Celebrity animal cruelty round-up...

Animal welfare groups are accusing Britain's Prince Harry of animal cruelty after he continued to play in a polo game after his horse was allegedly wounded by spikes on the royal's riding spurs.

Read more in AOL News...

Meanwhile...

Kellan Lutz, who plays vampire Emmett Cullen in the hit film series, was so upset after seeing disturbing YouTube video footage of a giggling Bosnian girl throwing six helpless puppies into a river that he took to Twitter yesterday to express his anger.

Read more on CNN's entertainment blog...

More press for Calley Gerber's vet mal case...

This one's in North Carolina's Star News. Way to go and good luck, Calley!

Don't forget all the other stuff...

The salmonella egg scare has brought a great deal of attention (deservedly so...) to factory farming and the unabashedly cruel conditions that billions of hens are forced to endure for the entire span of their all-too-short lives. Yes, most people view it as a food safety issue (which it undoubtedly is). The scale of the recalls (more than half a billion eggs) has also opened the door for many to ponder and debate the ethical issues that only a mess this size can force people to address. All of which is a good thing.

As important an issue as it is, however, I worry that it is overshadowing a lot of other also-disturbing battles on other fronts. Case in point: several hundred chimps that had finally been retired from research about 10 ten years ago are now potentially facing transport to a Texas lab for renewed experimentation. How unabashedly cruel.

Michael Haederle writes more in the Los Angeles Times.

Yeah Bob Barker! (Again!)

No sooner does former The Price is Right host - and longtime animal advocate - Bob Parker chastise Costco for selling veal than the mega-chain stops selling it! In fact, Costco has gone one step further, openly deriding their former supplier. Sarah Skidmore reports for the Associated Press.

Dancing Merengue Dog

This moment of levity courtesy of blog reader Bruce. Check out "el baile del perrito" (translation: little doggy dance). Thanks Bruce!

Illinois animal shelter slapped for improper euthanasia practices

MOUNT VERNON, Ill. — The Jefferson County Animal Shelter in Mount Vernon, Ill. has been fined $10,000 by the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation for improperly euthanizing animals.

Read more by Len Wells in the Evansville Courier & Press...

Anyone else watch the Emmys tonight?

That Temple Grandin movie really cleaned up, winning just about every award at the program. Not only did everyone who won thank Ms. Grandin (who was sitting in the audience), but at one point she was even on the stage herself accepting the best TV movie award right along with the cast and producers.

Am I the only one who was just sickened when that movie came out? It is bad enough the whole livestock industry thinks her perverse theories are the best thing since sliced bread (or perhaps make that sliced roast beef...). Now it seems that all of Hollywood (and thanks to Hollywood, all of the U.S.) is buying into it too. Shudder.

A couple of new animal law suits in the news...

Jennifer Edwards of the Animal Law Center is challenging Denver's 20-year-old pit bull ban on behalf of an Operation Desert Storm veteran and his pit bull service dog...

...while Calley Gerber of North Carolina's Animal Law Center (not related, to the best of my knowledge) is bringing a veterinary malpractice suit against the North Carolina State Veterinary Teaching Hospital on behalf of the family of a Jack Russell Terrier named Laci.

Anybody have a garbage pail for Mary Bale?

Ok, I don't normally advocate violence but if someone happens to stuff this woman in a garbage container for 15 hours, well... it might be fun.

For anyone who hasn't seen this truly despicable video yet, here's a link to the CBS News story.

The Ghost of Oreo

The controversial and disturbing ending to this dog's also-disturbing life continues to cause rifts in the animal welfare/rights and legal communities.

Michael Mountain, formerly of Best Friends, penned this blog commentary recently in "Zoe - It's Our Nature".

Massive egg recall opens window on inhumane farming

I haven't posted anything yet on the increasingly sweeping U.S. egg recall (more than 1/2 billion now!), since the recall itself is really basically a food safety issue.

However, I thought this Canadian Globe and Mail commentary by reporter Jessica Leeder offered a brief but worthwhile animal welfare - and non-U.S. - perspective to this concerning story.

Animal welfare takes a step backward in Australia

One local government has overturned a 10-year ban on the use of animals in circuses. The RSPCA and other animal welfare groups are denouncing the decision, according to Jennie Curtin of the Sydney Morning Herald....