Queen's Brian May is special honoree of International Fund for Animal Welfare Queen legend Brian May has been selected to receive a special award in recognition of his animal rights campaigning. The guitarist will be honored by the International Fund for Animal Welfare at London's House of Lords on Tuesday, October 19. The prize comes after May, a long-time protester against fox hunting and bloodsports, launched his Save Me campaign to ensure animal laws are kept in place to prevent cruelty. PETA wants action against bear owner An animal rights activist group is again asking that action be taken against Sam Mazzola after one of Mazzola's employees was killed by a bear in August. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a 13-page letter to the Toledo branch of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) yesterday, requesting Mazzola be cited for failure to protect employees from recognized hazards. Jule Hovi, director of Toledo OSHA, was also asked to “take immediate action to prevent further attacks at Mazzola's Columbia Station compound.” Miami: Men accused of horse slaughter see court A judge has ordered a psychological evaluation for a man accused in the slaughter of a horse last year, while the lawyer for a second suspect will have more time to consider a plea offer. Pre-trial hearings for Santiago Cabrera, 20, and Luis Cordero, 19, were held Friday morning before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel. Both are charged with multiple counts of armed burglary, grand theft, possession of burglary tools and killing a registered breed horse. About two dozen animal rights activists filled the courtroom and rallied afterward, pledging to be at the hearings until the cases are resolved. Both men have been offered a deal of five years in prison in the case. They could face life in prison. Seattle: Woman convicted in Northwest ecoterror case returns home A woman whose conviction of helping with a notorious 2001 Seattle ecoterror attack was overturned by a federal appeals court has returned home. The North American Animal Liberation press office says Briana Waters was released from prison Saturday. The 34-year-old Waters was connected to a cell of radical environmentalists based in Olympia and in Oregon who carried out attacks throughout the West from 1996-2001, causing more than $80 million in damage. Last month, an appeals court overturned Water's conviction of being guilty of helping an ecoterror attack that destroyed a University of Washington research center, concluding the judge made mistakes that cast doubt on the fairness of her trial. Canada: Animal activists push for ban on horse meat Animal-rights protesters with fake bulletholes stuck to their heads are blocking the entrance to a slaughterhouse near Montreal in one of several similar demonstrations being held across Canada. People are calling for an end to the slaughter of horses at events of varying sizes, scheduled in Vancouver, Toronto, Halifax, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Charlottetown. Protesters are urging support of a private member's bill in Ottawa that would ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption. The legislation, tabled by the NDP's Alex Atamanenko, appears stalled in Parliament. BM
