A bill sponsored by Assemblyman Alan Maisel and State Senator (and former casino patron) Mark Grisanti would ban the sale, possession, trade and distribution of shark fins in New York. “Action to ban the barbaric practice of shark fining is long overdue,” Maisel said in a statement. “Sharks occupy the top of the marine food chain and are a critical part of the ocean ecosystem." New York would join California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington as states where you can't improve your virility with shark-fin soup. more ›

Remember last month, when McDonald's landed itself in some hot water over allegations that their egg supplier horribly mistreated the chickens responsible for Egg McMuffins? The fast-food giant dropped the producer, Sparboe Farms, right quick, but for some celebrities, that just isn't enough. A completely random assortment of celebrities, including Ryan Gosling, Zooey Deschanel, Steve-O and Alicia Silverstone have signed a letter from Mercy for Animals to McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner asking the chain to adopt stricter animal welfare policies, like they already have in place in Europe. The tagline? "I'm Hatin' It." more ›

An official necropsy performed on Charlie, the 15-year-old draft horse that collapsed and died in Midtown in October, showed no direct cause of death. According to the ASPCA, which performed the necropsy at Cornell, Charlie's liver showed signs of scarring, and the agency wrote they "cannot rule out recent toxin exposure, abnormal heartbeat or allergic reaction," but that the horse was in "good nutritional condition," when he died. more ›

Humans aren't the only ones who are pushed beyond their physical and mental limits to feverishly "enjoy" the holidays: it's the busiest time of the year for New York City's carriage horses. Yesterday afternoon a carriage horse apparently collapsed at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue. Though a spokesperson for the Carriage Association of New York told the Daily News, "No horse collapsed," the video below, submitted to Win Animal Rights, clearly shows a horse on the ground and its handlers struggling to help it stand up. more ›

Just two weeks after the Humane Society filed suit against McDonald's over claims that their pork producer horribly abused the pigs used in the McRib sandwich, another animal rights group is coming forward with a video showing the Mickey D's egg supplier grossly mistreating their chickens, and McDonald's isn't taking it lightly. more ›

A Long Island teen attending college in Rhode Island has been arrested and charged with animal cruelty for allegedly killing a rabbit with a hockey stick and then using the carcass as a puck. Nicholas Coyle, 19, a lacrosse player at Salve Regina University, faces a felony charge of malicious injury to an animal. “Any form of abuse or torture of an animal is completely unacceptable and is contrary to the values of Salve Regina University,” the university said in a statement. more ›

The results of a preliminary necropsy on a carriage horse named Charlie who collapsed and died in Midtown last Sunday show, "Charlie was not a healthy horse." According to the ASPCA, who performed the necropsy at Cornell, Charlie's cause of death is still uncertain, but he "was likely suffering from pain due to pronounced chronic ulceration of the stomach and a fractured tooth." Dr. Pamela Corey of the ASPCA says in a release, "We are very concerned that Charlie was forced to work in spite of painful maladies." more ›

Sad story: The Post reports that the NYPD heartlessly chucked a seven-pound miniature Doberman-Pomeranian mix named Chuwie out the third-floor window of a Bronx family apartment that was the scene of a botched drug raid. As if the NYPD's reputation needed more bruising! more ›

Animal rights activists were outraged over the light sentence a Bronx woman received for allowing her pit bull to die of starvation. Cherika Alvarez, 30, was sentenced to 20 days of community service and barred from owning or handling pets for three years after Judge Robert Sackett found her guilty of animal cruelty last August 17. A visibly-shaken Alvarez claimed she would never intentionally hurt even a cockroach, sobbing in the courtroom, "I didn’t want any of this to happen. I will feel this for the rest of my life." more ›

A NJ man is facing possible animal cruelty charges after officials found four Aldabra tortoises living in terrible conditions in his Highlands backyard. The tortoises, which ranged in size from 25 pounds to 500 pounds, were living in what the Monmouth County SPCA Chief Buddy Amato called "a makeshift pit. He dug a hole in the ground to keep them confined. It was filled with water, half of it, and it was just disgusting, it’s horrific. These animals are gorgeous and for them to be living like this is disgusting." more ›

An Oyster Bay woman was arrested for allegedly suffocating her friend's dog by placing hair ties around its snout, a creatively sick way to torture an animal. more ›

The Bronx woman who was accused of abandoning her pit bull to starve to death after she was evicted from her apartment was convicted of animal cruelty today. Cherika Alvarez, 30, was found guilty of leaving behind 18-month-old pup Alize after she was evicted from her apartment in mid-November 2009. The dog was found six weeks later with two razor blades, ketchup packs, sharp pieces of wood and garbage in her stomach. "She left Alizé in that apartment like garbage and she walked away," said Bronx Assistant District Attorney Megan Mellem. more ›

The Nassau County DA's office has indicted two men on felony animal cruelty charges for allegedly operating a dog fighting ring. Marlon Bernier, 25, and Ricardo Louis, 22, are charged with rearing pit bulls, "training the dogs to fight, pitting them against one another, and breeding the strongest dogs." CBS reports they then sold the dogs through their website, BlueMagicPitz.com for around $700 apiece. Authorities seized nine dogs in a raid from a home in Elmont, "many with fresh wounds from recent fights," and two of the animals required urgent medical treatment. more ›

As an increasing number of animals in the Easthampton region suffer at the hands of really awful people, concerned citizens and the SPCA are offering tens of thousands of dollars in reward money to find out who's responsible. In addition to a seagull with a dart shot through its head that was spotted in Sag Harbor, a box turtle was found with a nail hammered through its shell, a swan that was impaled with an arrow was picked up in Riverhead, and a seagull was crushed to death with a rock the size of a brick near the Royal Atlantic Beach Motel in Montauk. The bird with a dart through its head flew away before it could be rescued, but the swan and the turtle are both recuperating. more ›

Earlier this month, we were introduced to Bed-Stuy restaurant Do or Dine's foie gras-filled doughnuts, which were described by some customers as nothing short "heavenly." Now, perhaps unsurprisingly, the two-month old establishment is on the receiving end of an animal rights-fueled anti-foie gras petition. more ›

As if hearing about the kitten thrown from a car on the Verrazano Bridge wasn't enough, now there's this terrible story about animal cruelty: Some jerk hammered a rusty nail into a box turtle, through its shell and into its body. more ›

Brooklyn man Daniel Lacin has been charged after shooting his neighbor's two dogs with a paintball gun. According to CBS Local, Peter Wojcik's dogs, Baby and Birdie, were covered in cuts and bruises after the attack in his own backyard. ABC Local has some video from the scene of the crime. more ›

The Brooklyn teenager who set his landlord's cat on fire because he was "bored" has been sentenced to six years in prison—and may also be deported. Angelo Monderoy, who was convicted of killing Tommy Two Times in March, also was denied the chance to have his record sealed by the furious Judge: "To torture and kill an animal because you were bored? There's no way the world should not know what Mr. Monderoy did here." more ›

Sculptor Tom Otterness, best known for his whimsical statues in subways and city parks, is having a hard time getting past his other reason for notoriety. The sculptor has been commissioned for $750,000 by a mysterious donor to build lion and cub statues for the Battery Park City branch of the New York Public Library. This is how horror movies start, right? Community Board 1 voted 23-7 to approve the commission, despite outrage over a film Otterness made in the 1970s in which he shot a dog. However, at least one New Yorker hasn't forgiven him. "I think if he shot a dog, he should be shot," said one pet owner. more ›

Pro tip: if your boyfriend has 30 prior arrests, you might not want to let him around your pets. Brooklyn native Garret Sloan, 26, has been arrested and charged with aggravated cruelty to animals after brutally killing his girlfriend's kitten. According to a criminal complaint, Sloan said, "The cat died. I took it and threw it away in the incinerator." more ›

The Post's Andrea Peyser is now taking up the saga of slain hamster, Sweetie, who was killed during a Brooklyn family's dispute, because it's the perfect opportunity to wax about how trying to prosecute people who kill pets is a "waste of resources." Guess she hasn't read how animal and/or pet abuse can predict other abusive behavior! more ›

P.S. 16 teacher Ana Herra was arrested by ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement agents yesterday for misdemeanor animal cruelty after neglecting her dog so badly she needed to be put down. Neighbors in Corona reportedly called the ASPCA to report a matted dog, and agents found Julie, a mixed breed dog around 13-years-old, so weak and matted that she was unable to stand. more ›

Angelo Monderoy—who was 18 when he was arrested and charged for breaking into a Crown Heights apartment and fatally setting a cat on fire—faced court yesterday. Investigators allegedly found a half-filled container of lighter fluid in his backpack, and Brooklyn ADA Joshua Charlton say Monderoy and an accomplice brought the cat into the apartment where they "stepped on it, put lighter fluid on it and lit it," reports the Post. The injuries from the fire led to the death of the cat, named Tommy Two Times. more ›