ANIMAL DEFENDERS

Room 8 was a neighborhood cat who wandered into a classroom in 1952 at Elysian Heights Elementary School in Echo Park, California. He lived in the school during the school year and then disappeared for the summer, returning when classes started again. This pattern continued without interruption until the mid-1960s.

News cameras would arrive at the school at the beginning of the year waiting for the cat’s return; he became famous and would receive up to 100 letters a day addressed to him at the school. Eventually, he was featured in a documentary called Big Cat, Little Cat and a children’s book, A Cat Called Room 8. Look magazine ran a three-page Room 8 feature by photographer Richard Hewett in November 1962, titled “Room 8: The School Cat”. Leo Kottke wrote an instrumental called “Room 8” that was included in his 1971 album, Mudlark.

ROWAN WOLF —This is a tribute to my dear friend, Kacey, a member of my pack for 12 years. She was an amazing friend, and I called her my “Nurse Dog” because whenever someone was sick or sad, she was right there and watched over them (and me) until they were back on their feet. She was a rescue from a bad situation and it took a while for her to acclimate to living in a safe environment. She was special, but then every creature is in their own way. She was also visually striking. She was a Border Collie – German Shepherd mix and had the softest hair of any creature it has been my honor to touch.

My poor little boy was brain-damaged at birth and within a year he couldn`t walk. He was my son`s cat but when they were hit with a very serious health situation he came to live with me….and i couldn`t give him back. I bought nappies for him for his little accidents in the day and night. But regularly through the day i would lay him on his side on some newspaper and he knew he had to do his business.

Mountain lions are a “specially protected species,” according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Since 2002, at least 25 mountain lions have been killed on freeways in Los Angeles, The Guardian reported. And on March 23, a young mountain lion was killed on the Pacific Coast Highway. 

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing will coincide with Earth Day on April 22, and the bridge is expected to be completed in early 2025. About 60 percent of the funding for the approximately $90 million wildlife crossing came from private donations.

Every day about 300,000 cars move through the area of the forthcoming wildlife bridge.

Sen. Angela Hill, who has been instrumental in updating animal protection legislation in Mississippi, introduced Buddy’s Law (SB 2261) in response to this horrific case. Buddy’s abuser could not be prosecuted because Mississippi law prohibits the prosecution of youth offenders under the age of 13.

However, further issues with this case highlight the need for more avenues to deal with violent youth offenders.

The youth in this case was already previously involved in the fatal shooting of his stepsister before torturing Buddy, and just months after he turned 13, he was charged with capital murder for fatally burning another youth who had befriended him.