Incidents of abuse and a shifting national consciousness have made animal anti-cruelty laws one of the fastest-growing fields in the legal profession. In 1993, just seven states had felony animal cruelty laws; today, all but four do.
"Animal law is where environmental law was 20 years ago. It's in its infancy but growing," said Pamela Frasch, who heads the National Center for Animal Law at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, where she has been an adjunct professor for 10 years.
Lewis & Clark opened the first Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter in 1992. Today it has branches at more than 115 law schools in the United States and Canada.
In 2000, nine law schools had animal law studies. Today about 100 do.
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A Florida legislator wants to introduce a law prohibiting bestiality.
Sen. Nan Rich is putting forward a bill (SB 448) that would make it a third degree felony to have sex with an animal. It's an issue that has gained attention after a series of goat rapes in the Panhandle town of Mossy Head.
Right now, people who have sex with animals can be charged with animal cruelty, but prosecutors have to prove animals were injured because of the act.
Rich wants to make sure defendants can't win their cases for lack of that proof.
Source
I know, I know ...
Some smart-aleck will ask,
"But what if it's consensual?"
"But what if the animal initiated it?"
"But what if they were married?"
Sen. Nan Rich is putting forward a bill (SB 448) that would make it a third degree felony to have sex with an animal. It's an issue that has gained attention after a series of goat rapes in the Panhandle town of Mossy Head.
Right now, people who have sex with animals can be charged with animal cruelty, but prosecutors have to prove animals were injured because of the act.
Rich wants to make sure defendants can't win their cases for lack of that proof.
Source
I know, I know ...
Some smart-aleck will ask,
"But what if it's consensual?"
"But what if the animal initiated it?"
"But what if they were married?"
Do you agree that this photo I found at No Ordinary Rollercoaster is cute?
I think it's cute, too, but fair warning:
the RSPCA (a UK animal rights group) is threatening to have people prosecuted for dressing up their dog.
Jo Barr, RSPCA spokeswoman, said that viewing animals as a fashion accessory is "quite humiliating and sends out the wrong message about pet care."
On the other hand, the owner of the following pet probably SHOULD be prosecuted:
and this poor little thing isn't even wearing clothes. But probably should be.
Photo from Reuters Pictures
I think it's cute, too, but fair warning:the RSPCA (a UK animal rights group) is threatening to have people prosecuted for dressing up their dog.
Jo Barr, RSPCA spokeswoman, said that viewing animals as a fashion accessory is "quite humiliating and sends out the wrong message about pet care."
On the other hand, the owner of the following pet probably SHOULD be prosecuted:
and this poor little thing isn't even wearing clothes. But probably should be.Photo from Reuters Pictures
On Nov. 4, California voters will be asked to decide on Proposition 2, an animal rights ballot measure that would grant the farm animals in California the opportunity to spread their hooves and claws, rather than being confined to restrictive cages, as many chickens, sows and veal cattle now are.But because veal and pork are not major industries in California, the battle over Proposition 2 is focused almost exclusively on the state’s henhouses, which opponents say will be hard hit by higher production costs if the measure passes.
“This is a well-intended initiative for animals with some very negative unintended consequences for people,” said Julie Buckner, a spokeswoman for Californians for Safe Food, the leading anti-Proposition 2 group. “It’s going to wipe out the California egg farmers, and it’s going to raise the food costs for consumers. And this is at a time when our economy is hurting.”
Supporters of the proposition, the first of its kind in the nation, reject those arguments, casting the ballot measure as an act of kindness for animals whose bodies and byproducts usually end up on dining room tables.
“If animals are going to be killed for food,” said Wayne Pacelle, the president and chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, “the least we can do is treat them with decency and give them a semblance of life.”
What do you think?
Source: NY Times
Saudi Arabia's religious police have announced a ban on selling cats and dogs as pets, or walking them in public in the Saudi capital, because of men using them as a means of making passes at women, an official said on Wednesday.Othman al-Othman, head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in Riyadh, known as the Muttawa, told the Saudi edition of al-Hayat daily that the commission has started enforcing an old religious edict.
The reason behind reinforcing the edict now was a rising fashion among some men using pets in public "to make passes on women and disturb families," he said, without giving more details.
The 5,000-strong religious police oversees the adherence to Wahabism -- a strict version of Sunni Islam, which also forces women to cover from head to toe when in public, and bans them from driving.
Graphic: Cartoon Stock
Source: AFP
The Associated Pressreports that the Dutch government will lift a long-standing, 15-year long ban on pit bulls because it did not lead to any decrease in bite incidents.
Instead, the country will focus on enforcing local leashing laws and owner education programs.
Could someone please call Tyrone Yates?
(via Pet Connection)
Instead, the country will focus on enforcing local leashing laws and owner education programs.
Could someone please call Tyrone Yates?
(via Pet Connection)
Ohio House Bill 568, introduced by Representative Tyrone Yates of Cincinnati, seeks to prohibit the ownership, keeping, or harboring of a dog that "belongs to a breed that is commonly known as a pit bull dog."If this bill is passed and adopted into law, all pit bulls in Ohio will be seized and euthanized.
HB 568 provides that:
* No person shall own, keep, or harbor a dog that belongs to a breed that is commonly known as a pit bull dog.
* No later than 90 days after the effective date of this bill, a person who owns, keeps, or harbors a pit bull dog will be forced to surrender the dog to a dog warden.
* Within ten days of surrender, the dog warden shall euthanize the dog.
* If an officer has probable cause to believe that a dog is a pit bull, the officer may apply for a search warrant. After obtaining a search warrant, an officer shall seize the dog and transfer the dog to the dog warden, who shall euthanize the dog within 10 days.
It is imperative that all concerned dog owners
All concerned Ohio dog owners should contact their elected representatives and express their strong opposition to HB 568. To find your elected representatives, click here.
Source: AKC
Photo: nyklbrk
"I'll stand by you," a touching video about people who love pit bulls.
Watch video
You could also email Tyrone Yates : district33@ohr.state.oh.us : & tell him what you think of his bill #568.
The small town of Osceola, NE is considering a breed ban that would ban American Pit Bull Terriers. The town has exactly one APBT, who has never caused any problems whatsoever and has no complaints registered against her.Maggie, the only pit bull in town, lives across the street from Renee and Kent Johansen and their three children. The Johansens are leading the move for the ban. The Johansens, say they are concerned about the safety of their young children living in such close proximity to the pit bull.
“I know that specific dog has not done anything yet,” Renee Johansen said in a phone interview.
Maggie's owners, however, have purchased a $100,000 liability insurance policy, a stake that could not be pulled out of the ground, shortened her chain, got her a muzzle and the signs that were needed. They're trying to find a picture sign that warns about dogs for kids who can’t read.
The Osceola council says it wants to do the right thing and not make a law that squarely impacts one person, so they are banning 7 breeds of dogs: Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, Am. Staffordshire Terrier, Chows, Dobermans, Rottweiler, American Bandage Mastiff, Neopolitan Mastiff, and any dog with the appearance of any of the above. American Bandage Mastiff? Just in case there is one, somewhere in the world.
(via For Your Entertainment)
Photo: nestmaker
Authorities in Swaziland have declared war on roosters in the capital city because the birds are disrupting people's sleep. Authorities are set to enforce a 40-year-old law that permits residents to raise up to 12 chickens with permission but no roosters.(Here's the quote of the week - ready?)
"After many instances we have found cocks to be troublesome and they end up making lives miserable for residents," said a Mbabane Municipal spokesman.
Source: AFP
Photo: Bill Shatto