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Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited northern Gaza today (Thursday) and commented on the IDF's readiness to engage in an operation in Hamas' last stronghold in Rafah. “We are closing in on Hamas. We are preparing to act in Rafah, as well as in the central camps, in order to reach the next stage which we will decide according to our priorities,” Gallant said. He added, “We use the information we captured from the Hamas archives. There are huge amounts of information that we brought from the places we reached, computers, hard drives, servers and other things. All this information is...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a measure Wednesday making the state the first to ban fur trapping, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Wildlife Protection Act bars commercial or recreational trapping on both private and public land, according to the Times. The commercial trapping industry shaped the early economy of California and the American West in general but has played an increasingly smaller role over the decades. “It seems especially cruel, obviously, and it’s just unnecessary and costly,” said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D), who introduced the bill. She added that the roughly 70 trappers who continue to work...

Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives re-introduced a bill last week that would make malicious acts of animal cruelty a felony nationwide. A person convicted of the crime could face a fine or up to seven years in prison, or both. The bill, known as the Preventing Animal Cruel and Torture (PACT) Act, is co-sponsored by Democrat Ted Deutch and Republican Vern Buchanan. PACT would criminalize "crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating and impaling animals." The measure would also address bestiality and other attempts to sexually exploit animals. Deutch tweeted, "We will get this done. It's bipartisan, common-sense policy that...

Police in Citrus Heights, along with Animal Control, have become involved in the case. They say the two nuns were upset that cats were getting into their garden. "For lack of a better term, these two ladies were at their wit's end and they just wanted some peace, and if they couldn't move themselves then they might be able to move the other half of the problem, which was the cats," Boehle said.

A Joint Resolution Proposing an Amendment to Article 1 of the Constitution of the State of Indiana Concerning Natural and Cultural Resources. Summary Provides that the right to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife is a valued part of Indiana's heritage and shall be forever preserved for the public good. Provides that the people have a right, which includes the right to use traditional methods, to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife, subject only to the laws prescribed by the general assembly and rules prescribed by virtue of the authority of the general assembly to: (1) promote wildlife conservation and management; and...

Don't do it this wayThe method you see here are not gold standard of what you should do, this video is bordering on the "ultimate" of what you should absolutely NOT do if you find yourself in this situation. Not much is known about where this video was shot, and if this was their trap or if they were illegally tampering with another trapper’s set, but one thing is for sure, the guy who joins the bobcat release party right at the end has never seen what a bobcat can do when it's angry. Check out the video here.

Talking about fur—the pelts of animals used for clothing such as coats, hats, and mittens—makes many understandably squeamish. There’s no denying the material’s origins: Fur was once the skin of a living creature. So it stands to reason that some people can't abide its use, just as some abstain from meat, milk, or any other animal by-products. Its detractors are passionate, and good at sharing photos, videos, and reports that highlight the ugliest aspects of the industry.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace and the Boat Company sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this year seeking a timely decision on their petition to list the Alexander Archipelago wolf under the Endangered Species Act. ... The petitioners want greater protection for wolves and their habitat on the Tongass National Forest. They argue that populations are declining and are vulnerable to hunting and trapping pressure along with loss of habitat from logging on the 17-million acre national forest. In particular, they cite past and future logging on Prince of Wales Island

Paiute Deadfall Trap The Paiute is a very quick trigger mechanism. It is also fairly easy to set. Unlike the Figure-4 trigger, it uses cordage. Examine the photos carefully and you will get an idea of how this trigger works. The bait is placed on a long thin horizontal bait stick. This bait stick is held at both ends by friction. When the bait stick is moved, it slips off of the short trigger stick that the cordage is tied to (wrapped around the vertical stick). This allows the weight to fall. Be careful to place the deadfall so that...

Freehold Attorney Fined $2,500 for Trapping, Drowning Squirrels

In a world where any type of food you can imagine is just a trip to the grocery store away and where much of what we eat comes from factories or corporate farms, you might think of hunting and trapping as unnecessary. You couldn't be more wrong. While hunting and trapping no longer are the only means of putting food on the table, they are indispensable for helping humans and animals coexist. With ever-expanding city boundaries and growing wildlife populations, hunting and trapping are the only practical means of managing conflicts between people and wildlife. Americans in several states have...

 PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The Humane Society of the United States has reached an agreement with state and federal governments that blocks killing or permanent removal of sea lions in the Columbia River until early 2009.In return, the Humane Society will drop its appeal in federal court against the U.S. Commerce Department and the governments of Oregon and Washington, Sharon Young, the society's field director of marine issues, said Tuesday.A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was to hear a case Thursday that could have led to killing some sea lions at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia...

Bill Paul walked down a rutted logging road on a farm north of town, pointing out signs of wolves. Tracks crossed the soft sand. Scat laced with deer hair was obvious. Yet the half-dozen wolf traps Paul had set the past few days remained unsprung. Score Round 1 for the wolf. But cut a little slack for Paul, who retired Friday after more than 30 years as a federal wolf trapper.

Police Warn Residents To Keep Children And Pets Indoors Image Hazel Sanchez Reporting NORWOOD, N.J. A pack of wild coyotes on the loose in a New Jersey town has police on alert and residents staying indoors. The Norwood Police Department has issued a reverse 911 call to residents to warn them of the danger. Norwood resident Liz Murray tells CBS 2 her children were playing outside when she noticed the animals on the prowl. "The kids were in the backyard a few days ago, and I was sitting on the deck watching them and there were three coyotes watching my...

All the cunning of human nature at finding holes in the tax code was on display at a Senate hearing last week in the form of the mounted head of an African springbok - a bounding creature so delicate in life, so valuable in death as a charity write-off. The animal was a compelling Exhibit A as officials described how sportsmen and their accountants chisel the tax code with high-powered rifles. Hunters underwrite exotic vacations by claiming deductions for trophy game, over-generously appraised as charity donations for questionable "museums." "Hunt for Free," advertises one purveyor of this growing abuse. "We'll...

It's not surprising to see the Humane Society jump on the trapping issue with its slanted views (2/22, Letters). It fails to mention the pollution caused by synthetic clothing and fake furs, that trappers are using a renewable resource and that furs are completely biodegradable. But the real issue is this: The dogs never would have gotten into the traps had they been on their own property. As a rural landowner, I've witnessed the urban sprawl. It's not uncommon for people to move from the city onto their three-acre tract and decide they are now in “the country” and that...

Group seeks coyote control ALMADEN VALLEY RESIDENTS WANT CITY TO APPROVE USE OF LEG TRAPS By Rodney Foo Mercury News Almaden Valley residents who live in a gated enclave beset by coyotes have filed a claim against the city of San Jose, hoping to reverse the city's ban on the use of leg traps. ``What we are trying to do is get some resolution of the issue. It's a continuing problem,'' said attorney Michael E. Di Geronimo, who is representing the 300-member Villas of Almaden Homeowners Association. The claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, names the city as well as...

The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com Proposed New York bill is absolutely criminalBy Gene MuellerPublished February 23, 2005 New York hunters are in an uproar over state assembly Bill 1850 that would make sport hunting a punishable act of animal cruelty.     The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Alexander Grannis, New York City Democrat, would revise the state's definition of animal cruelty to include the "killing or injuring [of] wild game and wild birds." The revision would make hunting and trapping activities criminal offenses. The bill is now being considered before the body's Agriculture Committee.     "The bill creates a contradiction in the law [because]...

Sometimes it’s irksome, and sometimes it’s laughable. I don’t know about you, but I find it quite entertaining watching numerous candidates for public office wave fishing rods and handle guns on TV in an all-out effort to get elected on Nov. 2. Some of them really want you to believe they are active sporting men and ladies in our Bayou State woods and waters. Now then, I know quite truly that at least a few are the real deal. In fact, I have spent a little time fishing and hunting with at least one in my 15 years as an...

Antis' Efforts to Stop Hunting Backed By Multi-Million Dollar Budgets- (12/31) National Join our e-mail alert list As in previous years, Animal People magazine has published financial information for 136 animal charities, based on analysis of the groups' IRS reports for FY 2002. Below are the figures for several leading animal rights groups that are working to end hunting, fishing and trapping in America, as presented in Animal People. In parenthesis are the budgets for the immediate past years. The budgets for most of the groups stayed level or dipped somewhat, but People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA)...