Latest news with #Puppy
Global News
6 days ago
- Global News
Ghislaine Maxwell banned from training service puppies over sex abuse crimes
Ghislaine Maxwell won't be getting any puppy love at her new prison camp. Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in late financier Jeffrey Epstein's underage sex abuse ring, was transferred to a lower-security Texas prison camp last week, but she won't be enjoying all of the perks available to the inmates at the cushy location. Federal Prison Camp Bryan offers several amenities and rehabilitation programs for inmates, including service dog training courses. However, Canine Companions, which runs the prison program, told NBC News that Maxwell will be unable to participate in the training sessions due to her 2021 conviction of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. 'We do not allow anyone whose crime involves abuse towards minors or animals — including any crime of a sexual nature,' Paige Mazzoni, CEO of Canine Companions, told the outlet. Story continues below advertisement Mazzoni said that it's a 'hard policy' Canine Companions has in place, and that Maxwell 'will not be able to' take part in the program. She added that the restrictions are in place to protect the animals. 'Those are crimes against the vulnerable, and you're putting them with a puppy who is vulnerable,' she said. Canine Companions' Prison Puppy Raising program allows selected inmates to train service puppies as part of their rehabilitation. The inmates are responsible for the same socialization and training as any volunteer puppy raiser. According to the training program's website, the puppies accompany the handlers throughout the day at mealtimes, during work assignments, recreational periods and more. Specific times have been allocated to incorporate feeding, training and exercising the puppies. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy In the evening, the puppies are crated in the cells of the puppy trainers. Non-incarcerated volunteers also take the puppies outside of the prison environment to acclimate them to different public settings. Story continues below advertisement Maxwell was moved from a federal prison in Florida to the Texas prison camp last week as her criminal case is generating renewed public attention. The Federal Bureau of Prisons said on Aug. 1 that Maxwell had been transferred to Bryan, Texas, but did not explain the circumstances. Her lawyer, David Oscar Markus, also confirmed the move but declined to discuss the reasons for it with The Associated Press. Maxwell had been held at a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Fla., until her transfer to the prison camp, where other inmates include Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah. Minimum-security federal prison camps house inmates the Bureau of Prisons considers to be the lowest security risk. Some don't even have fences. The prison camps were originally designed with low security to make operations easier and to allow inmates tasked with performing work at the prison, like landscaping and maintenance, to avoid repeatedly checking in and out of a main prison facility. Prosecutors have said Epstein's sex crimes could not have been done without Maxwell, but her lawyers argue that she was wrongfully prosecuted and denied a fair trial. They have also floated the idea of a pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump and asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up her case. Story continues below advertisement 'We are appealing not only to the Supreme Court but to the President himself to recognize how profoundly unjust it is to scapegoat Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein's crimes, especially when the government promised she would not be prosecuted,' Maxwell's lawyer said in a statement. Here's our statement about Ghislaine's Reply Brief that we filed in the Supreme Court today: 'No one is above the law—not even the Southern District of New York. Our government made a deal, and it must honor it. The United States cannot promise immunity with one hand in Florida… — David Oscar Markus (@domarkus) July 28, 2025 On Friday, Trump denied that anyone had asked him about clemency for Maxwell. 'I'm allowed to do it but nobody's asked me to do it,' he told Newsmax in an interview. 'I know nothing about it. I don't know anything about the case, but I know I have the right to do it. I have the right to give pardons, I've given pardons to people before, but nobody's even asked me to do it.' Story continues below advertisement — With files from The Associated Press
New York Post
6 days ago
- New York Post
Ghislaine Maxwell will be barred from service puppy training program at lax new lockup over child sex abuse record
Sit. Stay. And stay away. Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell will be barred from training service dogs at the lush Texas prison camp she was transferred to last week, according to a new report. The cushy prison, nicknamed 'Club Fed,' offers several amenities and rehabilitation programs for inmates, including service dog training courses — but Maxwell will be unable to participate in the pup sessions due to her history of sexual abuse toward minors, NBC reported. Advertisement Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell will be barred from training service dogs at the lush Texas prison camp she was transferred to last week. 'We do not allow anyone whose crime involves abuse towards minors or animals — including any crime of a sexual nature,' Paige Mazzoni, CEO of Canine Companions, which runs the prison program, told the outlet. 'That's a hard policy we have, so she will not be able to,' Mazzoni said. The restrictions are currently in place to protect 'vulnerable' puppies from any abuse, the CEO added. Advertisement 'Those are crimes against the vulnerable, and you're putting them with a puppy who is vulnerable,' she said. The Canine Companions Prison Puppy Raising program is in place for qualifying inmates to provide a 'positive impact' on incarcerated individuals during weekly training sessions in several facilities across the country, according to their company website. Maxwell, 63, was transferred from a lockup in Florida to the minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, as she tries to hash out a deal with the feds to spill secrets about her late pedophile ex, Jeffrey Epstein. Advertisement The restrictions are currently in place to protect 'vulnerable' puppies from any abuse. Canine Companions The notorious madam — who is serving 20 years for helping Epstein groom and abuse underage girls — is housed in the prison with primarily nonviolent inmates who are allowed to roam the grounds with 'limited or no perimeter fencing,' according to the federal Bureau of Prisons website. The lockup also offers a full gym, yoga classes, music programs, and social and cultural events, prison consultant Michael Santos told the Daily Beast. Maxwell will also be allowed to request and buy materials for hobbies such as painting and crocheting, the outlet reported. Advertisement No reason was given for the move, but it comes days after she met Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche twice while trying to seek immunity and a deal to spill her secrets about Epstein. Maxwell on Tuesday also opposed the Justice Department's bid to unseal grand jury transcripts from her case, after trying and failing to view the records herself. The convicted sex trafficker will be neighbors at the Texas facility with well-known white-collar criminals, including Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced fraudster convicted of ripping off investors in her now-defunct blood-testing company Theranos, as well as Real Housewives of Salt Lake star and convicted scammer Jen Shah. 'It's one of the best prisons for anyone to go to,' Josh Lepird, regional vice president for the prison officers' union that includes Maxwell's new camp, told the Houston Chronicle on Friday.
The Age
05-08-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
‘Changed the language of what art is': Huge balloon sculpture for national gallery
A playful balloon sculpture, part of an iconic series created by controversial pop artist Jeff Koons, has officially joined Jackson Pollock's Blue poles in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia. Balloon Venus Dolni Vestonice (Yellow) is a 2.7-metre high yellow stainless-steel sculpture that reimagines a prehistoric fertility figure as a mirror-polished balloon. It's the first of the American artist's balloon series to enter the collection of an Australian cultural institution and gallery director Nick Mitzevich says he's more than ready for a public debate over whether the sculpture qualifies as art. 'There are artists in each generation that revolutionises what art is, that challenges people,' Mitzevich said. 'Jackson Pollock re-thought what painting was. In the '60s and '70s, Andy Warhol re-thought what art could be, that everyday objects could be art. 'Louise Bourgeois revolutionised the way she made work with her gigantic amazing spiders, for example. What Jeff Koons has done from the 1980s, he has changed the language of what art is. History shows these revolutionaries become the middle ground and the reference points for each generation and I believe that of Jeff Koons.' Koons melds pop art, conceptual art and minimalism, employing modern materials and highly polished surfaces to riff on everything from household appliances such as the vacuum cleaner to inflatable animals. He is best known in Australia as the creator of Puppy, a 12-metre-high terrier made from 60,000 flowering plants and 55,000 tonnes of soil which was installed in the forecourt of the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Sydney Morning Herald
05-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Changed the language of what art is': Huge balloon sculpture for national gallery
A playful balloon sculpture, part of an iconic series created by controversial pop artist Jeff Koons, has officially joined Jackson Pollock's Blue poles in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia. Balloon Venus Dolni Vestonice (Yellow) is a 2.7-metre high yellow stainless-steel sculpture that reimagines a prehistoric fertility figure as a mirror-polished balloon. It's the first of the American artist's balloon series to enter the collection of an Australian cultural institution and gallery director Nick Mitzevich says he's more than ready for a public debate over whether the sculpture qualifies as art. 'There are artists in each generation that revolutionises what art is, that challenges people,' Mitzevich said. 'Jackson Pollock re-thought what painting was. In the '60s and '70s, Andy Warhol re-thought what art could be, that everyday objects could be art. 'Louise Bourgeois revolutionised the way she made work with her gigantic amazing spiders, for example. What Jeff Koons has done from the 1980s, he has changed the language of what art is. History shows these revolutionaries become the middle ground and the reference points for each generation and I believe that of Jeff Koons.' Koons melds pop art, conceptual art and minimalism, employing modern materials and highly polished surfaces to riff on everything from household appliances such as the vacuum cleaner to inflatable animals. He is best known in Australia as the creator of Puppy, a 12-metre-high terrier made from 60,000 flowering plants and 55,000 tonnes of soil which was installed in the forecourt of the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Condé Nast Traveler
29-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Condé Nast Traveler
The Best Hotels in Bilbao, Northern Spain's Cultural Capital
Looking out towards the Guggenheim's sweeping titanium and glass frame, The Artist is a luxurious spot for any traveler fascinated by design. Originally called the Gran Hotel Domine, The Artist opened in 2002 and was designed by Spanish artists and architects Javier Mariscal and Fernando Salas, while Jeff Koons' floral 40-foot sculpture Puppy sits just outside the entrance. The airy lobby is dominated by the towering Fossil Cypress, an 85-foot column of rolled stone designed by Marisco that awkwardly soars up to the seventh (and top) floor. Speaking of the summit, it's The Artist's rooftop bar—imaginatively titled The Rooftop—that's perhaps most impressive here. While the view of the Guggenheim is obviously the star, the eye is also drawn to the lush hills and the distant hillside neighborhoods of Bilbao's extraordinary cityscape. Soak up the panorama with Idiazabal cheese, Iberico ham, and a glass of fruit-forward Rioja Crianza. Quality downstairs restaurant Olio and secret lobby cocktail bar Sixty One 61 form a fine gastronomic triumvirate. The hotel boasts 145 rooms, most of which exude a warm palette with bright midcentury lounging chairs but are thankfully restrained on the art, which is left to the public spaces. The sublime 861-square-foot penthouse comes with its own private terrace facing the museum. And to unwind, the oak-wood Turkish bath and sauna are perfect escapes from an admittedly tourist-heavy corner of Bilbao.
