Hippo Comes Home, Help Arrives in Haiti and Other Updates

Animals are in the news every day, from bilingual dogs to pigs being buried alive. As we try to cover the range of animal welfare issues, we don't always get a chance to follow-up on what happened to the animals in these stories. This weekend's posts are dedicated to updates on some of our recent articles.

The cruel, unnecessary roundup of wild horses in Nevada had gone from bad to worse. Nearly 800 horses have been caught. Seven have died, four of those at the government holding facility. There are another 20-25 horses being treated for injuries incurred while they were being chased by helicopters through mountain terrain, to corrals up to ten miles away.

As In Defense of Animals points out, any private citizen caught treating horses like this would be charged with animal cruelty. But the Bureau of Land Management thinks it's an acceptable and negligible side effect of the roundup. Sadly, a stallion who had escaped from the pen, and was consequently named "Freedom," has been recaptured. The BLM is nothing if not thorough in their campaign against wild horses. But public outrage continues to grow, and IDA is optimistic that BLM can be stopped. Keep the pressure on.

Petland is well-known as one of the largest supporters of puppy mills (and other inhumane live-animal suppliers) in the country, and is the target of class action lawsuits in at least 20 states for selling unhealthy puppies. On Wednesday, the Humane Society reported that a lawsuit will move forward that alleges that Petland violated the federal RICO Act and several state consumer protection laws by claiming its puppies were healthy and from high-quality breeders.

A week and a half after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, animal relief groups were allowed into the country. Animal welfare organizations had organized well in advance, creating the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti. As soon as the ARCH team landed, they began to assess the situation, from stray dogs raiding supplies at a children's hospital to identifying long-term plans for improving the state of animal welfare in the country.

Overall, the animals seem to be in good shape, but there's a high risk for starvation and disease, especially because only a fifth of Haitian dogs were vaccinated against rabies last year. While some of the ARCH team is on the ground to triage animals in need, others have headed to the Dominican Republic to regroup and restock supplies. For more updates or to donate to the animal relief efforts, visit the Animals in Disasters blog.

A couple weeks ago, Nikica, a 2-ton hippo, rode the rising flood waters right out of his enclosure in a Montenegro zoo. The hippo had escaped before, and was stopping by for bread and hay, so the zoo's owner wasn't worried. But some officials wanted to classify Nikica as a dangerous animal and have him killed. The owner was right: Nine days after the great escape, the hippo returned to his pen without having caused any trouble.

Photo credit: WSPAInternational