Mexican-Style Rodeo Riles Activists

Students to use free anatomy software instead of frogs

(NEWSER) - A California high school has put down its scalpels and become the first school in the nation to accept a software offer from an animal rights group. Rancho Verde High School will drop frog dissections in exchange for free "Digital Frog" anatomy software provided by the Animal Welfare Institute and the Save the Frogs organization. The groups have offered anatomy software licenses, worth nearly $900 each, to the first 25 schools that agree to give up dissections for five years, reports AP. Rancho Verde went for the deal to save money, according to the principal. More»

City aims to stamp out sales of 'puppy-mill' pets

(NEWSER) - The animal-rights trailblazers on West Hollywood's City Council have passed an ordinance banning pet shops from selling cats and dogs. No stores in the city currently sell the animals, but council leaders hope the move will set an example to other cities and help put "puppy mills" and "kitten factories" out of business, the Los Angeles Times reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Electing a black man president wasn’t the only historic thing voters did last November, writes Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times. California voted, by nearly a 2-1 margin, for an animal-rights initiative that bars farms from keeping calves, pregnant hogs, or hens in cages too small for them. And such ethical-treatment initiatives are gaining momentum across the US and Europe, 30 years after Princeton philosopher Peter Singer raised the issue of our moral obligations to animals. More»

Attack targeted professor who used primates to study addiction

(NEWSER) - An federal anti-terror task force is probing the firebombing of a UCLA neuroscientist's car, the Los Angeles Times reports. An animal rights group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place outside the researcher’s house and caused no injuries. The professor targeted has been using primates for research into schizophrenia and drug addiction. More»

Arranged marriage legit in Mexico, but trafficking minors in Calif.

(NEWSER) - Something got lost in translation when a California man arranged for his 14-year-old daughter to marry an 18-year-old neighbor in exchange for cash, beer, and meat, reports the San Jose Mercury News. When the bridegroom failed to pay the promised $16,000, 160 cases of beer, and six cases of meat, dad called the cops—landing both men felony charges involving corruption of a minor. More»