What’s Up with Animals?
What’s Up with Animals?
Written by: Sitara Nair
Animals are so important to our world, so it’s important to learn what’s new with them — let’s find out together!
Rocky’s Story
Rocky, a black bear from Pakistan, was abused for a long time for public entertainment, and just recently, his recovery story was shown. Black bears like Rocky are known for their enormous bodies and scary personalities but have big hearts. At 3 feet on all fours and up to 7 feet on two legs, these bears can weigh up to 660 pounds. The name is pretty misleading, though, as not all black bears have black fur; some are even brown, often making them hard to identify. Rocky was used for his size and put into 35 fights in the Punjab province but was recently located to a treatment facility. The treatment facility did its best to help the bear, and veterinarians operated on him on March 2nd, 2025, hoping for a smooth recovery. Though bear fighting is illegal and widely hated in Pakistan, some places still partake in the abusive event. Rocky suffered injuries to his jaw, arms, and even teeth due to the biting from dogs or other forms of abuse. Pakistan’s reputation with animal cruelty isn’t great, but the country has said to try and improve in light of recent events.
Save our Pets!
In New York, North Shore Animal League America's Tour For Life® kicked off their national tour, bringing awareness to pet adoption and animal abuse. They are the world’s largest cooperative pet adoption event, and their work does not go unnoticed. Bringing awareness to pet needs and rescue opportunities is so important because it helps improve animal welfare and responsible pet ownership. These programs prevent pet neglect and abuse and ensure animals are treated humanely. Animal awareness encourages compassion, responsible behavior, and a better quality of life for animals and their human companions. This tour is NSALA’s 25th annual one, and it will have stops at adoption events as well as with shelter and rescue partners in 67 cities/towns in 37 states. Their mission is to increase awareness and celebrate the hard work of rescue groups and shelters in keeping our animals safe. All in all, they are striving to increase adoption rates to give all pets a loving home.
Let’s keep our animals safe!
On February 21st the Public Contact Safety Act was introduced, by Nick Schultz “which aims to prohibit public encounters with wild animals such as primates, bears, elephants, sloths, otters, kangaroos, wallabies, servals, and caracals” (Lapizco 2025) This bill aims to make California the fifteenth state to restrict public contact with certain wildlife, otherwise, keep the wildlife wild! Contacting wildlife remains dangerous for a number of reasons, ranging from the transmission of infectious diseases to certain legal and ethical considerations. Contact can often disrupt animals’ natural behavior, harm their ecosystems, and pose a risk of injury to humans from bites or scratches. California has a strong history with protecting animal welfare, so many are advocating for this bill to improve not just animals but also human safety. Furthermore, the bill helps protect wildlife from abusive exploitation for human entertainment. Animals deserve to be treated with respect, and the bill reflects that memo overall.
References
“Rocky the Bear Rescued From Abuse in Pakistan’s East and Relocated to Capital for Medical Treatment | AP News.” 2025. AP News. March 2, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-bear-rescue-f519743455be4b352a3ad9c3cb3c6a69.
Bear Facts for Kids. 2021. Children’s Book. https://dep.nj.gov/njfw/wp-content/uploads/njfw/bearfacts_kids.pdf.
America. “RESCUE ROCKS! 2025 TOUR for LIFE® KICKS off COAST-TO-COAST ROADTRIP to SHINE a LIGHT on ANIMAL RESCUE & ADOPTION.” Prnewswire.com, Cision PR Newswire, 28 Feb. 2025, www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rescue-rocks-2025-tour-for-life-kicks-off-coast-to-coast-roadtrip-to-shine-a-light-on-animal-rescue--adoption-302388865.html. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
H, David. “Tour for Life 2025.” Animal League, 27 Feb. 2025, www.animalleague.org/tour-for-life-2025/. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
Lapizco, Karen. “Keeping Wildlife Wild: California’s New Bill Would Prohibit Public Contact with Wild Animals - World Animal News.” World Animal News, 24 Feb. 2025, worldanimalnews.com/keeping-wildlife-wild-californias-new-bill-would-prohibit-public-contact-with-wild-animals/. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025