Free Republic

Louisiana Wildlife agents arrested a man early Friday morning after they spotted him walking down Bourbon Street carrying a live alligator. Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries agents helping with security during Mardi Gras were patrolling the French Quarter around 1:30 a.m. when they saw a man, later identified as Eurell D. Johnson, walking in the 400 block of Bourbon Street with a 3- to 4-foot alligator. When agents stopped Johnson, they also found him with a gun and marijuana. Agents learned Johnson is a convicted felon and cannot legally possess a firearm. Agents arrested Johnson, 25, of New Roads, on charges...

Live Action News has found that the owner of a veterinary pharmacy in California is also the apparent owner of an online, mail-order pharmacy listed as dispensing the abortion pill. "Dr. Jaspreet Lalli DVM" is shown as the president as the owner of the California Pet Pharmacy (CPP Health). Lalli is also listed as the owner of Arlo Health (aka Arlo Rx), a national, online mail-order pharmacy currently listed by generic abortion pill manufacturer GenBioPro (GBP) as a dispensary for the abortion pill. Though Lalli is listed in the NPI registry as a DVM (doctor of veterinary medicine), Live Action...

What’s that, boy? Timmy is stuck in a car? A four-legged hero lent Kentucky police a paw during a search for a missing child in his neighborhood, with the pooch grabbing their attention and guiding them to the boy, new bodycam footage shows. Louisville Metropolitan Police officer Josh Thompson and his fellow cops were searching for a missing 3-year-old boy on Jan. 7 when an unnamed collie mix appeared and began barking at them, the police video shows. Thompson said he was a “little leery” of the dog, who he did not recognize despite his usual patrols, but the dog...

Immigrant groups have a message for their mostly White allies: Quit blowing the whistle on ICE. They also pointed to disproportionate impacts on "Black and Brown communities" that are already "overexposed to chronic noise pollution," which they linked to PTSD, anxiety, sleep disruption and heart disease.

Three adult dogs and seven puppies found abandoned near the Gaza border will be flown to the US for adoption by American soldiers who served in the area during the Gaza war. The soldiers discovered the animals and decided they couldn’t leave them behind, according to Israel’s Let the Animals Live association. Let the Animals Live said it was caring for the canines in kennels before they are flown out, while also dealing with the export bureaucracy and ensuring that all shots are up to date. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (International) is funding most of...

The clip begins with Wu, who was born in China, saying, 'I always tell people, the day the Latino, African American, Asian and other communities realize that they share the same oppressor, is the day we start winning.' 'Because we are the majority in this country now,' the congressman continued. 'We have the ability to take over this country and to do what is needed for everyone, and to make things fair, but the problem is our communities are divided - they're completely divided.'

A lone gray wolf padded quietly into Los Angeles County before dawn on Saturday — and made history. State biologists say the female wolf may be the first documented in Southern California in 100 years, after the apex predators were wiped out across the state by eradication campaigns aimed at protecting livestock. The last known wild wolf in California was shot on June 12, 1924, by federal trapper Frank W. Koehler in Lassen County. The three-year-old female, known as BEY03F, was spotted on a trail camera in the mountains north of Santa Clarita.

From a tender moment between a crane and her chick to a heartbreaking image of a polar bear cub’s final moments, the finalists for the Nuveen People’s Choice Award of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest stun. Photographers from 113 countries and territories submitted more than 60,000 images for consideration. A judging panel of photography, wildlife, conservation and science experts whittled the finalists list down to 24 photographs that are now competing for votes from the public. “No matter where you are in the world, it’s time to join the jury and vote in the Nuveen People’s Choice Award...

A North Carolina veterinary technician has been charged and fired from her job after she rescued a dog that was abandoned in the cold winter weather — but failed to hand the pooch over to animal control. Dason Garner has been left “completely broken” as she faces charges for keeping a stray animal, failure to surrender and interfering with law enforcement over her deed, according to WRAL. Garner says she was punished for her act of compassion in rescuing the pooch from the brutal conditions after a harsh snowstorm barreled across Wilson, NC, over the weekend.

Two former Underdog Pet Rescue of Wisconsin dogs are headed to one of the most-watched sporting events of the year — the 2026 Puppy Bowl. Anson and Avro will represent Wisconsin in this year’s Puppy Bowl, making them the only dogs from Wisconsin selected to participate in the nationally televised event. Both pups have since been adopted by loving Madison-area families and will reunite with Underdog supporters at a Puppy Bowl viewing party hosted by Underdog Pet Rescue, where they will attend in person and meet fans. Event details can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/events/2450176842105030 Anson’s story is especially meaningful. A...

A Doberman pinscher named Penny wins best in show at the 150th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

After decades of mystery surrounding its existence, a rare animal once believed to be extinct has been confirmed on remote trail cameras in northern California, offering a thrilling sign of wildlife resilience. Scientists say the coastal marten — a small carnivorous mammal that nearly vanished from the state — was captured in recent footage and DNA samples collected via hair snares, validating that wild populations still persist in the region. The discovery has brought renewed hope for the species and underlines the value of modern conservation tools. Once targeted nearly to extinction during the 20th-century fur trade, coastal martens were...

After two hundred or so articles mostly focused on wildlife for the Tico Times, I’ve written about most of the more well-known species that are walking, swimming, and flying around in Costa Rica. Every time I pick a species to write about, I get to go through my video archives and pick out the very best clips to accompany the article. That’s all fine and good, but what happens when I record a particularly awesome video of an animal that I’ve already written about? I shared some interesting facts about Costa Rica’s pumas back in 2023. To go along with...

When the Prince was found more than 80 years ago, excavators immediately suspected he had suffered a significant traumatic event around the time of his death because of widespread damage to the bones of his left shoulder area, neck and lower jaw. But no official analysis of the skeleton was ever published, and the Prince's body was reassembled, glued together and put on display in the Ligurian Archaeological Museum shortly after World War II. Recently, the researchers obtained permission from the museum to remove bones from the display one at a time so that they could look at them under...

On Super Bowl Sunday, millions of people watching the big game will see a Budweiser commercial that portrays an adorable friendship between a bald eagle and a horse as they grow up together on a scenic farm. The beer ad, soundtracked by Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird," celebrates Budweiser's 150th anniversary by pairing the brand's Clydesdale mascot with a national symbol for America's 250th birthday. The commercial builds up to a stunning shot of the eagle spreading its wings while perched atop the horse's back — briefly resembling a pegasus — before the bird breaks into flight. "You crying?" a farmer...

The man who incited a mob to surround teenage girls simply for taking a photo with ICE, while threatening them and attempting to doxx them, has been identified as Mark Holodnak, the Democrat Committee Treasurer for Arizona District 12.

The family of a Canadian backpacker who was found dead on a heritage-listed tourist destination in Queensland, Australia, has been given the preliminary findings from her autopsy. The body of Piper James, 19, was found on Seventy Five Mile Beach on K’gari (Fraser Island) just after 5 a.m. Monday. Friends of James have revealed she had told them she was going for a swim around that time. Two passersby discovered James’ body, surrounded by a pack of dingoes. The preliminary findings from James’ autopsy have since been delivered to her father, Todd, and his wife, Angela, with the ABC reporting...

A pet cow named Veronika uses a tool in a surprisingly sophisticated way—possibly because she has been allowed to live her best life. In news that is sure to delight fans of a certain Gary Larson cartoon turned meme about the limitations of bovine cognition, cow tools are real. Larson’s 1982 comic for his series The Far Side showed a cow standing behind a table bearing an array of oddly shaped objects. The text below the image read simply “cow tools.” Now a pet cow named Veronika has been documented not only using a tool but doing so in a...

According to Census data from 2022, Wisconsin has the 25th highest percentage of single-parent households among the states and the District of Columbia. The Badger Institute has published several reports and news articles about family structure in Wisconsin and how it has changed over time: A piece by Marie Rohde in 2018 discussed why both older and younger people are deciding to stay single.A piece by Michael Jahr accompanied both those, showing how the idea of marriage is now becoming a foreign concept to some.We published a policy brief in 2019 on the marriage penalty in Wisconsin’s earned income tax...

A back scratching bovine has forced scientists to reassess the intelligence of cattle. Veronika, a brown Swiss cow from the Austrian village of Carinthia, shocked researchers with the first documented case of a cow working out how to scratch itself with a stick. The clever creature also recognises family members' voices and hurries to meet them when called.