Animal Welfare Stories
- Beavers' dam expertise helps NM communities restore waterways Sometimes called the original "ecosystem engineers," beavers and the techniques they use are guiding conservationists in New Mexico to protect scarce water resources. Defenders of Wildlife is working with a team to install human-made "beaver dam analogs" along two tributaries of the Upper Rio Grande. Peggy Darr, […]
- CA's Channel Islands Fox, a conservation success story A small fox that lives on the Channel Islands off the coast of southern California is thriving after near extinction. The island fox – found nowhere else on Earth – was listed as endangered in 2004 when only about 30 remained. A multi-agency recovery effort that started […]
- Protecting furry friends from wildfire smoke Minnesota's transition to the warmer months has been rough when factoring in air quality. Just like in 2023, there are occasional bouts of unhealthy smoke from Canadian wildfires and animal experts said pets need protection, too. The American Humane Society said just like their owners, the respiratory systems of […]
- OR farmers block construction of new factory farm By Nina B. Elkadi for Sentient Climate.Broadcast version by Isobel Charle for Oregon News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboration Teresa Mitchell Clausen was almost finished with her shift at a local farm store when a customer came in looking to buy a fruit tree. […]
- Spay and neuter program designed to reduce stray animal population across TX CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story described the spay/neuter effort as a "bill," rather than a pilot program. (12:16 a.m. MDT, June 16, 2025) Animal welfare advocates hope a program approved by the Texas Legislature will help reduce the number of stray […]
- CAFO v. factory farm: What’s the difference? By Seth Millstein for Sentient.Broadcast version by Chrystal Blair for Missouri News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboration An estimated 99 percent of farm animals in the U.S. live in what the government calls Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs. But what exactly makes something a […]
- ND mega-dairies draw criticism at Winnipeg news conference North Dakota is facing growing opposition to two massive dairy operations planned near the Red River. Environmental advocates say the projects could harm water quality locally and in downstream communities – including Lake Winnipeg in Canada. Madeline Luke, a volunteer with the Dakota Resource Council, said farms […]
- Cal student faces prison for rescuing chickens By Seth Millstein for Sentient.Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for California News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboration In 2023, UC Berkeley student and activist Zoe Rosenberg removed four severely ill chickens from a slaughterhouse truck in Petaluma, California, and brought them to an animal sanctuary. […]