News for Florida animal advocates

Last week, the Miami Seaquarium announced the birth of a dolphin. In an attempt to get the public interested in the dilapidated attraction they are hosting a “Help Us Name Our New Baby Dolphin” contest (winners get 20 admission tickets). We don’t know what we’d do with 20 tickets to the Seaquarium, but we were […]

In yesterday’s Tallahassee Democract, columnist Paul D. Harvill wrote a strong piece opposing Amendment 3, the big business-supported effort to make it harder for Florida citizens to amend the state constitution.
Harvill called the efforts by the Florida Chamber of Commerce and its corporate supporters pushing the amendment, “reprehensible and deceptive.”
He continued, “What they want - […]

Last Thursday, the Destin Deep Water Shark Tournament began. On the first day of the 4-day event, five dead sharks were brought to Destin’s docks. One 11-foot tiger shark was gruesomely hung-up on display for a gathered crowd.
The event is Destin’s first shark tournament since 1995, when it was halted due to concerns about the declining […]

The Dandelion Communitea Cafe, a fairly new teahouse/restaurant in downtown Orlando, was recently declared one of the city’s best vegetarian restaurants by Orlando Weekly newspaper.
In addition to organic teas, they have a mostly vegan menu. One of our blog readers told us that, “The vegan Fluffer Nutter sandwich is awesome” (the chili is also supposed […]

Yesterday, The St. Petersburg Times published a follow-up article re: Tuesday’s incident in which a tiger took a swipe at her “trainer” (see posting below).
The article included a few encouraging sentences about the state of the circus. An animal trainer explained that, “There are fewer jobs for cat acts now . . . There’s no […]

The Florida Keys Keynoter reported that a man who had illegally speared a goliath grouper was pulled underwater by the fish and drowned.
Goliath groupers can reach 800 pounds and over 6 feet in length. Since 1990, it has been against the law to kill them (the species is a candidate to be listed under the […]

The Sun-Sentinel reported ARFF’s $1000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for recent attacks on green iguanas (read posting below for more details).
Anyone with information can call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.

Today, the St. Petersburg Times reported on an incident in which a circus goon was injured by a tiger.
Lanelot Kollmann (also known as Lance Ramos, from the infamous Ramos circus family) suffered cuts on his shoulder and a “a gash on his lip that took stitches to close.”
According to Mr. Kollmann (and we do not […]

Today, The Palm Beach Post printed the last in a series of articles about a dog flu outbreak that hit Palm Beach County in July. Palm Beach County Animal Care & Control suspended adoptions, and 56 dogs who were exposed to the flu were killed to prevent the spread of the disease. Across town at The […]

This weekend (Saturday, September 16), thousands of volunteers across Florida will participate in the International Coastal Cleanup, an annual event to clean up the coastal environment.
Volunteers not only collect debris but also collect and report information to help determine where marine debris is coming from, and to evaluate its impact on wildlife.
During last year’s cleanup, […]