7:00 PM, August 25, 2008
More than 1,000 dogs were rescued from a West Virginia kennel over the weekend, prompting a national effort by animal groups to find them new homes.
The Whispering Oaks Kennel in Parkersburg surrendered the dogs, mostly purebred dachshunds, to the Humane Society of the United States after sheriff's deputies searched the facility, the Associated Press reports.
The Humane Society called the rural property a puppy mill where dogs were kept in cages and dilapidated sheds for breeding. The dogs were never let out and rarely handled by humans. Officials said the animals did not appear to have been abused, but noted that it would be impossible for that many animals to be properly cared for.
Sharon Roberts, the owner, was not charged with animal neglect but agreed never to operate a dog breeding facility again. She told the Associated Press she was the victim of a "witch hunt'' by animal rights activists.
The dogs are being housed at a temporary shelter as rescuers examine them before trying to find them homes.
"These resilient little animals are already beginning to perk up under the care of their temporary guardians at the emergency shelter," Scotlund Haisley, senior director of Emergency Services at the Humane Society, said in a news release. "Thankfully they will soon be taken in by humane organizations around the region, evaluated and put up for adoption."
-- Tony Barboza
11:44 AM, July 19, 2008
In today's L.A. Times:
Carla Hall profiles Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States: In the four years since the 42-year-old vegan -- he neither eats nor wears animal products -- ascended to the top spot at the Humane Society, Pacelle has retooled a venerable organization seen as a mild-mannered protector of dogs and cats into an aggressive interest group flexing muscle in state legislatures and courtrooms.
Eric Bailey reports on vindication but no relief for imperiled steelhead salmon, steelhead: A federal judge struck a largely symbolic blow for imperiled salmon and steelhead Friday, declaring that the state's vast water-export system is putting the fish at risk but rejecting environmentalists' key demands for change.
Tami Abdollah reports that protections for wolves have been reinstated: Gray wolves in the northern Rockies regained endangered-species protections Friday when a federal judge in Montana granted a preliminary injunction to environmentalists, who had challenged the wolves' delisting.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials announced in February that gray wolves would be removed from the endangered species list after what they termed a successful 20-year effort to reestablish the wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Environmentalists sued.
The judge's ruling nullifies plans by Montana, Wyoming and Idaho to hold wolf hunts this fall.
And finally, David Savage reports on a setback for the animal rights movement.
7:04 PM, June 14, 2008
Iowans are attempting to cope with some of the worst flooding in the state in years, and some of that coping means dealing with thousands of stranded animals. The Des Moines Register reports: Officials from the Humane Society of the United States boarded a plane from Washington, D.C., on Friday morning to assist local animal rescue efforts because of the flooding in Cedar Rapids and throughout Iowa.
By today, the Humane Society will have at least seven staff members operating statewide and will have deployed a 75-foot animal transport semitrailer truck capable of housing 100 animals, three boats, a mobile command center and a pickup truck.
"We're trained to respond to any disaster of any size - land, fire or water - year-round," said Scotlund Haisley, senior director of emergency services for the Humane Society in Washington. Haisley said the society responded in less than 24 hours to a request that came Thursday from the Iowa Department of Agriculture.
Josh Colvin, operations manager for the Animal Care and Control Center for the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, said there is a need for help in Cedar Rapids. "From what I'm understanding, Cedar Rapids is overwhelmed with animals because of so many evacuations," Colvin said. Des Moines Animal Control Unit Supervisor Scott Raudabaugh said the city and Animal Rescue League of Iowa are working to keep pets safe.
12:34 PM, June 9, 2008
In today's This Week Ahead column, we catch up on what's happening in Hollywood--not with celebrities but with pigeons:
How have the efforts to shrink the pigeon population in Hollywood using birth control gone since announcing it last July?
Since August, some of the area's estimated 5,000 pigeons have been eating pill-shaped kibble known as OvoControl P from feeders on rooftops, making Hollywood the first area to try the contraceptive since it was given state approval in late July.
About 300 pigeons flock every morning at daybreak to eat up the contraceptive kibble, which contains nicarbazin, an ingredient that stops an egg from developing. OvoControl P has been registered with the state Department of Pesticide Regulation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and is approved by PETA and the Humane Society.
Laura Dodson, president of the Argyle Civic Assn., a neighborhood group leading the effort called Citizen Pigeon, said that they raised enough money from local businesses and residents -- over $50,000 -- to install five rooftop automatic feeders. They’ve also installed cameras to monitor the birds eating online.
After four months, the 438 pigeon regulars in one spot dropped to just below 40. Some through attrition, but pigeons are "just having less babies now," Dodson said.
The original date to reduce the pigeon population by 50% was 2012, but Dodson said that pest control and wildlife officials think it could happen within the next two years.
The pigeons are disliked in the area, currently under millions of dollars in renovation efforts, because of the messy droppings.
Italy, though, is taking a different approach on cracking down on the birds.
--Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Ringo H.W. Chiu/For the Times
4:19 PM, June 5, 2008
The Humane Society of the United States today urged a nationwide ban on lead-shot ammunition after the lead poisoning of critically endangered California condors. One of the birds has died, "evidence that this ammo keeps on killing long after it leaves the gun barrel," the society said.
"Like asbestos, lead shot is a lethal and cruel pollutant that has no place in our modern society,” Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the society, said in a statement released today.
“Discharging countless tons of lead-shot ammunition and dispersing it in open space areas throughout the nation is a prescription for slow agonizing deaths for wildlife, particularly for scavengers such as condors who feed on animals killed by lead shot and are then poisoned themselves," he said. "It's time for policymakers to stand up to the extremist voices within the hunting lobby and demand that hunters use nontoxic shot.”
The poisoned condors account for one-fifth of the entire Southern California population of the creatures.
California enacted a law forbidding the use of lead shot, and lead bullets, in condor territory beginning July 1.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Scott Frier / Associated Press
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 »
4:30 PM, May 21, 2008
 It may be a little harder for "chicken aficionados" to get their hands on the Gamecock and the Feathered Warrior, both the subject of a federal animal cruelty lawsuit that was settled this week when the magazines' publisher agreed to ask Amazon.com to stop selling its publications online, the Associated Press reports.
In 2006, the Humane Society of the United States asked the U.S. Postal Service to stop delivering the magazines. Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle, pictured at right with the magazines in question, explained in a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed piece last year that the group also began fighting with Amazon because it was trafficking materials that "incite cockfighting."
Amazon has argued that it has a constitutional right to sell the publications and called pulling them from sale a form of censorship, according to the AP.
The Humane Society last year sued Amazon demanding the online retailer stop selling the Gamecock, which the group called "the oldest and best-known cockfighting magazine in the United States." An attorney for the Marburger Publishing Co. described the magazine much differently, saying it was appealing to "chicken aficionados."
-- Tony Barboza
Photo: Robert A. Reeder / Washington Post
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