In the early morning hours of October 17th, a lone activist infiltrated the fur farm at 92659 Simonsen Road in Astoria Oregon. According to Bite Back Magazine , an activist released 1500 mink from a farm in Astoria. About 1,500 mink were released from their cages with at least 200 of these being breeding stock. The fact that there is no fence around this farm should help ease their escape. This action is being claimed for the vegan straight edge community. MORE

The last of nine monkeys that escaped from the Oregon National Primate Research Center in Hillsboro was found at 2 p.m. Tags: animal experimentation primates medical research oregon I don't know how I feel about this. These are not subject monkeys, but they are part of the breeding colony. Breeding for what? Sunday, officials said. Nine Japanese macaque monkeys got loose Friday after their keeper left the cage unlocked and they figured out how to open the door. MORE

The lab reported the incidents to the National Institutes of Health, said Jim Newman, a spokesman for Oregon Health & Science University, which runs the center. PETA has filed complaints about this place for years, but it's the first warning they've actually generated. MORE

California SB 917 Two new laws in Oregon and California prohibit the possession, sale, trade or distribution of shark fins. From Hometown Station AM 1220. New legislation in California increases the misdemeanor penalty for animal neglect and makes it a crime to sell a live animal on any street, highway, public right-of-way, parking lot, or carnival. The California law specifies that a person must hold a license in order to possess shark fins for scientific purposes. MORE

Nonetheless, Chino, a golden retriever who lived with Mary and Dan Heath in Medford, Oregon, and Falstaff, a 15-inch koi, had regular meetings for six years at the edge of the pond where Falstaff lived. Grief, friendship, gratitude, wonder, and other things we animals experience. MORE

While the comfortably affluent always seem to prefer archaic forms of production and commerce, such as that to be found in a quaint Vermont (or Oregon) village, those of us who live in the real world understand that efficiency and productivity, as well as trade, are what make life better for the vast majority of people in the world. To the Editor: Re “ A Farm Boy Reflects ” (column, July 31): Hats off to Nicholas D. MORE

BEST Illinois (best) Maine Michigan Oregon California WORST Mississippi Idaho Hawaii North Dakota Kentucky. According to this Technorati article , the Humane Society rated the states on their animal protection laws. BEST STATES California (best-yay!) New Jersey Illinois Massachusetts Colorado Maine WORST STATES Ohio Hawaii Alabama North Dakota Mississippi Idaho South Dakota (worst) According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the states fell this way. MORE

This blogger, Earle Holland at Oregon State University, doesn't seem to believe the allegations coming out about the New Iberia Primate Center in Louisiana. He is the assistant vice president for research communications in the Office of University Relations. Here's his post about it. Here's a PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania with an interesting post about the same issue, wondering how much we really need to experiment on chimps. MORE

Davis, an emeritus professor of animal science at Oregon State University, says the horses “damage” the environment. To the Editor: Re “ Mustangs Stir a Debate on Thinning the Herd ” (front page, July 20): The Bureau of Land Management is charged with protecting wild horses and burros on the Western rangelands. Faced with budgetary constraints, however, it might put to death some of the 30,000 horses it is holding—a herd as big as the community of free horses still roaming the West. MORE

Violet Rays raced for over two years, spending her days and nights in a kennel or being transported between South Florida and Oregon, only to be out of her kennel for about two hours per day, and with a muzzle on for that two hours (and maybe even while in the kennel). MORE

Animal rights activists stretched a 60-foot banner across the Hawthorne Bridge {Saturday} morning targeting the Oregon National Primate Research Center at OHSU. Stop Animal Exploitation Now, an Ohio-based animal rights group, recently ranked the lab at Oregon Health & Science University as the nation's sixth worst animal lab out of 44 others. Tags: animal research activism oregon national primate research center oregon From Oregonlive. MORE

Violet Rays was a very successful competitor and the offspring of a Hall of Famer, and she made someone a lot of money, winning race after race for the two years she was hauled between Oregon and South Florida. There she is. my girl. She has beaten the odds and made it another year. The life expectancy of greyhounds is 12-15 years. If they've raced, you subtract a year for each year of racing. MORE

A resident of Bend, Oregon, McGee Bennett lives on a 10-acre farm with her husband, Brad, two dogs, two cats, five llamas, 11 alpacas, and super composting red wigglers, number unknown. MORE

Wildlife conservationists say the freeze will delay and possibly prevent the removal of gray wolves from the federal endangered species list in Montana, Idaho, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, and also in portions of Washington, Oregon, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Let's keep our fingers crossed. MORE

An Oregon prosecutor convicted Kittles in 1993 after finding 115 sick and dying dogs crammed into a school bus, but she has gone on to hoard animals again in Oregon and other states several times since. I recently got an email from the Animal Legal Defense Fund. They are pioneering legislation in California to make public animal abuse registries. In our opinion, this is a wonderful idea, and we wanted to help them spread the word. MORE

Navy's use of sonar off the Washington and Oregon coasts. If approved, those measures would be in effect from 2010 to 2015 for the Navy's training area in the Pacific Ocean off the Washington, Oregon and Northern California coasts. The use of sonar is controversial because of its harmful effects on marine life such as whales. The Navy has been able to get away with using it for "national security" reasons. MORE

According to the Post story, computer modeling conducted by Andreas Schmittner (College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University) indicates if we continue "business as usual" and do nothing to curb greenhouse gas emissions, average temperatures are likely to increase 7.0°F Global warming is an animal ethics issue. As the planet warms, fragile habitats that countless animal species depend on for survival will be destroyed. MORE

I can't even comment on this, the anger is too intense. Happy New Year {insert sarcasm here!). MORE

The program is called Cherry City Cares and 100% of the profits of products scented “Good Karma&# is donated to the Willamette Valley Humane Society, in Salem, Oregon. Cherry City Bath and Body is a great new, vegan bath and body company! MORE

Wolves have been killing livestock in Oregon, and now they want the authority to kill them. MORE

The PETA activist who worked undercover at the University of Utah, and collected video footage of alleged mistreatment of lab animals, was also involved in an operation at the Oregon National Primate Research Center. I say "good for her!" She has a lot more guts than I do. MORE

Among the best: California, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Oregon. The ALDF has released a report on how different states' animal protection laws stack up. And the worst: Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, South Dakota, Wyoming You can check out the whole report on their web site. MORE

Judge Michael Mosman’s ruling means Washington, Oregon and Idaho can shoot or remove up to 85 sea lions next year. This is pretty frustrating. The major threats to salmon are the 4 'H's: habitat, hatcheries, hydro(power) and harvest. All driven by humans. But we can't get rid of humans, of course, and we need to punish someone who can't fight back. Let's pick the sea lions! Portland judge said Wednesday the Northwest states can kill hungry sea lions on the Columbia River. MORE

Similar legislation, on hold as a result of today’s agreement, was planned in Washington State and Oregon. A press release I received from the Farm Sanctuary. Animal Welfare Groups Win Industry Backing for First-Ever Federal Regulation of Hen Welfare Groundswell of Public Support Results in Full Court Press for Nationwide Law Protecting Chickens to Replace State-by-State Initiatives WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. MORE