The Dogs of the Great Plains Nations

A strange sight likely met the Spaniards several days march north of the Pecos River in 1541. Thousands of Indians crossing an endless stretch of flat country, with tents, packs, children, even round river boats—all their possessions—dragged and carried by dogs mixed among and coaxed by the women, a moving city spread out as far as the eye could see, searching for the great woolly cattle that sustained them. Yet the Spaniards would not have been...

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Wolves of Western Great Lakes No Longer Endangered, Fish and Wildlife Service Declares in Final Rules

The Fish and Wildlife Service has determined, in final rules, that the gray wolves of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan no longer meet the definition of threatened and endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The gray wolf has been protected since 1974, though initially called the eastern timber wolf (Canis lupus lycaon). In 1978, the gray wolf species was listed as endangered throughout the lower 48 states and Mexico, except in Minnesota...

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Restaurant Refuses to Let in Service Dog, Pays $250 Fine; Disabled Handler Left with $84,000 Legal Bill

Pursuing civil rights complaints privately, as opposed to obtaining the help of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, or a state or local agency with civil rights enforcement authority, can be expensive. A recent case involving a restaurant on Staten Island that refused to admit a service dog in 2006 has cost the woman whose dog was refused admission over $84,000, and as of this writing it is not clear that the case is over. Incident at Staten Island RestaurantIlene Degregorio obtained a mobility impairment dog in 2005....

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Police Dog Left 13½ Hours in Hot Car: Is Hostility Towards Sheriff Joe Making Everyone Forget Bandit’s Horrible Death?

A federal district court has denied a defense motion for summary judgment in a case where a Chandler police officer sued the sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, Joseph Arpaio, as well as Arpaio’s wife, for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and violation of equal protection rights. The police officer, Thomas Lovejoy, had been prosecuted in 2008 under Arizona’s animal cruelty statute for leaving his police dog in his assigned SUV for approximately 13½ hours, during which time the dog died. The federal court declined to grant a motion for summary...

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