Jenna: Welcome back, animal lovers. In last week’s edition of Creature Feature, we shared an article about a brewery in Florida, called Motorworks Brewing, printing pictures of adoptable shelter dogs on their beer can labels. Well, if this story wasn’t fantastic enough already, a woman from Minnesota recognized her lost dog of three years on a social media post of the beer cans.
Hannah: Another inspirational story this week comes from Massachusetts. A 6-year-old boy recently heard about the unbelievable amount of animals impacted by the Australian fires and wanted to help. With some help from his mom, the young hero, Owen, has raised money for Australian animals by gifting homemade clay koalas to people who have donated to his family’s GoFundMe page. According to this GoFundMe page, as of February 3, 2020, Owen has raised over $293,000.
Jenna: Way to go, Owen! In other news, an owl, once too obese to fly, has been released back into the wild. The owl was turned into a sanctuary by concerned onlookers due to its inability to get off the ground. As a result of a very mild winter, the owl gorged herself on the overly accessible supply of mice and became naturally obese. The sanctuary followed a strict diet and encouraged exercise to help her lose the weight she needed to be able to fly again. The sanctuary was surprised at the chunkiness of the owl since most birds they encounter and help are starving.
Hannah: I am happy to hear that the owl is healthy and back in its natural habitat. In an interesting twist on celebrity boycotts, Brian Wilson, an original confounding member of The Beach Boys, is encouraging fans to boycott the band because of an upcoming show at Safari Club International’s annual convention in Nevada. Wilson expressed his opposition as well as inability to stop The Beach Boys’ attendance of this event that supports and encourages trophy hunting. Donald Trump Jr is expected to be in attendance as the keynote speaker.
Jenna: It’s always interesting to me when well-known figures use their celebrity to benefit a cause, but this is unusual because it seems counterintuitive – good for him for sticking to his convictions. That wraps up our news for this week.
Hannah: Join us next week for more news.
Animals in the news this week:
Trump Administration Moves to Relax Rules Against Killing Birds from The New York Times
Will Global Health Emergency End China’s Wildlife Markets? from National Geographic
‘A very good boy’: Cancer survivor dog will promote animal health in $6 million Super Bowl ad from NBC News
Earthquakes Can Make It Harder For Whales To Find Food, First-Ever Study Says from National Geographic
More Chinese Pushing To End Wildlife Markets As Coronavirus Outbreak Grows from National Geographic
Australia Fires: Six-Year-Old Boy Makes Clay Koalas To Raise Money For Wildlife from The Independent
No More Doggies in the Window? N.Y. May Ban Retail Pet Sales from The New York Times
Minnesota Woman Reunited With Long-Lost Dog After It Was Featured Beer Advertisement from Good News Network
Yoshi the sea turtle sets record with 22,000-mile swim in 2 years from ABC News
How pandas use their heads as a kind of extra limb for climbing from Science News
Brian Wilson wants fans to boycott Beach Boys over show on at hunting event with Donald Trump Jr. from NBC News
‘Extremely obese’ owl released back into the wild after being too fat to fly from NBC News
‘Bald’ hedgehog returns to wild after re-growing spines from BBC News
Dozens of koalas ‘lying dead’ at logging site from BBC News
Grey seals discovered clapping underwater to communicate from Science Daily
Top Animal Welfare Organizations Join Forces In Massive Campaign To End Trophy Hunting Imports & Exports In The UK from World Animal News
Breaking! KFC & Beyond Meat To Test New Plant-Based Beyond Fried Chicken In The Southern U.S. Beginning February 3rd from World Animal News
Thank you to Julie Tanner for sending in an article this week.
Photo by Dominik VO on Unsplash
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