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Centerplate’s board of directors announced today that Chris Verros has been appointed to the role of acting president and chief executive officer, effective immediately, following the resignation of Desmond Hague from the company. The decision comes as a result of Hague’s personal misconduct involving the mistreatment of an animal in his care. “We want to reiterate that we do not condone nor would we ever overlook the abuse of animals,” said Joe O’Donnell, chairman of the board of directors for Centerplate. “Following an extended review of the incident involving Mr. Hague, I’d like to apologize for the distress that this...

In lieu of a public hearing, a comment period has been established during which any interested person may send comments concerning these proposed rules. This comment period will end on August 1, 2014 at 12:00 p.m. Only written comments will be accepted and are to be mailed to the following address: WV Department of Agriculture 1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East Charleston, WV 25305

The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center adopts a five-year-old porcupine that someone had been keeping as a pet. Because of his gentle nature and love for human contact, everyone treats the porcupine like a prickly puppy dog.

Authorities are investigating the deaths of 20 dogs at Green Acre Kennel, in Gilbert, Arizona. The place had billed itself as a "Doggie Disneyland" promising plenty of land for dogs to run free with no cages. To Ryan Ingraham and his wife, it sounded like a great place to board their two black Labradors while they took a vacation. Ingraham had contacted MaLeisa and Todd Hughes, owners of the business, two months ago. Then about a week ago, he decided to take the dogs to the Hughes' house for a trial run.

A 14-year battle over the care of Feld Entertainment's circus elephants ended Thursday with the Humane Society of the United States and others paying a $15.75 million settlement.The lawsuit was filed by a company the Humane Society acquired, along with other animal rights groups, against Feld, parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, over the care of its 43 Asian elephants.The settlement follows $9.3 million that the American Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals paid in 2012 for its connection to false claims against Feld in U.S. District Court in Washington."We hope this settlement payment,...

Footage of a family of beavers filmed in a Devon river is believed to be the first sighting of its kind in up to 500 years A family of wild beavers has been seen in the England countryside in what is believed to be the first sighting of its kind in up to 500 years. Three European beavers (Castor fiber), believed to be adults, have been filmed together on the River Otter in east Devon and can be seen gnawing at the base of trees, grooming themselves and playing together. Experts said the sighting was "highly significant" as it strongly...

Mexican Grey Wolves. . The plan calls for 10 breeding pairs in Hawaii (Big Island) or 100 to 150 wolves. Conservationists are concerned that too few wolves are involved in the plan. Hawaii (the island) is 4,028 sq. miles, so big in fact, the other Hawaiian Islands could fit on it nearly twice. The wolves are expected to find and establish their own habitat(s), from the dry Kohala Coast on the west side, up and over Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, to the lush and rainy eastern coast. Predictably, cattle and sheep ranchers are opposed, particularly the Parker Ranch which...

The bucardo became extinct in 2000, but cells from the last animal were frozen in liquid nitrogen. In 2003, a cloned calf was brought to term but died a few minutes after birth. Now, the scientists will test the viability of the female bucardo's 14-year-old preserved cells. The bucardo, or Pyrenean ibex, calf born through cloning was an historic event: the first "de-extinction", in which a lost species or sub-species was resurrected.

MANSFIELD, Ohio — Local authorities in Mansfield were tracking a pack of coyotes Friday after a man doing some lawn care was attacked. He was riding a mower while blowing leaves along Springmill Road shortly before noon. According to the Mansfield Police Department, about four coyotes rushed at him from a wooded area and one jumped up on the mower, scratching him. The man’s jacket was torn and he suffered an injury to his arm but was able to drive himself to the hospital.

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The end to animal experimentation seems to be nearer than we could previously imagine. In 2008 three US federal government agencies, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the National Toxicology Program (NTP), signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" with the aim of ending animal testing of drugs and chemicals for human use. The realization of this ambitious plan will take years, but it's a start of historic importance, especially considering that the three agencies involved have been among animal testing's biggest funding bodies.This momentous agreement followed a 2007 report released by the world's most prestigious...

It’s Felis bipedus, spotted on Google Street View

TAMPA -- Last month, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office received an anonymous call about three shots fired and a dog possibly buried in the backyard of a Clair-Mel City vacant home. When investigators arrived at the home, 3221 Deerfield Dr., Tampa, they found a 2-year-old female pit bull mix buried up to its nose. A Hillsborough County Animal Services animal control officer used her hands to dig the dog out. The dog had been shot twice and was bleeding profusely, said Pam Perry, an Animal Services investigations manager. "For her to even be alive when the officer got there is...

Animal Rights Group Calls Sport Hunting Magazines ‘Shooting Porn’ and Wants to Ban Kids from Seeing Themby Liz Klimas Posted on August 28, 2012 at 3:17pm An animal rights group in the U.K. came out with a report Monday saying gun magazines are “shooting porn” that should be banned from sale to minors. In its report “Gunning For Children: How the gun lobby recruits young blood,“ Animal Aid says that such ”lurid, pro-violence content could have a corrosive, long-lasting effect on impressionable young minds.” The group believes these magazines should be considered “top shelf” and banned from sale to customers...

Dubbed the 'Manhattan monster', a horrifying mystery creature with a mutilated face, snarling snout and five toes on each foot has washed up under the Brooklyn Bridge, perplexing New Yorkers. Amateur photographer Denise Ginley snapped the ghoulish pink carcass while walking along the East River on Sunday and the grisly images, first published by The Gothamist on Monday, have sparked an array of conspiracy theories as to whether it is a giant water-logged rodent, a cooked pig that a family couldn't fit in, a ballooned dog or some other, more sinister, being. 'We were horrified by it and we took...

Fargo Forum: A man who moved from Florida to Dilworth last summer admitted today that he allowed his 32 ball python snakes to freeze to death in an unheated storage unit in Glyndon last winter. “I just couldn’t find any place to put them,” 50-year-old Henry Ward Atherton Jr. said in Clay County District Court. Atherton pleaded guilty to all three charges against him: one felony and two misdemeanors counts of mistreatment of animals. USA Today: Sightings of raccoons are down 99.3%, opossums 98.9% and white-tailed deer 94.1%. According to Linda Friar with Everglades. National Park, park personnel have captured...

A six-legged calf has defied the odds by thriving despite a vet's prediction at birth that it would not survive. Seven-week-old Lilli is a minor celebrity in her native Switzerland after local media were splashed with images of the calf frolicking in a sunny field. Farmer Andreas Knutti from Weissenburg, 19 miles south of the capital, Bern, says he couldn't bring himself to euthanise the animal because she was "so full of life".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OCbuRA_D3KU If this doesn't crack you up, your humor bone is broken. They never should have cancelled The Muppet Show

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...

The 20 most famous vegetarians of all-time will appear on a series of postage stamps — and the folks at PETA are hoping it’s a good way to lick animal abuse. In time for the holiday-card rush, the stamps featuring such meatless celebs as Paul McCartney, Ellen DeGeneres, and Morrissey will be released Tuesday. “These are very influential people, and not everyone knows that these folks are vegetarian,” said Lisa Lange, vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The stamps will also feature hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons, actors Woody Harrelson and Natalie Portman, and singers Chrissie Hynde,...