Animal Rights

Bebe Vows to Drop Fur, But Not Fast Enough for PETA

'Full House Of Horrors': PETA Is Even Batshittier Than Imagined

Hang On to Your Nuts: Spay/Neuter Pit Bulls For Free

Berkeley vs. Animal Rights Protesters: You're a Terrorist. No, YOU'RE a Terrorist.

The Most Pointless Light Brown Apple Moth Hearing is also the Most Deliciously Ironic

Nina the Pit Bull Put Down After Owner Enters Witness Protection

Savage Love

Every Dog Has His Day -- In Court: $500,000 Bequest Spurs Legal Dogfight

Never fear, a probate judge is hereNot quite a year after it abruptly curtailed its 29-year-old hearing dog program and all but frog-marched several workers out of the building, the San Francisco SPCA is now claiming that, no, the hearing dog program never really ended -- and the SPCA should get a $ ... More >>

Legal Dogfight Over $500K Bequest Remains Unresolved

A legal battle over which hearing dog program is entitled to a half-million dollar bequest went into overtime yesterday. The Hearing Dog Program, a San Francisco nonprofit formed by the workers laid off by the San Francisco SPCA when it liquidated its 29-year-old hearing dog program in 2008, objecte ... More >>

Mayor Newsom Signs Resolution Commending SF Restaurants That Remove Foie Gras From Their Menus, as Plumpjack Restaurants Remove It From Theirs

Photo by Rui OrnelasGather ye fattened duck or goose livers while ye may.It seems as if the tide of pc history is against you.Mayor Gavin Newsom signed the resolution that was unanimously passed by the Board of Supervisors commending SF restaurants that have removed foie gras from their menus, ahead ... More >>

Dogs also losing their homes in foreclosure

Photo by Rui OrnelasGather ye fattened duck or goose livers while ye may.It seems as if the tide of pc history is against you.Mayor Gavin Newsom signed the resolution that was unanimously passed by the Board of Supervisors commending SF restaurants that have removed foie gras from their menus, ahead ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Photo by Rui OrnelasGather ye fattened duck or goose livers while ye may.It seems as if the tide of pc history is against you.Mayor Gavin Newsom signed the resolution that was unanimously passed by the Board of Supervisors commending SF restaurants that have removed foie gras from their menus, ahead ... More >>

A Time to Kill

The SPCA is struggling to finance a new hospital, and one way to save money is to speed up euthanasia.

Animal Welfare Commission Wants to Outlaw Cruel Art

The SPCA is struggling to finance a new hospital, and one way to save money is to speed up euthanasia.

Boycott Feinstein

A new proposed law would put activists in jail for hurting a company's bottom line

Save the Cute Animals!

The inside story on protests against dog-eating, foie gras-enjoying, and fur-wearing

Dog Bites

Phil Matier and Willie Brown raise eyebrows by doing TV together; no cow eyes at the Exploratorium; and more!

Letters

Phil Matier and Willie Brown raise eyebrows by doing TV together; no cow eyes at the Exploratorium; and more!

Unspun

Two Barks Up the Wrong Tree

Dog Day Afternoon: Battle Over $500K Bequest For Hearing Dog Program Continues Today

Which organization will be top dog? Throw a pile of food on the ground, and all but the most beatific dogs will scramble for what's theirs. Turns out, if you do the same thing with a pile of money, hearing dog programs don't share well, either. When a $500,000 bequest was recently awarded to the S ... More >>

San Francisco Animal Control Did NOT Suffer Guinea Pig Apocalypse. But That's The Only Good News.

'I'm super. Thanks for asking.' ​Earlier in the summer, we wondered if the success of the movie G-Force would lead to a glut of guinea pigs overwhelming San Francisco Animal Care and Control once the novelty of pet ownership wore off. While it may seem only a foul dream, the talking guinea pig fil ... More >>

San Francisco SPCA Offers to Train Deaf Woman's Dog Over the Phone

'Sit!'​A woman who obtained her assistance dog from the San Francisco SPCA several years ago has told SF Weekly that she was shocked that an SPCA trainer e-mailed her asking if her scheduled in-person refresher training session could instead be conducted over the phone. While dog-training over the ... More >>

More Shake-Ups at San Francisco SPCA

​ After being closed all day Thursday for a series of mandatory staff meetings, San Francisco's SPCA re-opened today -- but not, it seems, with all the services available previously. The SPCA has now posted on its Web site that its internationally renowned Academy for Dog Trainers -- which instruc ... More >>

Critics Slam SPCA's Hiring Priorities As Valuing Money Over Animal Welfare

A neat trick​Less than a month after shedding 22 employees -- 15 percent of its workforce -- the San Francisco SPCA is hiring again. It is not, however, seeking trainers or other personnel who work directly with animals to replace the many who were shown the door in the latest round of budget-rela ... More >>

Detractors Rejoice After SPCA President Jan McHugh-Smith Announces Departure

Jan McHugh-Smith​The brief and controversial reign of San Francisco SPCA President Jan McHugh-Smith will end in March of 2010. At that point she'll pack up and move back to Colorado and begin a job with Humane Society Pike's Peak Region, the largest animal shelter in southern and w ... More >>

Pssst, Buddy -- Wanna Buy a Used Cat? SPCA's $10 Kitty Ploy Divides S.F. Animal Activists.

​An automotive-themed SPCA promotion promising "certified pre-owned cats" -- no money down, zero percent APR, you can meow it away today -- has split the city's animal activist community. But, then, this may be progress -- when SPCA policies are brought up, the city's kitty and puppy people usuall ... More >>

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

​An automotive-themed SPCA promotion promising "certified pre-owned cats" -- no money down, zero percent APR, you can meow it away today -- has split the city's animal activist community. But, then, this may be progress -- when SPCA policies are brought up, the city's kitty and puppy people usuall ... More >>

Thinking About Keeping Backyard Chickens? Rescued Birds Might Be a Good Place to Start

​This morning, 70 rescued hens arrived at the Marin County Humane Society in Novato. They came from an animal sanctuary in Vacaville, where a Northern California egg farmer had dropped them off with plastic bands cutting into their legs.The farmer placed the bands on the chickens when they were yo ... More >>

Nude Woman With Hideous Scars Headed for Bay Area (PICS)

Now, this is all for the best of causes...​People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has worked out an unspoken deal with society. They parade around comely young women wearing next to nothing. And we pay attention to the spectacle and take in PETA's accompanying message. Yes, that was PETA lend ... More >>

Vegan activist protests sale of live chickens at UN Plaza farmers' market

Now, this is all for the best of causes...​People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has worked out an unspoken deal with society. They parade around comely young women wearing next to nothing. And we pay attention to the spectacle and take in PETA's accompanying message. Yes, that was PETA lend ... More >>

Republicans tastelessly milk cow-shooting controversy

Now, this is all for the best of causes...​People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has worked out an unspoken deal with society. They parade around comely young women wearing next to nothing. And we pay attention to the spectacle and take in PETA's accompanying message. Yes, that was PETA lend ... More >>

'Jack Daniels,' Blind Kitten Stolen From S.F. SPCA, Turns Up -- In New York

Jack Daniels, found in NYC​Don't you just love it when you find your lost Jack Daniels? A partially blind three-month-old kitten named after the Tennessee bourbon, who was stolen in July of last year from the San Francisco SPCA, has turned up -- safe, sound, and 11 pounds -- in New York City.

SF Weekly Letters

Jack Daniels, found in NYC​Don't you just love it when you find your lost Jack Daniels? A partially blind three-month-old kitten named after the Tennessee bourbon, who was stolen in July of last year from the San Francisco SPCA, has turned up -- safe, sound, and 11 pounds -- in New York City.

SPCA Triumphs in Legal Dogfight, Wins $500,000 Inheritance

Ring, ring! Bad news, Hearing Dog Program...​After a lengthy legal dogfight, an appeals court judge has handed the San Francisco SPCA a half-million dollar inheritance. The battle was sparked last year when the Hearing Dog Program -- a nonprofit formed two years ago when the SPCA gutted its 29-yea ... More >>

Vandals tag Incanto restaurant with swastika

Ring, ring! Bad news, Hearing Dog Program...​After a lengthy legal dogfight, an appeals court judge has handed the San Francisco SPCA a half-million dollar inheritance. The battle was sparked last year when the Hearing Dog Program -- a nonprofit formed two years ago when the SPCA gutted its 29-yea ... More >>

Free Bird!

Ring, ring! Bad news, Hearing Dog Program...​After a lengthy legal dogfight, an appeals court judge has handed the San Francisco SPCA a half-million dollar inheritance. The battle was sparked last year when the Hearing Dog Program -- a nonprofit formed two years ago when the SPCA gutted its 29-yea ... More >>

Dog Day Afternoon

Ring, ring! Bad news, Hearing Dog Program...​After a lengthy legal dogfight, an appeals court judge has handed the San Francisco SPCA a half-million dollar inheritance. The battle was sparked last year when the Hearing Dog Program -- a nonprofit formed two years ago when the SPCA gutted its 29-yea ... More >>

'Pit Fix Month' Starts Now; Shelters Will Spay and Neuter Your Pup -- For Free

Still a man ​The San Francisco Animal Care & Control decided one way deal with dog overcrowding was to ship a bunch of Chihuahuas off to New York City. But even then, they admitted that won't make a blip in the pet overpopulation problem in San Francisco. "We will send 12 off tomorrow and we w ... More >>

PETA Asks S.F. to Take the 'Loin' Out of the Tenderloin

Does this really represent the TL?​What is it they say? Only in San Francisco ... The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, better known as PETA, fired off a letter to Mayor Ed Lee today asking that the city change the name of the Tenderloin to something a little more animal-friendly. Tracy Rei ... More >>

S.F. Feral Cats Policy Good for Cats, Terrible for Birds

Does this really represent the TL?​What is it they say? Only in San Francisco ... The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, better known as PETA, fired off a letter to Mayor Ed Lee today asking that the city change the name of the Tenderloin to something a little more animal-friendly. Tracy Rei ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Does this really represent the TL?​What is it they say? Only in San Francisco ... The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, better known as PETA, fired off a letter to Mayor Ed Lee today asking that the city change the name of the Tenderloin to something a little more animal-friendly. Tracy Rei ... More >>

Hidden Video Shows Pigs Thrown, Mutilated, and Confined

A pig's life​Brace yourself for this distressing piece of news. Mercy for Animals is releasing a truly jaw-dropping video that shows just how badly pigs are abused in the process of being slaughtered. According to the national animal rights organization, which planted an investigator within the Io ... More >>

Big Reforms in the Egg Industry, Big Scandal in the Competitive Eating World

​Today's notes on national stories, local trends, random tastes, and other bycatch dredged up from the food media. 1. Good news for egg lovers. After almost a decade of activism, the Humane Society of the United States, an animal-welfare group that is not connected to local animal shelters, has f ... More >>

Animal Lovers Ask eBay to Stop Pet Sales

How else will he find a home?​Falling deep in puppy love is a hard thing to avoid when scrolling through eBay's classifieds and seeing pictures of pets who need a home. And although it's a great way to trap people into picking up one of those cuddly creatures, animal activists are calling for an e ... More >>

Vegan Fight! Activist Doesn't Want PETA Getting Credit for Vegan Meals in Jail

takver / flickr​Last month, SFoodie discovered that if you're vegan and you go to jail in S.F., you can get vegan meals. Eileen Hirst, Chief of Staff at the Sheriff's Department, told us that vegan food in S.F. County jails came about because of vegan PETA protestors who were arrested in anti- ... More >>

San Franciscans to South Koreans: Stop Eating Dogs and Cats

Eating your pets is just plain unsavory ​A group of San Francisco animal lovers is taking on a not-so-domestic animal-rights issue.  In Defense of Animals, a international nonprofit, will deliver 15,000 signatures tomorrow, asking the South Korean government to crack down on illegal dog and c ... More >>

Animal Activists to State Fair: Don't Have a Cow

Isn't that cute!​Bay Area animal-rights activist Eric Mills has gathered 1,500 signatures in hopes of cowing the California State Fair into ceasing its practice of displaying live animal births.Hoping to continue with live piglet and calf birth exhibits, State Fair officials have recruited experts ... More >>

If the City Takes Your Dog, It Will Also Take Its Gonads

Isn't that cute!​Bay Area animal-rights activist Eric Mills has gathered 1,500 signatures in hopes of cowing the California State Fair into ceasing its practice of displaying live animal births.Hoping to continue with live piglet and calf birth exhibits, State Fair officials have recruited experts ... More >>

Faux-Gras Donuts, Bunny Adoptions, Vegan Cooking Zines, and Protest the Terrible Circus!

​ ​• There are over 1,000 food-borne illness outbreaks in the United States EVERY year. At least, from 2008 forward, when the Centers for Disease Control began compiling the data. Fucking disgraceful. This is what happens when you have an "oversight" agency that's in bed with the people it's ... More >>

Pilfered Pup Reunited with Family

Welcome home, buddy!​Amid the flurry of hard-hitting election news yesterday, we were also captivated by a tearjerker about a puppy stolen from the San Francisco SPCA just hours before it was to scheduled to be adopted by a family. Fortunately, we can report good news today: Bodhi, an adorable lig ... More >>