Oregon, My Oregon

This is a wild victory lap.

Step 1 - essentially legalize all drugs - overdose deaths skyrocket.
Step 2 - Criminalize illicit drugs again - overdose deaths drop by half.
Step 3 - take credit only for step 2. https://t.co/V9uWhVvOgd

— piercheney (@LVpolitic) June 21, 2026

At Althouse, A possible referendum in Oregon on animal rights would end fishing, hunting, even pest control, just when Democrats are trying really hard not to be seen as 'weirdos again.'" "I'm reading "Protect Every Animal From Cruelty? Not in 2026, Oregon Democrats Say" (NYT)."

RIP: Brigitte Bardot

 Via Althouse, Goodbye to Brigitte Bardot.

"Brigitte Bardot, the pouty, tousle-haired French actress who redefined mid-20th-century movie sex symbolism in films beginning with 'And God Created Woman,' then gave up acting at 39 to devote her life to the welfare of animals, has died. She was 91." The NYT
reports.

President Macron writes: "Her films, her voice, her dazzling glory, her initials, her sorrows, her generous passion for animals, her face that became Marianne, Brigitte Bardot embodied a life of freedom. French existence, universal brilliance. She touched us. We mourn a legend of the century."

Much as I've admired Brigitte Bardot for her great beauty, I have never seen a Brigitte Bardot movie, not even "Contempt."

 

"We must rebel when we're trapped by circumstances, conventions."

Here's her filmography, full of titles I'm sad not to recognize.

"At best, Ms. Bardot was considered eccentric in her later years, prompting observations that this former sex kitten, as she was often called, had turned into a “crazy cat lady,'" 

it says in the NYT obituary.

At best? That's because of this: "In 2004, she was convicted of inciting racial hatred, and fined, for similar comments in 'A Cry in the Silence,' a nonfiction best seller in which she referred to Muslims as 'cruel and barbaric invaders.' By 2008, she had been convicted of the same charge five times."

 

And:

Interviewed by the magazine Paris Match in January 2018, she denounced the #MeToo movement, calling actresses’ claims of sexual harassment “hypocritical, ridiculous, without interest.” A few weeks later, in a “Saturday Night Live” sketch, Kate McKinnon, as Ms. Bardot, shouted, “Free Harvey Weinstein!” Catherine Deneuve, played by Cecily Strong in the sketch, explained, “Brigitte is very old and very wrong.”

She was also said to be a recluse:

“I am not a recluse,” she told The Toronto Star in 1988. “I live like an unsociable person; it is different.” “People,” she added, “get on my nerves.”

Like Althouse, I can't honestly say I've ever seen a Bardot movie, but her name was one worth conjuring with. Her subsequent history was even more remarkable. While I'm not an animal rights advocate, I sympathize a bit, and her setting aside an astonishing career to follow it is outstanding. And she was right about Muslims. 

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Old Trucks & Young Girls up on time and under budget at The Other McCain.

Rule 5 Saturday - Lauren Mcgeachen - Cutest Troll Ever

Lauren Mcgeachen

Da  Mail, Married At First Sight star Olivia Frazer names and shames an influencer and vegan activist who 'trolled her on Instagram'

Married At First Sight star Olivia Frazer has accused a popular influencer and vegan activist of sending her an unkind message on Instagram.

On Wednesday, Frazer shared a screenshot of a DM allegedly sent to her by Lauren McGeachin, who boasts more than 100,000 followers on the platform.

The alleged unsolicited message read, 'You're awful.'

Married At First Sight star Olivia Frazer (pictured) has accused popular influencer and vegan activist Lauren McGeachin of sending her an unkind message on Instagram

On Wednesday, Frazer shared a screenshot of a DM allegedly sent to her by McGeachin (pictured), who boasts more than 100,000 followers on the platform

Married At First Sight star Olivia Frazer (left) has accused popular influencer and vegan activist Lauren McGeachin (right) of sending her an unkind message on Instagram

Frazer, 28, a former teaching assistant who now makes a living on OnlyFans, did not reply to the DM but captioned her screenshot: 'Peace and light, you troll.'

Mcgeachen is a notorious pig thief: Vegan bikini model, 28, who posted videos of a late-night 'piglet rescue' to Instagram now faces a $6,000 fine after allegedly taking livestock from a 'factory farm'

A bikini model and vegan animal activist who posted Instagram videos of a late-night 'piglet rescue' has faced court for allegedly stealing livestock.

Lauren McGeachin briefly appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday for her alleged role in the November raid on a piggery near Toowoomba.

The 28-year-old previously posted a series of distressing videos titled 'piglet rescue'.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: IJN Musashi and FMJRA 2.0: Let The Robot Do The Suffering out on time and under budget. Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. Linked at The Right Way in the weekly Rule 5 Saturday LinkOrama.

Oregon, My Oregon

 At NR, Oregon Proposal Would Redefine Breeding as a ‘Sexual Assault’ on Animals

People wrongly think of the animal-rights movement as a more energetic form of animal-welfare advocacy. It is not. Rather, animal-rights activists intend to eventually outlaw all ownership of animals, a project they recognize as multi-generational.

Often, activists mask their actual intentions. But a proposed Oregon constitutional amendment, currently in the petition-signing stage, illustrates the extent of animal-rights radicalism.

The proposed amendment would essentially criminalize many of the practices required to raise and slaughter food animals. First, it would remove current exemptions in the law for “good animal husbandry” practices that protect ranchers and others from being charged with abuse for injuring an animal. From Initiative Petition 13 (the bracketed sections delete current law, my emphasis):

 

A person commits the crime of animal abuse in the second degree if, except as [otherwise authorized by law] necessary to defend him or herself against an apparent threat of immediate violence, the person intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes physical injury to an animal. [(2) Any practice of good animal husbandry is not a violation of this section.]

The food industry routinely kills animals by mortally injuring them. Other practices such as castration of steers, also would constitute “injury.” By removing the “good animal husbandry” exemptions — and note, “good” practices do not permit abuse — necessary activities of raising animals for food would seem to be criminalized.

And here’s the real kicker. Breeding animals, other than through animal intercourse, would be considered a sexual offense, akin to bestiality:

Section 6. ORS 167.333 is amended to read:
(1) A person commits the crime of sexual assault of an animal if the person:
(a) Touches or contacts, or causes an object or another person to touch or contact, the mouth, anus or sex organs of an animal or animal carcass for the purpose of:
(A) [a]Arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of [a person] either party; or
(B) Breeding domestic, livestock, and equine animals as defined in ORS 167.310; or
(b) Causes an animal or animal carcass to touch or contact the mouth, anus or sex organs of a person for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of [a person] either party

This provision would make artificial insemination of a cow a sexual offense because it involves touching that cow’s sex organs with the sperm-containing syringe! It would also prohibit the acts necessary to obtain bull sperm for that purpose.

This is a classic example of the rural/urban split. Oregon politics are dominated by Portland and a few Willamette Valley cities (I'm looking at you Corvallis, Salem and Eugene) who no longer like to think about where food comes from any more. I blame the refugees from California. 

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Death Goddess On The Beach on time and under budget at The Other McCain.

If I Hear One More Celebrity PSA . . .

About bringing your pets in from the cold, I think I'm gonna scream:

Skye's chosen bed for this morning's nap. It's melting way too fast as far as she is concerned.



She should try it in her swim suit. I've nevver heard of her before, but Laura Vandervoort:

Laura Dianne Vandervoort (born September 22, 1984) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles as Sadie Harrison in the CTV teen drama series Instant Star, Arla "The Bolt-Gun Killer" Cogan in the Syfy supernatural drama series Haven, Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) in The CW serial drama series Smallville, and Lisa in the ABC science fiction series V. In 2014, she starred in the Space drama series Bitten, a TV adaptation of Kelley Armstrong's book series Women of the Otherworld as Elena Michaels.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Eliza Dushku up at The Other McCain.

Lock Him Up!

Activist threw a fisherman’s catch back into the lake. Now, he has to pay.

 A dying fish was flopping on a hot deck. An animal activist called throwing it back in the water an act of kindness. The state called it theft. The value of St. Petersburg’s most internet famous flying fish? About $6.

Now, Michael Leaming will have to pay a $500 fine and court costs after a judge found him guilty of depriving Robert Hope of his dinner by launching a tilapia into Crescent Lake in July 2017. A video of the exchange in Crescent Lake Park went viral and was reposted to various social media platforms around the world, racking up millions of views.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission referred the case to the State Attorney’s Office. At first, the state charged Leaming with “interference with taking of fish.” But late Thursday, a day before the non-jury trial in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court, the state changed its charge to petit theft.

Prosecutors discovered the interference charge is only for state waters, not a city-owned property like Crescent Lake, said State Attorney spokesman Frank Piazza. The other two charges the commission had recommended were battery, for taking the fish from under the foot of Hope’s wife, and petit theft. The theft charge seemed more appropriate, Piazza said.

Hope planned to cook the fish for dinner that night. A fish and wildlife investigator testified that, by the size of the fish and the price per pound of tilapia, the fish was worth about $6.

That may what you can buy an farmed Tilapia, but there must be a premium for wild caught one (there is for Striped Bass). And if they based the price on what the fisherman invested in gear, the price could be astronomical! (Trust me on this).

Judge Robert Dittmer acknowledged that people get passionate about issues, but said the state has granted fishermen the right to fish the waters. He noted that commercial fisherman often put their catch on ice immediately, where the fish are left to die. He feared letting the door open on this could lead to sabotage of fishing vessels.

Dittmer withheld adjudication so Leaming’s record is clear. He also didn’t impose probation as the state had requested. Leaming could have been sentenced to 60 days in jail, six months probation and mandatory counseling.

After the trial, Leaming said he was happy he won’t have a guilty verdict but felt it was unfair to suddenly have to face a theft charge when they had prepared for the interference claim. He was sure he would have won that.

“I’m glad that my dad’s not guilty,” Landon Leaming said. “I felt sad that it was happening to this fish and I wanted to help the fish.”

Crazy People are Dangerous

You'd think a mass shooter with a name like Nasim Aghdam might be an Islamic terrorist. Nope, just another angry SJW:  YouTube Shooter Angry Over Demonetization Of Militant Vegan/Animal-Rights Vlogs

Did police miss a chance to head off yesterday’s shooting at YouTube’s HQ? Police have identified the now-dead assailant as Nasim Najafi Aghdam, an animal-rights and vegan vlogger with a deadly grudge against the platform, whose parents tried to warn law enforcement that she might have disappeared in order to settle scores. “She might do something,” they said, which is why police tracked her down hours before the shooting:

Stacy McCain: Woman Shoots People, Kills Herself at YouTube Office

Animal Rights Activist Nasim Aghdam Identified as YouTube Shooter

Californian media reported that Aghdam’s family had warned the authorities that she may target YouTube prior to the shooting. Her father Ismail Aghdam told The Mercury News that he had told police that she might be going to YouTube’s headquarters because she “hated” the company.
Police said they were still investigating possible motives but Aghdam’s online activities show that she believed YouTube was deliberately obstructing her videos from being viewed.
“YouTube filtered my channels to keep them from getting views,” she wrote on YouTube according to a screenshot of her account. Her channel was deleted on Tuesday.

Suspect In YouTube Shooting Posted Rants About The Company Online

Aghdam was no stranger to activism. Nine years ago, the San Diego Union-Tribune featured her in a report on a PETA protest at Camp Pendleton over the use of pigs in Marine Corps medic training (via Instapundit):

More than two dozen protesters gathered outside Camp Pendleton’s main gate yesterday afternoon to denounce the use of pigs in military-trauma training. …
Nasim Aghdam, 29, a San Diego animal rights activist, dressed in a wig and jeans with large blood drops painted on them.
“For me, animal rights equal human rights,” Aghdam said.

What If She’d Been an NRA Member? Nets Skimp on YouTube Shooter’s Animal Rights Extremism

So much for human rights, eh? The paper used a picture of Aghdam in their story, which is certainly a little unnerving under the circumstances. Don’t be surprised if more of these stories start emerging from newspaper vaults. Aghdam appears to have had a flair for the dramatic and the need for notoriety for some time, which might explain why she reacted so violently to getting demonetized.

This is...bizarre.

This is YouTube shooter Nasim Aghdam. pic.twitter.com/goxfowcmT4

— Ethan Ralph (@TheRalphRetort) April 4, 2018

Yet another case of the authorities failing to act and stop a crazed loon.

More crazy, also via Stacy McCain: Mystery After Lesbian Couple’s Apparent Suicidal Plunge Off California Cliff

A lesbian couple, Jennifer and Sarah Hart, adopted six black children. One of those children, Devonte Hart, became briefly famous in 2014 after a photo of him tearfully hugging a white policeman at a “Black Lives Matter” protest rally in Portland, Oregon, went viral. Police now fear Devonte is dead, along with his five siblings, after the Hart family’s SUV drove off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean in northern California:

I've driven the Pacific Coast Highway more times than I can remember. It's lovely, but dangerous at high speed. Ask me how I know.

The SUV that authorities said was carrying a family of eight — two parents and six adopted children — was traveling at 90 mph before it plunged off a California cliff last week, according to court documents obtained by a local TV station.
Fox affiliate KPTV in Oregon reported that the SUV’s speedometer was “pinned” at that speed, indicating that the vehicle remained in motion after it fell and just before it hit the rocks 100 feet below on the Pacific Coast Highway. Investigators also did not find any marks showing that the vehicle either accelerated or slowed down before it reached the cliff, or any evidence that it crashed into the embankment as it “traversed towards the tidal zone below,” according the documents cited by KPTV.
The crash, which killed a family that had once captured the world’s attention, has left troubling questions. Killed are the two mothers, Jennifer Jean Hart and Sarah Margaret Hart, both 38, and at least three of their adopted children. The other three remain missing.
The TV report provides a glimpse into what may have preceded the Monday afternoon crash at the ocean overlook near Westport, California, a small community about 180 miles north of San Francisco. Child services officials in Washington state, where the family lived, also have confirmed that they had begun investigating the Harts over “alleged abuse or neglect” days earlier.

And more: ‘Emotional Abuse and Cruel Punishment’: Woman Reported Lesbian Couple in 2013

More background on the story of Jennifer and Sarah Hart, the lesbian couple who adopted six black children and died when they drove their SUV off an oceanside cliff in California last week:

A woman said Tuesday that she told Oregon child welfare officials in 2013 that Jennifer and Sarah Hart — who plunged off a California cliff with their children last month in an SUV — had been depriving the kids of food as punishment.
In a statement provided to the Associated Press, Alexandra Argyropoulos, a former friend of the Harts, said she “witnessed what I felt to be controlling emotional abuse and cruel punishment” toward the six children.
Argyropoulos said she was told the children had been interviewed by officials but there was nothing more the Oregon Department of Human Services could do because there was not enough evidence to make a case. . . .
Authorities have said social service officials in Oregon contacted the West Linn Police Department about the family in 2013 while they were living in the area. Police referred media questions to the Oregon Department of Human Services, which cited privacy laws in refusing to say whether the agency was involved.
After reporting her concerns in 2013, Argyropoulos said, she was told the Hart children had been interviewed by officials from the Oregon department; it was apparent that each child had been coached by their mothers on what to say; and nothing more could be done.

Again, the authorities knew these women were dangerous; why did they continue to allow this?

This was an avoidable tragedy. Did political correctness discourage authorities from intervening to save the lives of these children?

A week late and twice as big due to tax season, Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Not Your Normal Graduation Picture" and "FMJRA 2.0: A Fortnight Late And A Few Hundred Farthings Short" ready for business.

The Road To Hell . . .

Is paved with good intentions, or maybe the bodies of dead minks: Misguided Attempt to Free Thousands of Minks Goes Horribly Wrong

Between 30,000 and 40,000 farm-raised minks were released into the wild near Eden Valley, Minnesota, earlier this week when burglars—presumably animal rights activists—cut the fence to a mink-pelt farm and opened the cages holding the mammals, letting them run into the wild.

Minks are strange little creatures somewhere between otters and ferrets, and when they run, their front halves and back halves teeter independently like two people pretending to be one horse. While the idea of tens of thousands of minks flopping through a pasture is quite amusing, the minks’ liberation likely came at a price: Farm-raised minks aren’t really able to make it in the wild. Many of the minks died once released because of the heat. The ones that were recovered alive were haphazardly thrown into pens, which disrupted their social groupings and drove the minks to kill one another.

The minks currently live on a mink-pelt farm, which means that they essentially exist to eventually be killed. But still, the move to liberate them is destined to fail. Dan Lang, owner of the Minnesota farm the minks escaped from, told the St. Cloud Times that he estimates half of his minks are already dead. “I wish these people that did this would come here every day for two weeks, and they could help pick up the dead ones,” he told the Times. Lang has already started rounding up the dead. In piles, they look like logs of wood during different stages of charring.

The town’s sheriff, Don Gudmundson, told the Times that investigators believe “the vandals parked about a half-mile away from the farm … then released all the mink from their cages.” Gudmundson is looking for multiple people due to the “effort required to dismantle the fence.” The perpetrators are believed to be animal-rights activists who wanted to set the minks free. The animals released were worth roughly $750,000.

Sadly, it's probably a good thing most of the minks died. Assuming they managed to learn to live in the wild, they are a voracious predator on small mammals and birds, and probably would have devastated the local ecology. It has all the makings of a bad Sci-Fi channel show.

I'm not especially a fan of mink coats, but I don't mind men and women who are.

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Burger Girls" ready at The Other McCain.

Puttin' On the Dog

Pamela collecting the raw materials

Meet the woman who turns roadkill into fine fur

What most of us call roadkill, Pamela Paquin calls “accidental fur.” She takes the casualties of New England roadsides and turns them into accessories that sell for more than $1,000 apiece.

Pamela with some finished product

I found this article through Althouse, who reads fashion crap, so I don't have to. But as I believe I've said before, I have some experience with hunting, trapping and tanning hides, so I was intrigued. I was also impressed by the number of articles on it, and the variety of photos. She's getting tons of good press.

But her goal isn’t just to make money. She wants to make fur – fraught with controversy due to animal cruelty concerns – an ethical, sustainable fashion statement.

What happened to my brother?

While I'm strongly in favor of both well managed hunting and trapping, certainly making use of the roadkill is a worthy endeavor; let the vultures and other scavengers go on a diet.

The task isn’t for the faint of heart.

She harvested her first roadkill last year with the help of a hunter and a shot of whiskey. “I got this crazy knife that was completely wrong for the task, got my hazmat suit on, took a shot of whiskey and just started doing it,” Paquin, 39, said in an interview with The Washington Post.

Oh hell, it shouldn't take a shot of whisky; and if it did, one shot wouldn't be enough. Just start with a sharp knife, and put a clothes pin on your nose. But then, my teenage job often consisted of removing large numbers of dead fish from fish tanks at a whole sale tropical fish warehouse.

That first animal, a raccoon, was unfortunately harvested “too early in the season” for roadkill. The animal was rotten and its insides had totally liquefied. Gross.

Most people would have probably abandoned the whole idea after that. But Paquin persevered — and now raccoon is her most popular pelt.

Around here, one would have a plethora of squirrels (the fresh fall crop are exceptionally stupid), lots of deer, which make lousy fur but good leather, and a splmattering of opossum, skunks and raccoon, and of course the dog and cats. Coyotes and bobcats live locally, but I have yet to see one, let alone one flattened.

A few years ago, Paquin found herself at a crossroads with little money and a daughter to raise on her own.

Last year, she found herself “sitting in the woods literally staring at the trees. Winter was coming. I was like: ‘What am I doing to do with myself? There was that dead raccoon on the road the other day. My cousin’s a hunter. Maybe I should just do this.’”

No fair stealing from Nike!

Paquin has never been shy about collecting animal carcasses. In 6th grade, she brought the dead animals she found by the roadside of her suburban Massachusetts home to school for dissection in the lab.

It didn’t seem weird to a kid who grew up on a dairy farm in a family that hunted and raised animals. As she put it: “We were all elbow deep in all of that.”

 One of the many ways that city and rural dwellers differ is their degrees and areas of fastidiousness. Rural folk tend to more fastidious about homosexuality, and less so about animal guts.

When she decided to start her business, her first stops were the highway department and animal control in Jaffrey, N.H. “I just made up some business cards and went around to all the local guys who are responsible for picking up roadkill and was like ‘Hi, my name is Pamela. Will you call me when you have roadkill?’”

Sure, why not?

Wombat-socho snuck in under the wire with "Rule 5 Sunday: Fightin’ Words" after a bout with trolls.

Hot, Naked Women for Blending Puppies

PETA killed more than 1,600 cats and dogs at its Virginia headquarters last year

Animal rights charity PETA killed almost 90 per cent of dogs and cats placed in the care of the shelter at its Virginia headquarters last year, it has been revealed today.

The charity, well-known for attention grabbing publicity campaigns such as the 'I'd rather go naked' anti-fur campaign, (NSFW link) euthanized 1,647 cats and dogs last year and only placed 19 in new homes according to the data submitted to the Virginia Department for Agriculture and Consumer Services.

90%?  That seems a bit excessive. Do think their celebrity strippers knew this before they agreed to take their clothes off for the cause?

PETA told Mail Online that the animals they take in at the center are 'unadoptable', however 89.4 per cent of pets is much higher than their own approximation that half of animals taken to shelters end up being euthanized. According to the statistics 1,110 cats and 733 dogs were handed in to the charity in 2012.

22 cats and 108 dogs were transferred to another shelter, two cats and three dogs were reclaimed by their owner while 1,045 cats and 602 were euthanized.34 cats and 7 dogs were placed under a category entitled 'Miscellaneous'.

I think 'unadoptable' is a moving target; there seem to be a lot of well heeled, if not necessarily well dressed people who support PETA; I wonder how many 'unadoptable' pets they have adopted.  Or is it a whole lot easier to just take your clothes off for a few minutes and go on with their celebrity life? (Do they get a tax deduction for doing it?  Hmm, now there's an idea).

The statistics have been promoted by a restaurant advocacy coalition called Center for Consumer Freedom, which has had numerous run-ins with the charity in the past.

They say that since 1998 the shelter has euthanized a total of 29,398 pets.

Justin Wilson, CCF Senior Research Analyst said: 'The animal rights group is talking out of both sides of its mouth – on one side preaching its animal liberation agenda, while on the other signing the death warrant of over 89 percent of pets in its care. It’s beyond hypocritical.'

There's a 'beyond hypocritical?' I thought it was way out there all by itself.

A later statement added: 'PETA refers adoptable animals to the high-traffic open-admission shelters where they have the best chance of being seen and finding a new home.'....

In response to the post, supporters of the charity were torn on the issue but many said a charity in its position on issues such as medical testing, the fur trade and as advocates for veganism should never allow the killing of healthy animals over a lack of suitable home.

I find it ironical that PETA has met and absorbed people more extreme than the organization can afford to practice.  Maybe if they just gave a little more each...

'In my book, the only time it's acceptable to kill animals is the same as the only time it's acceptable to kill people: when their illness is painful and terminal.'

'Anything else is a speciesist double standard. As soon as I hear of a campaign to kill homeless people because it's 'more humane' then I might consider it an acceptable option for homeless animals too,' said one post.

In fairness to PETA, this link goes to a post showing some of the animals that needed to be euthanized.  Content warning; they're not nearly as good looking as these pictures; but then I doubt they fairly represent all 2000 euthanized animals either.

I have no issue with the necessity of euthanizing old and sick animals when they reach a stage beyond which life no longer gives them any apparent enjoyment.  I fear that point rushes up on me all too soon.  But I don't appreciate the nagging about fur, food, medicine and pets that seems to always come from them.

Linked by Proof Positive in this week's "Best of the Web* Linkaround." Wombat-Socho has the original Rule 5 Sunday special "Time after Time" up on schedule at The Other McCain.  Even in tax season!

ASPCA Settles Circus Suit for 9.3 Million Smackers

ASPCA Pays $9.3 Million in Landmark Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Settlement

VIENNA, Va., Dec. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Feld Entertainment, Inc., the producer of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Circus, announced today that the company has reached a legal settlement with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in connection with two federal court cases. Under the settlement, ASPCA has paid Feld Entertainment $9.3 million to settle all claims related to its part in more than a decade of manufactured litigation that attempted to outlaw elephants in the company's Ringling Bros. ® Circus...

"These defendants attempted to destroy our family-owned business with a hired plaintiff who made statements that the court did not believe. Animal activists have been attacking our family, our company, and our employees for decades because they oppose animals in circuses. This settlement is a vindication not just for the company but also for the dedicated men and women who spend their lives working and caring for all the animals with Ringling Bros. in the face of such targeted, malicious rhetoric," said Kenneth Feld , Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Feld Entertainment.

That decision found that the plaintiffs' litigation was based on the untruthful testimony of a paid plaintiff and witness who the Court found received at least $190,000 in payments as his sole source of income over an eight year period by animal special interest groups, including ASPCA, their lawyers and an entity founded and controlled by those lawyers, the Wildlife Advocacy Project.

While I think the ASPCA generally does good work with regards to the problem of unwanted and feral cats and dogs in the United States, it, like many other non-profit organizations, has been heavily infiltrated and in effect taken over by left wing activists with an agenda far beyond caring for unwanted pets.  Perhaps this will serve to rein in their ambition to take all animals out of the hands of private owners and under government control.

Found at Althouse.