Jane Velez-Mitchell

We first brought you the story of Billy and Adam on Thursday. 

Adam Parascandola, a member of the Humane Society Animal Rescue team, found Billy during a raid on a puppy mill. Amid the abhorrent conditions, Billy somehow caught Adam's eye. The dog was emaciated, and so neglected that the bars on his cage had been rusted shut, but Adam recognized something special in his eyes.

A baby elephant was born in the Oregon Zoo last week and the calf has stirred up a big controversy. The zoo has a contract with a for-profit group called Have Trunk Will Travel and technically they are the owners of the baby elephant.

There was an uproar when people thought the baby could be separated from her mom and taken by this group that rents elephants out for parades and corporate events. Now both the zoo and that group say this baby will be staying at the zoo with her mom. But still, some critics are concerned.

There is a race to catch a serial killer of dolphins along the Gulf Coast. Two more mutilated dolphins were discovered on a Gulf Coast beach. The decapitated head of an adult dolphin was found over the weekend and the body of a younger dolphin was discovered just miles away. Now, authorities are treating these incidents like a murder investigation punishable with up to one year in prison and fines up to a hundred thousand dollars per incident. 

Jane Velez-Mitchell spoke to Ric O'Barry from The Dolphin Project to find out who he thinks could be behind such horrific crimes. For more on this story watch Jane Velez-Mitchell weeknights at 7pm ET on HLN. 

The government is rounding up wild horses and burros in Colorado, Nevada and the surrounding area to and moving them to holding pens for auction.  The Bureau of Land Management says they need to do this because of overgrazing, drought and starvation.

But critics say these roundups are unnecessary and the method of using helicopters to round up the animals is cruel.  The Department of the Interior says “The Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management have worked hard to reform the program to advance the humane care and management of America’s wild horses and to protect our public lands.”

Many people are looking for a fresh, fun way to spice up their Thanksgiving and more and more are choosing to do so by serving a meatless holiday meal at their dinner table.  They’re coming up with animal friendly options and reinventing how they celebrate the season in a creative and compassionate way.

Jane spoke to Gene Baur from Farm Sanctuary about their Thanksliving tradition. If you are interested in adopting a turkey this holiday season click here. 

At least six dolphins have been killed in the Gulf of Mexico, and officials are determined to find out who is responsible. These attacks were brutal, one dolphin was shot with a handgun, others had parts of their bodies chopped off and one had a screwdriver stabbed into its head.

Officials have put out a warning for people along the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida to be on the lookout for anyone approaching wild dolphins. The person responsible could face up to a year in prison per dolphin killed.

Jane Velez-Mitchell is re-inventing the holidays!  She, along with many Americans, are putting a new spin on traditional holiday meals spending less money, cutting calories and saving animals in the process!

Jane sat down with actress Shannon Elizabeth.  Shannon decided to be meat free this holiday season and she explains why to Jane.

Orangutans in Indonesia could be on the brink of extinction all for a product many Americans do not even know they are consuming.  The Orangutans natural habitat in Indonesia are allegedly being burned down and decimated to make room for trees that produce palm oil.

Palm oil is a cheap ingredient that is used in almost half the items in American grocery stores. But because palm oil goes by so many different names it can be hard for consumers to identify it in the products they are purchasing.

A Philadelphia grand jury accuses Robert Keszey, one of the stars of the reality show “Swamp Brothers” of wildlife trafficking.  Keszey and his business partner co-own a farm in one of Florida’s largest exotic reptile stores.

Federal prosecutors say Robert Keszey and his business partner took protected snakes from the wild in New York and Pennsylvania and transported them to Florida in 2007 and 2008 to sell at their farm, violating federal wildlife laws.