Rescued: Dog and koala stuck in abandoned mine shaft

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In what the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services in Australia have called an “unusual” rescue, a dog and a koala bear were pulled to safety after getting themselves stuck in an abandoned mine shaft in Ipswich on Saturday. Rescue crews employed the use of animal bags, nets and ropes to hoist the pair out of the shaft in Rosewood.

According to 9News, the rescue crew consisted of firefighters and the RSPCA, but the initial problem centered around the shaft being too dangerous for the crews to be sent down. Fortunately the rescuers were full of original ideas, and the dog was pulled to safety first. His frightened owner stood by, and when the pooch was hoisted up with the rope, he was then sent off to a veterinarian for emergency treatment.

And then came the battle to save the koala who was being less than cooperative. Feared the animal was blind, crews were finally forced to trap the koala in a net, however the sprightly little guy had other ideas. Instead of being ensnared in the net and brought up to safety, the koala used the net to climb out on his own. He is currently in the care of the RSPCA.

(Photo screenshot via 9News)

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90-year-old woman could go to jail over ‘barking’ dogs dispute with neighbor

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A 90-year-old woman from Phoenix, Arizona faces a $2,500 fine and/or jail time over a barking dog dispute with her neighbor. Dolly Dentz, an extremely independent senior,  says her two dogs named Fluffy and Boots are part of her family; she loves both of the two year old terriers her son gifted to her.

Dentz could lose her dogs as well as wind up in jail. The sad story began six months ago when Jerry Angerman, Dolly’s next door neighbor, filed a complaint with the City of Phoenix claiming the dogs were barking day and night. According to AzFamily.com,  Angerman kept a written log of days and times the dogs barked.  Dolly was charged with a class-one misdemeanor. But there’s more, because Dolly says her dogs are not barkers. AH Watukee reports Dentz’ son, who has been caring for Fluffy and Boots, states the neighbor is angry at the wrong pet owner. The complaint filed with the city lists a third barking dog which doesn’t belong to Dolly.

In Phoenix, anyone can file a barking dog complaint, and all they have to do is keep a log of the perceived barking offenses. No video evidence is required nor is a report from the local police, so in theory if your dog is on the wrong side of the neighbor’s “dislike list,” it could mean big trouble for dog and dog owner alike. The city did offer mediation between Angerman and Dolly, but that wasn’t successful:

“We agreed to get barking-dog collars, keep the doors closed overnight, and said if they bark, we’ll stop them,” Bob Dentz stated, “but Angerman said he wanted her to plead guilty. He wanted her on probation.”

“I’m not going to plead guilty to something,” said Dolly Dentz. “They don’t bark. They’re really not barking dogs.”

So basically Dolly, who has lived in the same retirement home for the last 37 years, has become so stressed she has broken down and cried in public worrying about what will happen to her and the two dogs who share her life. She faces the same crime classification for her barking dogs which includes charges of drunk driving and domestic violence. A judge could sentence her to six-months in jail. What kind of justice is this?

 

Dolly is due back in court on June 16th.

(Photo of barking dogs screenshot by Kimberly Carrillo via AHWatukeeNews)

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Scary moment when sea lion grabs little girl and pulls her into water

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In British Columbia, a sea lion grabbed a little girl and dragged her into the water. A cellphone video taken by Vancouver resident, Michael Fujiwara, captured the scary moment on Saturday as the child was grabbed by her dress into the harbor. According to CNN, the terrifying situation occurred at Steveston Fisherman’s Wharf in Richmond, British Columbia.

The sea lion quietly sticks its head in and out of the water as tourists try to encourage the animal to swim towards them – all the while they were allegedly throwing bits of food to encourage the animal to come closer. The video than shows a man offering his hand out – seemingly to tempt the sea lion to come even closer. Suddenly the animal jumps up and then back into the water, but gets dangerously close to a little girl peeking and smiling over the harbor. When the child sits down on the edge of the harbor wall, the animal pops up, grabs a hold of her dress – pulling her into the water while the crowd screams in horror.

“Oh my God!” can be heard from the shocked crowd.

In an instant, however a fully clothed man dives into the water and grabs the child holding her while the two swim back to the safety of the dock. The child’s parents quickly usher their child away. In an interview with CBC News,  Fujiwara stated the family was in shock and blames tourists for feeding the sea lion bread crumbs to attract it to the crowd.

“It initially jumped up to the girl to read her, I guess. And then it came back up a second time, but this time grabbing the girl by the waist and dragging her down into the water,” Fujiwara stated.

Robert Kiesman, chair person of the Steveston Harbour Authority, said there are multiple signs posted at the popular tourist destination warning people not to feed the sea mammals that frequent the area; warning there is a maximum fine of $100,000 for disturbing a marine animal.

“You wouldn’t go up to a grizzly bear in the bush and hand him a ham sandwich, so you shouldn’t be handing a thousand-pound wild mammal in the water slices of bread,” Kiesman said. “And you certainly shouldn’t be letting your little girl sit on the edge of the dock with her dress hanging down after the sea lion has already snapped at her once. Just totally reckless behaviour.”

Andrew Trites, director of UBC’s Marine Mammal Research Unit, said the animal wasn’t to blame for its behaviour in the video.

What fools these “mortals be.” Photos and video via You Tube by Michael Fujiwara.

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Check out the video. What do you think?

GOP House rep laments duck ramp on Capitol reflecting pool as ‘government waste’

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In Washington, D.C.,  it’s the Mallard duck families with their tiny quacks waddling towards the Capitol Reflecting Pool who have traditionally made the pool their home. The baby ducks have added to their families. According to the Architect of the Capitol, the popular attraction’s sloped limestone coping has made it difficult for tiny ducklings trying to climb out of the pool or trying to follow their parents back into the pool after their daily adventures.

On Monday, the Architect of the Capitol helped to save the adorable fluffy baby ducks, and installed duck ramps as they worked with  animal rescue service City Wildlife on designs that led to the new ramps. Tragically however, no good deed in Washington seems to go unpunished – even for non partisan ducklings.

Representative Mark Walker (R-N.C) tweeted his lament on the new duck ramp – calling it a government waste.

“If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it must be government waste,” Walker tweeted out on Tuesday afternoon.

Walker is the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group of conservatives that advocate for cuts in non-defense spending. Obviously, his suggestion however, didn’t meet with much popularity and social media quickly pounded back.

“I’m from North Carolina and I’m more proud of this duck ramp than I am of you representing my state,” tweeted Emily V. Gordon.

“I say we taxpayers should keep the duck ramp and stop paying the Congressman,” tweeted William.

And then there came a real classic. Dan Olsen w/ an ‘O’ had this to tweet:

“$30 lumber

$40 paint

$120 design

$63,000 – Trump Golf Trips

$200 labour

someone plz help me budget this duck ramp”

Read the original story here. There has not been any reply from the Congressman’s office, but really Mr. Walker – leave the ducklings alone and stop ruffling their feathers. It’s a soothing sight to see the ducks swimming quietly amidst the chaos of our government. If you’re so concerned with government wasting money, why don’t you grab your own credit card and do something nice by paying for the ramp yourself? Stands to reason, you would probably garner more votes than speaking “a fowl.”

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https://twitter.com/uscapitol/status/864564252702650370/video/1

Arkansas woman shoots towards teen ‘trying to rape the neighbor’s dog’

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In Centerton, Arkansas, a 40-year-old woman has been arrested for shooting a gun into the grass as a warning to a teenager “trying to rape the neighbor’s dog.” Kerrie Lenkerd told local authorities on April 17 she had looked out of her bedroom window and saw a 14-year-old sexually assaulting her neighbor’s dog.

According to KnwaNews, this wasn’t the first time Lenkerd had witnessed the disturbing act. She told Centerton Police she took her 9mm handgun out of her safe and went to confront the teen. When the teen ran away, Lenkerd alleges she fired a shot into the grass to scare him.  She then contacted the police; the teen had left his iPad at the scene which authorities seized as proof he had been there. Lenkerd has been charged with aggravated assault and ordered not to have any contact with the teen; her gun has been seized.

The teen, unidentified because of his age, has been charged with two counts of bestiality. According to witnesses who heard the gun shot noise, the teen was seen running away just wearing boxer shorts and a shirt. When interviewed by police, the boy said Lenkerd ordered him to put up his hands as she pointed a gun. He didn’t see her carrying a badge, so he ran away by jumping over the fence and heard the gun shot seconds later.When he arrived home, he lied to his mother before speaking to authorities.

Lenkerd’s attorney defended his client stating she was trying to protect the dog and had been careful not to shoot the teen. She is free on $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on June 5.

(Centerton, Arkansas photo of Lenkerd via police booking)

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Outrage over live kittens put inside claw machine

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Instead of pulling stuffed toys out from a claw machine, a Chinese shop has caused outrage throughout social media which lets players scoop up a real live kitten inside of the machine. In China, the claw machine games are very popular, and in this particular “amusement park” five kittens just a few weeks old were the prizes.

One of the videos showed three black and white kittens inside the machine as a man dropped a coin and used his skill to grab one of the kittens. An attached sticker near the funnel stated, “Master, bring me home.” The one kitten looked scared as the “claw” moved near her, but when it hit her neck, the claw missed and failed to pick here up. According to the Daily Mail, the video was originally posted on April 9 and went viral on Chinese social media. It is suggested that the filming took place in one of the Chinese cities, according to Chung Tien TV. Another video showed even younger kittens inside the machine as a woman tried to snag one – she missed and complained the machine was rigged!

When the video initially circulated, a few social media comments thought the action was “cute.” Not long after that however, people became more and more irate stating the machine “claws” were never intended to pick up live animals – much less defenseless kittens. One person commenting may have summed up the entire disturbing debacle with the following words:

“Omg I have never seen such a pathetic thing in my whole life, like who the hell thought that would be a good idea? I would slap that person and put him in that freaking machine.”

Photos of kittens in claw machine via shots captured from You Tube.

Wouldn’t we all? Watch the video here:

 

 

Son gives mom robotic cat after dementia forced her to surrender her pet

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This is a story about animals and people – maybe Virginia’s story about a robotic cat strays a bit farther away from what is usually written on these pages, but nevertheless, it’s about humans and how we relate and love our four-legged friends and companions. When a Washington senior mom, Virginia Smith needed 24/7 care as her health  deteriorated after the death of her husband and she was forced to surrender her cat, something very special was missing.

James Allen Smith moved his mother closer to him in Seattle, and from there he made arrangements for her to live in a full care residential community; Virginia has dementia. Whenever her son would visit, James couldn’t help but feel his mother’s heartbreak and the emotional toll not having a cat after so many years she shared with her best feline friends. James knew had deeply she missed her pets. And so, this wonderful son Googled “robotic cats” and from there, Virginia’s life would get a little better.

The Hasbro robotic kitty – all white and fluffy has just filled that void in Virginia’s heart. Watch as she comes alive and smiles. Robotic therapy animals have made headlines throughout the world. “Precious,” a Joy For All Companion Cat by Hasbro, responds to touch with lifelike motions; memory care patients enjoy holding and petting them. The cats can turn over for belly rubs and responds with a sweet meow and purrs as she stretches – just like a real cat. This time, however there are no allergies, no cat litter to deal with or veterinarian visits. Still these soft animal replicas bring kindness, joy and comfort.

Nothing wrong with having something to love. Thank you James Allen Smith for helping your mom and spreading the word.

More information and warning signs of dementia can be found here.

(Photo of robotic cat via ABC News )

Check out the heartwarming video here:

United Airlines denies allegations that giant bunny froze to death

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Just when United Airlines settled one of its worst public relation disasters, after Dr. David Dao was forcibly dragged off an overbooked flight, leaving him with a broken nose, knocked out teeth and concussion,  there are now allegations of giant rabbit Simon may have accidentally froze to death. Simon died shortly after landing at O’Hare Airport in Chicago on April 24.

According to the Sun, the rabbit who was purchased from his breeder was healthy when taken off the plane, and according to an airport worker, had been “placed in temperatures of 0 to 2C  (28-32 degrees) degrees by mistake.” Simon had flown from Heathrow Airport in London and was on his way to his new home in Kenton, Ohio before the tragedy occurred. He reportedly froze to death after left for 16 hours. When the next day the staff went in to check on Simon:

“The rabbit was huddled up facing away from the front of the cage towards the wall. Everyone thought he was just having a nap or something. Nobody realised it needed to be taken out,” stated an airline employee.

The worker claimed pets are usually kept in a special area kept at room temperature – between 18C and 20C. (70 -72 degrees)

When asked if the airlines really did accidentally freeze Simon, United Airlines responded with the following statement:

“That assertion is completely false. Simon was cared for at the PetSafe kennel facility which is kept at room temperature (on average 70°F).
He arrived at Chicago O’Hare airport in apparent good condition at 10:25 am (local time).
He was seen by a representative of the kennel facility moving about within his crate about 11:00am. Shortly thereafter, a kennel representative noticed Simon was motionless and determined that he passed away.”

Annette Edwards, 65, owner of the giant rabbit states this is all a cover up, and the airlines cremated her bunny without her permission, so she could never find out the truth of Simon’s death. According to the Sun:

“I had been asking United over and over again for his body so that I can have him examined here in Britain but they never got back to me. All I want to know is how he died,” Annette stated.

The airline’s CEO, Oscar Munoz, tried to apologize for Simon’s death, but his analogy to losing a pet and losing luggage didn’t go over too well with anyone – garnering even more criticism:

“We are deeply sorry for the loss of anything from your luggage to, of course, a loved pet,” Munoz said.

What a mess and what a tragedy. Annette had originally thought someone had dropped Simon which may have caused his death, but freezing him and never giving her a reason for her rabbit’s death was even more disturbing the the former playboy bunny.

Thoughts?

Read previous story here and here.

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Abandoned guinea pig discovered in woman’s mailbox

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When a woman from Emporia, Kansas went out to check her mail late last week, she never expected to find a frightened little guinea pig huddled in the back. The woman was shocked with whomever left the helpless little guy – no water and no food, and for a moment she thought maybe the little one had somehow become lost. Hey, one never knows with the odd ways rescuers have reported saving pets and the strange predicaments they somehow manage to find themselves trapped.

The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office arrived and as the tiny lost soul cuddled in the deputy’s arm, who couldn’t fall for a little one so adorable? And the little guinea pig was taken to the Emporia Animal Shelter where staff members named her Rosita – because of her very red eyes. After her veterinarian visit, Rosita was given a clean bill of health and fortunately suffered no issues from her scary mailbox prison.

As it turned out, the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office stated Rosita was deliberately abandoned in the mailbox, and her owner now faces animal cruelty charges:

“21-6412. Cruelty to animals.
(a) Cruelty to animals is:

(2) knowingly abandoning any animal in any place without making provisions for its proper care;”

This lucky little pet will be available for adoption as soon as the case against her owner is adjudicated.

(Photos of guinea pig via Lyon County Sheriff’s Office)

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Read about a terrified dog needing helpSweet, terrified, injured and out of time

Family’s pet dog undergoes sex change after born with male and female organs

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A canine hermaphrodite has successfully undergone the rare operation of a sex change and has made a complete recovery. Molly, a Jack Russell terrier, was born with both female and male body organs. Shortly after Mary and Frank Finlay, from Glasgow, brought their puppy home, they began to notice some unusual habits whenever the dog would go outside to relieve herself. According to the Telegraph, not only would she squat to urinate, but at times she would also lift her leg. (now mind you she was thought to be a female puppy)

Concerned with Molly’s unusual behavior, the doting couple brought her to their vet, Ross Allan who discovered she was intersex, with elements of both male and female external genitalia. MRI scans and X-rays revealed her internal sexual organs were that of a male; she had testicles in the place of her ovaries within her abdomen.

Sadly, her condition had been causing her “significant” pain and abrasions – prompting the operation to improve the puppy’s quality of life.

“Her particular anatomy meant that whilst Molly appeared to be a female, closer examination revealed elements of both male and female external genitalia, and unfortunately this was leading to significant genital discomfort. If left untreated, this risked her developing a long-term and debilitating condition. We decided that the very best solution for Molly was to proceed with definitive surgery to create an anatomical situation which would avoid ongoing issues or discomfort.”

Molly’s surgeon removed her male parts and created an opening where her female genitalia would have been located. Her devoted family is ecstatic, and have not noticed any changes in the way their dog acts. Dr. Allan said Molly is now 18-months-old and acts like any other loving dog. Although quite rare, in most cases, hermaphrodites are just as loving and adorable.

(Photo screenshot of dog that underwent sex change via the Telegraph and family submitted photo)

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Warning – euthanasia drug found in dog food recall.