What is up with that?

News has been swirling around the internet this past week that one of the early adopters of the new .xxx domains is going to be PETA. The advocacy group has registered the name PETA.xxx and announced plans to launch a soft-core porn site by the end of the year.

Not that anyone who knows anything about the history of PETA's shock-and-awwwww campaigns was going to be surprised by the news. But it does have people around the world wondering: Is this still about animal rights?

Fired Kasowitz First-Year Sues for $77M, Says Firm Didn’t Appreciate His ‘Superior Legal Mind’

Ok, not animal law but LOL!!!

Check out this item in the ABA Journal... (and don't miss the third comment...)

Jury awards family $300,000 after police kill man’s dog during search

Thomas Russell III describes watching a police officer shoot his canine “best friend” two years ago as “the scariest thing I ever saw.”

On Thursday, a U.S. District Court jury decided Russell, 20, and his family deserved to be compensated for the Feb. 27, 2009, police search of the family’s South Side home during which “Lady,” the family’s black Labrador, was shot dead. The jury awarded the family about $300,000.

Read more in the Chicago Sun-Times...

(Note: this story doesn't say whether any of the damages were for the actual value of the dog herself, as opposed to the NIED claim for the person. Nonetheless, even an NIED recovery where the underlying harm was injury to an animal is (I believe) the first time that's happened in an Illinois case. Congrats to the plaintiff's attorney(s), and if anyone knows who they are, please let me know!)

Animal activists hold protest at Korean consulate

Animal rights activists protested against the human consumption of dog meat Tuesday morning in front of the Korean consulate in San Francisco.

Get the rest of the story from KGO-TV...

German Fugitive Cow, Yvonne, On The Run

A runaway cow has captivated the attention of the media, police authorities, hunters, animal rights activists and even the Hindu community.

Read more about the adventures of Yvonne in The Huffington Post...

Dog fighting app is back

The maker of Dog Wars - yanked off the Android market last spring following public pressure - says the newest version of their app is the best yet. Yeesh.

At any rate, read more from KDAF-TV in Dallas. Even typically conservative Fox News doesn't seem to have much compassion for the First Amendment-pushing "game"...

A planet for all apes

Two new movies – one a science-fiction blockbuster, the other a revealing documentary – raise the issue of our relations with our closest non-human relatives, the great apes. Both dramatize insights and lessons that should not be ignored.

Read the rest of Peter Singer's commentary in The Globe and Mail...

(And thanks again to blog reader Bruce for the heads up!)

L.A. County ordinance to let animal control, not courts, label dogs 'vicious'

Not happy about this one at all. Read more in an LA Times blog here...

Animal Rights: What Legislation Is Reasonable?

Nice little public radio interview takes a look at the question. Guests include Joyce Tischler and Gene Bauer. Check it out on KUOW, Puget Sound Public Radio.

Egg Producers and Humane Society Urging Federal Standard on Hen Cages

Two groups that are usually squawking at each other — egg farmers and animal welfare advocates — announced an unusual agreement on Thursday to work together to seek a federal law that would require larger cages and other improved conditions for the nation’s 280 million laying hens.

Details in The New York Times...

Florida county revises its dangerous dog ordinance!

Marion County became the most recent municipality in the Sunshine State to tone down its draconian dangerous dog ordinance. Thanks go to Fred Kray - and all of the other animal law attorneys around the state - for all of the tireless efforts in bringing these cases for years now. Read more in the Ocala Star-Banner...

New antifreeze law in Illinois

A new law takes effect in Illinois today, requiring a bittering agent to be added to antifreeze. This will (hopefully) make it less attractive to anyone sniffing around the garage floor just to see what's going on. You can read (a little bit) more in the Illinois Statehouse News.

(And yes, the bigger deal is that Illinois finally put the death penalty to rest. Although (as the writer correctly observed just based on my own personal observations from living in Chicago for a dozen years), most state residents don't even realize Illinois still had a death penalty law on the books since the moratorium had been going on for so long.

The new so-called "Amazon tax" (nothing to do with animal law but it happens to be in the ISN story) is going to be interesting to watch. I imagine it will eventually catch on in all states.)