animal cruelty

Read the latest news reports about cruelty to animals, animal cruelty laws, and other stories of dog and cat abuse on Newser.com

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Animal Welfare Check Ends With 7 Dead Dogs

Ex-deputy Connor Brackin is accused of gunning down 7 dogs on a Tennessee property

(Newser) - An investigation continues into an incident earlier this month in Tennessee that left seven dogs dead, with a local deputy accused of gunning them down while responding to a call. According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation , Connor Brackin, a now-former deputy with the McNairy County Sheriff's Office, showed...

Fleeing Floridian Charged With Leaving Dog Tied Up

Gov. DeSantis warned pet owners about mistreating their dogs during Hurricane Milton

(Newser) - A man accused of leaving his dog tied to a fence in Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty. Authorities say Giovanny Aldama Garcia, 23, admitted he abandoned his dog along a highway as he evacuated. If convicted of the felony charge, he could face...

They Found a Cat in a Parking Lot, Then Tortured It

Donaldvan Williams gets 3-plus years for kicking cat like 'football field goal'; another man recorded it

(Newser) - A Texas man has received a three-year-plus prison sentence for kicking a cat, then permitting a video of that to be shared on social media. On Tuesday, a federal judge handed 30-year-old Donaldvan Williams 40 months behind bars on animal cruelty charges, after Williams pleaded guilty on animal crushing and...

Two Men Take Bear Cub on Road Trip, Feed It Taco Bell

Which you probably shouldn't be doing 'for so many reasons,' notes wildlife rescue official

(Newser) - Two men in northern Ontario picked up a highly unusual passenger and took it on a road trip, complete with Taco Bell to scarf down. The problem? That passenger was a black bear cub. According to Myriam Armstrong of the Pet and Wildlife Rescue center in Chatham-Kent, her group took...

2 Cat Owners: We Really Loathe Our Kitties

Horrified reaction follows after Cut columns detail how 2 cat moms started hating their felines

(Newser) - What happens when the pet you love becomes ... not so lovable anymore? Two columnists writing for the Cut this week explain their cat conundrums, and their essays are inciting the internet's ire.
  • Essay No. 1: Mary Gaitskill kicks things off with an essay titled "Was I Capable of
...

Kristof: Future Generations Will Recoil at Factory Farming

He wonders why Americans are so blasé about the mass torture of pigs for our meals

(Newser) - Americans by and large love and pamper their dogs, and Nicholas Kristof is no exception. But in his latest New York Times column, Kristof wonders why many of these same dog lovers are so willing to ignore what he describes as the mass torture of pigs by the American agriculture...

Cops: Stolen Dog Died in FedEx Driver's Hot Truck

North Carolina man faces charges including animal cruelty

(Newser) - A former FedEx driver delivered himself to authorities Monday to face charges including animal cruelty connected to the death of a stolen French bulldog. Authorities believe Fayetteville, North Carolina, resident Kimani Joehon Marshall snatched the pet, named Tori, while he was making deliveries earlier this month, NBC News reports. Investigators...

After Video Surfaces, British Equestrian Drops Out of Olympics

Video reportedly shows Charlotte Dujardin whipping horse during coaching session

(Newser) - Charlotte Dujardin, a British equestrian who is the country's joint most-decorated female Olympian, has pulled out of the 2024 Paris Olympics over a video she says she is "deeply ashamed" of. The Telegraph reports that the video shows Dujardin whipping a horse repeatedly on the legs during a...

Parents Charged With Murder After Toddler Dies in Hot Car

Deja and Justin Rollins allegedly left 4 kids in a car in Arkansas while another got treatment

(Newser) - An Arkansas couple has been charged with capital murder after one of their young children left inside a hot vehicle died from apparent heat exhaustion, authorities said. Prosecutors in Little Rock filed the murder charges Monday against Deja and Justin Rollins following their 2-year-old's death. They've pleaded not...

Activists Deface King Charles' Portrait

Animal Rising defends act as 'light-hearted' way to draw attention to animal cruelty

(Newser) - That didn't take long. A month after King Charles III's first official portrait as monarch was unveiled, activists vandalized it with an image of the iconic British stop-motion animation character Wallace of Wallace and Gromit fame . The animal activist group Animal Rising shared footage Tuesday of an individual...

Turns Out a Puppy Killer Isn't a Great Sell for VP
Did Noem's Dog Story
Sink Her Shot at VP?
the rundown
Apr 30, 2024 7:24 AM CDT

Did Noem's Dog Story Sink Her Shot at VP?

South Dakota governor continues to take flak over how she killed an inept hunting dog

(Newser) - South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem may have ruined her chances of becoming Donald Trump's running mate with her confession about shooting an "untrainable" 14-month-old dog who attacked a neighbor's chickens, onlookers say. Did she break the law? Did she think Trump would be impressed? Here's what...

Noem Cops to Killing Dog, Goat After Hunt Gone Wrong

South Dakota governor says they're examples of 'tough decisions' of life on a farm

(Newser) - Kristi Noem's new book is out next week, and contained within its pages is what Forbes deems a most "bizarre admission." No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong With Politics and How We Move America Forward is due out May 7, but a couple of...

Uproar After Hunter Allegedly Takes Wolf Into Bar, Kills It

Wildlife officials' interpretation of law makes torture of predator species legal, activists warn

(Newser) - A man and a wolf walk into a bar. It isn't a joke, though some argue the consequences for the man who allegedly paraded the yearling wolf in front of bar patrons before killing it behind the building are indeed laughable. Wyoming hunter Cody Roberts allegedly chased down the...

DA: Trainer Fatally Injured Horse With 'Powerful Blow'

Canadian trainer arrested in NY has a history of excessively whipping horses

(Newser) - A Canadian harness racing trainer accused of hitting a horse at an upstate New York facility so hard that it had to be euthanized was arrested after he returned to the US on Tuesday. Law enforcement sources and PETA officials tell the Times Union that 25-year-old Frederick Bourgault hit the...

Good News for Budweiser's Clydesdales

Anheuser-Busch will no longer dock their tails, after animal-rights groups protest

(Newser) - It's been a busy year if you're in Budweiser's PR department, and it's about to be a happier year if you happen to be in their storied Clydesdale department (we're assuming you're not, because Clydesdales aren't so great with navigating the internet). As...

Zoo Accused of Being 'One of the Worst' Is No More

South Carolina's Waccatee Zoo has been shuttered as part of a settlement with PETA

(Newser) - Three months ago, PETA removed nine animals from what it called "one of the worst roadside zoos in America." Now, that venue has been shut down for good. The animal rights group has reached a settlement with the Waccatee Zoo, located in South Carolina's Myrtle Beach area,...

Iceland Yanks Its Whale Hunt
Iceland Yanks Its Whale Hunt
Jun 21, 2023 10:50 AM CDT

Iceland Yanks Its Whale Hunt

Suspends its annual hunt until the last 2 weeks of the season, in a likely death knell

(Newser) - Iceland is one of three nations left on the planet that still hunts whales commercially, and it looks like it may be bowing out of that small, controversial group on a humanitarian basis. As AFP reports, Reykjavik announced it's suspending the annual whaling season—which runs from mid-June to...

Supreme Court Delivers a Defeat to Pork Industry

Justices reject challenge to animal cruelty law in California that has effects beyond the state

(Newser) - The Supreme Court has handed the pork industry a defeat, rejecting a challenge brought against an animal cruelty law in California. Justices decided that lower courts were correct in dismissing the challenge to the law, which requires more space for breeding pigs, reports the AP . The 2018 law stipulates that...

Protests Force Moulin Rouge to Drop Snake Act

Terrestrial snakes were dropped in water tank with cabaret dancer

(Newser) - The snake show is now history at Paris' historic Moulin Rouge cabaret. The club has dropped a long-running act in which a dancer swims around snakes in a water tank, the Guardian reports. Animal rights campaigners said the snakes involved, Southeast Asian reticulated and Indian pythons, were terrestrial species and...

UK Quietly Does 180 on Animal Testing of Makeup

Government apparently reversed its stance in 2019, after decades-long ban

(Newser) - The UK government had banned the testing of makeup ingredients on animals for more than two decades when it quietly reversed its stance in 2019. It began issuing licenses for animal testing of cosmetic ingredients in line with European Union rules, which don't allow animal testing to determine whether...

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