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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Facebook Hamster Torturers Charged

UC-Davis student set tiny pair on fire: cops

(Newser) - Two University of California students face felony animal cruelty charges after torching two hamsters with a cigarette lighter and posting video of it on Facebook , according to law enforcement authorities. One of the animals died, the other was saved by the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital on campus. Henry...

Dead Bea Arthur Stars in PETA Ad

Ad marks one-year anniversary of her death

(Newser) - PETA has long been a fan of using naked celebrities in its campaigns, and now it’s using dead celebrities, too. Bea Arthur stars in the latest ad, a full-pager in today’s Chicago Tribune protesting McDonald’s treatment of its chickens. Arthur, a long-time PETA supporter, even managed...

Supreme Court Voids Ban on Animal Cruelty Videos

Aimed at crush videos, law too broad, says majority

(Newser) - The Supreme Court struck down a federal law today aimed at banning videos that show graphic violence against animals, saying it violates the right to free speech. The justices, voting 8-1, threw out the criminal conviction of Robert Stevens of Pittsville, Va., who was sentenced to three years in prison...

Man Admits Tossing Stranger's Chihuahua Off Bridge

Could get 4 years for fit of anger fatal to dog

(Newser) - A Maryland man who tossed a stranger's Chihuahua off a bridge in a fit of anger faces up to more than four years in prison after pleading guilty yesterday to theft and aggravated animal cruelty. David Beers, 35, snatched the 4-pound Zoey after her owners ordered him off their property,...

Brits Bellowing About 8K-Cow 'Factory'

Enterprise promises 'environmental disaster,' say foes

(Newser) - A monstrous 8,000-cow dairy operation in Britain has critics bellowing even before it opens. The "cow factory" enterprise, expected to be the largest in the world, will emit carbon emissions equal to 3,000 homes, say foes. The operation will combine herds from several regions and owners into...

Trainer Death Sparks New Call to Free Killer Whales

Captivity is cruel, and accidents are unavoidable, activists say

(Newser) - The death of a SeaWorld trainer is being met with the inevitable calls to free Willy, and end orca captivity once and for all. “These behemoths are denied all of their natural, instinctual inclinations,” one tells the Christian Science Monitor . “We humans tend to think, ‘Well,...

W. Hollywood Bans Pet Sales
 W. Hollywood 
 Bans Pet Sales 

W. Hollywood Bans Pet Sales

City aims to stamp out sales of 'puppy-mill' pets

(Newser) - The animal-rights trailblazers on West Hollywood's City Council have passed an ordinance banning pet shops from selling cats and dogs. No stores in the city currently sell the animals, but council leaders hope the move will set an example to other cities and help put "puppy mills" and "...

'Goth Kitties' Seller Convicted

Jury finds cat piercer guilty of animal cruelty

(Newser) - A Pennsylvania woman was convicted of animal cruelty for giving kittens human-style body piercings and selling them on eBay as "Goth Kitties." Holly Crawford had pleaded not guilty to the charges; her legal team had argued that since parents take their kids to get their ears pierced, pierced...

YouTube Fish Video May Lead to Charges

Crowd cheers as man pulls endangered fish to shore

(Newser) - A man may face charges for failing to help a black sea bass at Newport Beach, Calif. On Jan. 3, the fisherman accidentally caught the bass, which is a protected species. As boaters motored it ashore, he swam out, loosened the line and pulled the fish out of the water...

China to Ban Eating Dogs, Cats
 China to Ban Eating Dogs, Cats 

China to Ban Eating Dogs, Cats

First animal abuse law will take dogs, cats off the menu

(Newser) - China plans to end thousands of years of culinary tradition by taking dogs and cat meat off its menu. A law being drafted against animal abuse—China's first—calls for the country's thousands of dog butchers and dog meat restaurants to be closed down. Stiff fines will be imposed on...

Dogs Aren't Human—But They're Close

Their rise raises the question: What rights does a dog have?

(Newser) - When your dog's “soulful eyes” watch you, trying to discern your needs, it’s easy to forget the animal is not your child or your “wing man,” John Homans writes. Dogs have moved off the farm and into our homes, where they eat gourmet diets, relax in...

Aussies Bicker Over How to Murder Toads

State would prefer folks bludgeon, not suffocate invasive species

(Newser) - Residents of Western Australia, Oz’s largest state, are incensed by a government mandate that might seem odd to those in, say, Kansas: When engaged in the mass killing of cane toads, use the cricket bat instead of the bag of carbon dioxide. Aussies have long made a sport of...

Mom to Kid With Bad Grades: Kill Your Hamster

Jailed Lynn Middlebrooks Geter forced son to do deed with hammer

(Newser) - A 38-year-old Georgia woman is in jail today after allegedly forcing her son to kill his pet hamster with a hammer after he earned poor grades in school. Lynn Middlebrooks Geter is charged with animal cruelty, child cruelty, and battery. The incident came to light when the 12-year-old boy told...

Kitten Dies After Being Glued to Highway

$1,000 reward offered for information on who did it

(Newser) - A $1,000 reward is being offered for information on whoever glued a young kitten to a remote stretch of highway in southern Minnesota. A woman found the animal glued by the nose and "extremely stressed out," the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. She took it to a shelter,...

Ringling Trainer's Photos Fuel Abuse Charges

Qualms about baby elephant treatment leads trainer to PETA

(Newser) - The posthumous confessions of a former Ringling Bros. elephant wrangler have given PETA new ammunition in its ongoing fight against the nation’s biggest circus, which it accuses of animal cruelty. Sammy Haddock, who appears to have been seeking absolution, documented what he attested is brutish behavior towards baby elephants...

I'm a Celeb Contestants Charged in Rat-Eating


 I'm a Celeb 
 Contestants 
 Charged in 
 Rat-Eating 
I'm a rat, get me out of here!

I'm a Celeb Contestants Charged in Rat-Eating

Animal-rights activists not amused by stunt

(Newser) - Turns out that killing and eating a rat on I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here was a bad idea on many levels—including the animal cruelty charges that two contestants are now facing. Series winner and chef Gino D'Acampo and actor Stuart Manning are facing charges in Australia...

Steelers Fan Kills Misbehaving Pup

Pit bull would 'not behave' before TV broadcast, so...

(Newser) - A Pittsburgh-area pit bull puppy was misbehaving before a Steelers game, police say, so 22-year-old William Woodson, his girlfriend, and her dog went out for a walk—except that instead of walking, witnesses say Woodson kicked the dog down the street. Once it was incapacitated and almost dead, he left....

Live Fish Dinner on YouTube Sparks Uproar

PETA rips cruel food video

(Newser) - Footage of Chinese diners tucking into a still-breathing fish has outraged animal rights groups. The video, which has attracted thousands of viewers on YouTube, shows the fish being picked apart with chopsticks as diners laugh and the fish gapes. It had been kept alive during cooking with a wet towel...

Video Sting Shuts Down Cruel Slaughterhouse

Hidden camera catches calves being beaten, skinned alive

(Newser) - The Humane Society released more video yesterday from its hidden camera sting of Bushway Packing, after the USDA shut down the organic veal slaughterhouse on Friday. The footage, shot this summer, isn’t for the queasy; calves too weak to walk are dragged, kicked and shocked repeatedly, among other abuses....

Animal Cruelty Case Hits Supreme Court

Landmark case to decide 1st Amendment as it applies to cruelty

(Newser) - Animal cruelty takes the floor of the Supreme Court tomorrow, as the justices consider whether to overturn an appeals court judgment that allows the depiction of animal cruelty under the auspices of the First Amendment. The lower court wasn’t keen on animal cruelty, but found that our furry friends—...

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