World's Cruelest Shopping Mall Kept "World's Saddest Polar Bear" Hostage In Terrible Conditions

This polar bear has been on display in a unnatural
enclosure in a Chinese shopping mall. It's the
height of cruelty to do this to an animal. 

This is the height of animal cruelty and no wonder the world is outraged.

A shopping mall in China kept a polar bear on display inside the mall, with no natural light, nothing to do, no stimulation, aside from the thousands of tourists snapping photos that were blinding the bear with their camera flashes.
Under intense international pressure, the mall owners have "temporarily" removed the polar bear but promise to bring the poor thing back.

The polar bear, named Pizza, was exhibiting signs of serious mental distress, as  you can well imagine.

Pizza was completely out of his element, not given any way to enjoy life. He was/is just a prop to make the mall owners money.

Pretty cruel, right?

It's obvious why this animal is now widely described in the media as "the world's saddest polar bear."

Sounds like a parody of a childrens book, but this is just awful.

According to the New York Times:

"Video footage showed Pizza pacing, rearing up on the side of his glass enclosure farthest from visitors, shaking his head from side to side, and sniffing and pawing at an air vent - distress behaviors, according to animal rights activists."

This Chinese animal welfare problem goes well beyond one polar bear in a mall.

Again, the New York Times:

"Animal welfare groups say shopping malls in China increasingly are using wild animals to attract customers in a bid to compete against a growing popularity of more convenient and often cheaper e-commerce. 

China does not have an animal welfare law. Animal welfare advocates say one is long overdue."

I'll say!

I get it that a lot of people know that there are even bigger problems in the world than Chinese mall owners badly mistreating wild animals.

But it says something bad about our humanity that this is allowed to go on, doesn't it?

Montreal Passes Worst Anti-Dog Law Ever; Judge Temporarily Suspends IT

If the guy in this picture lived in Montreal, chances
are he's have to get rid of his dog, under
a bizarre and mean new city ordinance.  

UPDATE: 

A judge on Monday temporarily suspended the loathsome Montreal pit bull band, pending an appeal by the SPCA.

It's unclear whether the law would be overturned. But the ordinance, which was to have begun Monday, is now not quite on yet.

The judge will decide Wednesday if the law's suspension should go on for the entire appeal.

We'll see.

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION

Back in June, a pit bull, or a dog that looked like a pit bull, mauled and killed a 55-year old Montreal woman.

This was obviously an enormous tragedy, and the owner of the dog that killed that woman must be held culpable for allowing a dangerous dog to do such a thing.

In response to this tragedy, the City Council and Mayor of Montreal have just done something that will create a tragedy of a different sort.

The new law could force the euthansia of thousands of perfectly safe, well behaved and loved dogs just because they are pit bulls or sort of, kinda look like pit bulls.

Owners of these dogs in Montreal must pass a criminal background check, pay hundreds of dollars in fees, muzzle the dogs and keep them on less than a four-foot leash anytime they are outdoors.

As the Montreal Gazette reports, the city of Montreal is yet to explain how it will determine what is a "pit bull type dog," how a person deemed to have this type of dog would appeal if the city rules against them, how it will enforce this ordinance, how residents with these dogs will prove they have no criminal record, what actually constitutes a criminal record.

Oh, and you have to take time off during a three hour window during the work week when thousands of other dog owners are trying to register their dogs. And if you don't register in a timely manner, you lose your dogs.

Sounds fair to me! Ugh.

Politicians always react to tragedy by "doing something, The horrified family of the woman called for all pit bulls to be banned, so the city acted. Of course, the City of Montreal is just making things much, much worse.

Most pit bulls, and dogs that look like that breed, are perfectly fine and safe. A few bad people train or neglect these dogs so that they can become dangerous and vicious. Shouldn't you go after these idiots instead of all dogs? o be i

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty To Animals does not euthanize animals, but it doesn't know what it's going to do with an influx of animals the city wants killed. The SPCA also said it would cancel its contract with the City of Montreal over the ban.

There are rescue organizations trying to ship some of these dogs to other parts of Canada, but still, its a huge task beyond the capabilities of existing animal rescue organization.

Veterinarians are fighting back, too. The CBC reports that Quebec's Order of Veterinarians has told members that they have the right to refuse to euthanize healthy dogs, even if the owners violated Montreal's stupid law.

The Order of Veterinarians says "no municipal regulation or provincial legislation can obligate a veterinarian to carry out any veterinary act,"

Veterinarians interviewed by the CBC say they have no qualms about euthanizing obviously dangerous dogs, but not wipe out several breeds of them because of municipal rules.

To me, this is like an instance where a white guy kills a woman, so you're going to register and possibly jail all white guys as a result, whether or not these white guys have violent tendencies or not.

Montreal is being stupid. I thought it was such a civilized city in my frequent visits up there. In this case, it's not.

Shame on Montreal.

Viral Abandoned Dog Photo Has Happy Ending

This heartrending photo of a dog cruelly abandoned
on a London bus went viral.  

A photo went viral last week showing a Staffordshire Bull Terrier abandoned on a London bus.

The dog looked so dejected at being abandoned.  I'm sure a few people who saw the photo shed a few tears. How could anybody just leave such a wonderful dog on the bus to fend for itself?

You can see the photo here, near the top of this post.

What would prompt such cruelty?

The good news is the dog, named Boston, was not abandoned by his human family. He might have been kidnapped and abandoned by his kidnappers, but that's quite another thing.

Plus, bus company employees took good care of Boston while everything was sorted out. And the publicity associated with the viral photo ensured Boston came back home.

Last Thursday Boston's owner, Paulina Rybak, took him outside like she always does to do his business and he just disappeared.

Boston, having been likely abandoned on
the bus by dognappers, is now back home
and looking much happier. As are his human companions

Boston had never run off before, so Paulina and her two kids, Filip, 8, ad Zofia, 3 were distraught. The family worried they'd never seen Boston again, especially as the days ticked by with no sign of him.

The suspicion is kidnapping because the bus driver who found Boston abandoned on his rig also vaguely recalls the dog getting on the bus with two men.

Sounds like the two men might have grabbed Boston, then decided not to hang on to him.

The bus driver said Boston was very scared when he found him, and he and other staff did their best to comfort him.

Rybak went to the town council and animal shelters and other places looking for Boston, but no luck.

Then the photo went viral, and Rybak spotted the picture of Boston on the bus on the Evening Standard web site.   

The family has since been reunited, Boston is back home in good health, and all is well.

Sometimes the internet can be a horrible place. But sometimes, it's wonderful when it helps dogs like Boston and his human companions.

H/T Nothing To Do With Arborath

Moronic Work Crew Entombs Pregnant Dog Beneath Concrete, But Happy Ending

Vadim Rustam begins to chip away at a newly
installed sidewalk to rescue a dog cruelly trapped under
the staircase by a work crew.  

A sinkhole formed last month along a sidewalk in the city of Voronezh, Russia, and a work crew came to repair it.

After the repair, residents of a nearby building insisted they heard the sound of a barking dog beneath the building's front stairs, right by the newly repaired sidewalk.

A guy named Vadim Rustam and his family appealed to city housing authorities to at least investigate, but they blew him off,

So, Rustam dug up the newly installed paving stones and of course risked getting in trouble for it.

However, once the digging was done, Rustam discovered the work crew had sealed a pregnant dog into a cavity between the repair and the concrete steps of the building, says The Dodo, a web site geared toward animal lovers. 

It's unknown if the work crew knew the dog was there, but really, they had to. How could you miss a dog during the hour or more it took to repair the sidewalk?

The dog and her unborn puppies would have died a cruel death if not for Rustam. Of course, I'm infuriated by this, as anyone would be.

Luckily, the dog was in pretty good shape despite being trapped with no food or water for two days.

The dog was taken to an animal shelter and at last check was doing well. She reported gave birth to the puppies, who are also OK. The dogs at last check were being well cared for and would be up for adoption soon, The Dodo reports. 

I just hope none of the work crew that repaired the sidewalk have pets. They don't deserve them, that's for sure!

Someone filmed Rustam making the rescue. It's pretty incredible.

Watch: