Top Animal News Stories of 2007

detroit dog's picks for top animal stories of 2007:

1. Politically incorrect. Presidential wannabe Mitt Romney is outed by his son: Dad put the family dog, Seamus, in his crate and then strapped it on the car roof rack and drove 12 hours (stopping only for gas and to hose down the dog when it shit on the window) to their vacation spot. Read Journeys of a shared life - The Making of Mitt Romney at The Boston Globe site. June 2007.
   
2. Pet Health. Big news, albeit quiet: U.S. free of canine rabies virus. While dogs are still susceptible of contracting rabies from wild animals, dog - dog transmission has been eradicated in the U.S. September 2007.
   
3. Wildlife. Murder of 4 mountain gorillas at Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Only about 700 mountain gorillas are still in existence, none of them in captivity. Read Killings of mountain gorillas in Congo prompts U.N. probe at CNN. As the story title indicates, the United Nations is involved in this case. August 2007.
4. Wildlife. The San Francisco Bay oil spill caused the deaths of over 2,500 birds - as counted by the International Bird Rescue Research Center. To read more about wildlife bird rescue, particularly as it pertains to this oil spill, and other human-induced disasters, check out their blog at www.intbirdrescue.blogspot.com. November 2007.
   
5. Pet welfare. Virginia puppy mill bust rescues 1,000 dogs. Read the Washington Post story, Dogs' Best Friends to the Rescue. November 2007.
   
6. Obits; science. Alex the African Grey parrot and Washoe the Chimpanzee. Alex is best remembered by most of us as the talented bird with an English vocabulary of 100 - 150 words. He was pet and colleague at Brandeis and Harvard Universities, and the subject of many scientific articles and TV appearances. Alex died of a heart condition at age 31. Kidnapped from the wilds of Africa and sold to the Air Force for research, Washoe the chimpanzee communicated via American Sign Language; he died of natural causes at age 42. Both Alex and Washoe gave insight into the world of animal - and human - communications. Read their stories at The New York times in The Lives They Lived - The Communicators. December 2007.
7. Law. NFL Falcons pro Michael Vick is currently serving a 23 month sentence on federal charges related to dogfighting. While he's not the only person out there participating in and funding this illegal and inhumane 'blood' sport, his involvement certainly drew attention both to this not-uncommon subversive activity and the fact that people of all career, celebrity, and economic stratas espouse and conspire in it. To read more about it, click on the label Vick in the sidebar. May - December 2007.
   
8. Zoos. Of course, the most recent news that questions wildlife welfare (to say nothing of human welfare) is the Christmas day incident at the San Francisco Zoo in which a tiger escaped from its habitat and attacked 3 visitors. To read more about it, click on the label News in the sidebar for links to media stories, or do a search this blog for the word tiger. December 2007.

I'm sure there are quite a few more than these, and they may be added within the next few days. For now, I believe these are tops - as far as U.S. relevance goes.