BY: KASSANDRA DZIKEWICZ The egg industry follows the idea of “ignorance is bliss,” but in reality what goes on behind the doors of factory farms is far from blissful. In Germany 45 million baby chicks per year are thrown into…
Photos show that zoos are more like animal prisons than a conservation effort
BY: CONNOR BRIAN Photos: Gaston Lacombe The last time I visited a zoo, I got this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. Between visions of children gawking, and snotty teens smacking the helpless animals’ glass enclosures it felt…
California puts an expiry date on SeaWorld by banning the breeding of killer whales
BY: JESSICA BEUKER On Thursday, the California Coastal Commission approved a $100 million expansion of killer whale tanks in SeaWorld San Diego—but with conditions. In a last minute amendment that followed the daylong meeting, the commission banned the breeding…
The Netherlands just banned wild animals from being used in circuses
BY: JESSICA BEUKER On September 15, 2015 a ban on wild animals being used in circuses officially went into effect in the Netherlands. According to Four Paws, there are 22 active circuses in the Netherlands and between 16 of them…
Arizona raises a middle finger to puppy mills with a law that pet stores can only sell shelter dogs
BY: ROB HOFFMAN This summer a federal court stood its ground in an important case that shed light on the country’s dire lack of animal care regulations for the treatment of dogs and cats within pet stores, and where they…
Harlow’s infamously cruel experiments are the reason chimps should be recognized as legal persons
BY: KAROUN CHAHINIAN The Manhattan Supreme Court made history when two chimpanzees were recognized as possible legal non-human persons in order to hold a “personhood” rights hearing. Justice Barbara Jaffe ordered that a cause and writ of Habeas Corpus must…
Why Instagram celebrities condemning the Yulin Dog Meat Festival is the irony of the century
BY: ROB HOFFMAN Who’s to blame for a city that kills 10,000 dogs a year in the name of a good meal and celebrating the onset of summer? The most shocking aspect of the Yulin Festival celebration founded in 2009…
New Zealand just made cosmetic testing on animals illegal, punishable by 6 months in prison or a $125,000 fine
BY: ZOE MELNYK New Zealand recently passed a bill banning animal testing and other types of animal cruelty. Talk of banning animal testing around the world has posed as a controversial debate for decades between two different interpretations of the words…
Japan’s whaling industry will recommence killing for “science” next year
BY: AOIFE RYAN While the vast majority of the public presume the 1960s Save the Whales movement solved the plight of the largest mammal, Japan is planning on rolling out a virtual killing scheme next year in international waters. Who could…
Jon Stewart just turned his farm in New Jersey into an animal sanctuary for abused pets
Jon Stewart’s larger than life on-screen personality notoriously captured the attention of a youth-audience, using comedy to successfully introduce politics to a previously disengaged crowd. In April, his audience was thoroughly disappointed to learn that Jon would be stepping down…
Circus animals are banned in the UK
BY: SINEAD MULHERN Circus-performing animals in the UK are being given an early retirement thanks to a new ban passed by the British parliament. Starting December 2015, all wild animals will be banned from circuses in the UK— no exceptions.…