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Posts tagged: animals
BOXFORD, Mass. (AP) — Police say a roving group of cows crashed a small gathering in a Massachusetts town and bullied the guests for their beer.
Boxford police Lt. James Riter says he was responding to a call for loose cows on Sunday and spotted them in a front yard.
Riter says the herd high-tailed it for the backyard and then he heard screaming. He says when he ran back there he saw the cows had chased off some young adults and were drinking their beers.
Riter says the cows had knocked the beer cans over on a table and were lapping up what spilled. He says they even started rooting around the recycled cans for some extra drops.
Riter says the cows' owner and some friends herded the cows back home.
Police in Coeur d'Alene are investigating the theft of a large fiberglass cow statue from outside an antique store.
Jeffrey Gagnon, who owns Paris Flea Market at 1815 N. 4th St., has a broken piece of the cow's tail that can be used to positively identify the statue, Officer Bruce Reed noted in his report.
Gagnon said the red and white statue, which was made in the 1940s, was secured with chains that were bolted to the ground but had been cut. The theft occurred between 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Friday, Gagnon told police.
Gagnon said the statue was worth about $2,300. He obtained it about two years ago and said it'd be easy for someone to carry it away because it only weights about 70 pounds.
Anyone with information on the theft should call the Coeur d'Alene Police Department at (208) 769-2320.
LAFAYETTE, Colo. (AP) — Police in Lafayette, Colo., have ticketed a man who is accused of tying his cat to a rock after the feline refused to go jogging.
Sgt. Fred Palmer says 19-year-old Seth Franco brought his cat on a leash to the path around Waneka Lake Park on Wednesday, but the cat was unable to keep up.
According to the Boulder Daily Camera, witnesses told police that Franco secured the cat's leash to a rock while he finished his run. A passer-by called police.
Franco was ticketed on suspicion of “domestic animal cruel treatment,” a municipal offense.
Palmer says an ordinance in the city, about 20 miles north of Denver, “prohibits that kind of tethering.”
The cat wasn't injured, so it was released to its owner.
Franco could not immediately be reached for comment.
A Spokane man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to killing his wife's cat.
Nicholas A. Romanelli, 28, was arraigned in Spokane County Superior Court on a charge of first-degree animal cruelty.
He's accused of smashing a cat against a wall repeatedly while drunk and angry he couldn't find the keys to his car to get more beer, according to court documents.
Police arrived at his home in the 4600 block of North Sullivan Road after his wife called 911. She awoke to the cat screeching loudly, she told police.
Romanelli is out of custody awaiting trial, which is scheduled for March 26. He has previous felony convictions for domestic violence tampering with a witness and harassment.
RAHWAY, N.J. (AP) — Firefighters were needed stat after a flying squirrel went nuts in a New Jersey hospital's emergency room.
The squirrel kept launching itself from an 8-foot-high wall-mounted lamp into a glass wall after becoming trapped in a trauma room at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Rahway Tuesday night.
Fire Department spokesman Capt. Ted Padavano told The Star-Ledger of Newark (http://bit.ly/vxBiL0 ) it would climb up on a light and would jump off and glide.
A pair of firefighters threw a blanket over the squirrel and released it into a wooded area outside the hospital.
Padavano believes there may be a nest in the building because it's the second time in two weeks that a flying squirrel got in the ER.
BELLE GLADE, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say dozens of cats that sneaked into a South Florida prison will be found new homes before the facility closes next month.
As many as 80 cats have burrowed under fences and taken up residence at the state-run prison in Belle Glade. Prisoners have been feeding the animals, even though rules prohibit that.
The 1,000-inmate prison closes Dec. 1. Officials tell The Palm Beach Post that as of Monday, there are more cats than prisoners at the facility. Just 69 inmates remain awaiting transfers.
Palm Beach County animal control officers are removing the cats so they won't starve when the prison closes. They're offering to waive adoption fees to find them new homes.
Some of the cats have been euthanized because they were feral and couldn't be adopted.
KINGSPORT, Tenn. (AP) — Whoever has Arthur Olterman's pig is either very inventive or very strong.
Olterman called the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office to report the white pig had been taken from its pen at a neighbor's house near Kingsport — all 450 pounds of it.
A deputy's report stated property owner Mary Keys wasn't available for him to interview on Monday, according to the Kingsport Times-News.
However, deputy Lyndon Williams saw where someone had cleared a path through some brush to get access to the pig. How they got it into a vehicle is cause for conjecture.
The porker is valued at about $350. Anyone who knows where the pig is or anything about its disappearance should call the Hawkins County sheriff.
MIAMI (AP) — The Transportation Security Administration says a man tried to board a flight from Miami to Brazil with nylon bags filled with exotic snakes and tortoises hidden in his pants.
TSA spokesman Jonathon Allen says the man was stopped after passing through a body scanner at Miami International Airport last Thursday. Security officials spotted the nylon bags filled with seven snakes and three tortoises stuffed inside the man's pants.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports the animals were taken by the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife. The unidentified passenger was arrested.
MANKATO, Minn. (AP) — Everything went according to plan for two pajama-clad stepsisters who took a goat they'd freed from a Minnesota zoo for a late-night walk.
Until they told the Mankato police officer who stopped them about 11:30 p.m. Saturday that the animal lived in their bedroom closet.
The stepsisters, ages 6 and 7, said they regularly took the goat out for late-night walks because Dad didn't know their mother had bought it two weeks earlier.
The unconvinced officer walked the girls home, where their parents explained they'd attended a birthday party at the Sibley Park Zoo earlier that day. That's when they hatched a plan to take one of the goats home.
The Free Press says police don't know how the girls freed the goat, which was returned to the zoo.
AUBURN, N.Y. (AP) — Police say a 43-year-old central New York man entered a woman's home, stole her parrot, computer and dryer knobs and unplugged her refrigerator.
Lee L. Baker Jr. of Auburn, near Syracuse, is accused of burglarizing the home of the woman who had an order of protection issued against him.
City police say they picked him up Monday on a warrant and charged him with felony burglary and two misdemeanors.
Police say the stolen items, including a green and red Cinnamon Cheek Conure parrot, were returned by Baker's girlfriend.
Baker was released on bail and is to return to court at a later date. There was no phone listing for Baker in Auburn and his lawyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The flattened and preserved reptile is at the center of possible legal action against three Michigan men charged with its theft and subsequent display on a Ford pickup at a nearby mud-bogging party
HOWELL, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say three intoxicated men stole a 14-foot flattened and preserved alligator, strapped it to a pickup truck and took it off-roading.
The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus reports that 55-year-old Douglas Ward of Linden, 60-year-old Roy Griffith of Linden and 53-year-old John Sanborn of Harrison are charged with breaking and entering.
The charges stem from a June 25 theft from a barn in Hartland Township, about 40 miles northwest of Detroit. Sheriff Bob Bezotte says the alligator's owner found tire tracks near his barn and followed them to a party in Deerfield Township where the men were driving their vehicles around in the mud.
The men are due in Livingston County District Court July 20.
The Associated Press sought comment from the men's defense lawyers Thursday morning.
An undated photo shows the white cow escaped from Madina Poultry in Upper Darby, Pa., during loading last Saturday. (AP Photo/ Colin Kerrigan/Delaware County Daily Times)
UPPER DARBY, Pa. (AP) — Call it a heifer hot pursuit.
The Delaware County Daily Times reports it took officers about an hour to round up a slaughter-bound cow that got loose in a borough adjoining Philadelphia.
Upper Darby police Superintendent Michael Chitwood says the cow was reported loose Saturday night. He says his officers pursued it in their cruisers and eventually cornered it in an alley by blocking it in.
During its dash to freedom the cow ran into a car, causing minor damage.
An employee for the butcher soon arrived and lassoed the creature.
GENEVA (AP) — Forget mice. A Swiss cat named Speedy has an eye for finer things.
Speedy has stolen so much loot that its owner had to post leaflets throughout a northern Swiss town saying “Help, our cat steals!” and inviting people to recover their missing things.
Margrit Geiger of Wiesendangen said her kleptomaniac cat switched three years ago from bringing home mice to stealing badminton shuttlecocks, all to impress her teenage son.
Then the cat began specializing in gloves, scarves and T-shirts. The latest obsession: underwear and black socks.
Geiger told the Swiss daily Blick the cat has nabbed more than 100 items, and the paper said Thursday some neighbors have already claimed items back.
Veterinarian Brigitte Buetikofer says animals steal to gain attention, so ignoring them is the best cure.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — It's the kind of story that creates its own headline — Byrd Rescues Hawk.
Oregon's KGW-TV reports that Portland Police Bureau officer Cage Byrd — his real name — spotted a young red-tailed hawk standing outside a downtown hair salon on Tuesday.
The raptor chick appeared to be injured, so Byrd grabbed some towels and a box from a nearby hotel and took the hawk to a veterinary hospital.
The bird was later taken to the Audubon Society, which says the hawk probably fell from a nest near the KGW Audubon Raptor Cam. The remote camera records the activity of a raptor family and is shown on a website that has become popular.
One of the three chicks sustained a leg injury last week.
Reports of a camel on a property in eastern Spokane County led to the recent arrest of a mother and daughter duo already charged with animal cruelty.
The camel belonged to a neighbor, but animal control officers say Kelly J. Covey, 49, had two dogs in her camper - a violation of a court order. The restriction has been in place since a Jan. 29 raid at the property, 6204 N. Idaho Road, that led to charges against Covey, her mother, Carol McMullen, 70, and Mullen's son, James W. McMullen.
In addition to the camel, SCRAPS investigators found cows and llamas at 6204 N. Idaho Road that also violated court orders.
Carol McMullen has previous convictions for animal cruelty; she was arrested again last week for violating her release conditions. Covey was booked into jail Friday.
The family faces several felony animal cruelty charges after 123 farm animals and pets were seized in January.
Officers found 78 dead animals on the property, located between State Line and Newman Lake.
A 21-year-old Spokane man is accused of killing his girlfriend's cat.
Corey C. Fries was arrested Saturday after his girlfriend of 1 1/2 years told police he'd held the cat to the floor about two weeks ago and hit it in the head with a walking cane, killing it.
Fries told the woman “that she needed to tell people that her cat ran away,” according to court documents.
Spokane police learned of the cat's death after responding to the couple's home at 3024 E. 30th Ave., Saturday for a domestic dispute. Fries was arrested for misdemeanor assault and reportedly admitted to killing the cat, police said, though he denied hitting it with a cane.
Fries appeared on a first-degree animal cruelty charge today in Spokane County Superior Court, where his bail was set at $5,000.
BAY SHORE, N.Y. (AP) — Long Island firefighters went home with a great story to tell: They rescued a dog from the roof of a two-story house.
The Bay Shore Fire Department was called to help Rosie on Monday.
The department said in a statement that the homeowner was pet sitting and “had no idea how the dog got onto the roof.”
It's estimated the medium-sized mutt was there about two hours.
Employing the time-honored cat-in-a-tree approach, the firefighters used a ladder to bring the canine aerialist back to earth.
A Chattaroy teenager killed his family’s dogs after threatening his mother and grandmother with a knife on Monday, sheriff’s officials say.
Michael R. Shartle, 19, remains in jail on $20,000 bond after appearing in Spokane County Superior Court on Wednesday.
He was arrested Tuesday after deputies found evidence of brutal slayings in his family’s barn, where the teen reportedly told his mother on Monday that he’d killed their two dogs.
Here’s a dispatch from Sgt. Dave Reagan, spokesman for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office:
“It was not so much a jail break as it was a wing break. Sgt. Jon Simbler at the Geiger Corrections Center discovered a large owl inside the perimeter fence Sunday and noted that it appeared to have a broken wing. It was cranky, he added.
Not wanting to risk the bird’s talons, he began calling around to see if he could locate professional help for the owl. A call to sheriff’s dispatch produced no results, nor did a call to the Washington State Patrol.
The WSP dispatcher said that although they dispatch for the state game department, they would only come if it was a spotted owl. Sgt. Simbler said it didn’t appear to have spots.
Finally, Lt. Mike Rohrscheib called a wild animal rescue group who put him in touch with a bird rescue specialist. “Marilyn” said that she hadn’t been in the business for a number of years, but knew of a veterinarian who treated birds if they could catch it.
“Watch out for the talons,” she added.
Rohrscheib kept looking and located a private wildlife specialist who took the owl into “custody” and drove it to the Jerry Ponti Veterinary Clinic. By now the bird was looking quite lethargic and its survival was in question.
However, on Monday the owl was described as getting stronger and eating and drinking. X-rays were planned and surgery is in the future if needed. On Tuesday, he was downright feisty.
Simbler Tuesday humbly reported that it was the entire staff at Geiger who displayed an overwhelming sense of duty to see that the owl survived.”
By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
SEATTLE (AP) — Last week’s animal-abuse arrest of a convicted cocaine smuggler wasn’t the first time authorities had found something linking him to bestiality.
A Monroe police commander said Monday that when Douglas Spink’s sport utility vehicle was pulled over in 2005, Spink was strangely protective of a female German shepherd that was with him, and he had stickers on the car indicating he was an animal-man-love activist.
Investigators didn’t bother with those clues because they had much more pressing concerns, namely the 372 pounds of cocaine in the SUV, Cmdr. Steve Clopp said.
“It struck us all as very odd,” Clopp said. “We really hadn’t ever dealt with it before. I mean, you’re driving around with 169 kilos of cocaine, you might be concerned with yourself or the predicament you’re in. But he was just really concerned with the dog.”
Authorities searched Spink’s farm Wednesday after prosecutors received a tip from a public defender’s office in Tennessee. The office reported that Spink had been calling them incessantly about a jailed defendant in a bestiality case in Tennessee.
That man, James Michael Tait, (right) had previously admitted filming a man having sex with a horse in Enumclaw, Wash., in 2005. The man Tait filmed died of internal injuries suffered during the incident. He received a minor sentence in the case because Washington had relatively weak bestiality laws at the time. It’s not immediately clear why Spink was calling Tennessee about the Tait case.
Spink’s lawyer insists there’s no evidence Spink engaged in bestiality.
Read the rest of the Associated Press story by clicking the link below.
Spokesman-Review columnist Doug Clark dedicated a column to this case today. Check it out here, and enjoy a song he wrote about Tait’s case here.
Reporter Meghann Cuniff writes about public safety news from the Inland Northwest and beyond.
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