With just a month left in the Obama presidency, animal advocates are hopeful he’ll finalize a long-needed rule to prevent the pointless torment of Tennessee walking horses. USA Today’s got the details.
As we prepare for the upcoming transfer of political power, the nation’s certainly divided in many ways, but animal welfare remains a fairly non-partisan issue. In fact, the conservativeNational Review this week featured a potent new piece by George W. Bush speechwriter Matthew Scully in which he argues that “one of the big stories that posterity will probably notice more than our political press does at the moment is the worldwide advance of the animal-protection movement in the early 21st century.”
A lot of that advancement’s been happening for egg-laying hens recently, though some big announcements this week for broiler chickens (those raised for meat) indicate that 2017’s gonna be a big year for them.
Finally, if you want a cool fact to regale all your friends with at your holiday parties, ask them if they knew rats’ ears turn pink when they’re happy! Who knew?
Paul Shapiro
Vice President of Policy
The Humane Society of the United States
Follow at twitter.com/pshapiro
P.S. Video of the week: What happens when you let two pit bulls at each other?
P.P.S. If you’re a Seinfeld fan, Happy Festivus! May all your grievances be aired. Here’s one of mine.