Animal Legal Defense Fund

In two victories for animal activists, the Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for the Animal Legal Defense Fund to sue for tighter regulation of zoos and research labs and gave advocates for endangered sea turtles the right to demand less artificial lighting along Florida's beaches. In both cases, the wildlife advocates won important procedural victories last year that gave them standing in court to challenge government policies they believe are harmful to animals.

Oh heck, why dither: The proposal by state Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter) to create a registry of animal abusers -- to be funded by a new tax on pet food -- is a cockamamie idea. Animal protection is rightly a concern of most Californians, and the state has some of the stiffest laws in the nation against illegal enterprises such as dogfighting and cockfighting. California is also in the forefront of the national movement to improve treatment of farm animals, and Florez deserves credit for championing this cause.

Oh heck, why dither: The proposal by state Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter) to create a registry of animal abusers -- to be funded by a new tax on pet food -- is a cockamamie idea. Animal protection is rightly a concern of most Californians, and the state has some of the stiffest laws in the nation against illegal enterprises such as dogfighting and cockfighting. California is also in the forefront of the national movement to improve treatment of farm animals, and Florez deserves credit for championing this cause.

After a botched operation left Helen Evers' Rottweiler, Lonnie, with mangled nails and a set of broken teeth, the dog was inconsolable--and so was Evers. Night after night, Lonnie wailed in pain--and Evers cried right alongside her. So the Costa Mesa woman took Lonnie's veterinarian to court and earlier this year won a $20,000 emotional-distress judgment.

California's black bears were granted a reprieve from hunters Thursday when a judge ruled that the state Department of Fish and Game must halt further hunts until it completes a full study of the bear population. Superior Court Judge Cecily Bond ruled in favor of the Fund for Animals and the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the two groups that had filed a suit to block this year's proposed black bear hunting season.

California's dove-hunting season, in doubt until only 11 days ago, opened Saturday with the best hunting coming in the southeast corner of the state. "I'm up to my eyeballs in hunters right now," Department of Fish and Game warden Rusty McBride said by phone from Winterhaven, where the California, Arizona and Mexican borders meet. "The hunt's going great . . . a lot of limits."

After a botched operation left Helen Evers' Rottweiler, Lonnie, with mangled nails and a set of broken teeth, the dog was inconsolable--and so was Evers. Night after night, Lonnie wailed in pain--and Evers cried right alongside her. So the Costa Mesa woman took Lonnie's veterinarian to court and earlier this year won a $20,000 emotional-distress judgment.

When a security guard in Tustin discovered an opossum on a wall one night, he beat it to death with his flashlight. When a Santa Fe Springs man spotted an opossum in his backyard, he shot it three times with a crossbow. The animal survived until the next morning, Easter Sunday, when the man finished it off with a shovel and a pipe. One man pleaded guilty to cruelty to animals. Last week, the other was acquitted of the same charge.

The Dodger Dog long has been a delicacy for many Los Angeles baseball fans, but a group of animal rights activists can't stomach them any longer. In a letter sent Monday to Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, the team was urged to end its ties "with Farmer John and its cruelly produced pork products."

The California Department of Fish and Game apparently found a way to ensure a dove hunting season: by making a federal case of it. Instead of asking the Fish and Game Commission to adopt its recommended regulations for the state's most popular hunt, the DFG Wednesday asked the commission merely to recommend the department's specific proposals on dates and bag limits to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which has ultimate jurisdiction over migratory birds and waterfowl.

In two victories for animal activists, the Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for the Animal Legal Defense Fund to sue for tighter regulation of zoos and research labs and gave advocates for endangered sea turtles the right to demand less artificial lighting along Florida's beaches. In both cases, the wildlife advocates won important procedural victories last year that gave them standing in court to challenge government policies they believe are harmful to animals.

California's dove-hunting season, in doubt until only 11 days ago, opened Saturday with the best hunting coming in the southeast corner of the state. "I'm up to my eyeballs in hunters right now," Department of Fish and Game warden Rusty McBride said by phone from Winterhaven, where the California, Arizona and Mexican borders meet. "The hunt's going great . . . a lot of limits."

California's black bears were granted a reprieve from hunters Thursday when a judge ruled that the state Department of Fish and Game must halt further hunts until it completes a full study of the bear population. Superior Court Judge Cecily Bond ruled in favor of the Fund for Animals and the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the two groups that had filed a suit to block this year's proposed black bear hunting season.

Bill Coombs is 81, but the Australian proved this week that age is not a factor when he competed in the 32nd Hawaiian International billfish tournament off Kailua-Kona. Coombs caught a 592-pound blue marlin Monday, putting his Gamefish Club of South Australia into the lead after the first day of the event. The three-man team was reduced to two before competition began when one member, Ron Johnson, suffered broken his ribs in an accident.

Bow hunting became newsworthy last month when a Sacramento Superior Court judge disallowed the archery bear hunting season proposed for this year by the state Department of Fish and Game. The judge ruled in favor of animal rights groups that called bow hunting inhumane.