Free Republic

A Washington state dog breeder was charged with animal cruelty after 371 animals were removed from what investigators described as a puppy mill. The animals, described as miniature American Eskimo dogs, were housed temporarily at the Benton County Fairgrounds, the TriCity Herald reported. Sheriff's deputies spent hours Wednesday at Ella Stewart's home in Kennewick. Stewart, 66, who has operated Sun Valley Kennel for more than 40 years, entered a not guilty plea to a count of misdemeanor animal cruelty. Officials say the dogs can only be released for adoption once the legal case is over. Animal rescue groups were seeking...

The Carson & Barnes Circus, which regularly uses elephants in its acts, is scheduled to perform at the Cow Palace this weekend (May 29-June 2), followed by the Wells Fargo Center in Santa Rosa (June 8-9) and Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma (June 10-11). While laws and regulations offer some protection of animals who perform in circuses, the sad truth is that they are minimal and rarely enforced. candbcircus.com Bay Area and national animal welfare agencies, including the Marin Humane Society, Humane Society & SPCA of Sonoma County, Citizens for Cruelty Free Entertainment, Forgotten Felines of Sonoma County, Pets Lifeline and...

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - The number of pit bull attacks is growing in the city of Syracuse. The city's dog control department has responded to 19 pit bull bites so far this year. That's nearly double the amount during all of last year. It's the beginning of dog control officer Jason Driscoll's shift, and already he's responding to a pit bull call. When he pulls up to the scene, he sees two adult pit bulls – unleashed -- and trekking along a residential neighborhood, without their owner in sight. The pair run off to their home when the owners suddenly appear....

By Bill Cantwell bcantwell@eagletribune.com HAVERHILL — With her mom watching in shock, a 1-year-old girl was bit in the face by a pit bull, requiring the child to undergo extensive surgery and dozens of stitches. Bianca Zangari-Dacey had surgery Wednesday night and is out of the hospital, but her grandfather is angry, saying the dog had bitten other people in the past and should have been seized by police before now. Police said they have custody of the dog, which was removed from the 2 Jackson St. house where the girl was bitten. A detective will investigate and report back...

NEWPORT - When Dena Pickner awoke to a commotion at her Yachats house last June, she expected to find a raccoon. Instead, she climbed out of bed and saw a black bear coming through her dog door. "His head was stuck and he couldn't get out," Pickner told those in a court room at the Lincoln County Courthouse here this morning. "He grunted, backed up and took the dog door with him." Two weeks later, the black bear was dead, one of four shot to death in a four-week period last summer in Yachats. Now a Yachats woman is on...

A unique signal detected by NASA's Aqua satellite is helping researchers check the health and productivity of ocean plants around the world. Fluorescent red light emitted by ocean phytoplankton and detected by Aqua reveals how efficiently the microscopic plants are turning sunlight and nutrients into food through photosynthesis. "This is the first direct measurement of the health of the phytoplankton in the ocean," says Michael Behrenfeld, a biologist at Oregon State University who specializes in marine plants. "We now have an important new tool for observing changes in phytoplankton all over the planet." The findings were published this month in...

12:00 PM MDT on Thursday, May 28, 2009 CALDWELL - A six-year-old Caldwell girl is recovering from a pit bull attack doctors say could have been deadly. Both families are calling the dog attack a huge eye opener. Tuesday afternoon, Krista Docherty ran next door to her neighbor’s house, a place she knew well, and was helping the family take groceries into the home when the attack happened. "She was the first of the kids through the door and he just jumped on her and grabbed her face," said Traci Docherty, Krista's mom. "I heard the growling and scream and...

A feisty Chihuahua chased a cougar out of a Philomath yard earlier this week. As Pete Springer reports, it’s the third cougar sighting in the area in the past year. Chiquita the Chihuahua and Rosie the border terrier charged the cougar after it jumped a backyard fence. The mountain lion pinned Rosie down but Chiquita kept barking incessantly at the big cat until it jumped out of the yard and ran off. The house is next to a wooded area where Philomath police have posted cougar warning signs. Roger Furhman is with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. He...

Katinka Simonse, also known as Tinkebell, has assembled the thousands of e-mails she received since twisting her cat's neck and skinning it with her own hands in 2004, and she has published them along with the names, ages and addresses of each sender, according to the English version of the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. The book, "Dearest Tinkebell," is especially controversial because it also includes YouTube videos, MySpace profiles and any other embarrassing information available on the Web pertaining to the e-mail authors, NRC International reported.

Pet food company Nutro has announced a recall of dry cat food sold in the U.S. and 10 other countries, including Canada, Mexico, Japan and Israel. The cause of the recall, Nutro says, was a production error that caused incorrect levels of potassium and zinc to be used in the affected food.

4 people shot, 1 killed in dispute over dog 03:07 PM EDT on Thursday, May 28, 2009 By NewsChannel 36 Staff E-mail Us: NEWS@WCNC.com CALDWELL COUNTY, N.C. -- Two sheriff's deputies, an 8-year-old girl and her father are recovering after being shot by a man who was angry over the death of his dog. The gunfire started late Wednesday night in a community northwest of Lenoir on Grandin Road near N.C. 18. Residents in the neighborhood say Rolland Younce shot his neighbor Tony Moore and Moore's 8-year-old daughter Ashley. "It was, from what I understand, over a pit bull dog,"...

Thursday, May 28, 2009 (05-27) 14:56 PDT ALAMEDA -- An Alameda police K-9 officer is under investigation after his dog died when he left it in his personal sports utility vehicle for several hours during a training session, authorities said Wednesday. The officer, whose name was not released, left the 6 1/2-year-old Belgian Malinois inside his SUV while attending a use-of-force training exercise May 5 on Lincoln Avenue, police Lt. Bill Scott said. The SUV had at least one window down for ventilation, Scott said. It also was not an unusually warm day - according to the National Weather Service,...

A Jack Russell terrier who got stuck down a rabbit hole in Wales was able to free himself after 25 days without food. Jill Thomas of Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire told The Daily Mail that she and her husband Rick had given up on finding Jake the terrier after three weeks of putting up fliers and advertising in the newspaper and on a radio station. Then they got a call from a farmer whose children had found the dog near where he disappeared while out on a walk with Rick Thomas. "It was a joyous moment -- until we saw him,"...

Ventura County sheriff’s officials arrested five men Sunday in connection with a cockfighting operation discovered in a Moorpark orchard, authorities said. Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call at 8:30 a.m. Sunday about a cockfight in an orchard off Campus Park Drive east of the Rustic Canyon Golf Course. Several people fled the scene, but deputies apprehended five men: Ruben Joseph Becerra, 56, and Joseph David Becerra, 26, both of Littlerock; Roberto Padilla Ramirez, 51, and Valentine Chocoteco Jr., 26, both of Bakersfield; and Daniel Figueroa, 42, of Los Angeles, authorities said. All five were arrested on suspicion of various cockfighting...

Is This The World's Most Dangerous Dog?Cannot be posted, due to FR rules, and the liability involved with such a bloodthirsty dog.

Ohio Girl Attacked By Pet Lion Hospitalized In Pittsburgh Girl In Good Condition At Children's Hospital After Mountain Lion Attack POSTED: 1:16 am EDT May 27, 2009 PITTSBURGH -- Children's Hospital is caring for an Ohio girl attacked by a pet mountain lion. According to news reports, the elementary-aged girl was attacked Monday when she walked into a caged area where the animal was kept at a home just outside Lisbon. Video of the compound showed other types of cats also live at the property. The girl, who was reportedly visiting a friend, is said to be in good condition....

WELLINGTON (AFP) — A zookeeper was fatally mauled by a rare white tiger at a New Zealand wildlife park as horrified tourists looked on, police said. The male keeper was killed by a royal white tiger while cleaning an enclosure at Zion Wildlife Gardens near the city of Whangarei in New Zealand's north. Eight foreign tourists at the park were understood to have witnessed the attack, police said. Police did not name the keeper but he was reported to be South African Dalu Mncube, who rescued a colleague from another attack earlier this year.

Steelers linebacker James Harrison's(notes) two-year-old son is recovering after being attacked by his dad's pit bull, Patron. Everyone will be happy to know that the little guy's doing better. He's walking around, according to Harrison's agent, and there's no muscle damage, nerve damage or infection. So that's good news. The animal may be getting some good news, too. James Harrison is trying to find a way to keep the dog from being put down. The original plan was to hand the dog over to Animal Control, and they'd send him into the doggie afterlife after a 10-day quarantine. Now, though,...

An animal keeper was mauled to death Wednesday by a rare white tiger at a wildlife park in New Zealand while visitors watched in horror, police said.

A police officer fell through the ceiling and a police dog was assaulted Monday during the arrest of a Bulldog gang member at a west-central Fresno home.