California: Engine purred – then meowed: Kitty takes ride under hood

CALIFORNIA -- The 20-mile drive down Coast Highway went smoothly enough, the engine purring all the way to Laguna Beach. But when the vehicle stopped on Cliff Drive, the sound coming from under the hood was more alarming.

The car was meowing.

Little did the motorist know that a 5-week-old feral kitten apparently had hitched a dangerous ride from Newport Beach to Laguna on the skid plate just beneath the burning-hot engine, officials said.

“I don't know how he did it,” said Dr. Gershon Alaluf of the Canyon Animal Hospital, where the kitten is being cared for. “He had no burns, no scratches. He was just very, very scared.”

Called to the scene May 23, Laguna Beach Police Department Animal Services Officer Dave Pietarila spotted the pound-and-a-half kitten with orange and white fur trapped on top of the skid plate, the metal surrounding it too fiery to touch.

Pietarila waited long enough for the engine to cool and got the cat out, but not without being bitten by the spooked animal.

Authorities declined to release the name of the driver.

They’re also baffled about the kitten’s choice of transportation: Cats sometimes like to find refuge in hot engines to keep warm, but usually only when it’s cold outside.

“I honestly have no idea why this particular cat would have crawled into this engine on a summer-like day,” said Pietarila, who has responded to one other similar case in the past year.

The kitten, nameless for now, will soon be transferred to the Laguna Beach Animal Shelter. It will be available for adoption when it turns 12 weeks old.

“He came in so stressed out and shocked, he was ready to kill anyone who went near him,” Alaluf said. “Now we can’t get him to stop purring.”

(OCRegister - May 30, 2014)

Cat becomes best friends with horse

AUSTRALIA -- It was love at first lick when rescued cat Morris met Champy the extra-friendly horse. 
 
Their friendship has become a YouTube sensation, with more than 85,000 watching Morris riding on his best friend’s back.

 

Owner Jennifer Boyle, 40, said Champy was keen to befriend the cat when she brought him home to her property outside Casino, in northern NSW, in January last year.

“He was immediately interested in him and came up to say hello and was persistent in wanting to groom him,” she said.

Morris’ response was to leap on to the horse’s back and groom him in return. Since then the friendship has developed to regular trots around the property.



“Morris has had more riding time than me,” Ms Boyle said.

Morris had tried to extend a friendly paw to other horses on the property without success.

“He has been bucked off trying to jump on to other horses — he assumed all horses would love him — it really is just these two who are friends.”

(The Daily Telegraph - May 31, 2014)

YouTube clip:

Mission Valley man says dog carried off by owl, found later

MONTANA -- If you don’t believe this story, Chuck Zeiler – the man telling it – won’t blame you.
“I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes,” Zeiler says. “It’s just crazy.”

It happened last month. Zeiler, who lives in the Mission Valley, about a mile from Post Creek and four or five from St. Ignatius, says he was sitting on his front porch one evening while his two dogs, and his stepdaughter’s dog, played in the yard.

“I went inside to get a cup of coffee, and when I came back out the older female and male came up and sat by me,” Zeiler says. “I heard something that didn’t sound right, and then these two started barking at the sky.”

Zeiler went into the yard and scanned the horizon.

“And I could see a bird packing the other damn dog away,” he says.

 

The bird, he believes, was an owl. The dog, he knows for sure, was a Miniature Pinscher, or “Min Pin.”

“I ran in the house and grabbed my shotgun, and got back out in the yard before I realized if I shot the bird, I’d kill the dog,” Zeiler says. “So I just watched the bird fly north and west, and out of sight.”

***

All three dogs in the yard that day were Min Pins. The one carted off by the owl was Montana, a 3-year-old, 10-pound female belonging to Zeiler’s stepdaughter Bobbie Jo Wheeler.

The other two, Buddy and Daisy, are Zeiler’s. Daisy is Montana’s mother.

“I was devastated,” says Wheeler, Montana’s owner. “She’s like my kid.”

Zeiler searched for Montana with no luck. About 10 days later, his nephew saw a flier someone had put up at Rod’s Harvest Foods in St. Ignatius.

The people who put up the flier had found a Min Pin in their field.

“They found her by a haystack, about 3-1/2 miles from me,” Zeiler says. “I guess it took them three or four days before they could get her to come to them so they could even feed her and take her picture for the flier.”

Wheeler wasn’t convinced until she saw Montana. “I thought, ‘no way,’ ” she says. “I’m not that lucky.”

What exactly happened that led to the owl and dog parting company no one knows, but Zeiler believes it’s entirely possible it happened in flight, and Montana tumbled out of the sky and happened to fall into the haystack.

What he is sure of is that, after connecting with the dog’s finders and making arrangements to pick up Montana, Zeiler loaded Buddy and Daisy in his vehicle and took off.

And before he got to where Montana was, he’d lost Buddy.

Zeiler says he was having trouble locating the place where Montana had been rescued, and pulled into a dairy farm where he knew the owners.

“I had the little male on a leash, and he saw a cat or something and jerked the leash right out of my hand and tore off,” he says.

Buddy was gone in an instant. They looked and looked and looked. Partway through the search, Zeiler left and picked up a relieved Montana.

“She had one scab and a puncture mark right below it, but other than that she was fine,” Zeiler says.

They returned to the dairy farm, where Zeiler searched high and low for Buddy, calling out his name and whistling for the Min Pin, until 2 a.m.

“I finally gave up, went home and slept for three or four hours, then went back,” he says. “I drove in up by the barn, got out, whistled and yelled, and heard one little yip.”

He found Buddy inside the barn. His leash had gotten hung up on a chunk of concrete, ending his cat-chasing adventures, at least for the time being.

And so they were all, finally, reunited, a week and a half after one dog was carted off from a yard and flown away, hanging underneath an owl, and a day after another was enticed away by the sight of a cat.

“I wouldn’t believe it if somebody told me a story like that,” Zeiler says, and he’ll understand if you choose not to.

“But that’s what happened,” he adds.

Montana’s a different dog now, according to Wheeler.

“She had a big-dog personality,” Wheeler says. “Now she’s very cautious. It made her realize she’s just a tiny thing.”

(Missoulian - May 31, 2014)

Hero cat proves felines may be more protective than dogs

CALIFORNIA -- Dogs may be man’s best friend, but cats can be just as protective of humans as their canine counterparts.

Four-year-old Jeremy Triantafilo from Bakersfield, Calif., is living proof. The recent viral video of his cat Tara bravely defending him from a vicious neighborhood dog earned her the nickname “Hero Cat” and turned her into an Internet sensation.

 

The video also contradicts a common misconception of cats as lazy and indifferent. In fact, experts say, they can be as bonded with and protective of their owners as dogs are.

“Even though they don’t wear it on their sleeves like a dog does, cats clearly are attached to their owners,” says Dr. Peter Soboroff, a veterinarian with the New York Cat Hospital, who has witnessed many protective kitties.

Mieshelle Nagelschneider, the author of “The Cat Whisperer: Why Cats Do What They Do — and How to Get Them to Do What You Want,” says felines can be more attached to their owners than their canine counterparts.

 

 

 

“If you wanna talk about physical bonding, I think cats do more of that than dogs,” she says.

And Fluffy can keenly sense when someone she loves is in danger. “Cats are so perceptive; they have senses that are so finely tuned that we can’t even begin to imagine what they’re capable of,” says Dr. Katherine Miller, ASPCA director of Anti-Cruelty Behavior Research. “When [humans’] emotions change, maybe our odor changes a bit, our body movements are different. They would definitely notice a difference.”

But could they be trained to protect, like some dogs? Miller says it’s not impossible. “You can train cats to do a lot of different things, it’s really surprising.”

And, Nagelschneider notes that she’s trained cats to give high-fives and shake, just like dogs.

And while guard cats may not strike the same fear in the hearts of their opponents as a growling dog, they can actually be fiercer than Fido.

“I don’t ever wanna get attacked by a cat,” says Dr. Peter Borchelt, a certified applied animal behaviorist. “They’ve got four hands with knives on the end and they can cut you up pretty badly. Quite frankly, I’d rather be attacked by a dog than a cat.”

In a fight, cats also have one thing dogs don’t: stealth.

“They’ll sneak up and do a quick attack, and that gives them a big advantage over dogs,” says Miller. “That’s part of what you see in the video: The dog ran away because it was so surprised, it was taken aback.”

Jeremy’s dad, Roger Triantafilo, was also shocked at Tara’s ability to fend off his son’s attacker.

While the cat has always been affectionate with Jeremy ­— the kitty even used to sleep in his crib when he was a baby — Roger didn’t know that she’d be able to protect his son.

(NY Post - June 1, 2014)

Watch the video (YouTube):

Felton woman recovers from dog attack, death of pet

DELAWARE -- Tina Goree keeps asking herself what else she could have done, and breaks down when thinking too much about it.

There’s really no answer, though.

The 50-year-old Felton woman was thrust into an absolutely terrifying situation on May 17 when two “humongous” dogs entered her homestead in attack mode.

One of her beloved pets was killed in a savage attack and another injured to the point of needing surgery.

Ms. Goree suffered three substantial bites and needed four costly rabies shots, a tetanus shot and four X-rays. Her sprained left knee is still bruised and swollen two weeks later, and will require further medical examination.

Pictured are Spirit and Molly, who were attacked by two dogs on
May 17 at their Felton home. Spirit died from his wounds, and Molly survived.

While one of the beasts went after 3-year-old Chihuahua-terrier mix Molly, the other chased 5-month-old white teacup poodle Spirit into her house.

Ms. Goree, who went to the door to investigate what was happening, heard growling and wrestling around before being knocked to the floor.

“It all happened so fast that I’m not sure if I was knocked down or slipped when the dogs came in,” she said.

“The worst part of the whole thing was not knowing what to do when it was happening. I couldn’t think. I was scared for my life and my dogs’ life.”

After punching and putting a headlock on the over-aggressive intruder, Ms. Goree said, “I could feel the strength leaving my body. I told myself not to quit, but I felt like I was fighting against an adult-strength human being.”

After a few moments, the attack dog chomped down on the four-pound teacup poodle and exited the premises.

“He picked Spirit up and ran outside,” Ms. Goree said. “It was not a pretty sight when I picked her up afterward.”

Alas, Spirit was found about five yards away next to a neighbor’s fence, clearly dead and blood evident in his mouth.

“I knew he was gone, so I put him in a blanket,” said Ms. Goree, who plans to have her pet cremated and buried near the home.

There was so much blood in the house afterward, Mr. Goree said, she couldn’t tell if it was hers or Spirit’s.

And what’s worse, the menacing dogs in question are still on the loose. Neighbors gave chase, but lost the trail.

Molly, weighing all of 13 pounds, fought off the other large breed dog before making an escape. Her abdomen was punctured, causing a hernia injury.

“Molly was putting up a good fight, biting and scratching between a trash can and a set of steps,” Ms. Goree said.

Now, though, she begins barking uncontrollably at the slightest noise; the sound is “horrendous,” Ms. Goree said.

“The veterinarian tells me it’s going to take time for her to feel safe again,” she said.

There’s no replacing Spirit, however.

“He was such a joy,” Ms. Goree said, before gradually breaking into tears. “He didn’t give us any problems, he learned quickly. When I came home he would always be jumping up and down, excited to see me. I’m just going to miss the little guy.”

Another family poodle, Cammie, suffered minor scratches on her back during the horrific assault.
Safe feeling shattered

The incident shattered what was a quiet Saturday morning on Albert Place in the Chimney Hill neighborhood. Residents said earlier this week they won’t feel safe again until the dogs are found.

Delaware Animal Care and Control officers have stepped up patrols in the area and are investigating. Ms. Goree said she feels better about that.

“I’ve talked to a couple officers and told them, ‘You’ve got to catch these things. The next time it could be a child,’” she said.

Still, though, she’s advised relatives not to visit until the dogs are located.

Ms. Goree said the marauding canines were reddish brown, and at least one had a red nose. While she originally estimated the dogs to weigh 180 pounds soon after the attack, she toned it down to 70 to 80 pounds later on.

“My adrenalin was rushing and I wasn’t really thinking,” she said.

Neighbors, armed with shovels, crowbars, fire extinguishers and firearms, chased after the dogs before they lost the trail. Folks in the area estimated the attack lasted approximately two minutes.

Such publicized dog attacks have inspired Delaware lawmakers to strengthen the state’s dangerous dog regulation to ensure the statute has more enforcement power.

Rep. D.E. Williams, D-Talleyville, introduced a bill in April that amends Delaware’ dangerous dog statute to clarify the situations in which animal control may impound a dog suspected of being dangerous or potentially dangerous.

Rep. Williams’ law would specifically clarify that the state’s dangerous dog panel, made up of voluntary members in the animal welfare community, can declare a dog to be dangerous if it has chased or pursued a person on the streets, or on public or private property other than its owner’s property; or if the dog has been involved in dog-fighting; or if the dog has attacked or inflicted physical injury on a person or domestic animal, providing the domestic animal was on the property of its owner.

(Delaware State News - May 31, 2014)

Pit bull attacks puppy; bites girl in Okeechobee

FLORIDA -- A young girl was reportedly bitten by a pit bull when it lunged at the puppy she was holding and bit her on the arm, stated an Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) report.

Deputy John Ashby indicated in his report that the incident occurred around 5:15 p.m. Saturday, May 24, in the northwest section of the county.

According to the report, the dog attacked the girl’s puppy and she was able to separate the dogs. Then, as she was holding the puppy, the pit bull attacked again and accidentally bit her on the arm.

[It "accidentally" bit her. Oh, I'm sorry. When did dogs learn to talk to tell the officer that it didn't mean to bite the child?]

Deputy Ashby indicated in his report the girl, whose age is unknown, had two small puncture wounds to her right forearm. She was taken to an unidentified hospital for treatment.

The pit bull was turned over to John W. Conner, and officer with Okeechobee County Animal Control.

Deputy Ashby went on to state the owner of the pit bull did not produce any records of the dog receiving any vaccinations at the time of the incident. The pit bull will remain with animal control until its owner can produce the vaccination records, added the deputy.

(newszap.com  - ‎May 30, 2014‎)

Man kills 11 innocent cats. Why? His wife left him. WTF?!

PHILIPPINES -- A man who was abandoned by his wife went on a killing spree and slaughtered 11 cats in Rizal province.

Marvin Reyes, 29, was jailed in Antipolo City after admitting he slaughtered the animals, according to a television report.

A photo posted on Facebook by the animal rights group League of Volunteers Everywhere shows the dead felines dumped on an alley.

Reyes allegedly went berserk and butchered the cats because his wife abandoned him.

“He was apparently deserted by his wife which made him murder the cats out of a whim,” the Facebook post dated May 21 read.

The suspect faces charges of violating the Animal Welfare Act as well as malicious mischief and trespassing, a  radio report said.

The report also quoted the suspect’s sibling as saying Reyes has a mental illness and addicted to drugs.

(Inquirer.net - May 31, 2014)