Free Republic

Some virtues are by accidents of history associated with utopianism, hostility to private property, anti-clericalism, and other core beliefs of the Left. I can scandalize a yoga instructor anywhere in the world by declaring myself an avid admirer of Margaret Thatcher, though I challenge you to read the yoga sutras and conclude from them that devotees must favor an overregulated financial sector. Concern for the welfare and dignity of animals is such an issue, associated with nihilist leftists such as Peter Singer and local totalitarians who seek to regulate pets out of existence. But one need not believe that animals...

Portsmouth woman faces up to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to beheading her boyfriend’s piglet. According to court documents, Ashley Fowler, 22, was breaking up with the piglet’s owner Zach Sawyer and wanted to play a prank first.

McDonald's Corp. and Target said Friday that they had booted a Minnesota-based egg supplier in the wake of an undercover video documenting alleged animal abuse. The hidden-camera video was shot by the Chicago animal rights group Mercy for Animals at facilities of Sparboe Farms, the nation's fifth-largest egg producer. Taken in Minnesota, Iowa and Colorado, the video portrays crowded cages common in the egg industry, but also shows one worker swinging a chicken by a rope or chain and another stuffing a hen in a co-worker's pants pocket. Sparboe was also cited this week by federal food regulators for serious...

Herman Vega told police he was trying to punish the cats for pooping in his trailer, the arrest report saysAn El Portal man has been charged with animal cruelty and disorderly intoxication after a police officer observed him throwing live cats in a trashcan, authorities say. Herman Vega, 57, told the arresting officer the cats had "s---t in his trailer so he was punishing them," according to the police report. "While on patrol I observed the defendant walk to a plastic garbage can holding several adult cats in his arms," wrote El Portal PD officer D. Adlet, after the incident...

YORK COUNTY, SC (WBTV) - The York County Sheriff's Office and the York County Animal Control are investigating after they say an abandoned box with two dead dogs inside was found on the side of the road. According to the Sheriff's Office, a deputy received a report on Saturday morning around 9:50 a.m. about a box in the roadway on Devinney Road, near the City of York, with two dead dogs inside. This happened on the section of road between McFarland Road and East Liberty Street. A deputy responded and located the box containing two dead dogs which appeared to...

FLORENCE, SC (WMBF) A college student home for the summer came across a strange box in the middle of the road in the Florence, only to find two abandoned puppies. When Florence resident Dani Ball opened the taped box she found two puppies, left to die on the side of the road. Ball says instinct took over and she was determined to save the small animals. "I've been crawling around in dog cages since I [could] crawl," laughs Ball. Dani was babysitting when she got a call from a neighbor about a mysterious package sitting on the side of the...

BAY VILLAGE, Ohio— A shocking case of animal cruelty is being investigated in Bay Village. Two cats have been burned in a manner that seems to indicate it was intentional. One of the animals is 8-year-old Heidi, a gray and black tiger striped cat. Cathy Mohney says Heidi is a house cat who slipped out of the house on Lindford Drive last week. "It was very unusual she wasn't right here on the porch," said Cathy. "She typically goes out just in the yard, if at all. She's normally an indoor cat." While the Mohney's hung fliers around town and...

A witness says he saw a group of teen boys tie two dogs to railroad tracks in Haltom City moments before a train ran over the animals Tuesday morning. The witness told police he was in a wooded area near the First Baptist Chruch of Fort Worth on the 5100 block of Northeast Loop 820 when he saw the boys. Cpl. Joe Heckfield, with the Haltom City Police Department, said investigators believe the dogs were already dead when they were hit by the train. Heckfield didn't elaborate as to what led police to that conclusion. Officials said when officers arrived,...

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The Pennsylvania SPCA is working overtime this morning, raiding homes across the city breaking up what officials are calling the largest dogfighting ring they’ve ever seen in this city. Officials say this dogfighting ring has been under surveillance for awhile. And late last night, early this morning, the Pennsylvania SPCA with Philadelphia police acting on a tip that fights were happening, raided a home on the 2600 block of Gerritt Street. Pennsylvania SPCA director of law enforcement, George Bengal says when they entered the house, there were around 25 people watching a fight in progress. “They actually...

I’ve been thinking about race, and prejudice, a lot over the past week. The world has been quick to condemn John Galliano for his anti-Semitic rant. I condemned him a long time ago, firstly for portraying women on his catwalk as adolescent boys and, secondly, for his wanton, unthinking use of fur.

A pitiful, malnourished abandoned drug horse, used to move drugs across the Mexican border into Arizona, was so weak it kept trying to sit back on its hind legs because its front legs were too weak to hold it up, according to [the] NY TIMES. Brad Cowan, a 28 year livestock officer with the Arizona Department of Agriculture, and his partner had to carry it into a horse trailer. “I’d get angry when I’d see the condition these horses were in,” he said. Horrible sores from poorly fitting make shift saddles become infected, and their hooves get severely cut and...

Warning: Graphic Content Len Crenshaw, the man accused of cruelty to a family pet, says he never intended to hurt the animal. CONWAY, SC (WMBF) - Len Crenshaw, the man accused of cruelty to a family pet, says he never intended to hurt the animal. Crenshaw was arrested this week and charged with general ill treatment of animals/torture. The Horry County Police Department says officers found Crenshaw's dog "Buddy" in the back yard with multiple collars that were too small and embedded in the skin around the dog's neck. Crenshaw said in an interview Friday he was upset about Buddy's...

A 33-year-old Gilbert woman accused of putting her Shih Tzu dog in the trunk when she drove it to the vet in 110-plus degree heat in August was arrested Tuesday morning on suspicion of animal cruelty charges. Authorities said the woman, Katie Troung, was observed pulling the dog out of the trunk of her car when she took it to a pet groomer in Queen Creek last August. The groomer, who described the dog as “soaking wet” and “very dehydrated,” was concerned about its condition and took it to a nearby veterinarian for evaluation. The dog was found to have...

That's Maura, the third member of the Swindle-Bey household. She brings nothing to the table except unconditional love and affection. That's what dogs do. We take care of them, and they take care of us. They are the most innocent, pure, selfless spirits to emerge since the Dawn of Time. What kind of person would want to brutally torture to death such embodiments of goodness? Michael Vick.

The subtext for this is obviously, “Oh, those wacky conservatives and their thirst for vengeance!”, but that isn’t really Tucker Carlson’s focus in this clip from his guest-hosting gig on Sean Hannity’s Great American Panel on Fox News Channel last night. Mediaite’s Glenn Davis makes this the story, rather than the vast majority of the discussion, which was Barack Obama’s decision to jump into the debate about Michael Vick and his second chance in football.

Dallas police broke up an alleged cockfighting operation in Southeast Dallas Saturday. The Humane Society of the United States supplied undercover cockfighting video to police that led to the raid at a large run-down building. "Today we found scores of roosters who had been brought to fight to the death with knives tied to their legs," said John Goodwin with the HSUS said in a news release. "Many birds injured in the fights were simply thrown in a pile and left to slowly die. We commend the Dallas Police Department for their quick and efficient action to shut down this...

(English-language translation) A bill announced yesterday by Representative Melinda Romero Donnelly to establish Puerto Rico's first animal registry including pit bulls and paso fino walking horses but not fighting cocks got off on the wrong foot. The legislator said she does not consider cockfighting a sport or a cultural tradition, but rather "abuse" and maintained she will not allow "legalizing an illegal practice such as this one". However, Recreation & Sports Department Secretary Henry Neumann said the bill "is political suicide" and that "it will never be approved". Neumann indicated that cockfights are regulated by the Cockfighting Commission and that...

On Friday, police in Granite City, Illinois arrested Albino Periz-Garduno, 33, and charged him with aggravated animal cruelty after allegedly stabbing a cat with a samurai sword. When police arrived at the home of Periz-Garduno, they found a cat in severe pain from a large gash, apparently from a sword. The cat could not be saved and was euthanized. According to Assistant Police Chief Jeff Connor, the illegal alien had been drinking. Someone inside the residence left when the cat was stabbed and called police. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed a hold on Periz-Garduno.

This article seeks to look into Missouri’s Prop B, which will be on the ballot in November. Prop B is the Puppy Mill Bill and it has become a heated debate. I mention Amendment 2 which was the stem cell/cloning bill which barely passed in 2006 here in Missouri. One of the major arguments against the bill – and which I share – was that the bill’s summary conflicted with its complete language and therefore lied to the public; in other words it is not a pro-life law. One of the arguments against Prop B is that it is vague...

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – It is a story that elicits an emotional response - a dog thrown from a car on the interstate. A team of specialized veterinarians is rallying around that dog, who has now been Hope. An outpouring of support for Hope, the black and white border collie type dog who was thrown from a car on Interstate 65 near the silos in Louisville on Sept. 28. After being thrown from the car, Hope was immediately hit by another car and ended up in the center median. "It appears that she got orthopedic injuries, a spinal injury that...

An English IKEA decided to release 100 live cats overnight. Why? Why would you question such a thing? The video is the most amazing and life-affirming event. Ever. Embrace it. Watch it a thousand times. Watch it ten thousand times.

This is a horrible case and should not be watched by the faint of heart as it contains multiple acts of animal cruelty (albeit graphic, it is not bloody). LiveLeak (or the person posting it) asked for any help. This gal probably has a FaceBook, or someone knows her. My site links out to the video. This young girl effectively drowns a litter of puppies. http://religiopoliticaltalk.com/2010/08/posted-at-request-of-liveleak-to-help-find-persons-involved-girl-throws-litter-of-puppies-into-river/

Even Cruella De Vil would be disgusted. A young woman has become the focus of death threats and hate messages after video of her throwing live puppies into a river was recently posted online. Her identity is unknown, but some have suggested she may be from Bosnia. The disturbing video shows the young, blonde woman smiling as she picks several puppies out of a dirty bucket and viciously tosses them into a rapidly flowing river. At one point, as the woman lobs a black-and-white pup into the water, she can clearly be heard saying, "whee."

LAKE WORTH-- You can barely hear it's meow and that's understandable. A 4-week-old dark brown kitten and his white and silver-haired litter mate are downright tired after struggling to stay alive. "They found them all bound up and they were near death," says Inga Hanley of Adopt A Cat Foundation. A couple found the kittens on a boat in a Lake Worth storage yard Sunday. The kittens were tied together with fishing line, their little front paws so tightly wound, they are now 3 times the size they are supposed to be. "We still don't know if their front...

Now in concert with the gentle approach of summer Police across the country renew their annual campaign against dogs and other pets. Knowledgeable readers are familiar with the drill: when they came for the dogs I said nothing for I owned no dogs. When they came for the cats I said nothing for I owned no cats. When they came for me, there was no dog or cat owner left to speak on my behalf. And then, of course, there is the matter of Marksmanship. In Washington, DC it took seven or eight shots to kill a 13 year old...

Second sad story about abused dogs in the state.

SPCA Officials Stunned After 2 Feet Of Feces Found In Room Of House Located In Million-Dollar Community Officers Say It's One Of The Worst Cases Ever Reported Reporting Sean Hennessey CHESTER TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) ― One New Jersey SPCA official said it was probably the worst case he's ever seen.

Over 40 dogs were seized from within the residence.Investigators tell NEWSCHANNEL 3 that the homeowner would cover her back yard in newspapers, then shovel them into piles once the dog feces was a half foot deep.We spoke with Sheldon's niece and she said, "[Helen] doesn't realize how bad it is. All this stuff you see around here, this has been this way for a long time." Sheldon's niece added that her aunt suffers from a mental illness.

52 cats and one dog were removed from the home of a 76 year old Elkhart woman Tuesday by Elkhart Police Department's animal control officer and Humane Society workers. Elkhart Humane Society Assistant Director Rachel Dennis says the cats and dog are all in poor health, suffering from respiratory problems, matted eyes and infested with insects. Adult Protective Services was called to assist the 76 year old woman who was living in the feces covered trailer. The woman is now living with a family member. Elkhart Police say a maintenance worker at Four Season Trailer Park flagged down an animal...

<p>An animal welfare group said Tuesday that a graphic video it secretly recorded shows workers at a dairy farm beating cows with crowbars, stabbing them with pitchforks and punching them in their heads.</p> <p>The video was recorded in an undercover investigation at Conklin Dairy Farms Inc., said Mercy For Animals, a not-for-profit group that publicizes what it calls cruel practices in the dairy, meat and egg industries and promotes a vegan diet.</p>

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a federal law that criminalized photographs and other depictions of animal cruelty, saying the law violated free speech rights protected by the First Amendment. Supreme Court questions animal cruelty law Supreme Court to decide case on animal cruelty and free speech In an 8 to 1 ruling, the high court said the law was substantially overbroad and thus could not withstand constitutional scrutiny. The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, criticized the Obama administration for proposing to the high court a balancing test that would pit the “value” of any...

The Supreme Court struck down a federal law Tuesday aimed at banning videos depicting graphic violence against animals, saying that it violates the constitutional right to free speech. Chief Justice John J. Roberts Jr., writing for an eight-member majority, said the law was overly broad and not allowed by the First Amendment. He rejected the government's argument that whether certain categories of speech deserve constitutional protection depends on balancing the value of the speech against its societal costs.

A Yonkers man was arrested by local police after he slashed a German shepherd because it was racist. According to 58-year-old Andrew Owens, Jenna the German shepherd only barked at minorities and bit him in the past because of his race. When the dog began barking at him on Tuesday, Owens reportedly became so furious that he took out a nine inch knife and slashed the dog across the face. The dog was reportedly cut from the right eye down to the eye socket bone. The dog lost an eye because of the incident and was hospitalized.

The cat found beaten and nailed to a utility pole in rural Henry County, Illinois has died, according to the Dana Miller Veterinary clinic, which was caring for the animal. A spokesperson said the cat, nicknamed "Dutch" passed away last night. Dutch was found nailed by one paw to the utility pole near Dutch Bottom road outside the town of Geneseo on Monday.

Trial ordered for man accused of fatally choking puppy By Kelly Wheeler City News Service March 11, 2010 SAN DIEGO - A La Jolla man accused of choking his 10-week-old puppy -- which later died -- as punishment for barking and nipping his girlfriend on the nose must stand trial on two felony animal cruelty charges, a judge ruled today. David Hale Warner, 50, faces up to three years in prison if convicted, said Deputy District Attorney Garrett Randall. The defendant was on probation for domestic violence at the time of his arrest, the prosecutor said. Warner and his girlfriend...

A Queens woman has been charged with animal cruelty after her neighbors caught her on video beating an 11-month-old English bull dog with a snow shovel. Maria Aguilar allegedly crippled the dog with her months of abuse. She faces two felony counts -- animal cruelty and possession of a weapons for allegedly beating the dog with a shovel.

Last month, Antoine Goetschel went to court here in defense of an unusual client: a 22-pound pike that had fought a fisherman for 10 minutes before surrendering. Mr. Goetschel is the official animal lawyer for the Swiss canton of Zurich, a sort of public defender who represents the interests of pets, farm animals and wildlife. [...] The case emerged after a local newspaper photo showed the fisherman proudly showing off the four-foot-long fish—a scene that, to Mr. Goetschel, was reminiscent of a safari hunter with his foot perched on the head of a dead lion. "It is this Hemingway thinking,"...

A red kangaroo that is goaded into fighting a human clown is the star attraction at a festival in the US designed to celebrate Australia. The Daily Telegraph reports that the BorderFest festival in Hidalgo, Texas, features an event called Rocky Show Circus, involving two kangaroos and their owner, Javier Martinez, who dons the clownsuit. The festival is sponsored by Kraft, the US owners of Vegemite. The report says Mr Martinez baits the kangaroo by pushing it and poking it before placing it in a headlock. If Rocky fights back too much, Mr Martinez's wife Sandra restrains it using a...

JACKSON, MS (WLBT) - In a near unanimous vote on Thursday, the Mississippi State Senate passed a bill that would make animal cruelty in the state go from a misdemeanor to a felony. A Rankin County family visited the senate chambers today to attend the hearing on animal cruelty. Their 14-month-old Labrador Retriever was deliberately shot by a hunter four days after Christmas. They're hoping to share their story, so others will understand the importance of tougher animal cruelty laws in Mississippi. "I can't even begin to fathom why somebody would do that. I mean it's not like he didn't...

PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―The SPCA and Philadelphia Police Department are investigating allegations a man intentionally set his family's puppy on fire. According to the SPCA, the man, who lives in the 1100 block of Sanger Street in the city's Oxford Circle section, set the five-month-old pit-bull mix puppy ablaze Thursday evening while his children were home. SPCA officials said the puppy's head was doused in alcohol as an incendiary device and purposely set on fire.

SAN CLEMENTE – What started out as a call about a loud radio early this morning ended with the arrest of a nude 26-year-old man who officials suspect killed a family dog with his bare hands, then poured hot coffee on his head while running naked in a tennis club, authorities said. The dog's owner said that if her 5-year-old mini schnauzer hadn't run out in between her and the man, she would have been the one beaten to death.

For the third consecutive year, Kentucky has the weakest animal protection laws and ranks last in punishing animal abusers. The findings come in an annual report released last week by the Animal Legal Defense Fund comparing laws in each state protecting animals from abuse for their strength and comprehensiveness. This is the fourth year that the ALDF has issued the report. Kentucky finished second-to-last the first year and has ranked last in each subsequent year. “The state is just really devoid of any meaningful laws in almost every category,� said Stephan Otto, author of the report and the ALDF’s director...

MONTPELIER, Vt. – Vermont's highest court is being asked to decide what a dog's love is worth. The state Supreme Court on Thursday began hearing a case that started in July 2003, when Denis and Sarah Scheele, who were visiting relatives, let their mixed-breed dog wander into Lewis Dustin's yard and he fatally shot it. Now the Scheeles, of Annapolis, Md., are asking the court to carve out a new legal doctrine that a dog's owners can sue for emotional distress and loss of companionship, just like parents can when they lose children.

A cold-hearted animal killer stabbed his mother-in-law's feline to death with an umbrella, and then told relatives: "It was only a cat, who cares?" lawyers said Friday. Lordtyshon Garrett, 31, terrorized the 9-pound pussycat by poking and beating her, leaving the pet with injuries as severe as if she had fallen off a high-rise building or been hit by a car, animal experts said. In a futile attempt to fight back, the 4-year-old feline, Madea, bit and scratched the plastic umbrella. The ASPCA found the cat's DNA on the umbrella and used it to pin the crime on Garrett, whose...

Two stars of the reality TV show "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here" have been charged with animal cruelty after allegedly killing and cooking a rat to eat during filming. Chef Gino D'Acampo who won the viewer-feedback contest series, and actor Stuart Manning were charged after animal welfare activists lodged a complaint about a segment for the British TV program, which was filmed in Australia, the activists and British media reported Sunday. In a statement to The Associated Press, New South Wales state police said Sunday that two men, aged 33 and 30, were charged with animal...

It’s the digital age, the age where every move we make is virtually tracked through Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and more. We have cameras set up on nearly every corner, video clips are as easy to access as your cell phone, and yet somehow, animal cruelty still exists with over 5,000 cases being reported each month. Now a person has managed to slice 14 cats down their spine. Another 20 cats were poisoned and dumped into a Phoenix canal. And at least another 24 cats have been reported burned and/or drowned with threatening notes left next to their mutilated bodies in...

A wealthy woman who poisoned her neighbour's Abyssinian cats with tuna laced with anti-freeze has been ordered to pay £1,500 in compensation to the distraught owner. Katherine Hall, 57, put the deadly tins of tuna in her garden to stop Nush and Mr Baz urinating on her strawberries. The court heard that the five-and-a-half year old cats died in agony a few days later. When police searched Hall's garden they found remnants of the deadly meal, and a cat-scaring machine. Owner Andrew Boyd said it was a 'disgrace' that Hall did not receive a harsher punishment. 'I don't want to...

In Defense of Animals (IDA) the organization that has worked for two years to rescue three circus elephants named Tina, Jewel and Queenie, announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has filed formal charges against the elephants' handler, Wilbur Davenport (dba "Maximus tons of Fun") for multiple violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The charges state that “the gravity of the violations alleged…is great” and that Davenport has “not shown good faith” in his repeated unwillingness to comply with the AWA and its regulations and standards.

Which is a greater threat to your pets at Halloween: ritual satanic sacrifice, or your kids' trick or treat bag? Yes, it's that time of year when the flood of cult cat sacrifice stories start piling up in the inbox, with that breathless "forward this to everyone you know!" tag line. (Note to my readers: Pet related or not, there has never been a message that should be forwarded to everyone you know. Trust me on this.) Which means it's also that time of year when I wish that the people who worry about cat sacrifices would instead worry about...

A Vernon Hill man was found guilty Monday of animal cruelty after he stomped an opossum to death while on a June 20 ride-along with a Danville police officer. Evan Bryce Schuler, 23, appealed the judge’s decision, and his case will now move to circuit court.