At the 2025 Sangamon County Fair, two capuchin monkeys were dressed in costumes and strapped to dogs racing around a small track, an act Illinois has since banned. Marc Ayers, Illinois state director for Humane World for Animals, attended the disturbing Banana Derby performance and said the monkeys repeatedly grasped at the guardrails as the dogs rounded the track. Big cats were still being used in traveling performances across Illinois. Culpepper & Merriweather Circus toured

Australian Shepherds did not originate in Australia. The breed was shaped in the American West by ranchers who needed dogs that could handle long days, rough terrain, and large flocks. In the nineteenth century, ranchers imported sheep from Australia, and the dogs that came with those flocks may have influenced the name. The herding dogs bred on American soil proved themselves in the field and gradually became known as Australian Shepherds. These dogs wake up ready for action

When the ASPCA pulled several dogs from an apartment in New York City, Tiki was among them. Tiki was believed to be around five years old and arrived deeply fearful. He would lay in his crate without moving, avoided eye contact, and sometimes soiled himself out of fear.

On January 22, NYC Second Chance Rescue responded to a call from a foster parent who had discovered a severely malnourished puppy