News for Florida animal advocates

On Sunday, July 1, California’s ban on the production and sale of foie gras takes effect.

Birds raised for foie gras are force-fed enormous quantities of food through a long metal pipe several times a day. This process of deliberate overfeeding continues for weeks. By the end of the force-feeding process, ducks are physically debilitated with […]

In a previous post we wrote about the Piccadilly Circus’ decision to keep elephant handler Frank Murray on the payroll despite his arrest on animal cruelty charges. Murray has now left the circus for the Bristol Renaissance Faire, where he’ll give elephant rides.
The Piccadilly Circus is performing this week in Connecticut without elephants. We hope […]

One of the country’s largest sellers of puppies over the Internet is based in South Florida. The company, Purebred Breeders, has sold thousands of puppies without any government oversight.
Purebred Breeders is currently the target of a lawsuit filed by 50 former customers who allege that the company sold sick puppies from substandard breeders. Click here […]

When ARFF learned that Frank Murray, an elephant trainer traveling with the Piccadilly Circus, had been arrested on animal cruelty charges, we contacted Fort Lauderdale’s War Memorial Auditorium, as well as other venues in Florida scheduled to host the circus in July, and urged them to reconsider their association with the circus.
We’ve heard back from […]

On July 1, California’s ban on the production and sale of foie gras takes effect. As the date approaches, the ban is generating a lot of attention. This week, Miami New Times spoke to chefs at several top-end restaurants. Unfortunately, the chefs defended foie gras, but they also took the opportunity to throw mud in […]

Jungle Island has struggled since it moved to downtown Miami in 2003. Due to disappointing attendance, the attraction has been unable to pay back a $25 million government loan that was secured to build its new facility. A Jungle Island spokesperson told NBC Ch. 6 this week that they can’t afford to make any more […]

When state or local governments determine that there are too many wild pigs in a particular area, they sometimes call in hunters. (Activists in Sarasota are currently fighting a proposal for hunters to kill pigs in a nature preserve.) Hunting is, if anything, a temporary solution to conflicts between humans and wildlife. But sometimes hunters […]

In recent years, in cities and counties across Florida, residents have pushed to change local laws to allow chickens in residential areas.
The City of Deltona is currently considering an ordinance to permit backyard chicken-keeping. Tampa is in the process of rewriting its code to ease restrictions on keeping chickens. In May, Orlando started a pilot […]