“Super-toxic” rat poison kills owls Owls are dying under gruesome circumstances, bleeding to death from stomach hemorrhages in an agonizing and days-long decline. The culprit: An extra-potent class of rat poisons that has flooded the market in recent decades, designed to more effectively kill rats, a food source for the owls. Six of 164 dead barn owls, barred owls and great horned owls in a 2009 western Canada study had rodenticide levels high enough to kill them outright, causing the fatal stomach hemorrhages. Pesticide readings in 15 percent to 30 percent of the others appeared toxic and seem likely to handicap owls in a variety of ways, scientists say. Read the full story here. Animal rights activists upset over elephant at Nicole Richie's wedding Apparently a wedding-day surprise from her father, an elephant made an appearance at Nicole Richie's wedding on Saturday. Animal rights groups have strongly denounced its appearance. “We're sure she didn't know that Have Trunk Will Travel—the company that likely provided Tai the elephant, who was taken from the wild as a baby more than 40 years ago—trains its elephants with bullhooks and electric shock prods,” said PETA. “We're writing to her privately to respectfully ask her to keep exotic animals off her guest lists for future celebrations.” Taiwan: tougher rules on eating dogs urged Animal rights activists are protesting against a Taiwanese prosecutor's office decision to drop charges against five suspects accused of killing dogs for food. They plan a mass demonstration to demand tougher laws against animal abuse, saying the current law demands too much hard evidence to be practical. Activist Ruan Mei-ling said the five men were caught killing two dogs by hanging them on a tree and having them grilled. Prosecutors dropped indictments against the men last week, saying the dog's bodies showed no signs of torture and the men were not caught eating their meat. More than 100 animals rescued from fire in Maryland Fire officials say that some 50 firefighters fought a house fire and rescued more than 100 animals early Sunday morning. Huntingtown Volunteer Fire Department Chief Jonathan Riffe says the one-story house on Neptune Lane sits on a large property that housed several hundred animals. Four dogs died in the fire but there were no other reported injuries. Fire officials say the house is listed as a breeder of different kinds of dogs. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Animal Control Officer Jim Fisher says, “All the dogs are in good shape and they have palettes of food and it appears they are taken well care of.” Fisher says officers have gone to the house in the past for well care checks and nothing was substantiated. NASA tables plan to expose moneys to gamma radiation Protests from animal rights activists have put a moratorium on NASA plans to expose 27 squirrel monkeys to gamma-ray radiation. Researchers hoped to simulate the effects of space radiation on humans, but protesters claim the experiment's cruel and unnecessary. The experiment was put in limbo after PETA obtained documents detailing the experiment using the Freedom of Information Act. According to a representative from the Brookhaven National Laboratory (where the experiment was slated to be conducted), the decision to proceed is now in NASA's hands. BM
