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This Week In the News
[Rottweiler
alerts family in time to escape fire]
[Man
fined for tossing pig over hotel counter
] [Mom
who allegedly left child in car faces 2 charges]
[Mom
says ferret, not dog, gnawed off baby's toes
] [Man
'can't justify' why he castrated kitten with scissors
] [Cat
dropped off 20 miles away finds her way back to owner
] [Man
can lessen sentence if he dresses like dog
] [Tall
man's long arms reach into dolphins' stomachs
] [13-foot
pet snake strangles owner
] [Deer
has 7 legs, both male and female reproductive organs] [Teen
cleared in 'meowing' case
] [Mom
allegedly leaves child in car, shops with dog]
[Calf
rescued after fighting off slaughterhouse
] [Calf born with two faces
] [Dog
with 8 puppies helps out a dozen more
] [Reward
offered for information about sex assault, death of two puppies]
Associated
Press
Dec. 11, 2006 10:39 AM
GRESHAM,
Wis. - A Rottweiler awoke a mother in time to grab her two young
sons and escape from their burning house over the weekend in eastern
Wisconsin, according to sheriff's officials.
The 150-pound dog, named Zeus, awoke Jennifer Brusoe at about 8:30
p.m. Saturday at their rented house, according to a Shawano County
sheriff's officials.
Brusoe grabbed her two sons, ages 5 and 6, and escaped. One of the
children was injured from a piece of falling ceiling, but his
injuries were not life threatening, Deputy Jesse Sperberg said in a
news release.
"She said the whole ceiling was in flames," sheriff's Sgt.
Staber Cook said. "She grabbed the children as the ceiling
collapsed in the bedrooms."
The Rottweiler and a family cat escaped and were picked up by a
neighbor.
The Gresham Fire Department was investigating the fire, which they
don't consider suspicious. Cook said it may have started from an
electrical overload caused by electric heaters.
The fire caused extensive damage to the house and the family was
temporarily staying at a hotel, the sheriff's department said.
Zoo
escapee flamingo finds a friend 600 miles away
Associated
Press
Dec. 11, 2006 08:36 AM
WICHITA,
Kan. - A flamingo that escaped from the Sedgwick County Zoo has
turned up 600 miles away at a national wildlife refuge in Texas and
apparently has found a friend.
The pale pink bird was one of two flamingos that fled the Kansas zoo
in July 2005.
"He's found a wild Caribbean flamingo friend that is originally
from Mexico but probably came up during the hurricanes," said
zoo spokeswoman Christan Baumer, referring to hurricanes Katrina and
Rita.
Biologists who spotted the bird at the Aransas National Wildlife
Refuge on Texas' Gulf Coast identified it by its leg band, and zoo
officials confirmed it as one of their missing flamingos.
They decided to leave the flamingo in Texas for now.
"Anything we do down there might be very disruptive to the
waterfowl already down there," said Joe Barkowski, the zoo's
curator of birds.
Zoo flamingos' feathers are clipped to keep the birds grounded, but
last summer the zoo apparently missed clipping the feathers of the
two that got away. When a big gust of wind came along, Baumer said,
the birds discovered their feathers were long enough to fly.
About half of the zoo's 75 flamingos came from Africa in 2003. They
were wild and accustomed to flying, so it's not surprising they
would take off on their own, Barkowski said.
"The 600-mile journey it took to get to Aransas is kind of
surprising," he said. "We're not seeing migrations of that
distance a lot."
Zoo officials said they haven't heard what happened to the other
flamingo that escaped.
Associated
Press
Dec. 6, 2006 03:24 PM
WEST
POINT, Miss. - When pigs fly, indeed. Kevin Pugh, 20, of Cedar
Bluff, has been fined $279 for tossing a pig over the counter at the
Holiday Inn Express in West Point on Nov. 12. Pugh pleaded guilty
Tuesday in city court to a charge of disturbing the peace.
West Point Police Lt. Danny McCaskill has said Pugh didn't know the
employees of the hotel. There was no evidence intoxication was a
factor.
No one was hurt, including the pig, officers said.
"This was the silliest thing I've ever seen," McCaskill
said. "Almost every officer we had was involved because the
incidents kept happening at different hours."
McCaskill said Pugh was accused of walking into the hotel and
throwing the 60-pound pig over the counter.
"He said it was a prank," McCaskill said. "It must be
some redneck thing, because I haven't ever heard of anything like
it."
McCaskill said there have been four late-night incidents involving
animal-tossing at West Point businesses. Twice a pig was tossed and
two of the incidents involved possums.
All four of the disturbances took place between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.,
McCaskill said.
Pugh is accused in a second animal-throwing incident at a Hardee's
restaurant. He has pleaded innocent to disturbing the peace in that
case and will appear in city court on Dec. 19.
Michael
Ferraresi
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 4, 2007 11:25 AM
The
Scottsdale mom who garnered national attention for reportedly
leaving her 2-year-old son asleep in her BMW while she shopped faces
two charges of misdemeanor child endangerment, officials said.
Gardenia Zakrzewski-Johansson, 39, is expected to enter her plea to
the charges Feb. 2 during an arraignment at Scottsdale City Court.
Johansson is accused of leaving her toddler with a Scottsdale
Fashion Square parking valet on Dec. 11 while she took her dog
inside the mall to pick up a Christmas present and eye-makeup
remover at Neiman Marcus.
The second count of child endangerment stems from an a Dec. 4
incident in which Johansson left her child at a north Scottsdale
jewelry store while she went to a nearby Starbucks, police said.
If convicted of the Class 1 misdemeanors, Johannson could face up to
six months in jail, $2,500 in fines, three years' probation and
other penalties, such as parenting classes, according to Scottsdale
City Prosecutor Caron Close.
The former Montessori preschool teacher also faces a Child
Protective Services probe in the wake of the Dec. 11 incident at
Fashion Square.
Associated
Press
Dec. 20, 2006 04:14 PM
BENTON,
La. - A woman jailed after four of her infant daughter's toes were
gnawed off says the family's pet ferret did it, not their pit bull
pup as police had said.
But her husband blames the dog, a city official said.
"The way the bite marks were on her foot, the ferret being out
of its cage, I knew it wasn't the dog," Mary Hansche told KTBS-TV
on Tuesday.
The month-old girl was injured Dec. 10 as Hansche, 22, and her
husband, Christopher Hansche, 26, slept; they woke up when they
heard her crying. The parents were jailed in lieu of $50,000 bond
each, booked with child desertion and criminal negligence.
The husband had blamed the dog and told police the ferret had been
in its cage all night, Bossier City spokesman Mark Natale said
Wednesday.
The charges wouldn't change regardless of which pet was involved,
Natale said, because the baby "was injured by an animal while
in the custody of the parents." The girl has been released from
the hospital and is in state custody.
Attorney Pam Smart said she is waiting for results of a hair
analysis to back up the couple's statement that they were not using
drugs, calling the case a "very unfortunate accident."
Canadian
Press
Dec. 20, 2006 05:16 PM
HALIFAX
- Dennis Perreault suspects a mixture of stress, anger and
painkillers made him castrate his daughter's seven-week-old kitten
with scissors last May.
"I don't know what happened. I can't justify it," he said
Wednesday, adding he was not trying to neuter the cat.
The 38-year-old Halifax man pleaded guilty to two charges of animal
cruelty in provincial court for cutting off the kitten's testicles
and part of its penis.
He will be sentenced March 6.
The kitten was bloated with backed-up urine when it arrived at the
vet. Emergency surgery initially saved its life, but it died four
days later of infection.
Perreault had adopted two kittens, a male and a female, for his
11-year-old daughter after responding to a newspaper ad offering the
free cats. The female kitten has since been adopted again.
He had just undergone surgery to remove an infected bone from his
jaw when he hurt the animal, he said.
"I was on antibiotics and different kinds of painkillers, there
was a bit of stress in my life," he explained.
"I am ready to deal with the consequences."
He said he is most concerned about his daughter's feelings.
"I don't want to put her through any more suffering than she's
been through. I want to show that I want to resolve the thing."
SPCA spokeswoman Judith Gass was relieved by Perreault's guilty
plea.
"We had many, many, many, many calls on this case - it really
saddened a lot of people," she said.
More than 1,100 people signed an online petition started by two
local cat lovers who want to see Perreault go to jail.
Perreault's daughter has forgiven him, but he hasn't forgiven
himself, he said, wringing his trembling hands as large tears
dripped on the collar of his coat.
"I did not only hurt the cat, I hurt her, too."
Associated
Press
Dec. 21, 2006 07:39 AM
PIKESVILLE,
Md. - Athena the cat knows her way home. Three weeks after she was
chased off a bus in Maryland, the black cat with green eyes has made
her way back to her owner.
Athena's owner lives in New York and had been visiting her parents
in Maryland over Thanksgiving. Athena got loose from her carrying
case after her owner fell asleep, and thinking she was a stowaway,
the bus driver let her off about 20 miles into the trip.
Owner Ali Streimer didn't know it but she wasn't supposed to take
the cat on the bus.
After three weeks of frantic searching, Athena finally was spotted
near the bus stop where she and Streimer first got on.
Despite her ordeal, Athena is in good health.
13-foot
pet snake strangles owner
Associated
Press
Dec. 18, 2006 08:46 AM
CINCINNATI
- A 13-foot boa constrictor wrapped itself around its owner's neck
and killed the man in his home, authorities said.
An acquaintance found Ted Dres, 48, inside the snake's cage Saturday
and called police, the Hamilton County Sheriff's office said.
The snake was still strangling Dres when deputies arrived, and the
officers had to work with members of an animal protection group to
remove the reptile, the sheriff's office said.
Dres' snake will be kept at an animal shelter awaiting instructions
from police or Dres' family, said Andy Mahlman, spokesman for the
Cincinnati Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
"People who keep these type of animals as pets should know
exactly what they're doing and what they're capable of,"
Mahlman said.
He said he has seen photographs of reptile owners posing with snakes
coiled around their necks.
"They don't realize they could be a few seconds away from
death," he said.
Associated
Press
Dec. 18, 2006 10:19 AM
PAINESVILLE,
Ohio - A man who shot his Great Dane in the head may have his jail
sentence reduced if he dresses up as a dog.
Municipal Judge Michael Cicconetti offered Thursday to cut Robert M.
Clark's sentence to 10 days in jail if he wears a Safety Pup costume
and visits the city's five elementary schools. The mascot educates
children about issues ranging from traffic safety to drug abuse.
Clark, 38, pleaded no contest to an animal cruelty charge and was
sentenced to 180 days in jail for shooting his dog.
Cicconetti suspended all but 30 days of Clark's sentence if he pays
the Lake County Human Society for the dog's veterinarian bills. The
judge then offered to cut an additional 20 days if Clark dresses up
as Safety Pup.
Clark was arrested July 3 after neighbors reported hearing the dog's
cries and police found the injured animal. The humane society took
the dog to an emergency veterinary clinic, but he suffered brain
damage and had to be euthanized, the group said.
Clark is appealing the sentence, court officials said.
Associated
Press
Dec. 12, 2006 04:58 PM
JEANNETTE,
Pennsylvania - You could say it was the purr-fect ending a
14-year-old boy wanted. A judge on Monday dismissed a harassment
charge against the teenager, who was accused of repeatedly
"meowing" at his neighbor, 78-year-old Alexandra Carasia.
The judge reprimanded the boy, telling him he was immature and
should have used better judgment, but decided no criminal charges
were warranted.
The boy's family and Carasia do not get along. The boy's mother said
the family got rid of their cat after Carasia complained to police
it used her flower garden as a litter box.
The boy said he only meowed at the woman twice; Carasia testified
that he did so every time he saw her.
The judge heard the case Aug. 22, but decided to wait 90 days before
ruling to see how the boy and Carasia got along.
Carasia was satisfied with the reprimand.
"I'm just glad he at least reprimanded him," she said.
"He used to be a good boy. It has done emotional harm to me.
... I was the one who was tortured."
The boy's mother said the case should have been dismissed in August.
Michael
Ferraresi
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 12, 2006 06:10 PM
SCOTTSDALE
- A mother faces child endangerment charges after a valet called
police to report she left her 2-year-old son alone in her BMW while
she shopped at Scottsdale Fashion Square.
Gardenia Zakrzewski-Johansson was arrested in the mall parking lot
outside Neiman Marcus after valets watched her walk into the store
with a small dog under her arm, directing them to watch her car with
the child inside.
"I'll be quick, don't tell anybody," Zakrzewski told one
of the valets before going into the store for nearly 30 minutes,
according to the police report.
The 39-year-old woman faces a Class 1 misdemeanor charge for the
Monday afternoon incident, Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark said.
"We don't think it's ever appropriate to leave your child alone
in the car for five minutes, let alone 25 minutes," Clark said.
Zakrzewski-Johansson was allegedly uncooperative with officers who
handcuffed her at the scene. She "kept stating that she did
nothing wrong and that the valets were supposed to be watching her
child" while she went inside Neiman-Marcus to pick up a
Christmas gift, the report said.
Associated
Press
Dec. 14, 2006 07:52 AM
BEIJING
- The long arms of the world's tallest man reached in and saved two
dolphins by pulling out plastic from their stomachs, state media and
an aquarium official said Thursday.
The dolphins got sick after nibbling on plastic from the edge of
their pool at an aquarium in Liaoning province. Attempts to use
surgical instruments to remove the plastic failed because the
dolphins' stomachs contracted in response to the instruments, the
China Daily newspaper reported.
Veterinarians then decided to ask for help from Bao Xishun, a
7-foot-9 herdsman from Inner Mongolia with 41.7-inch arms, state
media said.
Bao, 54, was confirmed last year by the Guinness Book of World
Records as the world's tallest living man.
Chen Lujun, the manager of the Royal Jidi Ocean World aquarium, told
The Associated Press that the shape of the dolphins' stomachs made
it difficult to push an instrument very far in without hurting the
animals. People with shorter arms could not reach the plastic, he
said.
"When we failed to get the objects out we sought the help of
Bao Xishun from Inner Mongolia and he did it successfully
yesterday," Chen said. "The two dolphins are in very good
condition now."
Photographs showed the jaws of one of the dolphins being held back
by towels so Bao could reach inside the animal without being bitten.
"Some very small plastic pieces are still left in the dolphins'
stomachs," Zhu Xiaoling, a local doctor, told Xinhua.
"However the dolphins will be able to digest these and are
expected to recover soon."
World's
smallest dog only 6 inches long
Associated
Press
Dec. 14, 2006 08:15 AM
LARGO,
Fla. - Brandy the Chihuahua is 6 inches long and weighs less that 2
pounds. She's not allowed on the furniture because if she jumped
off, she'd break.
She's also, according the Guinness World Records book, officially
the Smallest Dog in the World.
Brandy's owner, Paulette Keller, carries her around in a
sheepskin-lined purse. You don't pet Brandy so much as rub her with
a thumb and forefinger.
Brandy made the transformation from Keller's lap ornament to the
Smallest Dog in the World over a year ago. A breeder told Keller she
thought Brandy was smaller than the smallest dog in the Guinness
book.
Keller took Brandy to the vet, who signed papers listing her vital
statistics. Bug-eyed Brandy made the Guinness' 2006 edition, on the
same page with the dog who can fit five tennis balls in its mouth.
"I just love her," Keller said. "It wouldn't matter
if she's the smallest. She's just a really sweet dog."
Associated
Press
Dec. 14, 2006 08:15 AM
FOND
DU LAC, Wis. - Rick Lisko hunts deer with a bow but found his most
unusual one driving his truck. One day last month, Lisko found a
young buck with nub antlers - and seven legs. Lisko said it also had
both male and female reproductive organs.
"It was definitely a freak of nature," Lisko said. "I
guess it's a real rarity."
He said he slowed down as the buck and two does ran across his
driveway Nov. 22, but the buck ran under the truck and was hit.
When he looked at the animal, he noticed 3- to 4-inch appendages
growing from the rear legs. Later, he found a smaller appendage
growing from one of the front legs.
"It's a pretty weird deer," he said, describing the extra
legs as resembling "crab pinchers."
"It kind of gives you the creeps when you look at it," he
said.
Doug Bilgo of the state Department of Natural Resources came to
Lisko's property near Mud Lake in the town of Osceola to tag the
deer.
"I have never seen anything like that in all the years that
I've been working as a game warden and being a hunter myself,"
Bilgo said.
No matter how freaky, the deer was skinned and consumed.
"And by the way, I did eat it," Lisko said. "It was
tasty."
Lindsey Collom
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 4, 2007 06:10 PM
Authorities are looking for one or more
people in connection with the death of two 6-week-old puppies that
had been sexually assaulted.
The two female Shih Tzu puppies each weighed less than two pounds.
Post-death examinations revealed the canines had internal injuries
and infection from apparent sexual assault with a blunt object.
The Arizona Humane Society and Silent Witness are offering a reward
of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest or
indictment in the case.
"Whoever did this must be accountable for his or her
actions," Arizona Humane Society President Cheryl Naumann said
Thursday in a released statement. "This person or persons could
pose a threat to other animals or people."
A west Phoenix veterinarian alerted authorities Nov. 28 when one of
the dogs came in bruised around the abdomen and torn in the
hindquarters. The pup died during the visit.
The owner, who police do not consider a suspect, led police to
another home where a second injured Shih Tzu puppy was found. That
dog died at a pet hospital.
Reports from two separate veterinary pathologists at the University
of Arizona concluded the puppies died of bacterial infection likely
induced by a sexual assault, according to the Arizona Humane
Society.
State lawmakers outlawed bestiality in 2006. The law bans any type
of sexual contact with an animal and is punishable by a presumptive
prison term of five years.
Anyone with information is asked to call Silent Witness at (480)
WITNESS. Callers can remain anonymous.
NOTE:
Several individuals, including a local radio DJ, has offered
to donate an additional $1,000 reward to anyone who gives up the
names of these sick individual(s). The contingency is that the
animal sex offenders must be turned over to these individuals prior
to being to being turned over to the authorities. Way to go,
98 KUPD! WE love you guys and fully support any type of
"punishment" that you deem necessary to people horrible
enough to do this to any type of helpless creature.
Associated Press
Jan. 4, 2007 10:35 AM
BUFFALO, N.Y. - A western New York
family had a crisis on its hands when their dog died after giving
birth to 14 puppies. A dozen of the Newfoundland-Saint Bernard
puppies survived, but they needed milk, and fast.
Luckily, the Pufpaff family found a surrogate. A friend's dog who
just had puppies was pressed into service. Laura Pufpaff says within
hours, the motherless pups went from near death to completely
healthy.
The friend's dog is now mothering 20 puppies -- her own eight plus
the 12 orphans.
Family and friends are pitching in to help. Things can get crazy at
feeding time, when laundry baskets are used to lug the pups around.
Associated Press
Jan. 4, 2007 10:24 AM
RURAL
RETREAT, Va. - It sounds like something out of a supermarket
tabloid, but there really is a calf with two faces at a Virginia
farm..
It was born late last month, and according to the farmer it breathes
out of two noses, and has two tongues that move independently. There
also appears to be a single socket containing two eyes where the
heads split.
The calf has just one mouth but two lower jaws, and is fed through a
tube. The farmer, who calls it the craziest thing he's ever seen,
says the animal is healthy.
She was the product of artificial insemination, which was supposed
to create a genetically superior specimen.
Associated Press
Jan. 3, 2007 03:28 PM
MUMBAI, India - A 2-year-old calf saved
his own hide on New Year's Day when he refused to be led into a
Mumbai slaughterhouse, an animal activist said Wednesday.
The calf was being taken to an abattoir along with hundreds of
buffaloes and goats when it charged into a nearby warehouse and kept
butchers at bay until he was rescued the next day by animal
activists.
J.C. Khanna of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
said police called in his team on Monday evening after trying for
seven hours to draw the animal out of the warehouse.
Khanna's team was able to get close enough only on Tuesday morning
and injected the frightened calf with a sedative. The calf is being
treated for injuries incurred while scrambling around the warehouse.
"His body was bruised because he ran around the warehouse and
was hit all over," said Khanna. "But he is the luckiest
animal out of so many thousands that were slaughtered that day. He
saved his own life."
Monday was also the Muslim festival of Eid in Mumbai when sheep,
cows, goats and bulls are sacrificed during the religious holiday.
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