NEWS: Animal activists have been celebrating the closure of the last rabbit farm run by T&S Rabbits, a shady unofficial company owned by businessman Phil Kerry.

OPINION: Following Animal Rebellion’s recent action at Harrods and other upscale supermarkets in which activists poured out several pints of milk onto the shop floor and occupied dairy aisles, Animal Rebellion co-founder Dan Kidby got invited onto Good Morning Britain. But despite some issues with the segment, there was a notable change in tenor in the debate compared to how similar ones have gone in the past.

NEWS: A new book by Compassion in World Farming CEO Philip Lymbery has revealed that the number of US-style mega-farms in the UK has ballooned to 1,099, trapping millions of birds and thousands of pigs and cows in these huge industrial systems.

NEWS: The owner of an animal sanctuary who took in two escaped cows has been arrested on charges of grand larceny. Tracy Murphy, who runs Asha’s Farm Sanctuary in Newfane, New York state, was charged yesterday after she came across two cows wandering on their own several weeks ago and took them to Asha’s to be looked after.

Last week, activists from Animal Rebellion staged protests in several high-end supermarkets in London ahead of a planned large-scale disruption of the dairy industry in September. At Harrods in west London, activists poured bottles of milk onto the floor before being removed by security. In Marks and Spencer and Waitrose on Oxford Street, they emptied the shelves of milk and occupied the Waitrose Cheese Room.

NEWS: The Scrap Factory Farming (SFF) campaign has filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to hold the UK government accountable for its failure to protect the public from climate change and the risk of future pandemics posed by factory farming.

SPECIAL REPORT: Snake farming is on the rise in Kenya, with pet shops and zoos in the UK, Germany, and North America helping to drive demand, along with snakes being used in traditional medicine in China, according to a leading Kenyan newspaper. Claire Hamlett reports.

BLOG: Chris Hemsworth gave up meat for ONE morning ahead of his kiss scene with vegan co-star Natalie Portman for the upcoming Thor movie. That’s nice, but why would the media gush about it? Claire Hamlett ponders.

SPECIAL REPORT: Videos showing animals being tortured through teasing are racking up millions of views and likes on social media platforms, according to a new report by the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC).

BLOG: Yesterday we brought you news of Red Tractor has re-certifing a farm that featured in a Panorama documentary about abuse against cows in the dairy industry here in the UK, today we celebrate the day of supreme cognitive dissonance that is ‘Cow Appreciation Day’ in the US. Claire Hamlett reports.

Red Tractor has recertified the Welsh dairy farm that was featured in an episode of BBC’s investigative program Panorama in February, which showed footage of workers horrifically and illegally abusing the cows.

Too few farmers are transitioning to agricultural practices that are better for biodiversity, soil health and the climate, and “cognitive lock-ins” are to blame, says a new study. But there are ways to overcome these lock-ins, and they could also help farmers transition from livestock to plant agriculture, writes Claire Hamlett.