The government has shelved a flagship animal welfare bill in Parliament—blaming “scope creep”—but has been accused of betrayal by campaigners. On Thursday, environment minister Mark Spencer told the House Commons the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill would not go forward but he insisted many of the issues it was designed to combat would be tackled,…

Ecologists are warning that kangaroo populations in Australia need to be kept in check, with shooting as the best method, or a “catastrophic” number will starve to death. Kangaroo populations, also known as mobs, boom following wet seasons, which provide an abundance of vegetation and water sources. Australia recently experienced three consecutive La Nina weather events,…

Several dogs rescued by a pound in New South Wales (NSW) were reportedly shot dead after the Bourke council decided volunteers from an animal shelter could not enter the town due to COVID restrictions. Since early August, the five dogs had been housed at a Bourke Shire Council pound—750km (466 miles) northwest of Sydney—with one…

Britain’s biggest animal welfare charity may hand over its role of prosecuting animal cruelty cases to the country’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) said in a statement on Thursday that it’s considering the transfer of its role as prosecutor to concentrate on its frontline work…