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riada
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Animals in the News...
« on: Jan 11th, 2011, 11:38pm » |
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2 arrested in Los Angeles in turtle smuggling case
LOS ANGELES, Mon Jan 10, 11:39 PM
Two men from Japan have been arrested for allegedly smuggling more than 50 live turtles and tortoises into the United States.
The U.S. attorney's office said Monday that Atsushi Yamagami and Norihide Ushirozako (USHEE'-row-za-ko), both of Osaka, were arrested Friday at Los Angeles International Airport. Both men were charged with one count each of illegally importing wildlife and one count of violating the Endangered Species Act.
If convicted, they both face up to 21 years in prison. They are scheduled to be arraigned January 31.
Federal prosecutors say the turtles and tortoises were hidden in snack food boxes found in a suitcase.
The arrests were tied to an undercover investigation that began last year into a smuggling operation that brought turtles into the United States.
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Heil Hound: Nazis dogged by Hitler-mocking mutt
BERLIN, Fri Jan 07, 08:28 PM
Newly discovered documents have revealed a bizarre footnote to World War II: the Nazis' dogged obsession with a Finnish mutt who gave not a howl, but a heil. And, just as absurdly, the totalitarian state that dominated most of Europe was unable to do much about the canine's paw-raising parody of Germany's Fuehrer.
In the months preceding Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union, Berlin's Foreign Office commanded its diplomats in the Nazi-friendly country to gather evidence on the dog and its owner - and even plotted to destroy the owner's pharmaceutical business.
Historians were unaware of the scheme until some 30 files containing correspondence and diplomatic cables were found by a researcher in the Foreign Office archives.
Klaus Hillenbrand, an expert on the Nazi period who examined the documents, called the episode "completely bizarre."
"Just months before the Nazis launched their attack on the Soviet Union, they had nothing better to do than to obsess about this dog," he told The Associated Press.
The Dalmatian mix named Jackie was owned by Tor Borg, a businessman from the Finnish city of Tampere. Borg's wife Josefine, a German citizen known for her anti-Nazi sentiments, dubbed the dog "Hitler" because of the way it raised a paw high in the air, much like Germans greeting the Fuehrer with a cry of "Heil Hitler!"
In one photo, Borg, a jovial businessman known for his sense of humor, appears with Jackie by his side wearing a pair of round sunglasses.
On Jan. 29, 1941, the German vice consul in Helsinki, Willy Erkelenz, wrote that "a witness, who does not want to be named, said ... he saw and heard how Borg's dog reacted to the command 'Hitler' by raising its paw."
Borg was ordered to the German Embassy in Helsinki and questioned about his dog's unusual greeting habits.
The businessman denied ever calling the dog by the German dictator's name, but acknowledged that his wife called the dog Hitler. He tried to play down the accusations, saying the paw-raising only happened a few times in 1933 - shortly after Hitler came to power.
Borg assured the Nazi diplomats that he never did anything "that could be seen as an insult against the German Reich," according to the documents.
The zealous diplomats in Helsinki did not believe him and wrote back to Berlin that "Borg, even though he claims otherwise, is not telling the truth."
The ministries involved - the Foreign Office, the Economy Ministry and even Hitler's Chancellory - meticulously reported all their findings about the hound.
The Economy Ministry announced that the German chemical conglomerate IG Farben, which supplied Borg's wholesale trade with pharmaceuticals, agreed to cut all ties, which would have destroyed his business.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office was looking for ways to bring Borg to trial for insulting Hitler. But in the end, none of the witnesses were willing to repeat their accusations in front of a judge.
So, when on March 21, 1941, the Foreign Office asked the Chancellory whether to press charges against Borg, the reply came back: "Considering that the circumstances could not be solved completely, it is not necessary to press charges."
There's no evidence Hitler, who owned a German Shepherd named Blondi, was ever told of the case, even if it made it all the way to his Chancellory, Hillenbrand said.
Finland cooperated with Nazi Germany during WWII, and Helsinki was one of the few European capitals the Nazis never occupied.
As for Borg, he and his company survived the war unscathed. He died in 1959 at age 60; his wife Josefine passed away in 1971.
Borg's company Tampereen Rohduskuppa Oy went on to become Tamro Group, the leading wholesale company for pharmaceuticals in the Nordic countries.
And Jackie, the Hitler-saluting canine, also died a natural death, according to Tamro spokeswoman Margit Nieminen.
She said the company was not aware of the dog's place in history until the recent archive discovery.
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Orange gator must be a dye job, Fla. officials say
VENICE, Fla., Fri Jan 07, 03:28 PM
An orange alligator photographed in South Florida is raising questions about its bizarre pigment. Sylvia Mythen snapped the photo of the gator sunning beside a neighborhood canal in Venice.
The picture ran on TV after she shot it Wednesday and caused a buzz.
Experts with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have scrutinized the photo and say the color is not genetic. They believe the gator was somehow covered in paint or an orange substance.
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Prairie dogs on the lam from Ohio zoo
POWELL, Ohio, Fri Jan 07, 03:25 PM
An Ohio zoo is trying to round up runaway prairie dogs and is asking its neighbors for help.
The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium said Friday 11 of the critters wriggled their way out of temporary quarters and so far only four have been recovered.
Assistant Curator Jeremy Carpenter says in a statement there's no reason to believe the animals have left zoo property. But he says nearby residents are being asked to watch for prairie dogs, just in case.
The zoo says the animals are not dangerous.
They were among a group of 20 prairie dogs that arrived from another zoo in November. The newcomers were kept in quarantine, then moved into the temporary housing two weeks ago. They were to be introduced into the zoo's regular prairie dog exhibit in the spring.
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CreepyOldGuy
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Re: Animals in the News...
« Reply #1 on: Jan 12th, 2011, 6:15pm » |
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I love a good animal story!
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"Stand and fight, live by your heart
Always one more try, I'm not afraid to die!
Stand and fight, say what you feel
Born with a heart of steel!"
*********************
Manowar - Heart of Steel 1988
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riada
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Re: Animals in the News...
« Reply #2 on: Jan 13th, 2011, 11:59pm » |
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...Thank you, then you'll love this...
Latest German animal star a cross-eyed opossum
BERLIN, Wed Jan 12, 06:11 PM
Heidi, the cross-eyed opossum, is the latest creature to rocket from Germany's front pages to international recognition, capturing the world's imagination with her bright, black eyes turned toward her pointed pink nose.
Since the first photos were published in December, the marsupial from Leipzig Zoo has attracted more Facebook fans than Chancellor Angela Merkel. By Wednesday more than 111,000 fans from as far away as Bangkok and Montreal and clear across Europe were exclaiming "so cute!!" and "so sweet."
Experts say that like Knut, Berlin's famous fluffy white polar cub who was abandoned by his mother, and Paul, the late octopus who correctly predicted the outcome of all of Germany's 2010 World Cup games and Spain's victory in the final, the hype surrounding Heidi is fed by a human weakness for cuddly looking critters and the ability of modern mass media to spread images around the globe instantly.
Bangkok resident Julie Queen-Vichitthanarurk said she heard about Heidi on the local radio station on the way to work, and raced home to find a picture on the internet and become a "fan" on Facebook.
"Right away when I saw her picture, I feel in love with her!" the 40-year-old told The Associated Press in an Facebook message. "There is just something so sweet about her that made my heart melt."
It is exactly that feeling that humans crave, making such "cute" animal images so popular.
"It triggers a reaction in our unconsciousness, when we see these creatures that make us think of children," said Peter Walschburger, a biological psychologist at Berlin's Free University.
Media expert Steffen Damm said it is not only the cuddly crowd, but aspects including "bizarre/slimy," seen in Paul, or "wacky," like Heidi's crossed eyes, that pique interest.
"Animals are so innocent - in a way that we no longer are," Damm said. "They remind us of our lost connection to nature."
Leipzig Zoo insisted the "media resonance was surprising and not planned," but it has nevertheless moved to protect the rights to her name and cross-eyed image - believed to be the result of pressure on her eyes created by fatty deposits. The zoo says the squint doesn't hurt her.
Heidi first attracted attention after a local TV report about her upcoming home - a new nocturnal enclosure in the tropical environment - featured her as one of several animals in quarantine until it opens July 1. She will share her enclosure with her sister Naira and their male companion, Teddy. All three arrived at Leipzig Zoo on May 5, 2010.
"She definitively won't be Germany's next Super Opossum," zookeeper Michael Eisner told MDR television, as Heidi squinted up at him from a cage for a documentary about the zoo in December.
He couldn't have been more wrong.
The clip attracted so much attention on the internet, the station has developed 10 episodes featuring Heidi and a local stuffed animal manufacture, Koesen, has adapted its line of plush opossums to include a white one with black ears and, of course, crossed-eyes.
While Leipzig Zoo says it is not actively engaging in marketing at this time, the attention will most certainly boost admittance, and thus revenue.
The Berlin Zoo recorded a 27 percent jump in 2007, the first year of polar bear cub, Knut, whose image as a playful cotton-puff ball of bear fuzz captured hearts around the world. That included U.S. star photographer Annie Liebowitz, who snapped him for an environment issue of Vanity Fair. The attention brought nearly euro6.8 million (then $10.7 million) in revenue.
Some animal rights activists, however, maintain the attention is a further form of abuse of animals that are already suffering from their captivity.
"These animals are put on show for millions of people, but afterward they remain incurably crippled," said Edmund Haferbeck, an animal expert with Germany's branch of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
He said he could not name a case where animals benefited from the hype created by the media attention - including Knut, whom he said still languishes in an enclosure much too small for him.
"On the contrary, it is completely counterproductive," Haferbeck said. "The money they generate is not put toward improving the zoo, but go into their (strapped) budgets."
Not every animal is able to generate such interest. Nuremberg zoo, in southern Germany sought to create attention similar to that generated by Knut when it found itself with a polar cub of its own, Flocke, born in December 2007. But she never really created hype.
Nor did another polar cub, Willbaer, or an attempt by the Chemnitz Zoo during the 2006 World Cup to have its animals predict the outcome of games - attributed to elements of timing, how an animal's particular story or affliction is able to hit the public's nerve at any given moment, a pattern known to humans for centuries.
"It recalls ancient Rome, where exotic species were applauded in the Circus Maximus," said Damm.
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riada
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Re: Animals in the News...
« Reply #3 on: Jan 16th, 2011, 10:31pm » |
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Chinese spend big on Belgian racing pigeons
KERMT, Belgium, Thu Jan 13, 01:05 PM
The coop where Blue Prince lived stands empty now, the racing pigeon gone for good.
At euro156,000 ($ 205,000) for barely a pound of feathers and lightning-fast fowl, Blue Prince has a one-way ticket to pampered retirement and lifelong breeding in China, which these days has become a predictable destination for topflight birds.
Over the past month, two auctions of Belgian racing pigeons have set one record after another, confirming Belgium as the age-old prime breeding hub of the birds - and China as the new center of global demand.
"They want to have the best pigeons, own the best pigeons, breed with the best pigeons," said Stefan Roosen after wealthy Chinese buyers helped push the sale of the 218-bird colony of his late father, Pros, to a single-auction world record euro1.368 million ($1.8 million) last weekend. In general, the top birds bought in Belgium are not raced in China - it would be too expensive to lose them - but their offspring are.
In European pigeon racing, birds are taken up to 1,000 kilometers (700 miles) from their lofts and released. Races are decided by which bird flies back the fastest.
The recent record-breaking auctions, with their Belgium-China connection, highlight the sport's past - and its future.
From its humble origins as a working-class pastime across Belgium and Western Europe over the past century, pigeon racing spread across the globe and developed particular cachet in modern-day China, which escaped the brunt of the global financial crisis and is now passionately spending on pigeons.
"Along with the economical growth of China, the Chinese market, there is a lot of interest," said Yi Minna, the Chief Operating Officer at the PiPa pigeon auction house, which organized the Roosen sale. Among the new class of wealthy Chinese, many spend their money on fine wines, luxury cars, and "collection of horses, of dogs and pigeons as well," Yi said.
And with pigeons, Yi said, there is one huge advantage.
"One bottle of wine remains one bottle," she said. "You have a nice pigeon and it will have more children, grandchildren."
That is just the kind of breeding at which Belgians have long excelled. Generations of knowledge have taught fanciers how to build the best bloodlines with top racers. In the 1950s, this nation of 10 million had over 250,000 official members in the Royal Pigeon Federation. Just about every family had someone who spent weekends in blue overalls tending a few dozen pigeons. Sunday races were the highlight for the downtrodden after a week of labor.
Some pigeon breeders made their way up and developed coops to match their soaring careers - like Pros Roosen, who proved as competitive in real estate as he was in pigeon racing.
"There were clever and smart guys that were looking at it with different eyes and were trying to get better pigeons," said his son Stefan. "They were combining the best bloodlines with one another to get even better and stronger racers. ... That is why the Belgian pigeons over the years became the best in the world."
That paid off handsomely for the Roosen family, when five birds fetched euro60,000 ($79,000) or more each in the auction, a bittersweet legacy for the fancier who died last August.
"It is a great honor for him. The name of Pros Roosen will last a long time now," said his son standing in the nearly empty loft where once the champions nested.
Even though Stefan feels some nostalgia, pigeon racing was never his sport. So it is when a great tradition is in decline.
From a quarter million pigeon fanciers half a century ago, there are 30,000 left in Belgium. "And they have an average age of about 70, so the decline will continue," said Pierre De Rijst, head of the Belgian Pigeon Federation.
He remembers 1955 when 20 pigeon breeders on his street would spend evenings sitting outside discussing racing strategies.
"Now," he said wistfully, "there are two left."
"Tell me, who wants to stay home all summer to tend the birds? Everybody goes on holidays. They have other entertainment."
So the precious birds fly off to Asia, carrying with them generations of genetic know-how.
But in China, federation membership has boomed over the past 12 to 15, and is now about 300,000. For top pigeons, prices have increases two to threefold in ten years, said Martin Martens, of PiPa.
"Prize money is enormous," Yi said. "We have a euro1 million ($1.31 million) race in Shanghai, with the winner getting about half that," she said.
And that is reflected in the Belgian auctions.
"These guys, they just don't stop," De Rijst sighed. "They say: 'this bird comes with us to China' and that's it."
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riada
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Re: Animals in the News...
« Reply #4 on: Feb 12th, 2011, 10:53pm » |
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Rat delays Alaska Airlines flight out of Seattle
SEATTLE, Fri Feb 11, 08:27 PM
Alaska Airlines had to delay a flight about to leave Seattle-Tacoma International Airport when a rat was seen scurrying in the cabin.
The airline says the flight from Seattle to Denver had just pulled away from the gate Thursday morning when the little stowaway was spotted. The 737 jetliner returned to the terminal and passengers and crew boarded another plane about 90 minutes later.
Airline spokeswoman Bobbie Egan says the plane won't be returned to service until maintenance workers make sure the rat didn't damage equipment or chew any wires - and an exterminator certifies the plane is rodent-free.
Egan says workers also are trying to figure out how the rat got aboard. She says in cold weather, "sometimes rodents can seek shelter in strange places."
AND THEN THERES THIS...
ND team exposed to raccoon pulled from tournament
GRAND FORKS, N.D., Sun Feb 06, 03:03 PM
A raccoon has ended a North Dakota team's bid for a fourth consecutive regional championship in high school wrestling.
The Carrington High School team was pulled from Saturday's tournament when officials discovered the athletes had been exposed to a live raccoon.
Grafton Police Sgt. Anthony Dumas says the team picked up what members thought was a dead raccoon on the way to the tournament in Grafton and stowed in the storage area of their bus. Dumas says when the compartment was opened later, the raccoon "just trotted away."
The animal didn't scratch or bite anyone, but it's not known whether it had rabies.
The Grand Forks Herald reports school officials brought the team home as a precaution. Health officials say there's no risk to athletes who competed against Carrington.
RIADAS RETORT: So, lets get this straight...the police Sgt. said that " the team picked up what members thought was a dead raccoon on the way to the tournament in Grafton and stowed in the storage area of their bus" ?? IS THIS NORMAL behavior? What were they going to do with the supposed carcass? Unbelievable!
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How red the rose leaves fall—
Fall and like blood remain
Upon the dial's disc, whose pedestal,
Black-mossed and dark with stain,
Crumbles in sun and rain.
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riada
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Re: Animals in the News...
« Reply #5 on: Feb 18th, 2011, 11:34pm » |
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Taser fails to slow roaming Alaska moose
FAIRBANKS, Alaska, Tue Feb 15, 06:01 PM
A Taser may not be enough to stop a moose.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game failed in their attempts to stun a cow moose to remove a rope around its neck that was used to rescue it from a river last month.
Biologists said the moose appeared to react only to the sound of the Taser going off, and it started running.
Biologists decided to leave the cow, which was accompanied by a calf. They said the rope is not hindering her ability to breathe, eat or walk - and may just fall off eventually.
Rescued cow, 'Molly B,' arrives at new Mont. home
STEVENSVILLE, Mont., Tue Feb 15, 12:52 PM
A cow that avoided slaughter five years ago by famously jumping a slaughterhouse gate and leading officials on a chase finally has a new home in Montana.
The cow is called the "Unsinkable Molly B" because her 2006 escape included a swim in the Missouri River. She was recently rescued from an overcrowded animal sanctuary and is now at the New Dawn Montana Farm Animal Sanctuary near Stevensville.
Sanctuary officials thought they had her several weeks ago, before learning a similarly marked bovine was actually a steer named "Big Mike."
The sanctuary's Sue Eakins tells the Ravalli Republic it was a relief to have Molly B delivered safely last week. She says she and her husband had been warned about Molly's demeanor, but Eakins says Molly is a "sweetie pie."
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How red the rose leaves fall—
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Crumbles in sun and rain.
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riada
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Re: Animals in the News...
« Reply #6 on: Feb 19th, 2011, 10:09pm » |
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Driver's dog helps Oregon deputy make drug bust
MORO, Ore., Wed Feb 16, 11:55 AM
An Oregon sheriff's deputy didn't need a drug dog to point out a stash during a recent traffic stop. The driver's dog did it for him.
KGW-TV reports Sherman County sheriff's Sgt. John Terrel was pulling over a pickup truck Feb. 9 when he saw a sock fly out the window. It turned out to be stuffed with marijuana and hashish.
The driver told Terrel he was trying to hide the sock, but his pit bull mix grabbed it and wouldn't let go, enjoying a tug-of-war game.
The dog won the tussle and tossed the sock out the window, and the 32-year-old driver was indicted on drug possession charges.
Sheriff Brad Lohrey says he wished everyone traveled with their own personal drug dog.
Owner of dead kitten offered air fare plus $50
Tue Feb 15, 05:11 PM
The owner of a hairless kitten that died after being shipped in the cargo hold of a Delta flight says the airline is only offering to refund her air fare plus $50.
Snickers froze after flying to Connecticut from Utah last month. A door latch malfunctioned in 10-degree weather and it took nearly an hour to unload her.
Heather Lombardi says Delta Air Lines initially told her she would get $2,900 for the cat and $290 for airfare, plus reimbursement for vet bills and even a freezer where she's keeping Snickers until the ground thaws.
Lombardi said Tuesday that Delta changed its offer to air fare plus 50 cents a pound, although there's a $50 minimum.
Delta spokesman Anthony L. Black describes the offer as a standard cargo reimbursement and says talks are ongoing.
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How red the rose leaves fall—
Fall and like blood remain
Upon the dial's disc, whose pedestal,
Black-mossed and dark with stain,
Crumbles in sun and rain.
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riada
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Re: Animals in the News...
« Reply #7 on: Feb 22nd, 2011, 11:12pm » |
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Dozens of animals found dead inside Long Island home...
Dozens of animals - including chinchillas, pigs and a cow - were found dead inside a Long Island home Tuesday with scores more clinging to life, authorities said.
The gruesome discovery came about 9 a.m., when officers from the Suffolk County Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals were called in to check on the Shirley home, authorities said.
SPCA officials said the house was piled high with debris and smelled like urine and feces. They did not find any food inside the house.
An elderly disabled woman lived inside the home with all the animals, authorities said. She could face animal cruelty charges
"They said there are over 65 live animals and many, many dead animals in all parts of the home," said Roy Gross, the agency's department chief.
Gross said the critters found dead inside the home included ducks, rabbits, mice, pigeons, chinchillas, pigs, cats, dogs and a cow found in an upstairs room. Officials have yet to determine an exact count of animal carcasses.
The man living at the Malba Dr. house - who was not identified - could face charges for the mass animal grave, sources said.
The cause for the mass deaths was not immediately known.
Teams of veterinarians and SPCA volunteers rushed in to help the malnourished animals that were still alive.
"The most important thing, of course, is saving the live animals," Gross said, adding that many of the officers were appalled at the scene.
"I spoke to many seasoned officers about this and they said it's one of the worst they've ever seen," Gross said.
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How red the rose leaves fall—
Fall and like blood remain
Upon the dial's disc, whose pedestal,
Black-mossed and dark with stain,
Crumbles in sun and rain.
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riada
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Re: Animals in the News...
« Reply #8 on: Feb 23rd, 2011, 10:51pm » |
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Brazil firefighters find alligator behind couch
SAO PAULO, Wed Feb 23, 01:08 PM
Firefighters say they have removed a 5-foot-long (1.5 meter-long) alligator who was hiding behind a couch after floodwaters washed it into a home in northern Brazil.
Capt. Luiz Claudio Farias of the Parauapebas city fire department says that when the floodwaters receded on Tuesday, a woman saw her 3-year-old son petting something behind the couch. It was an alligator.
He says "she snatched the boy away and called" firefighters.
Farias said Wednesday the alligator was apparently well fed. "If he was hungry he could have seriously hurt or even killed the boy."
The alligator was taken to an environmentally protected area near the city and released into a river.
Big cleaning bill for missing snake on Mass. train
BOSTON, Wed Feb 23, 12:05 PM
A woman whose 3-foot-long snake slithered away from her in a Boston subway car and hid there for nearly a month has gotten a hefty cleaning bill.
Transit officials want Allston, Mass., resident Melissa Moorhouse to pay $650 to cover the costs of disinfecting and sanitizing the Red Line train to protect passengers from germs such as salmonella that may have been left by a boa constrictor named Penelope.
Moorhouse had traveled with the snake around her neck and lost it between stations Jan. 6. The snake was spotted on the train earlier this month by a commuter.
The Boston Globe reported Tuesday the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority says some subway riders wrote in with health concerns.
Moorhouse says she'll pay more attention the next time she takes the snake out in public.
RIADAS RETORT: DID SHE REALLY THINK THAT THE SNAKE ENJOYED THE TRAIN RIDE? I HOPE THAT CLEANING BILL WAS HEFTY! WHAT A DUMMY!!!
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Crumbles in sun and rain.
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riada
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Re: Animals in the News...
« Reply #9 on: Feb 27th, 2011, 11:48pm » |
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Urban Fox Evicted From Top of London's Tallest Skyscraper
LONDON -- A wily fox cub has been found enjoying the high life at the top of Britain's tallest skyscraper more than 900 feet above the city's streets.
The bushy-tailed trespasser spent two weeks scampering around London's Shard tower, which is still under construction, and made his home on the 72nd floor. It's believed that the intrepid urban explorer, named Romeo by rescuers, dined on scraps left by construction workers before finally being caught by pest control officers earlier this month.
Pest control workers were called in to remove a fox that made its home on the 72nd floor of London's Shard building, which is still under construction."It was scary stuff heading all the way up to the top of the building, especially going up the last 34 floors," which haven't yet been fitted with glass, Les Leonard, pest control manager at Southwark Council, told the U.K. Press Association. "It was definitely not your typical call out."
The vertigo-free varmint was taken in by the Riverside Animal Center on the outskirts of south London, where he was given a thorough medical examination and several decent meals. "We explained to him that if foxes were meant to be 72 stories off the ground, they would have evolved wings," Ted Burden, the rescue center's founder, told the Press Association.
Romeo, who is believed to be 6 months old, has since been released back into the capital's London Bridge neighborhood, close to his original den and family. So far, he's heeded Burden's instruction to stay away from his old penthouse. "We think he got the message and, as we released him back on to the streets ... shortly after midnight on Sunday, he glanced at the Shard and then trotted off in the other direction," the animal rescue worker said.
Although red foxes are synonymous with Britain's countryside -- where they're hunted by horse-riding rural folk -- it's thought that more than 33,000 now live in cities.
Some British newspapers have been calling for the critters to be culled after a fox attacked 9-month-old twins at their home in East London last summer. And in January, a 4-foot-long supersized fox weighing a whopping 26.5 pounds was caught and killed in southeast England after it gobbled up a domestic cat.
However, fox experts point out that the nocturnal mammals are naturally shy scavengers and say that these were isolated incidents.
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Upon the dial's disc, whose pedestal,
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Crumbles in sun and rain.
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riada
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Re: Animals in the News...
« Reply #10 on: Mar 3rd, 2011, 11:12pm » |
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Culprit Poisoning New Jersey Pet Dogs
DOWNE TOWNSHIP, N.J. - Who is responsible for the deaths of five dogs in New Jersey? Animal welfare officials are investigating toxic meat planted on a popular dog trail in rural Cumberland County.
Three dogs already died of poisoning, and the deaths of two others may also be connected.
All off the dogs died after eating meat they found while on walks on trails in Cumberland County.
People in this neighborhood of Port Norris say they've walked their dogs along a trail for years. But in the past three weeks, five dogs have died. Now neighbors want to know who is literally baiting their dogs to death.
Joan Jardell says it appears someone laced this land they use as a neighborhood trail---with poison infused meat.
"It would have been my last thought in the whole world that it would have been poison," Jardell says.
Her five-year-old golden retriever Raymond ate some tainted meat before she could stop him and died just minutes later.
"It was like leaves and dirt and all i could tell was like it was a reddish color," she said.
"He was convulsing foaming at the mouth and just whimpering."
In a race to get Raymond to the vet, Joan says he went from vibrant to lifeless after struggling to take his last breath.
"The doctor came out and said no, he's gone, he's gone," she said.
Raymond is the first of five dogs believed to have fallen victim to the planted "bait balls".
In the latest incident, a man lost two of his dogs to the poison Wednesday, and before that two dogs belonging to a woman who lives across from the trail died.
Cumberland County SPCA director Bev Greco said the dogs experienced seizures and died within minutes after ingesting the balls of meat. The first two deaths occurred Feb. 13. The latest were reported Wednesday by an owner who said the dogs died a few days earlier.
Greco said tests turned up negative for arsenic and strychnine, and it's not certain what poison was used.
She told The Press of Atlantic City that officials think someone may have set out the poisoned meat to try to kill coyotes.
The SPCA is warning dog owners to avoid the area
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Re: Animals in the News...
« Reply #11 on: Mar 5th, 2011, 10:40pm » |
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Dog ate toes of diabetic Ore. owner as he slept
ROSEBURG, Ore., Fri Mar 04, 08:08 PM
A dog ate three of his owner's toes as the diabetic man slept, most likely out of instinct to help remove diseased flesh, animal experts say.
James Little, 61, called 911 on Tuesday to say his dog had eaten the body parts while he was sleeping. He told The Associated Press on Friday that he is "doing fine."
Little suffers from diabetes, of which one symptom is numbness in the hands or feet.
The dog, a Shiba Inu, was acting on its instinct to remove diseased flesh and does not appear to be dangerous, said Douglas County Animal Control Deputy Lee Bartholomew.
Dogs have been known to eat dead or diseased human flesh. A family's dog in Illinois ate the toes off a 10-year-old girl's left foot while she slept last December. She had a sore on her foot.
In August, a dog in Michigan bit off most of its owner's infected big toe after the man passed out from alcohol. The man had diabetes, and the animal was apparently attracted to a festering wound.
Little has given up ownership of his dog, putting it up for adoption pending an examination and a standard 10-day quarantine to determine it does not have rabies, Bartholomew said.
"We are going to find a new home for it," Bartholomew said.
The dog was taken to Roseburg's Saving Grace Pet Adoption Center, where executive director Wendy Kang said the animal is healthy but appears anxious.
Little was in fair condition at a hospital and expected to be released later Friday.
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Re: Animals in the News...
« Reply #12 on: Mar 6th, 2011, 10:18pm » |
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Underdog: Hundreds seek Okla. pup back from `dead'
OKLAHOMA CITY, Wed Mar 02, 11:42 PM
Hundreds of people from the United States and Canada want to adopt an Oklahoma dog that survived an attempt to euthanize it.
The puppy was one of five stray dogs that Sulphur animal control officer Scott Prall put to sleep Friday - or so he thought. Prall found one of the dogs alive Saturday in a trash bin set aside for dead animals and took it to veterinarian technician Amanda Kloski.
"He was prancing around. He heard me drive up, and he looked up and saw me," Prall said Wednesday.
He said he initially found the stray dog near the animal shelter Friday and tried to kill it by injecting the dog with two lethal doses of a sedative in a foreleg and the heart. Each dose should have been enough to kill the dog, and the second injection was meant to ensure it worked.
Kloski noted the dog's survival on a pet adoption website, drawing the attention of Marcia Machtiger of Pittsburgh, who donated $100 so Kloski could board the dog for a week.
A girl from Sulphur named the puppy Wall-e, after a Disney movie character, and Machtiger posted Wall-e's story on her Facebook page.
She and Kloski are sorting through hundreds of e-mails and phone calls from people wanting to adopt the lucky dog.
"So many people are interested," Kloski said. "Now we're going through and trying to find the adoption applications for the best home."
Wall-e will be placed in a foster home at the end of the week while the search for a permanent home continues. Both Kloski and Machtiger said they have never seen so many people want to adopt one animal.
Machtiger said people are interested in the puppy because his story is unique.
"Having been euthanized basically twice. ... It's a resurrection and a will to live and a medical anomaly," she said.
Sulphur is about 80 miles south of Oklahoma City.
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Re: Animals in the News...
« Reply #13 on: Mar 7th, 2011, 10:58pm » |
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SD sheriff now oversees more bison than people
MCLAUGHLIN, S.D., Mon Mar 07, 08:06 AM
Sheriff Keith Gall is known as the "singing sheriff" for his a cappella performances at weddings and funerals. But thanks to a judge, the gun-toting tenor now spends more time with a grunting, testy audience of some 6,000 bison that outnumber people in his South Dakota county.
"I'm known as everything related to buffalo now," joked the 42-year-old Gall, who was elected sheriff two decades ago. "It's all part of the job, but this is a first."
His rural Corson County is home to most of a sprawling ranch owned by a Florida real estate tycoon whose herd was ordered into the sheriff's care after more than a dozen bison were found dead. Many more were malnourished and others were stuck by vehicles when they escaped in search of food.
Gall has worn several hats in his life - radio station disc jockey, band singer, wedding crooner - and he grew up on a cattle ranch, but he never expected law enforcement would put him back in a pair of manure-covered boots.
Yet now he spends up to 12 hours a day at the 35,000-acre ranch, often cruising desolate roads to check on bison roaming the windswept, snow-covered grasslands. The rolling terrain is interrupted only by a barbed wire fence, trails in the snow left by buffalo and hay-hauling tractors, and shin-high piles of evidence that the iconic Wild West animals - many of which were underweight and lethargic when Gall took over - are eating well.
"They're getting some bellies on them now," Gall said as he eyed several hundred of the herd from his patrol car on a recent morning. "The animals are looking better and are more active, moving around more than they were before."
The county has spent more than $50,000 providing feed and plowing roads at the ranch, which straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border.
Authorities are billing its owner, Maurice Wilder - who has a history of legal and neighborly problems in both states - though no charges have been filed since a judge impounded the animals Feb. 1. Wilder didn't return several messages from The Associated Press. The AP wasn't permitted on his ranch.
"It's not the best of deals for our tax dollars," said Jerry Peterson, who owns the Prairie Dog Cafe in McLaughlin, a town where the bulk of the herd has migrated about 10 miles south of the North Dakota border.
Peterson said locals worry that property taxes could increase if the county is stuck paying for the bison's care. They're also tired of dealing with Wilder, who has owned the ranch for about 17 years. He has been investigated for animal abuse and neglect, and residents have complained about his bison running loose, trampling fences and feasting on neighbors' hay. Charges of animal neglect and livestock at large were dropped in North Dakota two years ago after Wilder's company paid eight nearby ranchers more than $60,000 for damage.
"This isn't new news here," Peterson said during a lull before the lunchtime crowd. "We don't need the bad publicity of a clown like that doing this."
South Dakota State Veterinarian Dustin Odekoven said the animals are "all getting adequate care at this time" and are being closely monitored. Wilder needs to adopt a new management plan that must be approved by a judge before the herd could be returned.
"There are some big problems, so it's going to take time," Odekoven said.
So it's unclear when Gall's oversight may end.
Snow and frigid weather, although attributed to a handful of the bison deaths, have kept down crime in the county, which is home to only 4,000 residents and located within the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Vehicle accidents also have slowed, so Gall's two deputies and lone dispatcher have been able to tend to the county's nine-bed jail and shoulder much of the office work.
"We're not going full force like we usually do this time of year," the sheriff said. "That really helps, because it would be more than an office my size could swallow."
Gall makes the 60-mile round-trip at least once a day to the ranch, which his wife jokes is his new office. His primary duty is ensuring that Wilder's five ranch hands are tending to the bison and that pasture roads are plowed for access. When loads of hay bales are moved in, which can take hours, Gall uses his squad car to block traffic on state highways and county roads. He walks the corrals to ensure hay is in feeders and water is available.
"I can't say I've worn out a dozen hayfork handles feeding the buffalo," Gall said. "I'm making sure things are getting done."
Which has been appreciated on the ranch's North Dakota side in Sioux County, where Sheriff Frank Landeis said about 300 bison were recently located and five were found dead. The sheriff, who has no staff, said at least two ranchers intend to file claims against Wilder for damage to hay supplies and fences after his bison were reported walking over fences and snow-covered ditches.
Landeis said he's relieved Gall is in charge.
"Better him than me? You got that right," Landeis said. "He's got his hands full and he already has enough on his plate. But if he needs help, I'll be there."
"I'm not trying to toot his horn," added Gall's wife, Heather, a volunteer ambulance worker and the county's treasurer, "but he probably is the best man for the job."
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Re: Animals in the News...
« Reply #14 on: Mar 9th, 2011, 11:19pm » |
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Mass fish death fouls California marina
REDONDO BEACH, Calif., Tue Mar 08, 08:43 PM
Redondo Beach city workers use wheel barrels to remove dead fish that were floating in the King Harbor area of Redondo Beach...More
An estimated one million fish turned up dead Tuesday in a Southern California marina, creating a floating feast for pelicans, gulls and other sea life and a stinky mess for harbor authorities.
The sardines apparently depleted the water of oxygen and suffocated after getting lost in the marina, officials said.
"All indications are it's a naturally occurring event," said Andrew Hughan, a California Fish and Game spokesman at the scene.
The die-off was unusual but not unprecedented.
"In the world of fishing this is an afternoon's catch," he noted.
Boaters awakened to find a carpet of small silvery fish surrounding their vessels, said Staci Gabrielli, marine coordinator for King Harbor Marina on the Los Angeles County coast.
Authorities said there was also a 12- to 18-inch layer of dead fish on the bottom of the marina.
The scale was impressive to locals at King Harbor, which shelters about 1,400 boats on south Santa Monica Bay.
"The fishermen say they've never seen anything this bad that wasn't red tide," Hughan said, referring to the natural blooms of toxic algae that can kill fish.
Brent Scheiwe, an official of Sea Lab, a Los Angeles Conservation Corps research program at Redondo, said testing of some of the water showed oxygen levels near zero.
Hughan said water samples showed no oils or chemicals that could have contributed to the deaths. He said some of the fish were being shipped to a Fish and Game laboratory for study but the cause was likely to be uncomplicated.
The fish appeared to have come into the marina during the night and probably couldn't find their way out, he said.
"The simplest explanation is the fish got lost. ... They get confused easily," he said.
Hughan said there was no safety issue at all but "it's going to smell bad for quite a while."
Fire Department, Harbor Patrol and other city workers set to work scooping up fish in nets and buckets. A skip loader then carried them to big trash bins. Officials initially estimated there were millions of fish, but Fish and Game roughly estimated about a million.
City officials estimated the cleanup would cost $100,000. Fire Chief Dan Madrigal said the fish would be taken to a landfill specializing in organic materials.
On the water, nature was tackling the problem in other ways.
"The seals are gorging themselves," Hughan said.
Large groups of other fish could be seen nibbling at the floating mats of dead creatures.
"The sea's going to recycle everything. It's the whole circle-of-life thing," Hughan said.
Although Fish and Game authorities were focusing on the idea that the sardines simply got confused, other theories abounded.
Hughan noted that some fishermen reported waves were coming over the harbor breakwaters during the night. That washes bird excrement off the rocks and into the marina and can cause the water to be depleted of oxygen.
Gabrielli, the marina employee, said the fish appeared to have moved into the harbor to escape a red tide then possibly became trapped due to high winds overnight.
Ed Parnell, a marine ecologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, called Gabrielli's theory plausible, although generally he would expect the wind would have mixed oxygen into the water.
Parnell said these types of fish kills are more typically seen in the Gulf of Mexico or the Salton Sea, the enormous desert lake in southeastern California where millions of fish die with some regularity.
Sea Lab's Scheiwe said the fish may have gotten trapped in the 30-foot deep marina while sheltering from rough seas overnight.
"They like to follow each other, so it only takes a few" to create a mass migration, he said.
"Over time they will find their way out, but if it's rough out there they probably stayed in shelter," he said.
Redondo Beach police Sgt. Phil Keenan said he believed a predator fish chased the sardines into the marina where their sheer numbers caused them to suffocate.
Raphael Kudela, a professor of ocean sciences at University of California, Santa Cruz, said sardines are not the brightest fish.
"They are that dumb actually," he said. "They get into shallow water and then can't figure out how to get back out and you've got such a concentration in one small area they literally pull the oxygen down until they suffocate."
Carl Johnson, 59, and his wife, Marie, 57, came from nearby Torrance to see the fish calamity.
"We've had that stuff of the hundreds of birds dying in the Midwest and now this. ... You do think about life and death," he said.
"These fish were swimming freely yesterday," he said philosophically.
Marie Johnson added: "It's really sad."
Scientists: Oldest wild bird in US is new mother
HONOLULU, Tue Mar 08, 06:29 PM
The oldest known wild bird in the U.S. is a new mother. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist spotted the Laysan albatross that's at least 60 years old a few weeks ago. It was with a chick at Midway Atoll, a remote wildlife refuge 1,300 miles northwest of Honolulu.
A U.S. Geological Survey scientist first banded the seabird as she incubated an egg in 1956. She was estimated to be at least 5 years old at the time. The albatross has since worn out five bird bands.
Bruce Peterjohn, the chief of the North American Bird Banding Program, said the albatross is the oldest wild bird documented by the 90-year-old bird banding program, which is run by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and Canada.
"She looks great," Peterjohn said in a news release Tuesday. "To know that she can still successfully raise young at age 60-plus, that is beyond words."
The bird, named Wisdom, has likely raised at least 30 to 35 chicks during her life, Peterjohn said.
Albatross lay just one egg a year. But it takes most of a year to incubate and raise a chick, and the seabirds sometimes take a year off from parenting after successfully raising a fledged bird.
Woman trying to pet moose in Alaska park gets kick
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Tue Mar 08, 04:56 PM
Don't mess with the moose.
That's the warning police in Anchorage, Alaska, are repeating after one of the animals kicked a woman in the chest and shoulder at a city park. She was checked by medics Monday afternoon and didn't have to go to a hospital.
The Anchorage Daily News reports the moose had been in Town Square Park most of the day feeding on trees. The woman in her 20s was attacked when she tried to pet it.
Police spokeswoman Anita Shell says the moose is not a threat unless provoked, so people need to give it space.
RIADAS RETORT: What? Getting attacked trying to pet a WILD ANIMAL? who would have ever thought? 
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