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| Juggling Balls |
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| A Labrador was taken to his local vet after his owner noticed a rattling sound coming from his stomach. His owner had regularly taken him along to the golf course in Fife and when the operating vet investigated he found 13 golf balls in his stomach! The balls were removed in an hour-long operation. Bob Hesketh, principal vet at Vetrica in Rosyth, said he had never seen anything like it. |
| And Now for Something Completely Different |
| A woman staying at a hotel in the Netherlands had a shock when she found a two and a half metre-long python in the toilet. The snake had escaped from another room, where a guest was illegally holding another 30 exotic animals in plastic boxes. The collection included other snakes, poisonous frogs and a baby crocodile. |
| Working Dogs |
The Milwaukee County Parks Department not only allowed dogs onto its beach this summer, it paid them. Two border collies were given summer jobs patrolling the lakefront at Bradford Beach and seeing off E. coli-spreading gulls. The gulls had contaminated the water and made it unsuitable for swimming. “The beach had such a challenge with the seagulls,” Parks Director Sue Black said. “This is a low-tech solution. It’s been very, very successful.” |
| Playing Favourites |
| Marine experts have given octopuses Rubik’s Cubes to test if they have a preferred tentacle. Twenty-five octopuses are being tested in a month-long observation project in which they will be given food and toys to play with. Scientists believe that the intelligent creatures will have a preferred arm for feeding and investigating. |
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| Out for a Duck | ||
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| Vet Hannah Ferguson and owner Adam Townsend with Ozzie and his unusual x-ray. | ||
“It’s not uncommon for dogs to swallow strange objects, although they tend to chew them into little bits first,” Vet Hannah Ferguson, of Avonvale Veterinary Hospital in Warwickshire, explained. “Ozzie’s is certainly the most entertaining x-ray we’ve ever seen!” |
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| Gustav Pet | Evacuations |
Thousands of pets accompanied the estimated two million people who fled from the Gulf Coast in the USA as Hurricane Gustav approached. “This is the first time in history that pets have been a priority in an evacuation,” said Ana Zorrilla, CEO of the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (LA-SPCA), based in New Orleans. The city’s train station served as the main dispatch centre for people requiring assistance to evacuate. People with pets were given an armband with a number that |
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A child carries her puppy to safety.
corresponded to a number on a coated paper collar placed around their pets’ necks. Animals weighing less than 6kg (15 pounds) were then permitted to board the bus and ride on their owners’ laps in carriers, while larger animals were transported in crates in temperature-controlled trucks. |
| Elvis Lives! |
It is 31 years since his untimely demise aged just 42, but Elvis lives on in the hearts and minds of UK pet owners, according to the PDSA. The charity says the proof that The King really is still alive comes with the news that the name ‘Elvis’ remains among the Top 10 celebrity names for pets: 1. Tyson (Mike) |
| Dogs Trust 'Sponsor a Dog' Scheme |
Dogs Trust has announced the addition of six new canine recruits to its Sponsor a Dog scheme. Kurt, Phil, Arnie, Barney, Monty and Merlin now live at rehoming centres across the UK. Because of their difficult pasts or need for specialist medical treatment Sponsor Dogs may never find another home. Dogs Trust will care for them for the rest of their lives as the charity never destroys a healthy dog. To help pay for the dogs’ food, medicine and shelter, the Trust asks members of the public to sponsor them. |