Former reality star Spencer Pratt, who is running for mayor of Los Angeles against incumbent Karen Bass, is taking a stand for animals that are allegedly being tortured by homeless people in the community.
The mayoral hopeful has been posting about animals being abused on Skid Row and beyond for weeks, sharing graphic videos of dogs overdosing on fentanyl and one presented with his eyes sewn shut.
“As Mayor, I will stand up a dedicated LAPD task force, Tactical PAWS: Policing Animal Welfare &amp; Safety. We will end the horrific atrocities that Karen Basura (his nickname for Bass) and [coucilwoman] Nithya Raman have allowed on our streets. ZERO tolerance for animal abusers,” he wrote in a post on April 20.
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As Mayor, I will stand up a dedicated LAPD task force, Tactical PAWS: Policing Animal Welfare &amp; Safety. We will end the horrific atrocities that Karen Basura and Nithya Raman have allowed on our streets. ZERO tolerance for animal abusers! <a href="https://t.co/QyUPKpdLEB">https://t.co/QyUPKpdLEB</a> <a href="https://t.co/XDnpJk4aba">pic.twitter.com/XDnpJk4aba</a>
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) <a href="https://twitter.com/spencerpratt/status/2046277962664996895?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2026</a></blockquote>
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“This is uncaring Karen’s legacy,” he said of Bass in response to a video of a dog with drugs in its system receiving medical care. “Unbelievable levels of evil from the druggies that are left to massacre these poor animals. This ends when I’m mayor.”
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This is uncaring Karen’s legacy. Unbelievable levels of evil from the druggies that are left to massacre these poor animals. This ends when I’m mayor. <a href="https://t.co/jJ64X0sQ5R">https://t.co/jJ64X0sQ5R</a>
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) <a href="https://twitter.com/spencerpratt/status/2047197321079980376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
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In another video <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXhkUNNAdT9/">shared</a> to Instagram on Friday, he accused Bass and Raman of “facilitating the torture, mutilation, abuse, and murder of thousands of dogs by crazy drug addicts who breed them for money, set them on fire, [and] conduct Nazi-like experiments.”
Pratt says the dogs become drug testers and are frequently overdosing.
The former star of “The Hills” said that Raman allegedly “walked out” of a recent city council meeting after an animal rescue worker begged for help with the problem.
Pratt also said a rally was happening at The Barkery in Encino on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. to raise awareness and “save our pets from the zombies.”
The reality alum announced that he is running for mayor of Los Angeles on the one-year anniversary of the Palisades Fire, which is the event that he says radicalized him to make a change in his community. The Republican and former star of “The Hills” has been critical of local Democrats for their actions before and after the fires. Pratt and his wife, Heidi Montag, and his parents all lost their homes.
“The system in Los Angeles isn’t struggling; it’s fundamentally broken. It is a machine designed to protect the people at the top and the friends they exchange favors with while the rest of us drown in toxic smoke and ash,” Pratt said in part while announcing his campaign.
Pratt is a first-time candidate facing more than a dozen other contenders in the nonpartisan mayoral primary in June, including current Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Bass, who is seeking re-election. Pratt’s campaign website describes him as “Karen Bass’ worst nightmare.”

Spencer Pratt

Reality Star Rips Dem Karen Bass For Allowing Homeless To ‘Conduct Nazi-Like Experiments’ On Dogs

Animals

California

Drugs

Elections

Homeless

Karen Bass

Los Angeles

Mayor

Politics

A pair of giant pandas will make their way to America as part of a ten-year agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association, according to a statement from China on Friday. The male, Ping Ping, and the female, Fu Shuang, will relocate to Zoo Atlanta, becoming the third zoo in the United States to currently house the animals.
The announcement comes just weeks before President Donald Trump is set to visit Beijing, where he will meet with China’s President Xi Jinping.
Specific departure dates have not yet been given, but the zoo is currently working on facility upgrades and preparation work for the pandas&#8217; arrival, per the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-us-pandas-zoo-atlanta-743549119313ddeea6b1d838f76fe8b3">statement</a>.
Zoo Atlanta <a href="https://zooatlanta.org/two-new-giant-pandas-are-expected-to-arrive-at-zoo-atlanta/">said</a> Thursday that it was delighted and honored to be trusted to take care of the pandas. “We can’t wait to meet Ping Ping and Fu Shuang and to welcome our members, guests, city, and community back to the wonder and joy of giant pandas,” said the zoo’s president, Raymond B. King. 
The zoo cited a previous panda agreement with the association from 1999 to 2024, which &#8220;resulted in a highly productive 25 years of partnership,&#8221; where pandas Lun Lun and Yang Yang gave birth to seven cubs. They returned to China once the partnership concluded.
America was briefly &#8220;panda-less&#8221; in 2024 when several agreements ended, marking the first time without pandas in fifty years since the first pair arrived in 1972.
Pandas have long been a broader symbol of China&#8217;s ties to foreign nations, where the country loans them to strengthen its relationships; the animals are typically sent back when the agreement ends. &#8220;Panda diplomacy,&#8221; as it&#8217;s commonly called, has been a practice since the People&#8217;s Republic of China&#8217;s founding in 1949 and can conversely be used to show the nation&#8217;s negative feelings toward another country.
In 2010, China <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/what-is-chinas-panda-diplomacy-how-does-it-work-2024-06-18/#:~:text=Former%20Chinese%20leader%20Mao%20Zedong,opens%20new%20tab%20Read%20more">recalled</a> two pandas from Zoo Atlanta after warnings from the nation of a meeting between then-President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama. Though there was no formal statement on the matter, some speculated the timing reflected Beijing&#8217;s displeasure with Washington.
The San Diego Zoo and the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are the other two locations in the U.S. with pandas.

A Chinese Panda on a Tree

‘Panda Diplomacy’ Is Back And An American Zoo Just Hit The Jackpot

Atlanta

China

Communist China

General

Panda

U.S.

A long-stable community of chimpanzees in Uganda has fractured into a sustained, lethal conflict that researchers are now describing as a kind of civil war, raising new questions about the roots of violence not just in primates, but in human societies.
The conflict is unfolding among the Ngogo chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, a group that scientists have studied continuously since the mid-1990s. For roughly two decades, the apes lived as a single, unusually large and cohesive community, at one point numbering around 200 individuals.
“They were living the good life by being together,” primatologist John Mitani, a longtime researcher on the project, told The <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/ngogo-uganda-chimpanzee-civil-war-99f04332">Wall Street Journal</a>. The chimps hunted together, shared territory, and even coordinated attacks against rival groups outside their own. That stability and cooperation began to break down around 2015.
According to a new study published in <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz4944">Science</a>, the group started to split into factions after several key male chimpanzees died, weakening the social bonds that had tied different cliques together. Around the same time, a shift in the dominance hierarchy introduced new tensions, with a new alpha male rising to power.
At first, the changes were subtle; chimpanzees that once moved freely between subgroups began avoiding each other, interactions that had once ended in grooming and cooperation started to turn hostile. Then, in a moment researchers described as unmistakable, the shift became visible.
“All hell broke loose,” Mitani recalled of a 2015 encounter between two factions that suddenly turned violent. Over the next three years, the split hardened, and by 2018, what had once been a single group had fully divided into two separate communities, occupying different parts of the forest, no longer mating with one another, and treating a shared territory as a contested border.
Then the killing began.
Members of the smaller faction, called the Western group, began launching coordinated attacks on the larger Central group. Researchers observed organized patrols, targeted ambushes, and repeated attempts to kill rival males — among other <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/nov/02/chimps-use-military-style-tactics-to-gain-advantage-on-rivals-study-reveals">common tactics</a> used by chimpanzees. By 2021, the violence had escalated further, expanding to include attacks on infants.
In total, researchers have documented more than 28 deaths among the Ngogo chimps, including those of 19 infants, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/science/chimpanzees-war-ngogo-uganda.html">according</a> to The New York Times. The real number is likely higher, as some bodies are never recovered.
What makes the situation unusual is not just the scale of the violence, but who it is directed at. Chimpanzees are known to attack rival groups, but in this case, the victims are former allies — animals that once lived, hunted, and socialized together for years.
Researchers say they still do not have a definitive explanation for why the split happened. One theory is that the group simply grew too large, straining the social ties that kept it together. Another points to the loss of key individuals who acted as “bridges” between different cliques. Changes in leadership and competition for mates may have further accelerated the breakdown.
Aaron Sandel, another co-author on the study, said those overlapping pressures may have been enough to push the group past a tipping point.
The findings are significant because they challenge a common assumption about conflict, that it is driven primarily by cultural or ideological differences. Scientists and philosophers have long debated where human warfare is rooted: whether it lay mainly in cultural differences, desire for wealth and security, or whether it can emerge more fundamentally from the breakdown of social cohesion.
The Ngogo chimps suggest the latter may play a larger role than previously thought. Researchers caution against drawing direct parallels, but the pattern is difficult to ignore. A large successful group, the gradual erosion of internal bonds leading to the emergence of factions, and eventually, sustained violence between former members of the same group.
For now, “It’s an ongoing conflict,” Mitani said, with no signs of slowing down.
And for the scientists tracking it in real time, the experience is as unsettling as it is revealing. “I feel like a war correspondent,” Sandel said. “I want to be there to see it, but it’s sad. I’ve seen so many dead bodies of chimps.”

1280px-Chimpanzees_in_Uganda_(5984913059)

Bloody Civil War Between Two Factions Of Chimpanzees Has Scientists Baffled

Africa

World

A Pennsylvania couple has been charged with endangering the welfare of children after their 17-month-old child was injured near the wolf enclosure at ZooAmerica over the weekend. The zoo is a popular destination within the larger Hersheypark theme park.
The <a href="https://crimewatch.net/us/pa/dauphin/derry-twp-pd/3742/post/incident-zooamerica-april-4-2026?fbclid=IwY2xjawQ_zTxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe8kebCDNRaWE4lMEIYUt8E76-XKPpsTSeDEqKFm1EzzCskHj32P83r0MybM8_aem_8dD6Bi2utx4i2_QgMHoB4A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">incident report</a> from the Derry Township Police Department states that the parents, who are from Lititz, Pennsylvania, are believed to have walked around 25 to 30 feet away from the child to sit on benches, and at that point, allegedly became distracted by their cellphones. The toddler slipped through a small opening in a wooden barrier perimeter fence and reached the metal fence surrounding the gray wolf enclosure.
“From the injuries sustained, it appears as though one of the wolves in the enclosure instinctively and naturally grabbed onto the child’s hand with its mouth. Several bystanders intervened and helped pull the child away,” the police statement noted.
Court records show that both Carrie B. Sortor, 43, and Stephen J.B. Wilson, 61, are awaiting a preliminary hearing on April 28.
The zoo said in a statement that the wolf’s response “is consistent with natural animal behavior, and was not a sign of aggression.”
“Our habitats are designed with multiple layers of protection, and clear signage and barriers are in place to help ensure safe viewing. Guests are expected to remain within designated areas and closely supervise children at all times,” the statement continued. &#8220;The child was never inside the wolf’s enclosure, and we are relieved the injuries were minor.”
ZooAmerica currently houses three gray wolves, according to its <a href="https://www.zooamerica.com/animals/gray-wolf/">website</a>: a male wolf named Twister and two female sisters, Hazel and Freya.
Hersheypark <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgL3US1_0hI">made headlines</a> last year when video footage of a lost boy wandering along a non-operational monorail line went viral. The child was rescued by a heroic park visitor and sustained no injuries.

AggressiveWolf

Toddler Injured By Wolf At Zoo As Parents Scrolled Their Phones

Children

Crime

Pennsylvania

Officials in the nation’s capital will deploy birth control to try to get the city’s rodent population under control after years of failure.
D.C. Health said on Wednesday they will start placing &#8220;fertility control bait” in targeted neighborhoods as part of a “blitz” targeting the rat population. At the same time, officials pleaded for Washington, D.C., residents to stop throwing food trash on the ground.
“You have said that we need a more effective strategy, and so we have come up with a new strategy,” D.C. Health Director Ayanna Bennett said.
The rat control program is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/04/03/dc-rat-control-birth-control-pilot/">predicted</a> to cost around $130,000 and will focus on the Adams Morgan neighborhood first before expanding to the wider city. That part of town is known for its bars and international restaurants.
&#8220;We’re gonna get the rat population down and then we’re gonna come back in three weeks to see if any of those babies survived and get them, too. But, they cannot stay down if they find anything to eat,” Bennett said. “So that means everybody cannot be throwing food on the ground. The mayor doesn’t like it and it’s helping the rats. We don’t want your trash to be outside of the bin, if at all possible.”
D.C Health <a href="https://dchealth.dc.gov/service/rodent-and-vector-control-division">revealed</a> more about the “targeted rodent control pilot” program, saying that it would improve public health in “areas experiencing high rodent impact.”
The “three-pronged blitz” will include placing rat poison at rat burrows and “non-lethal rodent fertility control bait designed to reduce rodent reproduction over time.”
“The blitz activities will occur in three-week cycles, where a team of inspectors will apply all three control methods and conduct frequent monitoring,” D.C. Health said.
The rat blitz was welcomed by residents, who have long complained about the city’s inability to keep the rat population down.
&#8220;They be in the dumpsters. They be running in groups, like, two, three — a few too many,&#8221; one local man <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/dc-is-putting-rats-on-birth-control/4085151/">told</a> NBC News4.
&#8220;Anything that they can do to help limit the rats I would probably be in favor of,&#8221; another man said. &#8220;I’ve never heard of it. I trust that the science is real. But if it is, the less rats in D.C. is a good thing.&#8221;
Other cities like New York have tried similar strategies to control the rat population.
&#8220;Two rats in a given year can reproduce 15,000 descendants,&#8221; New York City Councilmember Shaun Abreu <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/rat-birth-control-nyc/">said</a> last year. &#8220;We have to go at the source.&#8221;

Dirty disgusting rats on area that was filled with sewage, smelly, damp, and garbage bags. Referring to the problem of rats in the city, disease outbreaks from animals, filth of city. Selective focus.

The Nation’s Capital Deploys An Unlikely Weapon In Its Failing War On Rats

Birth Control

Washington D.C.

“Gay” sheep made their fashion debut on the runway in NYC as the “I Wool Survive” collection premiered, featuring pieces made from the wool of alleged male sexually-oriented sheep.
The event aims to promote a German farmer and his plight to rescue “homosexual” sheep. Michael Stücke, who is gay, oversees a flock of these rescued rams at an organization he dubbed Rainbow Wool. The rescue’s website claims that as many as 8% of rams are sexually oriented toward other males, which leads to them being slaughtered for being non-procreative.
“Sadly, gay rams are often sent to slaughter because they can’t fulfill a farm’s ‘breeding role.’ We rescue them before that happens, giving them a safe home where they can live and love freely,” the Rainbow Wool <a href="https://rainbow-wool.com/">website</a> says, touting their inhabitants as “the world’s first gay flock of sheep.”
The “I Wool Survive” fashion collection was created to advance this cause and bring more attention to the issue. Celebrity designer Michael Schmidt teamed up with the gay dating app, Grindr, to create the collection and host a fashion show at the Altman Building in Manhattan on November 13. 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Rainbow Wool | Launch EN" width="500" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0doFeaBRtZo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Stücke said in a press release that the 36-piece collection “proves that being gay is part of nature itself.”
“The wool from these rams isn’t just material — it’s a message spun from animals who live freely and are loved,” he added. 
Grindr’s senior vice president of brand marketing, Tristan Pineiro, explained why the company was interested in attaching its name to the collection.
“It’s a great, feel-good story, but there’s also a message at the heart of it,” the marketing exec said, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/fashion/2025/11/20/grindr-fashion-show-gay-sheep-wool/">per</a> The Washington Post. “It’s not just a fluffy story.”
“The sheep are a kind of metaphor for all of us,” Pineiro went on. “Because they’re gay, they get discarded. They get thrown aside because they don’t conform to what they’re supposed to.”

Gay sheep

‘I Wool Survive’: Garments Spun From ‘Gay Sheep’ Receive An NYC Fashion Debut

'I Wool Survive': Garments Spun From 'Gay Sheep' Get An NYC Fashion Debut

Fashion

Germany

Homosexuality

LGBT

New York City

A London restaurant has closed over alleged frozen dog meat and multiple health code violations.
Vietnamese restaurant Pho Na shut down after inspectors found suspicious meat labeled &#8220;goat wrapped in leaves,&#8221; Metro <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2025/08/14/london-vietnamese-restaurant-shut-down-after-dog-meat-found-in-freezer-23911343/">reported</a>. An analysis confirmed the meat was dog, not goat.
The health inspectors also found cockroaches and mice droppings in the restaurant, the outlet said.
The owner, Vuong Quoc Nguyen, denied the health code violations in court Tuesday. His defense attorney said Nguyen was unaware that the product was dog meat, because it had been given to him by someone else. The attorney also said Nguyen never intended to sell the meat and had hired pest control to deal with the cockroaches.
The Lewisham Council said it did not order Nguyen to close Pho Na and said the store was &#8220;sold independently.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
About 40% of people in Vietnam eat dog meat, <a href="https://www.humaneworld.org/en/campaign/ending-viet-nams-dog-cat-meat-trades">according</a> to the Humane World for Animals. The dog meat trade kills about five million dogs a year.
It is illegal to sell dog meat in the United Kingdom, but it is legal to kill and eat dogs if the animals are killed humanely.
The U.K. almost banned the consumption of dog meat in 2019, but the Ministry of Justice blocked the move over concerns that it was &#8220;culturally insensitive,&#8221; The Sun <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9934112/legal-ban-eating-dogs-blocked-far-east/">reported</a> at the time.
Former Member of Parliament Giles Watling told the outlet he was &#8220;surprised&#8221; by the decision.
&#8220;We do not eat [dogs], and that is a very important message to send to the rest of the world,&#8221; Watling said at the time. &#8220;It’s not culturally insensitive because we’re not telling them what to do – we’re just telling them what we do.&#8221;
The United States <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/6720?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22dog+meat%22%5D%7D&amp;s=2&amp;r=2">banned</a> &#8220;knowingly slaughtering a dog or cat for human consumption&#8221; in 2018.

VIETNAM-DOG MEAT-CYCLISTS

London Vietnamese Restaurant Shut Down After Inspectors Find Frozen Dog Meat

Food

Health

U.K.

Cottontail rabbits with tentacles sprouting from their faces have been <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/08/13/science/frankenstein-bunnies-with-head-spikes-invade-us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appearing</a> in Fort Collins, Colorado, according to local residents.
One woman said she saw a rabbit with “black quills or black toothpicks sticking out all around his or her mouth.”
“I thought he would die off during the winter, but he didn’t,” she said. “He came back a second year, and it grew.”
The <a href="https://cpw.state.co.us/species/cottontail-rabbits#:~:text=Rabbit%20Papillomas,be%20treated%20by%20a%20veterinarian." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Colorado Parks and Wildlife Service</a> says the “Frankenstein” rabbits are suffering from cottontail papilloma virus, also called the Shope papilloma virus, a skin virus that produces black, horn-like growths, mainly around the head.
Despite their terrifying appearance, the growths aren’t inherently harmful to the rabbits. However, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Service notes that excessive growth around the eyes and mouth can prevent them from seeing and eating, leading to starvation.
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🚨 WARNING: “Frankenstein” rabbits with black, spike-like growths on their heads are spreading across the US. 
Experts say it’s a viral infection and warn: Do NOT touch them. <a href="https://t.co/HOsKuvbC6s">pic.twitter.com/HOsKuvbC6s</a>
— Wienerdogwifi (@wienerdogwifi) <a href="https://twitter.com/wienerdogwifi/status/1955622822065091004?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Most infected cottontails can survive the viral infection, after which the growths will go away.”
The virus is more likely to spread in the summer, when there is a proliferation of insects capable of transmitting it. It can also spread through direct contact.
The disease is specific to rabbits and does not seem to pose a threat to humans or other animals. Wildlife experts still advise people not to approach infected rabbits.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
However, it can still be contracted by domestic rabbits, which experience a more severe reaction. The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Service advises pet owners to visit a veterinarian if this happens.
The Shope papilloma virus is thought to have <a href="https://www.si.edu/stories/worlds-scariest-rabbit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inspired</a> the “jackalope,” a mythological creature that possesses the body of a jackrabbit and the horns of an antelope.
The Frankenstein rabbits are not the only strange creatures to make headlines recently. Radioactive “hot wasps” have been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/science/radioactive-wasps-nuclear-savannah-river.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discovered</a> near a South Carolina nuclear site. The Department of Energy says the four wasp nests do not pose a threat to humans.

Young rabbits

‘Frankenstein’ Rabbits With Face Tentacles Plague Colorado

Colorado

Nuclear

If the <a href="https://www.tennesseetitans.com/photos/the-making-of-our-tennessee-tough-mural#45c3b1e5-03b8-43f1-9f27-bc9757e2ba04" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;Tennessee Tough&#8221;</a> mantra was ever in doubt, one House Republican just made a strong case for why people from the Volunteer State are no pushovers.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) and his team announced on Tuesday that the congressman was kicked by a horse over the weekend and not only lived to tell the tale, but has been keeping up with his August recess plans despite a broken rib.
&#8220;While working on his farm over the weekend, Congressman Burchett was accidentally kicked by a horse. He suffered a broken rib and bruising but hasn&#8217;t missed a beat,&#8221; Burchett&#8217;s office <a href="https://x.com/ChadPergram/status/1950284910574604596" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement. &#8220;He spoke in Maury County last night and has a full slate of district events throughout the week. There have been no changes to his schedule.&#8221;
Burchett, who <a href="https://burchett.house.gov/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joined</a> Congress in 2019 after serving eight years as mayor of Knox County, shared further details in a <a href="https://x.com/RepTimBurchett/status/1950290051159441878" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on X.
&#8220;Since everyone is asking, here’s the deal: On Sunday, I was kicked by a horse. Broke a rib. He didn&#8217;t like being bit by that horse fly, and my rib was collateral damage,&#8221; Burchett said. &#8220;On Monday, I traveled 3.5 hours to middle Tennessee. Attended 3 events. Got back to the farm at 2:30am. Today, I was awake by 6am. Traveled to Campbell County. Attended 2 events. It&#8217;s going to take more than a broken rib to slow me down. I sincerely appreciate everyone&#8217;s concern and prayers for a quick recovery. Pray for our country.&#8221;
Over the past 24 hours, before news of the horse kick emerged, Burchett published to X some <a href="https://x.com/timburchett/status/1950039874007900356" target="_blank" rel="noopener">photos</a> of himself participating in a meeting with the Maury County Republican Party and <a href="https://x.com/timburchett/status/1950221864829100035" target="_blank" rel="noopener">videos</a> providing <a href="https://x.com/timburchett/status/1950244013816369312" target="_blank" rel="noopener">updates</a> after the events in Campbell County, among other posts.
Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram <a href="https://x.com/ChadPergram/status/1950284910574604596" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X that Burchett told him the horse kicked him in the chest &#8220;with both hooves&#8221; and later was informed by a doctor that he is lucky because the damage would have been a problem &#8220;had it been an inch-and-a-half higher.&#8221; He also reported that Burchett joked, &#8220;I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a tattoo.&#8221;

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN)

Republican Congressman Kicked By Horse, Gets Right Back To Work

Congress

Tennessee

Tim Burchett

U.S. House of Representatives

An Egyptian man was deported on Thursday after kicking a Customs and Border Patrol dog that discovered prohibited food products.
Hamed Ramadan Bayoumy Aly Marie, 70, kicked the CBP beagle with enough force to lift the dog off the ground, a CBP press release said. The dog, Freddy, suffered contusions to his rib area.
Marie pled guilty to federal charges involving harming animals used in law enforcement.
&#8220;He was credited with time served, ordered to pay the veterinarian’s fee, and to immediately report to CBP for removal from the United States,&#8221; the press release <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/egyptian-traveler-eats-federal-charges-kicking-dulles-cbp-beagle">said</a>. &#8220;Marie departed the United States on a flight to Egypt at 12:30 p.m. today.&#8221;
Freddy was inspecting baggage at Washington Dulles International Airport when he discovered 100 pounds of undeclared food items in Marie&#8217;s luggage. Marie violently kicked Freddy after the CBP canine handler began questioning him, the press release said.
CBP immediately handcuffed Marie and turned him over to Homeland Security Investigations.
&#8220;Kick around and find out,&#8221; CBP said on social media.
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Kick Around and Find Out.<a href="https://t.co/EURMaQX60X">https://t.co/EURMaQX60X</a>
&mdash; CBP (@CBP) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBP/status/1938363965152620776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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CBP examined Marie&#8217;s luggage and found &#8220;55 pounds of beef meat, 44 pounds of rice, 15 pounds of eggplant, cucumbers, and bell peppers, two pounds of corn seeds, and a pound of herbs,&#8221; all prohibited in the U.S., the press release said.
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“Being caught deliberately smuggling well over one hundred pounds of undeclared and prohibited agriculture products does not give one permission to violently assault a defenseless Customs and Border Protection beagle,” said Christine Waugh, CBP’s area port director for the Area Port of Washington, D.C. “We rely heavily on our K9 partners and Freddie was just doing his job. Any malicious attack on one of us is an attack on all of us, and CBP will continue to work with our investigating and prosecuting partners to deal swift and severe justice to perpetrators.”
CBP thanked people for their concern about Freddy.
&#8220;He was treated by his veterinarian, and is expected to make a full recovery,&#8221; CBP said on social media.
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Thanks to everyone for their concern about Freddy who was injured while performing his duties at Dulles airport. He was treated by his veterinarian, and is expected to make a full recovery. Here he is enjoying his favorite comfort treat &#8211; a Pup Cup! <a href="https://t.co/g8phC2DDsT">pic.twitter.com/g8phC2DDsT</a>
&mdash; CBP (@CBP) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBP/status/1938618168525672625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Freddy and Marie

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Climate change activists are now arguing that simply owning a dog can increase a person’s carbon footprint.
A <a href="https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/6/pgaf191/8159053?login=false">finding</a> published in PNAS Nexus says that, supposedly, people overestimate the climate benefits of activities like recycling or switching light bulbs. At the same time, they underestimate other beneficial impacts, such as taking fewer flights.
“We think, ‘I have to recycle this and it will help the planet,’” Madalina Vlasceanu, an assistant professor of environmental social sciences at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_climate_messaging_can_backfire_and_how_to_improve_it">told</a> the Greater Good Magazine. “It’s less likely you will hear that if you fly less, that’s the best you can possibly do, lifestyle-wise.”
Another “underestimated” benefit is cutting back on beef intake. According to <a href="https://earth.org/environmental-impact-of-pets/">Earth.org</a>, pets’ meat consumption accounts for 64 million tons of annual carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. That adds up to 25-30% of the environmental impact of meat intake.
In a list of ideas on how to reduce one’s carbon footprint that includes switching to public transport and eating poultry instead of beef, Greater Good Magazine suggested people “opt out of getting a dog.”
Man’s best friend is just the latest victim of climate activists’ propaganda. To them, owning a dog is an activity even dedicated climate change sympathizers engage in without realizing it, and they blame people who aren’t fully dedicated to the cause for furthering these issues.
“People will engage in lifestyle changes when they think it’s easy to do. It’s less important to them if it’s effective,” Vlasceanu said. “For collective action, it is more important to people that the action they engage in will actually result in a meaningful change.”
Though it seems like a lost cause to try and convince people to radically change their lifestyle so it fits a fear-based narrative, activists are not letting up.
“In order to meaningfully address climate change, experts have agreed that we will need lifestyle change and collective action,” Vlasceanu said. “Both of these have to work together. This is a critical part of the pathway to net zero.&#8221;

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Scientists claim they have brought the dire wolf species back from extinction after 13,000 years, thanks to genetic engineering.
On Monday, the Texas-based biotechnology and genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences announced that three dire wolf pups were born last fall. The species became popular in modern culture thanks to their inclusion in the popular HBO series “Game of Thrones,” which inspired the company to name the young wolves Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi, which references characters in the series.
“Our team took DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies,” Colossal CEO Ben Lamm said, per the <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/07/us-news/dire-wolf-from-game-of-thrones-revived-in-de-extinction-project/">New York Post</a>. “It was once said, ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ Today, our team gets to unveil some of the magic they are working on and its broader impact on conservation.”
The team used &#8221; somatic cell nuclear transfer&#8221; to clone high-quality cell lines, which were transferred into donor egg cells and then implanted into a surrogate, the Post reported. 
Two pups were born in October 2024, while a third was born in January 2025.
Colossal made headlines last month for engineering a “woolly mouse,” which they made by injecting mammoth DNA into mice to make them grow thick coats. Per <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14580605/colossal-biosciences-extinction-revive-dire-wolf-remus.html">The Daily Mail</a>, the company has a stated goal of bringing the woolly mammoth back from extinction by 2028. 
Paleontologist Julie Meachen told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/science/colossal-dire-wolf-deextinction.html">The New York Times</a> that dire wolves lived in North America during the Ice Age and were contemporaries of mastodons and saber tooth tigers. Their closest living relatives are gray wolves, which are about 25% smaller. Dire wolves also have more muscular jaws and shoulders. 
The company’s announcement has inspired many reactions online, ranging from excitement to skepticism. The official “Jurassic World” account posted its response to X, saying, “We see no possible way this could go wrong.”
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We see no possible way this could go wrong <a href="https://t.co/EQaOH4fJYk">https://t.co/EQaOH4fJYk</a>
&mdash; Jurassic World (@JurassicWorld) <a href="https://twitter.com/JurassicWorld/status/1909386233744330991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Many commenters said it was a stretch to call these genetically modified wolf cubs actual dire wolves.
“While these genetically engineered wolves exhibit physical and behavioral traits reminiscent of dire wolves, they are not true dire wolves,” one person <a href="https://x.com/CryptoNDN/status/1909287183309037846">wrote</a>. “The genetic modifications introduced specific dire wolf characteristics into the gray wolf genome, resulting in animals that are essentially gray wolves with selected phenotypic traits of dire wolves, rather than exact replicas of the extinct species.”
&#8220;This isn’t life finding a way, this is human interference,&#8221; another person <a href="https://x.com/thehamburglar33/status/1909575090544820231">observed</a>. &#8220;Someone forgot the lesson of just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should. Or in other terms did they step back and ask the question &#8216;why are we doing this?'&#8221;

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