Over the last couple of weeks, I have sent alerts to Los Angeles, Texas and Canada, and we have had great luck getting letters published in response. This weekend has brought us much major animal news in need of responses. We are looking at cows, whales, mustangs, beagles and cougars:  

UK and Canadian media are covering police in the UK who chose to stop a runaway calf by ramming her with their vehicle, hard, twice. The Boston Globe Magazine has a depressing lead story on a local "humane" cow farmer. The Makah Tribe has been granted the right to hunt whales again. Time Magazine has done a particularly strong job of covering the hideous wild horse roundups. NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt covered the Beagle Freedom Project's new sanctuary on Friday, a perfect complement to a piece in the Hill discussing the Pentagon's "cruel, unneeded experiments on dogs" and the Washington Post's investigation in Marjorie Taylor Greene's claims against Anthony Fauci.  And the Los Angeles Times has again put the plight of cougars on the front page.

Before I get to those, let me thank all of you who responded to coverage of the spread of bird flu to cows. I was pleased to have my letter printed in the Dallas Morning News and will share the text here:

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Re: 'How bird flu in cows got past safety news — It seemed so unlikely that testing began late, posing potential for epidemic,' May 25 news story.

I was struck by a line in this front-page story on the spread of avian flu: 'Cows are mainly vegetarian.'

Mainly?

Then I remembered tales from years ago of cows being fed ground-up poultry waste, a practice banned as mad cow disease became a threat. A little research brought me to a Forbes article from which I learned that the revolting practice has been reinstated. I read, 'Poultry litter is used as feed among cattle because it’s a cheap source of protein and an inexpensive way to dispose of the waste, according to the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Missouri.'

Yet people are surprised that avian flu has spread to cows, and the media even goes so far as to blame the droppings of migrating birds.

If we don’t radically change our attitude to animals, and our willingness to treat them unconscionably, our own cruelty will eventually wipe us out.

Karen Dawn, Austin

Founder and director of DawnWatch, an animal advocacy nonprofit organization"

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And thanks to all who responded to Mark Hawthorne's Los Angeles Times piece which noted that veganism is "manly." Both I and an M.D, Ghan-Shyam Lohiya, had letters printed on that one, and all who wrote helped make that happen. Yahoo has shared those Los Angeles Times letters free of a paywall under the title, "Animal rights activists are overwhelmingly women. That doesn't reflect well on men." I hope you'll check them out and be inspired to respond to some of what's going on in animal media this weekend.

And thanks to all who responded to the Hamilto Spectator front page story asking, "Does Captivity Equate to Cruelty?" Both Sara Crane and I had letters printed in response to that one.

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Starting with the shocking story from the UK, of police twice ramming a very young cow with their car. While various outlets have described the incident, or shared an edited version that might lead folks to wonder what all the fuss is about, BBC presenter Chris Packham shared the unedited version on his x feed. You will hardly believe what you are seeing. I responded and shared it and hope you will too. For those who don't have access to X, the Toronto Sun also shared the unedited version. As I send out this alert on Sunday evening, I learn from Agence French Press that at least, so far, the officer driving has been relieved from duty.

As well as the Toronto Sun, (page 4) the story is in Canada's Ottawa Sun (page 6) and Winnipeg Sun (page 4) today, June 16. I urge Canadians to respond with a letter to whichever is closest to you, which speaks for animals and discusses the way we treat them. This story that has outraged the public provides such a perfect opportunity to take advantage of their being onside, keep them onside, and persuade them to think even more.

The Associated Press has just picked up the story in the US, so it should be in papers this week.

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The Boston Globe Magazine discussion of a runaway cow is equally depressing in its own way. Titled, "Farmer Jo's Runaway Cow," and featuring an ex-vegetarian pig and cattle farmer, it takes up most of the inside cover of the magazine, page 2, and then the story continues with a spread that starts on page 20. The subheading is, "A Martha’s Vineyard story of how a young farmer is reshaping the food ecosystem of an island community."

I hope others will join me in sharing thoughts with the Magazine which will surely print some responses to the story. Send them to

Magazine@globe.com

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Friday's, June 14, New York Times shared bad news on page 13 under the headline, "Tribe Wins U.S. Consent To Hunt Gray Whales Off Washington Coast." I can provide this gift link to that one, and

A gift link to the Washington Post coverage as well. The Washington Post comments section is still open so why not join in, as well as sending a letter to letters@washpost.com ? The New York Times, after only 60 comments, advises "The comments section is closed. To submit a letter to the editor for publication, write to letters@nytimes.com ." That paper also provides tips for getting published. 

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Philip Elliott's DC brief in the current TIME Magazine, the June 24 issue, covers the hideous mustang roundups in a piece which online is titled, "The Stealth Lobbying Because You’ve Never Heard of: Wild Horses". We learn that Representative Dina Titus (Dem-Nevada) and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (Republican-Pennsylvania) are the lead sponsors of a bill to end the horror, and that actor Diane Lane has been lobbying with much success: "The Oscar-nominated actress had just spent the day traipsing across the Capitol complex meeting with lawmakers who, to a tee, all agreed to sign onto the measure after hearing her pitch.

Elliot writes:

"The practice seems as brutal as it does bizarre. Despite the mythologies of the West, herd management is done more by aircraft than lasso these days. And it’s often handled by the same companies intent on making room for their own cattle to roam, a twisted insiders’ game that lets the giant mega-ranchers cash in not just on flying the helicopters that clear the area, but then again with pennies-on-the-dollar deals to allow private cattle and sheep to graze on public lands."

Sadly, we also read, "Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a former Democratic member of the House and a member of Biden’s administration, has been, frankly, less than sympathetic to the petition. And the Biden administration broadly hasn’t particularly been eager to seem like it’s cracking down on ranchers heading into a re-election bid..."

Time Magazine no longer prints letters to the editor but sharing the article is a darn good way to let them know you appreciated it!

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On Friday evening, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt featured the Beagle Freedom Project's new sanctuary. It's a lovely segment I hope you'll share.

As I noted above, the NBC coverage compliments a piece that appeared Friday in The Hill, by Lawrence Hansen M.D., who is a volunteer advisor to the White Coat Waste Project and a professor of pathology and neurosciences at the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine. The piece is titled, " The Pentagon is conducting cruel, unneeded experiments on dogs; it needs to stop." It is strong! Please read it and respond with an appreciative letter to the editor  .

Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene made news when she accused Anthony Fauci of being tied to the experiments, with he and the government quickly denying any involvement. The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler analysed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's claims against Anthony Fauci under the heading, "Unpacking the story of Fauci and painful experiments involving dogs: Documents obtained by an animal rights group show that NIH was not fully transparent when the controversy erupted in 2021." 

That article is well worth reading. 

Also, Glenn Greenwald, one of the few investigative journalists to ever look at animal issues, covered the issue on his show. It's well worth listening to.  (Thanks to Tracey DiMartini for making sure we didn't miss that one.)

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Yesterday, along with a gorgeous photo, the Los Angeles Times front page carried a story titled, "The outlook for a new puma in Griffith Park. " Penned by Lila Seidman, the article discusses the challenges LA's latest feline celebrity will face, but is full of nice quotes about living with wildlife. You can check it out without a paywall on the Arca Max site.

Sadly, today's paper notes the death of a different cougar, under the title, "Cougar found dead on 101 near partially built wildlife path" - page B3. That story, by Melissa Gomez shares a quote from activist Beth Pratt, “Obviously we have a solution coming, but it didn’t come soon enough for this cat...This is just another harsh reminder that this is the right place [for the crossing].” The Daily Item has that article available without a paywall.

The Los Angeles Times has shown great willingness to feature animal stories and print our letters in response so sending a quick note off the that paper is time well spent.

I send thanks, as always, to Elaine Livesey-Fassel for keeping such a close eye on it for us.

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Regarding the LA Times willingness to cover animal issues and feature our letters: In response to a front -page story on plans to cut down thousands of Joshua Trees to build a solar project, I sent an alert out to Angelenos. The paper printed a full page of letters in response, which are online here and which I have displayed here

with the following summary:

The letters ask, "Why aren’t the 180,000 homes in the coastal neighborhoods that will receive the power installing rooftop solar?" and note, "I don’t think destroying a natural habitat to provide electricity to human beings is a good trade-off." One shares, "Here in sunny California, where there are thousands of acres of rooftops waiting to be solarized, private equity gets the go-ahead to destroy a pristine desert area with endangered plants and animals and only powerless poor people as neighbors." And another points to the "reptiles, insects, birds and small mammals of the desert" who will be killed by the installation.

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Texans received an alert about a strong opinion piece by PETA's Ingrid Newkirk, printed in the San Antonio Express-News. I was pleased to have my letter printed in response and send thanks to my fellow Texans (I am now between Austin and Santa Barbara) who wrote.

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And Canadians received an alert about their local paper's coverage of the Makah whaling permit.

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In major media animal news shared to the DawnWatch Facebook page in the last couple of weeks (lots of it!):

The Alaska Beacon covered federal charges against a fisherman who ordered his crew to shoot a whale.

The East Bay Times ran an opinion piece titled, "Spread of bird flu bolsters case to stop eating animal meat."

Yahoo Sports shared that Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs had arrest warrants issued against him for animal cruelty

"after two starving and dirty dogs were found on a Tuscaloosa property he was renting."

A Los Angeles Times editorial took a stand against Walmart "confining pregnant sows in cruel cages."

The Los Angeles Times let us know "How Beyond Meat is Getting its Sizzle Back."

 News 4 San Antonio brought us nice coverage on Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito's efforts to have peacocks officially protected in San Antonio.

Columbia voted to ban bullfights! Here's the AP coverage. I talked about that, and the San Antonio peacocks, and the cancellation of plans to slaughter Catalina Island's deer from helicopters, all under the topic of laws that reflect how people feel about animals, on The Mark Thompson show and hope you will check out that segment.

Vox brought us a terrific article titled, " Big Milk has taken over American schools: How centuries of milk marketing warped the way we think about dairy and nutrition."

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MSN shared a beautiful video of a chimp who spent her life confined in a laboratory seeing the sky for the first time at the Save the Chimps sanctuary.

The Washington Post ran a piece I missed when it came out in April, but posted this month, titled, "How to (responsibly) let your cat outside."

The incredible cartoon strip Mutts has, as usual, been speaking for animals, as in this cartoon in which a crab was happy to be at rather than on the table.

KPIX CBS San Francisco Bay brought us particularly strong coverage under the banner, "Golden Gate Fields closure pleases trainer turned animal rights activist."

An awful incident in which a lost, blind, deaf, shih tzu was shot by a cop was at least covered well by Above the Law.

Newsweek, which has been bringing us more and beautiful rescue stories, shared "Woman Rescues Pig From Slaughter—Convinces Butcher to Quit His Business."

The Houston Chronicle ran, "Fawn-napping is a big problem," warning readers, " "Baby deer are starting to appear throughout Texas, prompting a serious warning from local wildlife experts about the dangers of human interaction with the young creatures. Specifically, experts are cautioning against so-called "fawn-napping," or attempting to rescue fawns by removing or taking them. Baby deer are often mistaken for being abandoned, but their mother is more than likely nearby. "

AARP let Burgerlord's Double Vegan Cheeseburger represent Los Angeles in its study of burger prices nationwide!

The Associated Press and numerous papers have shared the disappointing news that Iceland has issued licenses for 128 whales to be hunted this year.

The Austin American Statesman and USA Today shared a beautiful story "Drunken people are using Uber to help injured wildlife in Texas — and it's saving lives."

NBC gave strong coverage to Bainbridge Georgia's fight against a planned monkey breeding facility.

EuroNews covered a vote by citizens of a German town to kill the local pigeons.

St George News offered us a peak into the wildlife arm of the Best Friends Sanctuary in Utah.

CNN showed us the vandalism of a portrait of King Charles in protest of his support for the RSPCA given their disappointing record on farmed animal welfare protection.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert gave us their fabulous take on Nathan's decision to ban champion Joey Chestnut from its hotdog eating contest because he is representing Impossible Foods:

CBS 13 Sacramento ran a segment titled, "Owners of pet donkey lost 5 years ago near Auburn discover where he's been."

It is beautiful, and I am not going to give it away by letting you know where he has been. I will just tell you it’s a super happy ending and the reaction of his humans is perfect. (I send thanks to Sherill Durbin for digging up that story and so many others.)

The New York Times ran a piece online last week, which I have been waiting to see in print but which didn't appear, titled, "Our Desire for Inexpensive Food Is Putting Us in Danger." (Thanks to Teresa D'Amico for that gift link.)

And finally, the BBC has just released, "Are animals conscious? How new research is changing minds."

I find it hard to believe scientists are still asking that question. But despite the headline, the article is wonderfully informative. And though it's hardly a surprise to learn that fish have been proven to be conscious, I had no idea they had actually passed the quintessential mirror test, which proved to scientists that elephants were conscious. How's that for good news? Enjoy it here.

Yours and all animals',

Karen Dawn of DawnWatch