by Jason on November 23, 2006
Porphyry reports that not only is the Dutch Party for Animals on the “party as in political” as opposed to the “party as in lampshade hats” side of the fence, they’re also poised to win one or two seats in the upcoming national election. That’ll give them the distinction of being the first AR party in Europe to have its own elected official, which is certainly cause for a party as in pants at the door. Dude, this is going to make lobbying SO much more efficient! One of the great things about this election is that its bringing out a lot of people who don’t normally vote, but who care about animals, which is sure to raise awareness regardless of the election’s outcome. You know, when I was a child the only thing they taught me about the Dutch was that they used to wear wooden shoes, which, when you think about it, is pretty hardcore vegan… Link.
by Jason on November 20, 2006
According to the latest research, lizards have personalities. People don’t eat a whole lot of lizard flesh, so this news in itself won’t have a huge impact on veganism, but I always get a kick out of “research” that’s already known to anyone who ever cared for an animal (or in this case, a reptile). Link.
by Jason on November 17, 2006
Zelda reports that William Fike has been charged with six counts of animal abandonment after he put six newborn puppies in a garbage bag and threw it in a bin. Of course, Mr. Fike says he loves dogs, but these ones didn’t look like Rottweilers, so what’s a proud dog lover to do but throw them in the garbage, right? Anyway, kudos to The Man for pressing charges, but here’s where the whole thing gets derailed. The puppies were newborn and needed their mother, who Fike “owned.” In their infinite and bountiful wisdom, rather than ban this guy from owning animals, authorities have returned the puppies to Fike so they can be raised properly for the next 8 weeks, at which point they’ll be turned over to a shelter. The mother and 4 other dogs will stay under Fike’s loving care, at least until they get too ugly for him, I guess. Link.
by Jason on November 3, 2006
sugarmilktea sent along some commentary by CNN guest correspondent Willie Nelson (I just wanted to write that phrase, mostly). As VP regulars will recall, Nelson’s big on preventing horses from being slaughtered for food in the USA, and he states his case in his latest op-ed. For those who think that banning horse meat should be a no-brainer for the entire American population, the comments at the end will prove interesting. Link.
by Jason on November 1, 2006
From the “I can’t believe I missed this one” department: a while back, Stitches wrote in with a story about a dog in California who was hit by a car. The driver took off leaving Buddy to take care of himself, so that’s just what he did: he limped to the ER of the local hospital and sat down in the waiting room. Hospital officials referred the case to the local animal shelter, who treated him for a fracture, and it looks like everyone’s going to be fine now, except for the asshat driver who did the hitting and running in the first place, who I predict will be haunted by the subconscious guilt and will never enjoy pie again. Link.
by Jason on October 20, 2006
If there’s one thing better than a rumour, it’s an internet rumour! Stitches sent in one from the “too crazy to be made up” file: the king of Spain was in Russia lately, and it’s been alleged that Russian officials took a bear from a holiday resort, loaded him up on honey mixed with vodka, and then set him out into the king’s gun sights. Spanish officials are refuting the claim as ridiculous, but it’s noted that the kind is an avid hunter. Of course, all attention so far has been on the king, while the semi-canned hunt itself was a Russian endeavour. Assuming it happened. As Stitches says, to weird not to submit. Link.
by Jason on October 11, 2006
pianowires reports that Norway’s 450,000 or so moose population sometimes gets infiltrated by a pesky albino. By now everyone’s read The Da Vinci Code and we all know that albinos are crazy hardcore, but the Norwegian translation hasn’t made it out yet I guess, because many hunters there think that the albino moose will ultimately weaken the herd and should be killed. North America has a culture where unique animals are favoured and often spared (well, visibly unique animals, anyway – personality doesn’t count for much), but we also have a lot more people who don’t “get” evolution. Sadly, the hunters of Norway aren’t doing much better, with “natural selection” being replaced with “point and shoot.” Link.
by Jason on October 10, 2006
Chiefly Seattle sends the sad news that a Seattle pet shelter has been vandalized by parties unknown. The shelter, which has been in operation since 1990, is facing bills of up to $2000 just for the antibiotics needed to treat the animals that were injured in the attack. The vandals stole some animals, opened all of the cages and possibly stomped on some of the animals that were let out (about 25 were killed, many of which seem to be released mice who were either stepped on or attacked by released cats). So I’m back from vacation and this is the kind of stuff I get to write, and the stuff that you get to read. If there’s any kind of bright side to this, or at least a light at the end of the (long, dark, dank) tunnel, maybe we can all get together to help them back on their feet: Link to news story, Link to shelter page with donation link.
by Jason on October 3, 2006
vegandinner reports that while China is still waiting for the official Olympics to come around, they’ve been keeping busy with something called the Animal Olympics, which involves grand testaments to animal athletics such as a fight between a kangaroo and a guy in a clown costume. I think they might stop short of cock fighting, but that’s only because it’s too small time – they have horse fighting instead. The event’s been going on for four years now, but China got the nod for the 2008 Olympics back in 2001. A small naive part of me likes to think that that decision would have gone the other way had officials seen this new animal event. Link.
by Jason on September 26, 2006
I’ve got some stuff in the submission backlog that’s so bizarre I can’t believe I haven’t used it already. Take, for instance, this story from Creature – a goldfish at the Royal Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh has had cosmetic surgery to remove a lump and an eye (!) after visitors complained about the fish being too ugly. The surgery was paid for with the coins that were thrown in the bottom of the pond. While there were no apparent health reasons for the surgery, and the museum won’t disclose how many complaints they received, it seems that the Royal Museum of Scotland has much higher standards than I do. I think I’ll pass on visiting them the next time I’m in the neighbourhood – I’d hate to think what might happen once the aesthetic police get a look at me. Link.
