Free Republic

<p>Millions of people have been watching and waiting with anticipation to witness the birth of a baby giraffe at Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, NY.</p> <p>The park set up a webcam in order to share the precious and educational moment with the world. Park officials in a little more than 12 hours they've seen between 20-30 million views.</p>

Animal rights organisation PETA has asked Warhammer publisher Games Workshop to remove the depiction of characters wearing fur from its range of miniatures and games. PETA, which has become well-known for its anti-fur campaigns involving celebrities and its calls for the humane treatment of animals both in reality and fiction, said in a statement that it had written to Games Workshop CEO Kevin Rountree to request a ban on the portrayal of fur clothing in the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 universes. The move is likely to rile up some fans of the series who see the ethical treatment of animals...

Joseph Goebbels said, famously, "The only real friend one has in the end is the dog. . . . The more I get to know the human species, the more I care for my Benno." As historians Arnold Arluke and Boria Sax put it, "The Nazis abolished moral distinctions between animals and people by viewing people as animals. The result was that animals could be considered `higher' than some people." The blond Aryan beast of Nietzsche represented animality at the top available grade, at one with wild nature. Aryans and animals were allied in a struggle against the contaminators, the...

Are you more valuable than a dog or a cat or, for that matter, a tree? One of the biggest differences between Judeo-Christian values and secular values concerns this very issue: the worth of the human being. According to the Judeo-Christian value system, human beings are infinitely valuable. On the other hand, secular humanism devalues the worth of humans. As ironic as it may sound, the God-based Judeo-Christian value system renders humans infinitely more valuable than any humanistic value system. The reason is simple: if there is no God, human beings are only material beings - and therefore not worth...

When we eat beef, chicken wings, hot dogs or spaghetti bolognese, we do it in denial. Already by referring to what we eat as "beef" instead of "cow," we have created a distance between our food and an animal with abilities to think and feel. The meat paradox "The presentation of meat by the industry influences our willingness to eat it. Our appetite is affected both by what we call the dish we eat and how the meat is presented to us," says Jonas R. Kunst, a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Psychology, University of Oslo. Kunst and his...

Bill Bowden reported in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette this morning that they'll be dropping live turkeys out of an airplane over Yellville again this Friday and Saturday at Yellville's Turkey Trot Festival. The FAA said it doesn't get into animal cruelty issues (and you can be sure the local prosecutor has been bullied to silence by the locals on the issue). As long as the pilot, Mountain View pharmacist Dana Woods, doesn't drop turkeys over a crowd, the regulators say there's nothing they can do. Woods has been smirking about this cruel practice for years as the Phantom Pilot. There was...

PETA is going after Hallmark for selling cards that it says are harmful to primates. The animal rights organization has sent a letter to the greeting card maker requesting that it stop selling cards that feature chimpanzees, especially those in which the animals are dressed up in costumes and wigs. PETA cited famed primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall in saying that the “smiles” you see coming from the chimpanzees on those cards are actually expressions of fear. “No chimpanzee should be forced into a costume and scared to death for a birthday card,” PETA primatologist Julia Gallucci stated in a press...

They wrote that in a fair and just world, “there would be no pets at all, no fields full of sheep, and no barns full of pigs, cows and egg-laying hens. There would be no aquaria and no zoos.” “If animals matter morally, we must recalibrate all aspects of our relationship with them. The issue we must confront is not whether our exploitation of them is ‘humane’ — with all of the concomitant tinkering with the practices of animal-use industries — but rather whether we can justify using them at all,” they concluded.

Just when some of the statements coming out of PETA start to sound credible and well researched, this anti-fishing video pops up! The only reason this video is getting shared in this post is to show you guys how absurd it is. Anyone that is familiar with fishing will tell you that this anti-fishing video is an exaggerated and overly propagated piece of garbage. I am sorry to have to put it so bluntly. I can only get about 10 seconds into that thing without laughing. However, let me clarify a few things. There are lot of principles and statements...

There was a distinct look of fear on Hillary Clinton’s face as animal rights protesters held up a large banner and yelled near her rally stage in Las Vegas today while the candidate spoke. Secret Service agents sprang into action, with one putting his arm around Clinton. “You’re okay,” he could be heard saying on the hot mic. “Keep talking,” he said as she stood in silence. “We’ll handle it. We’re not going anywhere,” he said. “Keep talking.” “Okay, we’ll keep talking,” Clinton told the audience. She then said the protesters were actually there to focus on Donald Trump. “Apparently...

A three-metre shark that has been menacing a popular stretch of surf in Western Australia should be culled before someone is killed, local surfers say. The bronze whaler shark has lingered at Perth's Trigg Point beach for six weeks and had chased beachgoers into shore at least three times, surfers said. 'I don't particularly condone killing anything but this shark has been freaking people out in our neighbourhood for the better part of two months', surfer Glen Buckey told the West Australian.

Video appears to show the Secret Service strike one of the barricade jumpers with a night stickAnimal rights protesters jumped barricades at a Bernie Sanders rally late Monday in Oakland, California, accusing the candidate of falling short in his efforts to fight "factory farming." The Democratic presidential hopeful was addressing supporters at Frank Ogawa Plaza at City Hall when five people in their 20s and 30s hopped over barricades and attempted to rush the podium before Secret Service agents escorted them away. Agents also surrounded Sanders. The group identified itself as the Bay Area-based "Direct Action Everywhere," or DXE. Spokesman...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: We're gonna get to the gorilla business. That's easily explained, too. Folks, you remember when the two fish, what kind of fish were they, I keep thinking dolphins or porpoises, way back in the nineties, a couple of them got caught in sea ice, way far north of where they should have been, and the whole country became captivated with, will they find their way out? What can we do? Can we cut holes in the ice so that the porpoise, the dolphins, whatever they were, can we guide them out? Can we do something? Can we...

The Obama administration is revising a federal rule that allows wind-energy companies to operate high-speed turbines for up to 30 years, even if means killing or injuring thousands of federally protected bald and golden eagles. Under the plan announced Wednesday, companies could kill or injure up to 4,200 bald eagles a year without penalty -- nearly four times the current limit. Golden eagles could only be killed if companies take steps to minimize the losses, for instance, by retrofitting power poles to reduce the risk of electrocution. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe said the proposal will "provide a...

Fresh off a victory over SeaWorld and its controversial orca program, animal rights groups are zeroing in on zoos, aquariums and circuses -- and one prominent expert warns your dog and cat could be next. A well-funded coalition of nonprofits finally broke SeaWorld, when the theme park chain announced in March it would phase out its popular killer whale program. Now the groups smell blood in the water – and on land. “The tide is turning against SeaWorld and other aquariums and zoos,” Ashley Bryne, a campaign specialist at PETA, told FoxNews.com. “I think this is a sign of what’s...

The struggle is real... by IfIthoughtyoumatteredIwouldntignoreyou · 1 day ago 1,080 points 95,577 views

An ostrich at a circus in Munich was hit by a car and died shortly after animal rights activists opened its cage.It was around 9pm on Monday evening when as yet unknown people snuck onto the land that Kaiser Circus - along with its 80 animals - was encamped on.. Finding a trailer where the ostriches Nala and Zawo were held along with a goose called Fred, the culprits managed to unscrew the hinges and open the door. The animals then escaped and ran out into the night, according to local police.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is appealing to President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama to “hatch a new tradition” at the White House Easter Egg Roll — by doing away with the chicken eggs used as part of the festivities. “Instead of using hard-boiled chicken eggs — which took chickens 34 hours to lay and which are slated for use in this year’s egg roll, egg hunt, and egg decorating station — will you please accept a donation of plastic eggs and ceramic EggNots for use in the event or just switch to them?” the animal...

Thousands of tigers are dying in wretched conditions on farms masquerading as wildlife parks to feed a booming multi-million dollar business in China for wine made with their bones, a MailOnline investigation reveals. Newly-wealthy Chinese customers who cling to the traditional belief that tiger bone wine makes you stronger and peps up your sex life are paying up to £400 a bottle and driving a phenomenal growth in tiger farming.

Iditarod officials said a snowmachine attack on two top Iditarod teams has left one dog dead and several injured. Two Rivers musher Aliy Zirkle and Denali Park’s Jeff King reported a snowmachiner repeatedly attempted to harm their dog teams as they traveled to the Yukon River checkpoint of Nulato early Saturday morning. King’s team was struck, according to a press release from the Iditarod Trail Committee, resulting in the death of 3-year-old Nash and non-life threatening injuries to two others: 2-year-old Banjo and 3-year-old Crosby. A dog in Zirkle’s team also received a non-life threatening injury. The dog was not...