PAPILLION, Neb. (Dec. 17) – The Nebraska Humane Society is seeking a new home for two small dogs that police say fed on their owner’s body after he killed himself.
Police in the Omaha suburb of Papillion found the pugs named Harry and Sally late last week. Lt. Chris Whitted said Wednesday an autopsy showed the man was dead for two weeks of a self-inflicted gunshot before his body was found.
Courtesy:.sphere
Such a popular demand stores have a hard time keeping them in stock
“The Consumer Product Safety Commission confirmed today that the popular Zhu Zhu toy is not out of compliance with the antimony or other heavy-metal limits of the new U.S. mandatory toy standard,” agency spokesman Scott Wolfson said.
“We will still do our own independent testing at CPSC. But we’re confident today and can confirm that the toy does not violate the very protective antimony standard that applies to all toys in the United States,” Wolfson said.
Toy safety has been a hot-button issue in recent years after a spate of recalls in 2007 sparked fears about toy-making standards and led to more stringent testing measures. Millions of toys were recalled that year because of unsafe levels of lead or other safety hazards, including magnets that could come loose and, if swallowed, attach to one another and tear a child’s intestines.
Last week, consumer website GoodGuide said its testing had shown that Mr. Squiggles, one of the Zhu Zhu robotic hamsters that have been selling out at stores nationwide, contained levels of antimony above what the federal government considers acceptable. Antimony, used in making metal alloys, has been linked to heart and lung problems.
After thousands of alarmed parents took to blogs and online message boards over the weekend, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Monday morning that it was “looking into the Zhu Zhu pet toy and we will complete our review swiftly.”
Within hours, the safety agency said it had talked with executives at Zhu Zhu maker Cepia, examined the product and reviewed independent testing reports that showed the toy was safe.
For its part, GoodGuide began backtracking Monday afternoon, releasing a statement that clarified its testing methods and apologized for comparing its findings to federal standards.
“Since issuing our release, we have learned that the testing methodology used in the federal standards (a soluble method) is different than the methodology we used in our testing (a surface-based method),” the San Francisco group said. “Accordingly, while we accurately reported the chemical levels in the toys that we measured using our testing method, we should not have compared our results to federal standards. We regret this error.”
Cepia vehemently denied any safety hazards in the Mr. Squiggles hamster and blasted the consumer group for taking its findings public without first contacting the St. Louis manufacturer.
“They accused us falsely of having high levels of antimony and tin in Mr. Squiggles by using a methodology that is not used by any federal standards,” said Natalie Hornsby, Cepia’s vice president of marketing. “Their testing was certainly not comprehensive and certainly not at the government standard.”
Zhu Zhu owners such as Alicen Kovacic, 34, said they felt reassured. The paralegal from La Crescenta, who scored a Mr. Squiggles hamster after waiting for nearly six hours at a Toys R Us on Thanksgiving night, had planned to take the toy back to the store before learning that it was safe.
“I definitely feel relieved and I’m glad that it was looked into really quickly,” Kovacic said. “I don’t think I’m going to return it now.”
Zhu Zhu Pets, which began showing up on EBay and other websites for four times the retail price, scamper around on wheels, make giggling and chattering sounds and can be paired with accessories such as a “hamstermobile” and garage.
They sell for about $10 at stores including Wal-Mart, Target and Toys R Us; all three retailers said Monday that they were standing by the product.
“All test reports we have clearly indicate that the Zhu Zhu Pets product meets all federal safety requirements,” Toys R Us said in a statement.
GoodGuide did not respond to requests seeking comment.
Although the toys were declared safe, the recent frenzy could still hurt the toy’s popularity, said M. Eric Johnson, a toy industry expert and professor at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business.
“It’s the worst possible timing for Zhu Zhu,” he said. “When stories like these get ahead of a small company, it can swamp it.”
Ref: chicagotribune
Clyde the cat went missing from his home in Australia three years ago and has just turned up safe and sound – almost 2,500 miles away.
He vanished from Tasmania in 2006 and has just been found in North Queensland where a nurse spotted him, saw that he was micro-chipped and returned him to his amazed owners.
Ref:bbc
A VIP welcome from the Australian prime minister and US commander
Sabi the retriever went missing when the joint Australian-Afghan army patrol she was on was ambushed by militants.
Brigadier Brian Dawson from the Australian Defence Force, said she appeared in good health despite having been in the wilds of Afghanistan.
George Hulse, from the Australian Defence Force Trackers and War Dogs Association said: “She’s been a fantastic dog and given us great service, and that she’s a survivor shows that she’s got the true Australian spirit there”.
A sniffer dog lost in battle in Afghanistan 14 months ago has turned up safe and well and rejoined its Australian unit.
Defence officials said Sabi the dog was recovered by a US soldier at an isolated patrol base.
The dog returned to a celebrity welcome from visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and US commander Gen Stanley McChrystal.
Sabi is being tested for disease before a possible return to Australia.
The black labrador bitch was with a joint Australian-Afghan patrol that was ambushed in Uruzgan province in September 2008.
Nine Australian soldiers, including Sabi’s trainer, were wounded in the exchange.
After the battle there was no sign of the dog, and months of searching failed to find her. Sabi was officially declared Missing In Action.
An Australian military spokesman said it would probably never be known exactly what had happened to Sabi in the 14 months she was missing, but the fact that she was in good condition indicated she had been cared for by someone.
‘Nice pooch’
And despite being MIA for more than a year, she showed through a simple game of “catch” with a tennis ball that she hadn’t forgotten her training.
After meeting the dog, Mr Rudd said: “Sabi is back home in one piece and is a genuinely nice pooch as well.”
One of the army patrol injured in the attack where Sabi was lost was Trooper Mark Donaldson.
He was awarded the Victoria Cross in January for rescuing a wounded interpreter under heavy machine gun fire during the ambush.
“She’s the last piece of the puzzle. It’s a fantastic morale booster for the guys,” he said when he heard of Sabi’s return.
Ref:bbc
The discovery in Cambodia of rare Siamese crocodiles has excited conservationists
DNA tests have found 35 pure-bred Siamese crocodiles at a wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia.
There are fewer then 250 of the species left in the wild, but the crocodiles at the sanctuary could now form the basis of a captive-breeding programme.
Siamese crocodiles may be smaller than some other species, but they’re easily capable of breaking human limbs.
So for the conservationists at the Phnom Tamao wildlife rescue centre, taking DNA samples was a hazardous task.
In February this year, they wrangled and wrestled 69 of the beasts so they could gather genetic information.
And now it turns out all the hard work was worth it.
Thirty-five crocodiles have been confirmed as pure-bred Siamese – including six adults which may be suitable for starting off a captive breeding programme.
And more than two dozen younger crocs may be released into the wild when they are old enough.
The discovery continues a remarkable comeback for the species.
Siamese crocodiles were declared extinct in the 1990s – before a small population was discovered in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains.
But the conservation organisation Fauna and Flora International has warned that any celebrations would be premature.
Siamese crocodiles mature slowly.
So it will take 15 years before the breeding programme comes to fruition.
And in the meantime, everything from poaching to hydroelectric projects pose a threat to crocodiles and their habitats.
Lithodes galapagensis, the only king crab species yet recorded from the seas around the Galapagos Islands. (Credit: NOCS)
Hall discovered the new species in the Smithsonian Collections of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington. Explaining the significance of the find, she said: “King crabs include some of the largest crustaceans currently inhabiting Earth and are fished by humans, particularly from the shallower waters of the polar regions. The new discoveries increase the total number of king crab species known to 113.”
The new species are Paralomis nivosa from the Philippines, P. makarovi from the Bering Sea, P. alcockiana from South Carolina, and Lithodes galapagensis from the Galapagos archipelago — the first and only king crab species yet recorded from the seas around the Galapagos Islands. P. nivosa and P. makarovi came from previously unidentified samples collected in the early part of the twentieth century by the US Bureau of Fisheries steamer, Albatross.
King crabs were first formally described in 1819. They are now known from subtidal waters at high latitudes, but deep-sea species occur in most of the world’s oceans, typically living at depths between 500 and 1500 metres.
“We are only now beginning to understand the incredible diversity of animals living in the deep sea,” said Hall: “It is incredible that the Albatross collection is still yielding new information, even though it is over 100 years since this survey of deep-sea life began.”
It is now clear that species of deep-sea king crab live in most areas of the world’s oceans, but many more species remain to be discovered. “The oceans off eastern Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean are all particularly poorly sampled,” said Hall: “We need to know which king crab species live where before we can fully understand their ecology and evolutionary success.”
This work was supported by the Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning (MarBEF) EU Network of Excellence.
Ref: sciencedaily
COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – A dog became an unwitting victim in a car theft case in Richland County according to officials.
Authorities say the vehicle was stolen from a South Kilbourne Road Kangaroo gas station.
Deputies say the owner of the car went inside the gas station, left his keys and his dog in the car when it was stolen.
South Carolina Highway Patrol troopers found the car and the dog unharmed three hours later on Interstate 77 near Interstate 26.
One man has been apprehended in the case, but his identity has not been revealed.
Ref:wistv
POMPANO BEACH (CBS4) ―
Deangelo Veus, 29, was charged with animal cruelty after he reportedly threw two caged dogs into a lake.
Broward Sheriff’s Office/CBS
A Pompano Beach man is charged with animal cruelty for reportedly trying to drown two caged dogs in a lake.
Deangelo Veus, 29, was allegedly fighting with his mother when he threw her two dogs, which were in cages, into a nearby lake; the water was about 15 feet deep. Broward County Animal Control officers were able to save a terrier mix but a pregnant miniature pinscher drowned.
Veus is no stranger to the law. Saturday made his 18th arrest. He previously spent 19 months in prison for robbery, carrying a concealed firearm and driving with a suspended license.
Ref: cbs4
POMPANO BEACH,, Fla. — A South Florida man allegedly retaliated against his mother by throwing her caged dogs into a lake.
Broward County deputies arrested Deangelo Veus Saturday on two counts of animal cruelty. An animal control officer was able to save a terrier mix, but a pregnant miniature pinscher drowned.
The 29-year-old allegedly threw the animals into about 15 feet of water after he and his mother got into an argument.
Veus has been a frequent visitor to the Broward County jail. Saturday’s arrest marked his 18th mug shot.
He previously spent 19 months in prison for robbery, carrying a concealed firearm and driving with a suspended license.
Ref: miamiherald
Three research scientists have taken a rare public stand against animal-rights activists, describing them as terrorists for their threats and acts of violence in commentaries published in the latest issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.
Since 2003, “we have seen our cars and homes firebombed or flooded, and we have received letters packed with poisoned razors and death threats via e-mail and voice mail,” wrote Dario L. Ringach, a professor of neurobiology and psychology, and J. David Jentsch, a professor of psychology. They work at the University of California, Los Angeles.
“Adding insult to injury, misguided animal-rights militants openly incite others to violence on the Internet, brag about the resulting crimes, and go as far as to call plots for our assassination ‘morally justifiable,’ ” they wrote.
In telephone interviews with CNN, both men said they had been subject to harassment, threats and violence.
Last March, “they blew up my car while it was parked in front of my home at 4 a.m.,” said Jentsch, who uses rodents and nonhuman primates in his research into how brain chemistry influences mental disorders. His 2006 Volvo was destroyed.
The Animal Liberation Brigade, which took responsibility for the attack in a Web site posting, announced “when we come back, it’s not going to be the car, hint, hint,” Jentsch said.
He said an FBI investigator described the incendiary device as “sophisticated.”
“We have to take them on directly”
The practice long followed by many researchers of keeping quiet and hoping the activists will go away does not work, said the 37-year-old scientist. “We have to take them on directly; that’s what we plan to do … I’m not going to be afraid of these people; they’re thugs.”
Jentsch said the university has provided him with round-the-clock security, along with a handful of other researchers who have been threatened.
He acknowledged that having no children may make such a stand easier to take.
“People ask me all the time: ‘What should people who have children do?’ ” he said. “My only answer is — what a horrible position to put someone in where they have to choose between their family and their career, their desire to make the world a better place through their science.”
That was the decision faced by Ringach, who previously worked with primates. Three years ago, when his 6-year-old and 2-year-old children were asleep, 30 to 40 masked activists arrived at their house and banged on the doors and windows, he said.
“I just called 911,” he said. “I really was terrified; my kids were clinging to my wife.”
Ringach gave up his work with animals.
Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act of 2006
As a result of that incident, Congress passed the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act of 2006. It’s a federal law that prohibits interference with animal enterprises, including research. But it is being challenged as unconstitutional and, “so far, I’m not sure it has had an effect on their activities,” Ringach said.
The activists have not limited their attacks to primate researchers. Last year, at the University of California at Santa Cruz, a researcher who works with mice was awakened at dawn with his wife and their two children when their house was firebombed. They escaped.
That day, another researcher at the same school — who works with flies and has not been identified publicly — had his car set afire, said Ringach.
“They’re really against all types of research,” Ringach said.
The Foundation for Biomedical Research said it was aware of 317 incidents of extremist activity by animal rights activists from 1997 to 2008, including firebombings of researchers’ homes and cars, breaking and entering, vandalism, stealing property and acts of intimidation.
Scientists bear part of the responsibility for not having explained to the public why their work is important, Ringach said.
“I would really like to have an honest and civil debate about animal research,” he said. “The problem is it’s very difficult to do when every day I have to look under my car and see if something is there.”
Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman, noted that rewards of up to $115,000 have been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the bombings.
She said law enforcement officials consider the attacks to be acts of domestic terrorism.
Taking it to the next level
Dr. Jerry Vlasak, a surgeon and spokesman for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, an animal-rights group, said it is the researchers who are the terrorists.
“They take these sentient and intelligent beings and lock them up in sealed cages … and eventually kill them and chop them up in little pieces.”
Asked whether he supports the use of violence in furthering his goals, he likened his mission to those of anti-apartheid and civil rights activists.
“I understand why they’re willing to do things like that when all attempts at public discourse and reason and discussion have been quashed,” he said. “I understand why people would take it to the next level.”
In a separate commentary in The Journal of Neuroscience, the Society for Neuroscience’s outgoing chairman of the Committee on Animals in Research, Jeffrey H. Kordower, called for the National Institutes of Health to ensure the safety of researchers against animal-rights activists.
The federal government requires recipients of NIH grants, primarily universities, to have plans to protect patients undergoing clinical trials and to protect animals used in research. But there is no plan to protect researchers, he said in a telephone interview.
The request “has fallen on deaf ears,” said Kordower, a neurologist who directs the Research Center for Brain Repair at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Though no one has been hurt, “the … potential is that someone will be hurt in the near future,” he said.
Dr. Sally Rockey, acting NIH deputy director for extramural research, defended her organization’s efforts.
“As we have previously stated, the NIH is extremely concerned about acts of domestic terrorism against biomedical researchers,” she said in a written statement. “In collaboration with the biomedical community, we have developed resources to help our grantee institutions prepare for and manage crises. NIH will continue its commitment to this policy in the interests of the safety of the researchers whose work it supports.”
The issue is a critical one if science is to advance, said Society for Neuroscience President Thomas J. Carew.
“Responsible animal research has played a vital role in nearly every major medical advance of the last century, from heart disease to polio, and is essential for future advances as well,” he said in a written statement. “Today, it is unacceptable that, in the pursuit of better health and understanding of disease, researchers, their families and their communities face violence and intimidation by extremists.”
Charges and countercharges
Vlasak said he had submitted a letter to the editor to The Journal of Neuroscience that said, “As unfortunate as it may be, all successful liberation struggles have had to incorporate the use of force in addition to rational and educated argument; after all, an oppressor never gives up his power until left with no alternative.”
Vlasak said Journal editor John Maunsell rejected the letter, telling Vlasak in an e-mail, “We will not publish responses from commentators that appear to condone or encourage violence.”
That sparked this missive from Vlasak back to Maunsell: “David Jentsch can torture and kill nonhuman primates year after year in his laboratory to allegedly study human addiction, but I refer to the historical use of force to overthrow oppression and you censor my letter?
“You wallow in hypocrisy, and refuse to acknowledge the suffering of any being besides those of your own species. Your attitudes and behavior will ensure the struggle continues, and hopefully escalates to encompass ever-more effective strategies.”
Vlasak provided CNN with copies of his e-mail correspondence with Maunsell. A spokeswoman for the journal said it does not comment on potential submissions.
In a joint comment e-mailed to CNN, Jentsch and Ringach said, “It is not acceptable for Dr. Vlasak to talk about civilized public discourse out of one side of his mouth and describe violence against us as just and reasonable out of the other.
“People like him have deceived the public about the nature and benefits of biomedical research and, at the same time, we think his behavior has hindered the work of legitimate animal rights/welfare groups.
“It is critical that ‘mainstream’ groups sever their ties with violent individuals within their movement and publicly repudiate the acts of animal-right extremists and those that incite them from the sidelines. When that happens, scientists and animal advocates can get together to have a reasoned and civilized dialogue about these important issues.”
The outspoken researchers are not alone. More than 10,000 people — many of them scientists — have signed a “Pro-Test Petition” that credits animal research with having “contributed … to major advances in the length and quality of our lives.”
It adds that “violence, intimidation and harassment of scientists and others involved in animal research is neither a legitimate means of protest, nor morally justified.”
Source:CNN
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Have a nice day Dolly