THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOSTON — The Massachusetts House has voted overwhelmingly to ban the surgical “debarking” or silencing of dogs or cats.

By a 150-1 vote, the House on Wednesday approved the bill with prohibits the devocalization of dogs and cats unless a licensed veterinarian certifies that the procedure is medically necessary to relieve an illness, disease or injury.

Animal rights groups pushed for the bill, saying the practice amounts to animal cruelty and poses only risks to the pets.

Some dog owners opt for the procedure as a last ditch effort to try to quiet chronically barking dogs.

The bill now heads to the Senate.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ORLANDO, Florida — Rocky, a 700-pound grizzly considered one of the most gentle animals of all Hollywood’s performing beasts, bites down on the neck of a veteran trainer. Illusionist Roy Horn is severely mauled by a show tiger during a Las Vegas performance. An elephant at an Indonesian tourist resort tramples its longtime handler to death.

And now the latest — a 40-year-old trainer at SeaWorld Orlando is drowned by a killer whale named Tilikum, an incident that raises anew the question of whether some beasts, especially the biggest ones, have any business being tamed to entertain.

Descriptions of Tilikum, the 22-foot orca which has now killed two trainers, inevitably come around to his intimidating size. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHILADELPHIA — A group of central Pennsylvania dog breeders are suing two animal rights organizations claiming they conspired to violate the breeders’ civil rights.

In a lawsuit filed Friday in Philadelphia, the breeders claim the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Main Line Animal Rescue conspired to bring baseless charges of animal cruelty against them.

The suit claims the organizations bought 12 dogs at an Ohio auction and filed cruelty charges against the breeders in Pennsylvania in an attempt to solicit donations. All charges were later dropped. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nev. — Animal rights activists are calling on U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to investigate the high number of deaths of animals in research laboratories due to negligence over the past two years, including dozens of research monkeys in Nevada.

Leaders of the Ohio-based Stop Animal Exploitation Now say at least 64 animals have been killed in at least 18 different U.S. facilities since the beginning of 2008.

That includes at 43 monkeys — 32 of which died at a Charles River Lab in Sparks in 2008 due to a heating system malfunction. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — The vote to ban the sale of dogs and cats in this famously liberal enclave will likely have more bark than bite, since no pet stores in the city currently sell animals.

But officials hope that Tuesday’s unanimous city council vote will be seen beyond West Hollywood as a symbolic stand against puppy mills and kitten factories.

“You have to start somewhere,” said Michael Haibach, deputy to Councilman Jeffrey Prang, who sponsored the legislation. “The more people who jump on the bandwagon the better.” (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON — A man in an astronaut suit stood outside the National Air and Space Museum.

Normal enough, given the contents of the building before him. But he was not promoting an exhibit Thursday, nor was he affiliated with the museum. He and other People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals activists were brandishing signs and distributing pamphlets protesting a NASA program.

NASA is planning to radiate squirrel monkeys. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona — Police in a small northern Arizona city are investigating the deaths of two giraffes from Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, and two others likely will have to find new homes.

Freddie and Tom Hancock of Page acquired the giraffes as part of a plan to build a wildlife preserve on city property they leased in 2008 that also would house exotic birds, reptiles and a camel. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CORBIN, Ky. — An animal rights group that frequently targets fast-food chain KFC says it wants to erect a statue crafted from chicken droppings to protest a proposed bronze statue of restaurant founder Colonel Harland Sanders.

The request from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, was e-mailed to Corbin Main Street Manager Sharae Myers on Monday. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nev. — Sheryl Crow has spoken out against the war in Iraq and in support of embryonic stem-cell research and efforts to combat global warming. Now, she’s trying to ride to the rescue of thousands of wild horses that roam the West.

After campaigning for President Barack Obama in 2008, the Grammy-winning singer has become a leading critic of his administration’s plans to remove as many as 25,000 mustangs from the range and ship them to pastures in the Midwest and East. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is putting off plans to round up about nearly 200 wild horses in a remote western Utah mountain range.

The agency had planned the roundup for Jan. 15, but it’s been rescheduled for July so the BLM can conduct an environmental analysis before proceeding. Snowy conditions would have made the roundup more difficult and the delay also gives the agency more time to coordinate with contractors who would do the work, officials said. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SALT LAKE CITY — Overstock.com Inc. has stopped selling watchbands, shoes and luggage made from the skins of exotic animals.

The Salt Lake City, Utah-based Internet retailer announced Monday that it pulled listings involving items with alligator, lizard, ostrich, stingray, eel, shark and kangaroo skin from its Web site. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ARLINGTON, Texas — A judge has granted custody of more than 27,000 animals to the city of Arlington after they were seized last month from an exotic animal dealer.

Municipal Judge Michael Smith ruled Tuesday that U.S. Global Exotics owners Jasen and Vanessa Shaw cruelly treated hundreds of species of exotic animals at their Internet-based wholesale business. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

KETCHUM, Idaho — A small group of activists in a south-central Idaho resort community are protesting the Bureau of Land Management’s capture and relocation of wild horses across the western United States.

Elissa Kline was among nearly a dozen protesters who gathered in Ketchum earlier this week. Kline, who lives in Hailey, held a large photo of two horses from an Owyhee county herd leashed with ropes. (more…)

THE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — A federal judge Wednesday sided with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in a legal fight in which animal rights activists accused the circus of abusing its Asian elephants.

In a 57-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said a former Ringling employee, Tom Rider, and the Animal Protection Institute (API) did not have legal standing to sue the circus under the Endangered Species Act. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia — Eight circus tigers and a lioness died during a 20-hour journey in an enclosed and heated truck across Siberia, and Russian police are investigating whether they might have been suffocated by exhaust fumes or sickened with food poisoning.

The animals were dead when they arrived early Tuesday in the city of Yakutsk, where they had been due to perform in holiday shows, police spokesman Nikolai Sizykh said. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CENTRAL ISLIP, New York — A judge ordered a New York woman held on $100,000 bail Friday after prosecutors cited evidence that some of the 42 dead animals buried in her yard had been tortured, with duct tape around their mouths or signs that they had drowned.

Sharon McDonough, 43, had been free without bail after her November arrest on misdemeanor charges, but she was taken away in handcuffs after her appearance Friday in Suffolk County Court.

McDonough faces “the likelihood of a felony indictment,” said John Cortes, assistant district attorney. Authorities initially found 20 dogs buried behind her Selden home in early November; a subsequent search Dec. 8 uncovered another 22 dead animals. (more…)

THE OAKLAND TRIBUNE

SOLANO COUNTY, Calif. — A couple was arrested Thursday on charges of animal abuse as authorities shut down their pet shop and seized more than 80 pure bred puppies that may be sick.

Christopher John Derek Ellis, reportedly a Canadian citizen, and his wife, Leeanna Rachelle Kamp, were booked into Solano County (Calif.) Jail on suspicion of numerous charges, including two counts of animal cruelty and illegally operating an online lottery.

Ellis is currently on probation for a Sacramento felony. Both are being held on $50,000 bail, with arraignments scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday in Solano County Superior Court in Fairfield, Calif. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHICAGO — About 50 dogs rescued from puppy mills in Missouri should soon be finding loving homes on New York’s Long Island.

The dogs were taken by bus to Chicago, where they were given a rest break and special Thanksgiving meals on Thursday. (more…)

TEXARKANA GAZETTE

PRESCOTT — The recent death of a 2-year-old boy motivated the Prescott City Council last week to approve an ordinance banning pit bull dogs from the city, said Mayor Howard Taylor.

The ordinance makes Prescott the fifth town in southwest Arkansas to ban the dogs. (more…)