Animal Rights

The president of a local company that imports primates was charged with a misdemeanor involving mistreatment of animals earlier this year.

FGCU students got a taste of alien abduction and animal testing recently as peta2 brought its virtual reality simulation “Abduction” to campus. The event invited students to step into a simulated scenario designed to mirror what peta2 said were experiences animals endure in laboratory testing.

The president of BC US in Immokalee was charged with a second-degree misdemeanor for the company's mishandling of a macaque monkey.

Most people who won permits to participate in the first Florida black bear hunt since 2015 came away empty-handed. Jeff Nemeth wasn’t one of them — he and his son harvested a 503-pound bear on a private plot in the Panhandle last month. Nemeth, 57, of Inverness, estimated he put in 100 hours of research to prepare and spent $4,000 to $5,000 in travel and gear fees. He plans to shell out an additional $5,000 to an Ocala taxidermist for a full-body mount of the 8-foot-3 animal.

A conservation group has filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission from holding the state’s first bear hunt in a decade.Bear Warriors United filed the 15-page lawsuit Wednesday in Leon County circuit court, contending the commission violated several legal requirements, including approving a hunt using “obsolete” bear population numbers. The 23-day hunt, approved by the commission last month, is scheduled to start Dec. 6.

The protest on S. Miami Avenue is part of PETA's nationwide “Free the Animals Friday” initiative, which urges holiday shoppers to choose “cruelty-free vegan options.”

Advocates call for statewide registry to stop animal abuse

April marks Animal Cruelty Prevention Month and the third anniversary of LCSO’s Animal Cruelty Task Force.

Over the weekend the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was mobilizing its disaster response team to assist Lee County Domestic Animal Services in Fort Myers with search and rescue for animal victims of Hurricane Ian, and will also be supporting local emergency sheltering needs for displaced animals.

As we head into the final week of Florida’s 2018 lawmaking session, our legislative roundtable series continues today with a series of conversations about…