He must be one of Santa’s… Villagers come to the rescue of deer that manages to get stuck on a garage roof

FRANCE -- It looked like one of Santa's helpers arrived early to one French town but bizarrely ended up getting stuck on a roof leading to a dramatic rescue attempt.

Firefighters and police had to cordon off parts of the village of Verneuil-sur-Indre, in the Loire, France, after the large animal ended up on top of a building.

The sika deer - looking remarkably like one of Santa's reindeer - got stuck after apparently falling from a garden onto the garage three metres off the ground.

Homeowner Marie-Thérèse Decloux told La Nouvelle Republique: 'I heard a noise at around 5pm. I thought people were throwing out glass bottles.'

 Rescuers believed the deer had gone into a garden in a neighbouring house during the night which drops down onto the garage from a hill above.

But when it had fallen onto the garage it could not escape and get back to the garden because of the slippery tiles.

 

Mayor Philippe Bruneau said: 'We have used a breeder before who had a hypodermic gun to sedate the deer, but this time we did not have the right product.'

Eventually after over an hour rescuers were able to put a canvas on the roof to give the deer enough traction on the slippery tiles to allow it to climb back up to the garden above the garage.

(Daily Mail - Nov 8, 2013)

Dog attack raises adoption issues

FRANCE -- A young girl has been savagely attacked by her new bull terrier, which was offered for adoption by an animal refuge despite having eaten its previous owner.

Four-year-old Carmen was playing with Prince at home in Boulogne-sur-Mer on Saturday night when he snapped, tearing at her nose and an ear.

She was taken to hospital with severe facial injuries. Her condition is not said to be life-threatening.

The family had adopted the dog a week earlier from an animal refuge.

Prince was admitted there last autumn after his owner died at home alone and was not found for a fortnight, by which time the terrier had started to eat the corpse.

Animal welfare charity SPA, which ran the refuge, said Prince was not considered to be a dangerous dog and his actions following his owner's death were an "understandable" survival method.

Local newspaper La Voix du Nord says the dog should have been put down and never offered for adoption to a family with a small child. SPA insists that it did not hide any information about the dog's past from the new owners.

(The Connection - July 18, 2011)