With an Illegal Buzzer in Hand, Roman Chapa Made Horse-Racing History in the...
None of this would have happened if the Sam Houston Race Park track photographer hadn't been shooting from the inside rail. The $50,000 Richard King Turf Stakes on January 17, 2015, was the ninth race...
View ArticleTens of Thousands of Dogs are Still Used in Laboratory Testing Every Year
The purpose-bred laboratory beagle is a remarkably versatile animal. It can be used to ingest a toxic compound until it dies and to ascertain human safety guidelines for pesticides. Its heart, brain...
View ArticleWhat Happens When Animal Testing Isn't Internally Monitored? Not Much.
USDA inspectors are supposed to conduct yearly visits of facilities that use animals for research. But facilities are also supposed to monitor their treatment of animals through the use of a so-called...
View ArticleCompany Sometimes "Borrows" Dogs From the Arlington Pound
The practice of a company or individual pulling dogs and cats from municipal shelters and using them in biomedical research is called “pound seizure.” Eighteen states prohibit it, but many others, like...
View ArticleRescued: Project HEEL is Saving Street Dogs and Incarcerated Juveniles
The respectful, guarded stance of the three boys in the lockup jumpsuits lasts maybe 20 seconds when they walk into Unit Six at the Harris County Leadership Academy near Katy. Almost immediately, they...
View ArticleGood-bye Rain, Hello Pests! Drying Out Means Dealing With Unwanted Visitors
I was recently exchanging flood stories and photos with my brother-in-law via text. He lives in Austin and, like me, is a bit of a nerd for this sort of thing. When I mentioned what a change for the...
View ArticleHouston Zoo Euthanizes Grizzly Bear
Back in 2007, the Houston SPCA seized two grizzly bears from someone who, for whatever reason, couldn’t properly care for them. The grizzlies, named Boomer and Bailey, were kept in tiny cages and had...
View ArticleA Dead Dog, An Injured Cat, and a Vicious Online Campaign
A Garden Oaks-area family has accused a neighbor of gunning down their dog in cold blood, and their supporters have mounted a social media campaign against the man, who told police the dog attacked one...
View ArticlePETA Targets East Texas Alligator Farm
Workers at an East Texas alligator farm “tortured and cruelly killed” animals by cutting into fully conscious alligators and leaving severely injured, but still conscious, animals to suffer and die in...
View ArticleTexas's Exotic Wildlife Imports: Hot Commodities to Hunters Everywhere
While the world's jaws dropped at the news of Cecil the lion's death last week, hundreds of less famous exotic wild animals died a little closer to home: in Texas. Texas is home to about 5,000 big-game...
View ArticleDA's Office Won't Press Animal Cruelty Charges Against "Porch Pup" Owner
It didn't take long before people as far as the UK had heard of the “porch pup.” What happened to this pup over the past week has triggered outrage on social media, protests, and an outpouring of...
View ArticleThe 2015 Turkeys of the Year: Feast on This Bumper Crop of Foul Fowls
It was Friedrich “The ’Stache” Nietzsche, the great German philosopher and Catskills comedian, who warned, “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.”...
View ArticleWhy the Biggest Organization in Rodeo Kicked Out Houston and its Top Cowboys
It happened in seconds. Bobby Mote was already sitting astride the chestnut in the cramped quarters of the bucking shoot when the horse, a nervous creature named Diaper Duty, reared up, its front...
View ArticleNorthwest Houston Homeowners Want to Euthanize Annoying Ducks
Ducks in a northwest Houston neighborhood have become so annoying over the past decade that the local homeowners association has decided it's time to kill them — which has neighbors feeling either...
View ArticleYou Literally Gotta Fight for a Parking Spot at the Houston Zoo on...
Parking at the Houston Zoo on free admission Tuesdays is apparently so high-stress that people throw punches over it. That's what happened this week after a woman ran over to the sole open parking...
View ArticleMore Than 70 Horses at Cypress Stables Rescued From Flood Waters
After days of warnings that flooding was imminent in Harris County, some horse owners apparently still missed the point. Or at least that's what can be surmised based on the fact that dozens of horses...
View ArticleDog Dies After CenterPoint Meter Man Beats Her With Wrench
Mike Willcox is running out of lies. It has been five days since the family dog, Shutter, died from what the vet believes was a brain hemorrhage, caused by a random CenterPoint contract worker striking...
View ArticleThere's No Need to Kick a Dog While It's Down; Thief Takes Rescue Group's Money
The Grinch came to Market Square Park this past Saturday, but instead of trying to steal Christmas, the thief took a money bag containing donations for homeless dogs, as well as proceeds from the sale...
View ArticleCriticism Continues About Why Horses Had to Swim For Their Lives When Cypress...
In June 2001, as Tropical Storm Allison dumped more than 30 inches of rain on Harris County, DeDe Baxley Lanoue rushed to Cypress Trails, a horse farm near Cypress Creek that has flooded repeatedly for...
View ArticleCypress Trails Horses, Stranded in April Flood, Were Evacuated Early This Time
The flood waters once again breached the banks of Cypress Creek and rolled over Cypress Trails this week. But this time Darolyn Butler, owner of the horse farm located in Humble, moved all of her...
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