Free Republic

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio vowed to act quickly to abolish horse-drawn carriages in the city. "We are going to get rid of the horse carriages. Period,” de Blasio said in response to a question at his press conference announcing his schools chancellor pick Monday. “It’s over,” he said.

An environmental activist who pled guilty this month to poaching elk during a November hunting trip will resign his position as the Idaho director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. Marv Hoyt, a leading critic of mining activities on the health of sheep and cattle, killed three elk and left the carcasses of two behind to rot in the field. Hoyt had only one tag for one elk, and initially denied to fish and game officers he had killed the other two cows and tried to hide the carcasses with tree branches. Although the protection of elk is a central goal...

On Thursday, PETA called for the cancellation of Duck Dynasty, one of the most highly-rated shows ever, a day after A&E suspended patriarch Phil Robertson for comments that were deemed to be "anti-gay." PETA, which has a history of slamming the show's cast members for hunting, accused the Duck Dynasty cast of "hating people and animals" and called on A&E to ignore former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's Facebook post that said Robertson's suspension was an attack on "all of us" because "free speech is an endangered species." "PETA wants A&E to do more than suspend one of the characters on...

A Pennsylvania teen was attacked by a bear while hunting, causing injuries so severe that she almost lost her ear. Following the attack, PETA wrote her a letter, saying, “This seems to be a good opportunity to put yourself in the place of the individuals you and the rest of your hunting party were trying to kill. As terrifying as it must have been to be attacked by a bear, please consider the frightening and painful experiences that hunters set out to impose upon animals.” Lisa Lange, Senior Vice President of PETA, stood by the letter on Tuesday’s The Real...

Yellowstone's grizzlies, now classified as a threatened species, were briefly removed from protected status by the federal government in 2007, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared that the outsized, hump-shouldered bears had made a healthy comeback. At the time, the number of grizzlies in the region had exceeded the government's recovery goal of 500 bears, the government said. But conservationists successfully challenged the de-listing in court, arguing that the government discounted climate changes ... On Wednesday, members of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee sought to reverse that decision, recommending a new de-listing after reviewing a report suggesting Yellowstone's...

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is seeking information about the theft of waterfowl decoys and hunting blinds from the Escalante State Wildlife Area near Delta ... Colorado Parks and Wildlife had partnered with Ducks Unlimited members to teach kids and novices how to hunt ducks and geese.

American Humane Association monitor Gina Johnson confided in an email to a colleague on April 7, 2011, about the star tiger in Ang Lee’s Life of Pi. While many scenes featuring “Richard Parker,” the Bengal tiger who shares a lifeboat with a boy lost at sea, were created using CGI technology, King, very much a real animal, was employed when the digital version wouldn’t suffice. “This one take with him just went really bad and he got lost trying to swim to the side,” Johnson wrote. “Damn near drowned.” King’s trainer eventually snagged him with a catch rope and dragged...

“If some animals are good at hunting and others are suitable for hunting, then the Gods must clearly smile on hunting.” - Aristotle Last week the animal right activists went into full doofus mode when the happy huntress, Melissa Bachman, posted pics on Facebook and Twitter of a lion she shot on her recent safari to South Africa. Being the most unhinged bipeds sucking air right now on God’s green earth, the anti-hunting lunatics, in a full-on hissy fit, demanded that Bachman be banned from South Africa for legally hunting a lion and stimulating their needy economy. In addition, they...

Thanksgiving is drawing nigh and with it, PETA's annual war on the holiday that features a lot of indulgence of turkey, stuffing, and other delightful confections. Oddly enough, President Obama is the object of their ire. Noting the annual pardoning of the thanksgiving turkey, PETA accused the president of "pimping" for the turkey industry and offered a lurid description of how the wonderful, succulent animal is slaughtered for the table.

Wildlife lovers clamoring to bring gray wolves to Colorado may want to pay attention to those wooden outhouse-style structures in rural Catron County, New Mexico. They’re called “kid cages,” and they’re built to protect children waiting at school bus stops–from wolves. “The wolf issue is an example, especially with the kid cages, about how you’re putting the interest of wildlife over the interests of human beings,” said filmmaker David Spady. “Every American should be concerned about seeing kids in cages and wolves out wandering around freely.” Spady’s remarks came during a Tuesday screening of his film, “Wolves in Government Clothing,”...

Pass the squirrel guts on PETA bread, please. The Hunger Games' mega-hottie and Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence is apparently as cool in real life as she is playing Katniss, a bowhunting super badass survivor girl in the blockbuster movie.

Gaza authorities say two newborn lion cubs just unveiled by Hamas as prized additions in a zoo they run have died. Mohammad Abdel-Rahman, the acting manager of the Beit Lahiya zoo in northern Gaza, said Thursday the cubs died of an unspecified illness. He said the zoo's staff was unable to save them because they lacked experience in caring for newborn cubs. …

SALT LAKE CITY — A coalition of conservation groups is hailing a federal judge's ruling Monday to strike down portions of the Richfield Bureau of Land Management plan they said gave deference to off-road vehicles at the expense of the environment. "This landmark decision is a resounding rejection of the BLM’s mismanagement of Utah’s stunning public lands,” said Stephen Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. ... The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance was among seven groups that filed a legal challenge to the Bush-era plans following their adoption in 2008, contending they imperiled pristine landscapes. The Richfield plan...

The government-funded Backyard Brains based in Michigan is selling a $99 DIY RoboRoach kit which allows people to use a living cockroach and treat it like a robot by remotely controlling it. ... The kit uses the same concept found in deep brain stimulation. People’s brains are stimulated by implanted electrodes which can help them control symptoms of neurological-based disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Instead of people, the kit uses a live cockroach and instead of implanted electrodes, the latter is attached to the bug’s antennas. These electrodes would then send three-volt electricity bringing electrical shocks to the bug, making...

In what could be the most bizarre development in the ongoing debate over the Washington Redskins nickname, TMZ reports that a neighbor of team owner Dan Snyder, Aris Mardirossian, has trademarked the name "Washington Bravehearts." The report states that the trademark application filed by Mardirossian says that he plans to use the name for "entertainment in the nature of football games." Mardirossian, who reportedly lives on the same block as Snyder in Potomac, Md., is an affluent patent investor who developed a relationship with Snyder a few years ago when the two men battled the county in an effort to...

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Humane Society, and other animal rights groups have devoted themselves for years to preventing cruelty to animals. Such groups now seek to convince the rest of the world that animals should be “celebrated” and treated like “family” (e.g., “About Us…,” 2011). Such humanistic, evolution-based thinking has resulted in the frequent arrest and prosecution of those who are deemed guilty of mistreating animals. For example, a woman in Missouri was “charged with six counts of felony animal abuse after authorities seized six dogs from a flea-infested property in Iron...

Colorado - The Gilmore case attracted national attention because he supported demonstrations at an Occupy Wall Street encampment a block away from where the fire was started. Occupy activists were protesting against economic inequality and government policies favoring the wealthy. The early-morning fire caused an estimated $10 million damage to a four-story apartment complex under construction and the occupied Penny Flats condominium and retail building next door.

Don't change the legendary Redskins name. Just change the logo," PETA writes. "By keeping the name and adopting a heart-healthy, appeeling logo, the Washington Redskins would set a powerful example on and off the field. And that's no small potatoes." PETA continues with their "ingenious" and "healthy" suggestion:

Rubin rose before Chief U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Portland, where she pleaded guilty to a dozen crimes – in Colorado, Oregon and California – as part of the underground Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front. ... Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen F. Peifer recounted Rubin's crimes as part of the largest group of eco-saboteurs ever taken down by the FBI. They called themselves The Family and committed an estimated $40 million in damage from 1996 to 2001. ... the terms of the highly structured plea agreement sets limits on the number of years Rubin will spend in prison....

My, don't they look proud. But after shooting this rare albino moose near Belle Cote in Nova Scotia last week — and posting the pics to social media — the trio has sparked considerable outrage, particularly among the region's Mi'kmaq indigenous community. These guys breached a kind of unwritten code of conduct that has also upset many in the hunting community.