Pet Airways opens for business today

A new airline is starting up service today: Pet Airways. It's market niche comes in response to something most people traveling with companion animals have longed for for years: your companion gets to ride in the main cabin, rather than cargo.

As most people reading this blog are undoubtedly aware, most airlines have policies that allow animals under a certain size/weight limit to ride in small carriers under the seat. It can be a frustrating experience, even for owners of small cats and dogs, to try to book a ride for their companion, as the carriers generally will only allow a few animals per flight. Even if you are lucky enough to get one of those slots, your status on the plane seems to be only a notch or so above suspected terrorist as far as most of the other passengers and flight crew are concerned.

Of course, it's even worse for people whose animals are relegated to the cargo hold, where notoriously the temperatures and even air pressure have not always been sufficiently maintained to support life. As most people reading this blog are again undoubtedly aware, thousands of animals were dying every year as a result of inadequate air travel conditions. These deaths eventually led to the passage of the Safe Travel for Animals Act, 49 U.S.C. 41721 in 2000. This was an improvement, but still a less-than-satisfactory solution for many.

So enter Pet Airways. This is certainly an intriguing business proposition, although it is not without its caveats either. Perhaps most importantly, cabin service is ONLY for non-humans. In other words, you still can't ride with your companion. (And no, they're not letting people ride in the cargo hold.) You just book the ticket, and the cabin crew takes care of Fluffy during the flight. Now that wouldn't be so bad, but without any restrictions on size, etc., this means that your little Pipsqueak will be riding on the same flight with Bruiser and Jaws. Ostensibly, the airline has precautions to keep Simba from eating Tweety for lunch on the cross-country flights, but well, you have to wonder... ? Hmm.

I certainly wish them well. At the very least, it will hopefully prompt the major airlines to take another look at their policies - and cabin space - and better serve this market niche as well.

Quote of the Day: "In the end, asexual reproduction appears to be an evolutionary dead-end."

If you had any doubts about the benefits of having a healthy sex life... check out this latest press release from researchers at North Carolina State and Duke Universities. Seems that even plants do better when they're getting some!

Thanks to Doug Powell at Kansas State for this little gem!

New book by Gary Francione

I don't have any independent confirmation of this, but apparently Gary Francione, noted professor and attorney, and one of true, original pioneers of the animal rights movement, has a new book coming out. He apparently made the announcement on twitter (which I don't do so please confirm this for yourself if you are interested).

Francione's uncompromising, abolitionist approach has been generating both a loyal following and passionate controversy within the animal rights, welfare and legal fields for several decades now. Regardless of where you may fall in the spectrum of views, the one thing I would bet on is that this book will become the next must-read for anyone who cares about these issues.

If a five year old can figure it out...

So I was eating lunch yesterday with my boyfriend and 5-yr-old, when he jokingly asked her "So what do you think of the whole Sarah Palin issue?" She looked at him and responded - not surprisingly - "what's that?" He was about to say don't worry about it, but I had a little more faith.

I said "Do you remember when Barack Obama was running for president last year?" (Nod yes.) "Do you remember the other person who ran against him?" (Nod yes. [Hopefully, she really does remember. We talked about it at the time.]) "Well," I continue, "the person who was running for vice-president next to John McCain was Sarah Palin. When they lost, he went back to his job in the Senate, which is still an important job, and she went back to her important job as Governor of Alaska. But just a few days ago, she said she was quitting."

Now here's the part where I turn into one of those proud parents. Without missing a beat, my kid looks at me and asks "Why would she do that?"

"Well," I again continue, "no one is exactly sure, but most people think she wants to practice running for president for next time."

"But..." (and you could see the wheels turning...) "why would anyone vote for her for the most important job if she doesn't finish this job?"

THAT'S MY GIRL!

How blinded by ambition must Sarah Palin be not to see what even a 5-yr-old understands?

Fifth Annual Vegetarian Food Festival

I was in Portland, Maine yesterday and noticed a poster on the wall of a little restaurant...


If you happen to be in the area next weekend, maybe check out the Maine Animal Coalition's Fifth Annual Vegetarian Food Festival. [I realize this too is not exactly animal law, but I was here to defend my veterinary expert's deposition when I saw the poster so half-credit, ok? ;) ]

The tale of Stu the dog

I defend a fair number of dangerous dog cases every year. Generally, they are stacked so badly against animal owners that it really would be faster just to write these local and state laws to say "The government wins. Case over." It's a nightmare even for me, and I'm just the attorney. I can't even begin to imagine how scary it must be for my clients.

Now here we have the story of Stu, who has apparently been holed up at the LA animal shelter since roughly when the White Sox won the World Series. (For you non-Sox fans, that's Fall 2005, or 9/15/2005 if you want to cheat and look at the photo.)

I have not independently confirmed the facts of this story (and yes, it did seem a little odd that a local writer in Chicago would be covering this pending case in Los Angeles). But if you can confirm it's true, and you live in the L.A. area, you may want to contact the local prosecutor and ask why s/he apparently has no other cases to prosecute. Write a letter to the mayor, reminding him you vote. And if all else fails, go to the court hearing later this month. Let the hearing officer know (politely of course, without being disruptive), that the public really is watching.

Things could be worse

Yeah, yeah, the gorilla is in a zoo. I know, I know...

But she's sitting in natural grass and is enjoying a popsicle the size of her head. I live in a condo without any natural grass and no one ever hands me dessert the size of my head. I'm just saying.

Anyway, check out the little editorial in today's L.A. Unleashed for some more pictures...

Puppy mill round-up

Here's the a sampling of the latest puppy mill investigations in...

Washington, where a woman faces 10 counts of cruelty in connection with failing to care for about 370 dogs and dumping the carcasses of others in a pit on her property...

Pennsylvania, where HSUS, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and now the Maryland SPCA rescued about 200 dogs from what was described as "horrific" conditions last week...

... as well as a disappointing ruling in the trial of an alleged puppy miller in Texas.

Nation's First Internet Radio Show about "Special Needs" Pets Debuts

Again, not exactly animal law... but thought this would likely be of interest to readers:

The nation's first Internet radio show about disabled and chronically ill dogs and cats was launched today. "Special Pets, Special Needs" is a 30-minute podcast available for free on iTunes. It shines the light on the many unique challenges faced by pets who are geriatric, recovering from injury or surgery, or suffering from chronic or debilitating illnesses or conditions, such as arthritis, hip dysplasia, cancer, obesity, and degenerative myelopathy.

Read more in this press release....

Farm animal round-up

(Hmm... no pun intended.)

A trio of farming-related stories caught my eye this morning, thanks to Doug Powell at Kansas State:

In California, a bill pending in Sacramento would require out-of-state egg producers to comply with the same standards recently imposed upon local producers by the new Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act. The law doesn't take effect til 2015, but it's already causing great concern among egg farmers, some of whom are apparently rumored to be trying to produce hens with shorter wingspans in order to thwart the pending mandatory increase in cage sizes.

PETA reports that restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday announced it will give preference to suppliers who use or switch to a more humane slaughter method called "controlled-atmosphere killing" for birds, gestation crates for sows as well as producers who supply cage-free eggs.


And finally... what do you get when you cross a global economic downturn with die-hard eating habits? Well, apparently you get the mini-cow. These animals reportedly are about half the size of a regular breed of cow, and some can eat about a third as much while producing two-thirds as much milk. They are increasingly common among farmers in Canada. In the U.S., they are apparently increasingly common as pets, particularly among women. Go figure.

Don't like chicken? There must be something wrong

One of Australia's leading animal law attorneys - and friend - Katrina Sharman takes a look at the latest chicken advertising campaign down-under in this New Lawyer editorial...

Business Owners Plead Guilty to Distributing Tainted Pet Food Ingredient

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Nevada company and its owners pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to distributing a tainted ingredient used to make pet food, which resulted in a nationwide recall of pet food and the death and serious illness of countless pets across the United States in 2007.

Read the rest of the DOJ press release...