ANIMAL DEFENDERS

BILL VILLERS—The prospect of the Green New Deal becoming morphed into Sustainable Development by another name is real, given the powerful forces so adept at co-opting and repackaging things to serve their own ends. The development/growth debate has long been dominated by business interests, economists, advertisers and corporate journalists, with biologists neglectfully absent. And yet, it all boils down to biology, for when species “overshoot” the capacities of their environments to support them, collapse is the result.

DAVID MATTSON—All of this begs the question of what to do about Felicia and, more importantly, her surviving cub. Indeed, this question is on a lot of peoples’ minds. Perhaps more importantly, though, this challenge broaches the broader issue of what to do about increasing numbers of similar bears in similar situations—but where ultimate authority is held by dysfunctional and undemocratic state wildlife management agencies in a world overrun by humans.

An incredibly loyal Spanish sheepdog has hit national headlines after he chased a truck, loaded with his doomed flock, down a dangerous motorway as they were transported to an abattoir. The dog, named Piqué, chased the herd of sheep – which he had protected since he was a young pup – for miles down the AP7 motorway near Barcelona. Piqué was rescued by local police, who shared online the heart-wrenching tale of the dog who “protects his pack until the end”.

Today, PETA purchased shares in Facebook, enabling the group to submit a shareholder resolution, attend the company’s annual meetings, and ask questions of executives there. The move comes after the social media platform upped its use of warning screens on PETA videos showing real-life incidents of routine cruelty to animals, significantly limiting the group’s ability to expose animal suffering to a wide audience.