tamoria, supervising ranger at San Simeon State Park. "People come here to see the sights, and this is a sight no one wants to see."
Because the seals were so heavy, officials from the California Department of Fish & Game had to remove the animals' heads to investigate what kind of bullets were used, Tamoria said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Law Enforcement is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction, said Special Agent Roy Torres.
Anyone with information about the shootings should call Torres at (831) 647-2127, the Office of Law Enforcement hot line at (800) 853-1964 or California State Parks at (805) 927-2068.
3:21 PM, May 2, 2008
Quiz: What was one of the last things New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer did before he resigned in disgrace, implicated in a prostitution ring? If you guessed "outlawed animal electrocution," you're right.
Spitzer in March signed into law a ban on the electrocution of animals in a particularly gruesome way to harvest their fur, making New York the first state in the nation to combat the practice, the Associated Press reports.
It looks like no one took notice until now. (Maybe the New York press had other things to cover).
The law bans the practice of anal and genital electrocution of fur-bearing animals, including mink, foxes, chinchillas and rabbits. The misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail.
National animal rights advocates on Wednesday said they hope it will force similar measures in other states.
--Tony Barboza
11:10 AM, May 2, 2008
Police arrested a man Thursday in Simi Valley on suspicion of killing his pitbulls with a semiautomatic handgun, the Associated Press reports.
The Ventura County Sheriff's Department website said 49-year-old Rafael Calderon Jr. remained in custody in a county jail Thursday after being arrested and booked for investigation of animal cruelty.
Calderon is eligible for release on $10,000 bail.
A Simi Valley police news release said officers investigated the deaths of the dogs in the backyard of a residence. They seized a firearm at the scene.
County Animal Control officials will perform a necropsy on the animals.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
8:48 AM, April 23, 2008
A Santa Barbara man will spend nearly a year in jail for banging the head of his roommate’s kitten against a wall, the Associated Press reports.
Nicholas David Thompson pleaded no contest to a felony animal cruelty charge, and was sentenced Monday to 360 days in Santa Barbara County Jail.
Superior Court Judge Frank Ochoa also ordered the 21-year-old defendant to attend anger management classes for a year.
Thompson banged the head of the kitten, named Gigi, against a wall, tossed her into the shower and turned on the water. The roommate and his friend managed to rescue the kitten, and Gigi recovered, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kimberly Smith told the Santa Barbara News-Press.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
11:01 AM, April 21, 2008
When Matchbox 20 canceled a July 18 concert at Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyo., the pullout was announced by the animal rights group called SHARK, or Showing Animals Respect and Kindness. According to the Wyoming Business Report, Journal SHARK’s president admitted that he had provided the group with video purporting to show animal cruelty at last year’s Frontier Days Rodeo. Now, there's more fallout: Yesterday, the booking agency for Frontier Days, Romeo Entertainment Group, filed suit in Cheyenne federal court against SHARK for using “false and misleading information” as well as “threats of negative publicity” in its effort to persuade entertainers to cancel their performances.
SHARK has its own take on current events: "Be prepared," the website says, "to see photos on this site taken by SHARK investigators that make the suffering all too clear."
-- Alice Short
3:36 PM, April 18, 2008
An Orange County man accused of taking a video of himself abusing rabbits and a dog pleaded not guilty Thursday to six misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, authorities said.
Joseph Anthony Deiss, 19, surrendered at the Fullerton Justice Center, where he was arraigned and released on $10,000 bail. He is scheduled for a pretrial hearing May 8. Deiss, of Yorba Linda, is accused of throwing a pug and three rabbits 15 to 30 feet in the air and allowing them to hit the ground.
The charges were filed after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals saw a video of the incident on Deiss' MySpace page and showed it to authorities. None of the animals appeared to be injured.
Deiss, a part-time college student, later apologized and said he had bought the rabbits as food for his two pet boa constrictors.
Here's what Deiss told The Times about the video Wednesday: "I just posted it and kind of forgot about it. I didn't even realize that anyone was watching."
"It wasn't meant to be intentionally cruel," he said. "I can see that it was somewhat bad, but nothing got hurt. . . . People feed their snakes all the time."
-- Tony Barboza
10:26 AM, April 17, 2008
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is urging the Orange County district attorney's office to "vigorously" prosecute a man who took a video of himself abusing rabbits and a dog, then posted it on MySpace, Tony Barboza reports.
Joseph Anthony Deiss, 19, of Yorba Linda was charged last week with three counts of animal cruelty and three charges of animal abuse by a caretaker after allegedly throwing a pug and two rabbits 15 to 30 feet in the air and allowing them to hit the ground. The video was allegedly shot in Deiss' backyard in June 2007.
"They were a little dazed and confused, but it does not appear that any of the pets died as a result of this incident," said Farrah Emami, a district attorney's office spokeswoman, referring to the video.
PETA showed the video to authorities after discovering it last month, prompting investigations by Anaheim police and the district attorney's office.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
5:50 PM, April 16, 2008
A University of Nevada, Reno, professor who complained about improper hiring practices and animal abuse at campus research farms has been fired and banned from university property. The Associated Press reports from Reno: “I was fired ... and escorted from my office by campus police as if I were a criminal,” Hussein S. Hussein told the Reno Gazette-Journal for a story first reported Monday on the newspaper’s website. An internationally recognized animal nutritionist, Hussein said he was informed Friday of UNR President Milton Glick’s decision and told to turn in the key to his office at the agriculture college. Hussein said his dismissal was retaliation for his blowing the whistle on improper activities at UNR and he said he would fight it in court.
For the rest of the story, read after the jump.
Read more Whistleblower fired »
12:36 PM, April 15, 2008
The Orange County Sheriff's Department has been under fire recently for its treatment of jail inmates, including the death this month of a man who was Tasered in his Santa Ana jail cell.
But there is a new alleged victim: a cat.
The department is investigating a report that deputies used a Taser electric stun weapon on a cat at Theo Lacy jail, a department spokesman said today. A cat’s corpse was later found on the jail grounds in Orange.
The investigation comes one week after the release of grand jury transcripts that showed Theo Lacy deputies allowed inmates to discipline each other while guards watched television, played video games and exchanged cellphone text messages.
Sheriff’s officials were conducting a necropsy today to determine whether the dead cat was shocked with a Taser, said sheriff’s spokesman John McDonald. An unidentified person told sheriff’s officials that deputies used the Taser on the cat "a couple of weeks ago," McDonald said.
"We’ll know more this afternoon, after the necropsy is completed. This cat may not have had anything to do with the report," McDonald said. "This isn’t being taken lightly. This is a pretty serious matter."
-- Stuart Pfeifer
3:06 PM, April 11, 2008
A circus elephant act in Panorama City was shut down Thursday by Los Angeles city animal services, the LA Daily News reports.
The elephant act, contracted to appear with Circus Vazquez, was found to be violation of the City of Los Angeles' permit requirements.
The elephants, Tina, Jewel and Queenie, have a long history of abuse and neglect, all documented in official U.S. Department of Agriculture records, said Ed Boks, general manager of Animal Services.
Boks told the Daily News that when he contacted the USDA, he found out that the elephants’ owner, Will Davenport, acting under different names and business aliases in Arizona and Texas, had a history of numerous Animal Welfare Act violations.
"We commend L.A. Animal Services for taking action to prevent these abused elephants from being exploited in our city,” said Catherine Doyle, a campaign director for In Defense of Animals, which helped draft the city permit guidelines. “If only federal authorities would act as swiftly and decisively as the city has.”
Doyle told the L.A. Times she's calling for federal authorities to seize the elephants and return them to an animal sanctuary.
-Francisco Vara-Orta
10:16 AM, April 11, 2008
A man in New Zealand has been charged with using a hedgehog as a weapon, the New Zealand Herald has reported.
 Police said William Singalargh, 27, hurled the hedgehog, similar to the one pictured here, at a 15-year-old boy.
"It hit the victim in the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture marks," Senior Sgt. Bruce Jenkins, in the North Island town of Whakatane, told the Herald.
It was unclear whether the hedgehog was still alive when it was thrown; it was dead when collected as evidence.
The police spokesman said the suspect was arrested "for assault with a weapon, namely the hedgehog."
Singalargh is due to appear in court next Thursday. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times
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