Animal Rights

Open Season: Do Laws Against Animal Crushing Videos Violate Free Speech?

Ashley Nicole Richards, who filmed herself torturing and killing kittens, puppies, cats and dogs, was the first person brought up on revised federal crush-video charges -- which backfired magnificently.

Cover Story: Federal Animal "Crush" Law Tested in Houston

In December 2012, two Houstonians became the first defendants charged under the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010, which criminalizes the production and distribution of images of animal cruelty. Ashley Nicole Richards and Brent Wayne Justice were originally charged in Harris County Distric ... More >>

Annise Parker Running From Her Promise To Increase Spay-Neuter Programs, Critics Say

Three Houston animal rescue groups are accusing Mayor Annise Parker of going against a plan to tackle animal overpopulation she came up with in 2007, when she was still the city's controller. Calling themselves Unity for a Solution, the groups -- Corridor Rescue, Forgotten Dogs of the 5th Ward Proj ... More >>

Put the Panic on Hold: The DA's Office Will Still Prosecute Animal Cruelty Cases

Houston animal advocates have notified Hair Balls about a recent post by animal law specialist Clarissa Kay Bauer that suggests new District Attorney Mike Anderson has all but relegated animal cruelty cases to the trash heap, but this does not appear to be the case. From what the office's spokeswom ... More >>

UTMB Pays Fine in Animal Welfare Act Allegations

Three University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston employees have been fired, and the university has agreed to pay $9,143 relating to allegations of Animal Welfare Act violations. Under the settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the university did not admit or deny any wrong ... More >>

Ever Wonder if Your Kid's Teacher Runs a Puppy Mill in Her Spare Time?

A former grade school teacher has been charged with animal cruelty after sheriff's deputies and SPCA workers seized 106 abused and neglected dog from her East Texas home Monday. The dogs were allegedly "forced to live in their own filth inside a feces-filled, urine-soaked home on the property" near ... More >>

Retired Lab Chimps Pressed Back Into Service

A San Antonio lab says primate research is necessary for curing diseases like AIDS and hepatitis. But what progress has really been made.

Galveston Cop Wins Humane Society Award for Busting Big Cockfighting Ring

Galveston Police Sgt. Joel Caldwell has won an award from the Humane Society of the United States for his role in organizing a December raid of a facility that had 350 roosters raised for cockfighting. Caldwell was the first officer in Texas to make an arrest under a 2011 law banning the raising o ... More >>

No Sanctuary at Spindletop

People dropping dogs off at the refuge trusted they were sending them to the best place possible. Not exactly.

Dog Rescuers Shocked and Worried after Spindletop Dog Refuge Raid

Dog rescuers throughout the country are worrying today over the fates of dogs they placed at the Spindletop Refuge in Willis, where authorities say hundreds of dogs were found living in their own waste in cramped, stacked crates, near a mass grave with an unknown number of bodies. The 298 dogs sei ... More >>

Comment of the Day: PETA Sucks, But the Circus Does Too

We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning or afternoon from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula i ... More >>

The Circus is in Town, Can PETA Be Far Behind? (No)

At high noon today, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) protesters will rally outside Reliant Stadium to speak out against what it says is bad treatment of elephants by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus. "Houston residents would run screaming from the big top if they knew how ... More >>

Please Help Find Who's Killing, Mutilating Dogs in Crosby

There has been a rash of gut-wrenching animal cruelty stories in Houston lately, and we're sad to add yet one more, this time dealing with a dumping ground of mutilated dogs in Crosby. Rhonda Heffernan, who's been involved in the rescue community for several years, launched a website to spread awar ... More >>

Cal-Maine Egg Farm: Don't Look At This Video While Eating Breakfast

You don't wanna know​If it's been too long since your last undercover-video-of-ghastly-animal-abuse fix, then check out the footage cited in this lawsuit concerning the Cal-Maine egg farm in Travis County. The Animal Legal Defense Fund is suing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, ... More >>

PETA Says NASA Ending Monkey Experiments (UPDATED with NASA response)

Photo courtesy April EvansApril Evans quit NASA over the experiments​PETA is proclaiming victory in their ongoing battle to stop radiation experiments on monkeys that had been planned by NASA. Well, folks, you did it. After scores of protests and more than 100,000 letters, phone calls, and e- ... More >>

Flying Fur: PETA Members to Protest on Black Friday

Don't expect hot, naked protesters on Friday. Think about it if you like, but don't expect it.​When you are out picking up some toys for the tikes at the Galleria this Friday, you might see something besides chubby Santas and frustrated holiday shoppers. You might catch anti-fur protesters. A ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Bigmouth (AKA Morrissey) Strikes Again

That's our Moz.​Former Smiths front man and staunch animal rights advocate Morrissey is raising some eyebrows with comments he made about the Chinese in a recent interview: "Did you see the thing on the news about their treatment of animals and animal welfare? Absolutely horrific. You can't h ... More >>

PETA Comes To Houston To Take On NASA

Time for my radiation, guys​Commuters on the Gulf Freeway will get a new billboard to ponder sometime soon: "NASA: Takea Giant Leap for Mankind. Stop Torturing Monkeys," it will say.It comes courtesy of animal-rights group PETA, who we guess should get points for avoiding the "Houston, We Have A P ... More >>

Minute Maid Park's Veggie Menu Gets PETA Love -- With A Side Order Of Carlos Lee Smack

Put an Astros cap on this dude​The Astros have been dismally unexciting this year -- except when they're playing the equally inept Washington Nationals, it seems -- but they've got PETA on their side.The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a group whose Venn diagram intersection wit ... More >>

Down on the Farm

The Humane Society and big agriculture slug it out over animal rights.

The Battle Between Big Agriculture And The Humane Society

Screencap via YouTube​For years, the Humane Society has been PETA's more well-behaved brother, getting giant corporations to support their gentle efforts to save animals.But now that the Society is taking on what it calls "factory farming," things are different. Food-growers are fighting back, boy ... More >>

PETA Searches for Sexy Vegetarians, Finds Two Living in Houston

Photos courtesy of PETA​Now that the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is over, those fun-filled folks at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have turned their attention to promoting sex, vitality and good muscle fiber among humans who do not eat meat. As part of PETA's national ... More >>

PETA Searches for Sexy Vegetarians, Finds Two Living in Houston

Photos courtesy of PETA​Now that the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is over, those fun-filled folks at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have turned their attention to promoting sex, vitality and good muscle fiber among humans who do not eat meat. As part of PETA's national ... More >>

The Mystery of the 14 Dead Dogs Dumped in North Houston

​The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is offering to help Houston investigators in the search for whoever dumped 14 dead dogs under a sheet in northeast Houston. KTRK reported Wednesday that the bodies of the dogs, mostly adult shepherd mixes, were found that day near ... More >>

Much-Loved Veterinarian Fired by BARC

Photo by Daniel KramerGil Costas, a part-time veterinarian at Houston's Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care, was fired today for lack of state-mandated certification, Houston Health and Human Services Spokeswoman Kathy Barton told Hair Balls. The news was originally broken by Nicole Sica, editor o ... More >>

BARC Sucks

The city's animal shelter just can't get its act together

The Houston Zoo's Got More Herpes Than A Motley Crue Groupies' Convention, PETA Says

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals protested at the Houston Zoo Saturday, demanding that the zoo stop breeding elephants after the death of two-year-old Mac from the elephant herpesvirus.Hair Balls caught up with PETA spokeswoman Lindsay Rajt at the protest. "PETA is appalled that yet anoth ... More >>

Ike's Pit Bulls Live Another Day

Pit Bull Laundering By The Houston SPCA

Your Animals Are Probably Bitching About Ike, Too

Dire Situation for Houston Humane Society

Some Success On The Pet-Adoption Front

Two Sworn, Gun-Toting Peace Officers Protect the County's Animals

Brutality Police

Foreclosure Pets

Dogs, cats and other household pets get left behind when owners are pushed out

Greyhound Racing

Tracks and breeders struggle as attendance declines

Monkey Business

Primates -- destined for laboratory research -- are being brought into a compound in Houston so carefully and quietly that no one knows they're here

Hog Wild

Feral pigs are ugly, destructive and mean. Some people in Texas just love to trap, stab or shoot them. Or put them in rodeos. With dogs.

A Buncha Bull

The Fido Solution

The ultimate answer to too many strays, cash-strapped budgets, animal shelter abuses and starving people

The Last Ride

The HSPCA has tightened controls on its lethal "blue juice." But it's too late to matter for Anthony Helzer.

A Dog's Life

Is Mr. K's the best we can do? Would you wish it on your best friend?

Best Pet Store

Houston SPCA

In the Doghouse

An animal typically has three days before he leaves the city pound, dead or alive. What happens during that time continues to cause concern.

Best Dog Trainer

Patricia E. Mercer

Cinema Dog Daze

Films fuel the fads for special pets -- then comes the fallout

A New Leash on Life

Stray Houston mutts make it big in Marin, thanks to Allison and the HSPCA

The Great EscApe

In two decades, Wally Swett's sanctuary has become a place of peace for primates - it's the humans that have him going bananas

Ad-verse Reaction

Is an animal rights billboard too explicit - or merely odious to the rodeo?

The Compassionate Consumer

Pet Net

Max's uncertain plan: Matching you with that cute mutt in Maine