Animal Rights.

Gallo Images / Getty Images Animal lovers won some big victories on Tuesday as voters went to the polls to protect the rights of animals large and small. Fighting the War Against Puppy Mills In the so-called "puppy-mill capital of the world," Missouri voters passed the nation's first statewide ballot measure to protect dogs from the worst abuses at puppy mills. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) campaigned for this legislation because at puppy mills in Missouri, dogs are typically crammed into small and filthy cages, denied veterinary care, exposed to extremes of heat and cold, and given no exercise or human affection. The proposition requires large-scale dog breeding ...

IDS.Photos, Flickr One part service dog, one part best friend, Ruger the yellow Lab not only helped guide his owner Kevin Coughlin through the streets of Manhattan, but he became an unofficial mascot for guide-dog rights. Ruger carved out his place in history when he served as Exhibit A in a series of court cases in which Kevin fought (and won) discrimination suits against businesses that refused to allow his service dog through their doors. Terms like "trailblazer" and "pioneer" are rarely bestowed upon members of the canine family, but in Ruger's case, they seem quite fitting. After winning high-profile case after high-profile case, Ruger became a darling of the news media and was ...

Jim Spellman, WireImage Remember how Bob Barker used to end every episode of "The Price is Right" by reminding viewers to spay and neuter their pets? His devotion to animals didn't stop there. Now he's donated $1 million to his alma mater, Drury University, to establish a professorship on animal rights. According to the Associated Press, Barker "hopes the school will eventually be able to offer a program of studies that would train them to be animal rights activists and to respect animals." The new professorship, named for Barker's late wife Dorothy Jo Barker, went to Patricia McEachern, who will work to develop the nation's first undergraduate program in animal rights. McEachern told Paw ...