Monday, February 09, 2015
Heroic dog battling for her life after attempting to save owner during fatal fire
A heroic boxer named Carmen is making a valiant effort to recover after she tried to save her owner's life in a fatal house fire in Goshen Township, Ohio, on Thursday.
"All things considered she's doing quite well," said Dr. Daniel Carey on Saturday morning.
Carey is one of the veterinarians at Cincinnati Care Center taking care of the chocolate-colored 9-year-old boxer who was placed on a ventilator Friday evening. Veterinarians believe the move may be the reason she's still alive.
"She is definitely still considered very critical but she is certainly in better condition than she was before we put her on the ventilator," said another vet, Dr. Marlo Anderson.
As smoke and flames filled the basement of Ben Ledford's home, Carmen was found trying to save his life, firefighters told neighbour Ron Mitchell. "When the fire department did get to Ben, his dog was laying over his face protecting him," Mitchell said. Carmen suffered severe lung damage because of intense heat and smoke. Ledford died a short time after he was taken to an area hospital. Once Carmen was hooked up to the ventilator she was sedated and made comfortable while her lungs heal. "Had we not been able to put her on this (ventilator), I definitely think she would have passed away," Anderson said.
Initial news video.
YouTube link.
"We do have about a 50 percent on average success rate once they go on the ventilator for something like this that they'll be able to come off the ventilator."Veterinary staff will soon begin weaning Carmen off of the ventilator, Carey said. "And that's the next critical phase," he said. Carmen also remains attached to an IV and telemetry to monitor her heart. She seems to be reacting positively to treatment, Carey said. "Keeping her in this kennel enables us to get the oxygen levels a little bit higher than we normally would in that case, as well as minimizing any stress for her movements," Anderson said. The biggest test will be whether or not Carmen will breath on her own once the ventilator is removed. "Does her body respond?" Carey said.
Follow up news video.
YouTube link.
Carmen's heroic act didn't surprise Anderson. "A lot of dogs instinctively know when there's a crisis going on and so a lot of them do go to try to protect their owners, so she very well may have been trying to protect him," Anderson said. And while Carmen struggles to recover, her spirit was still intact before she was sedated. "She seems to be very social, so anytime we are over here with her she's kind of up and trying to interact with us as best she can," Anderson said. It has not been easy for the staff at the care center knowing the circumstances that brought Carmen to them. "It's definitely, I would say a little bit of a sombre mood taking care of her knowing her owner is no longer able to be with her," Anderson said.
As smoke and flames filled the basement of Ben Ledford's home, Carmen was found trying to save his life, firefighters told neighbour Ron Mitchell. "When the fire department did get to Ben, his dog was laying over his face protecting him," Mitchell said. Carmen suffered severe lung damage because of intense heat and smoke. Ledford died a short time after he was taken to an area hospital. Once Carmen was hooked up to the ventilator she was sedated and made comfortable while her lungs heal. "Had we not been able to put her on this (ventilator), I definitely think she would have passed away," Anderson said.
Initial news video.
YouTube link.
"We do have about a 50 percent on average success rate once they go on the ventilator for something like this that they'll be able to come off the ventilator."Veterinary staff will soon begin weaning Carmen off of the ventilator, Carey said. "And that's the next critical phase," he said. Carmen also remains attached to an IV and telemetry to monitor her heart. She seems to be reacting positively to treatment, Carey said. "Keeping her in this kennel enables us to get the oxygen levels a little bit higher than we normally would in that case, as well as minimizing any stress for her movements," Anderson said. The biggest test will be whether or not Carmen will breath on her own once the ventilator is removed. "Does her body respond?" Carey said.
Follow up news video.
YouTube link.
Carmen's heroic act didn't surprise Anderson. "A lot of dogs instinctively know when there's a crisis going on and so a lot of them do go to try to protect their owners, so she very well may have been trying to protect him," Anderson said. And while Carmen struggles to recover, her spirit was still intact before she was sedated. "She seems to be very social, so anytime we are over here with her she's kind of up and trying to interact with us as best she can," Anderson said. It has not been easy for the staff at the care center knowing the circumstances that brought Carmen to them. "It's definitely, I would say a little bit of a sombre mood taking care of her knowing her owner is no longer able to be with her," Anderson said.
Massage parlour owner distraught after theft of her pet turtles
Chutima Phuttsichat, owner of Maxi’s Thai Massage parlour at Jape Homemaker Village, Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory, is distraught after her beloved turtles, Lucky and Money, were turtle-napped on Friday afternoon.
“Every day I bring bucket and put the turtles in the sun for two hours,” she said.
“Please give them back. I’m very sad they’ve been taken ... I love them.” Ms Phuttsichat bought the pair three years ago just after opening her business as they are a symbol of good fortune in Thai culture. The pair usually live in a tank inside the business but are put outside to catch a few rays in the afternoon.
Over the last three years she has seen them grow from tiny little things to about 10cm and was devastated they were now missing. Darren Chidgey from a neighbouring business believed whoever had picked up Lucky and Money in their bucket has done so “in good faith.” “(Ms Phuttsichat) came to me (on Friday) and said ‘the turtles are gone’.”
“I’ve stopped a couple of people trying to take them over the years,” he said. “One time this guy picked them up thinking they were abandoned and I had to say ‘no, they’re pets out here to get the sun’. The day before (they were taken) I said to a lady please don’t touch them. I’m sure whoever has taken them has done it in good faith. They’re funny little things, as soon as they see you they hide their heads away.”
“Please give them back. I’m very sad they’ve been taken ... I love them.” Ms Phuttsichat bought the pair three years ago just after opening her business as they are a symbol of good fortune in Thai culture. The pair usually live in a tank inside the business but are put outside to catch a few rays in the afternoon.
Over the last three years she has seen them grow from tiny little things to about 10cm and was devastated they were now missing. Darren Chidgey from a neighbouring business believed whoever had picked up Lucky and Money in their bucket has done so “in good faith.” “(Ms Phuttsichat) came to me (on Friday) and said ‘the turtles are gone’.”
“I’ve stopped a couple of people trying to take them over the years,” he said. “One time this guy picked them up thinking they were abandoned and I had to say ‘no, they’re pets out here to get the sun’. The day before (they were taken) I said to a lady please don’t touch them. I’m sure whoever has taken them has done it in good faith. They’re funny little things, as soon as they see you they hide their heads away.”
Snake and mouse sought refuge from flooded river together
A snake and a mouse have been filmed taking refuge together in a nook of a bridge in tropical North Queensland, Australia, as the Mulgrave River's flooding waters surged around them.
Local resident Simon Wood found the strange bed fellows "just chilling" in a gap between a bridge's stone blocks at around midday on Sunday when he took a walk down the street to watch the rising waters.
"Me and the missus thought we'd go down and have quick sticky beak," Mr Wood said.
"I saw the snake first he was just hiding from the river. Then saw the mouse and thought 'That's his dinner source,'" he said about the unlikely friendship. "It was predator and prey - Mother Nature's got bigger plans for them but they've gotta survive together," Mr Wood said. Mr Wood said the mouse was not even frightened of the reptile that would normally make a quick meal of, acting bold enough to run back and forth over the snake's back.
The drenched, little field mouse is seen hiding out in a niche while the snake, believed to be a slaty grey snake, common to the area, sits beside it, trying to get out of the rain. "Unbelievable," Mr Wood says in the video about the little pals. "A little mouse about to walk over the snake, both shivering, and a little skink on top of his back." The Mulgrave River had flooded after a dumping of 200mm of rain around Cairns overnight, leaving around 2500 dwellings without power and countless numbers of animals and other critters without homes.
YouTube link.
"There's hell-of-a-lot of water around there," Mr Wood said about the local river had risen three metres on Sunday morning. "Every little critter is running around there - frogs jumping, lizards, insects flying and snakes getting flushed out of their holes." Though the rain had stopped, the river was still rising, Mr Wood said, coming up about an inch in the 10 to 15 minutes in which he and the wife were there.
"I saw the snake first he was just hiding from the river. Then saw the mouse and thought 'That's his dinner source,'" he said about the unlikely friendship. "It was predator and prey - Mother Nature's got bigger plans for them but they've gotta survive together," Mr Wood said. Mr Wood said the mouse was not even frightened of the reptile that would normally make a quick meal of, acting bold enough to run back and forth over the snake's back.
The drenched, little field mouse is seen hiding out in a niche while the snake, believed to be a slaty grey snake, common to the area, sits beside it, trying to get out of the rain. "Unbelievable," Mr Wood says in the video about the little pals. "A little mouse about to walk over the snake, both shivering, and a little skink on top of his back." The Mulgrave River had flooded after a dumping of 200mm of rain around Cairns overnight, leaving around 2500 dwellings without power and countless numbers of animals and other critters without homes.
YouTube link.
"There's hell-of-a-lot of water around there," Mr Wood said about the local river had risen three metres on Sunday morning. "Every little critter is running around there - frogs jumping, lizards, insects flying and snakes getting flushed out of their holes." Though the rain had stopped, the river was still rising, Mr Wood said, coming up about an inch in the 10 to 15 minutes in which he and the wife were there.
Twenty eight Brazilian prisoners escaped after women in dominatrix costumes seduced guards
Three women wearing dominatrix costumes lured Brazilian prison guards into an apparent orgy in their quarters before drugging them, stealing their keys and breaking 28 inmates from their cells.
Three guards at the Nova Mutum public prison near Cuiaba in Central Brazil were lured into the ruse at around 3am on Thursday.
Wearing skimpy black PVC costumes, the women entered the guards' sleeping quarters and imbibed them with sedative-laced whiskey.
The ladies then stripped and handcuffed the guards before stealing their master keys and opening every cell in the prison, investigators said. Inmates walked through prison's front doors, taking three rifles, revolvers and ammunition from a storage room as they left. "The plan was to seduce them … Whoever wanted to escape left by the front door," Police Chief Angelina de Andrades Ferreira said. The disgraced and groggy guards were found handcuffed and near-naked the next morning.
Police later found a bag containing the outfits, some resembling skimpy police uniforms, near the prison. "From the moment they drank the whisky, the agents don't remember a thing," Chief Andrades Ferreira said. "One was found dizzy, trying to wake up. Another slept for the whole afternoon and couldn't even be questioned." The guards were arrested and face charges of facilitating a jailbreak and culpable embezzlement because of the firearms theft.
YouTube link.
One of the seductive liberators is thought to be the girlfriend of 18-year-old Bruno Amorim who investigators believe masterminded the plot. Amorim has fled while on sentence of attempted murder, robbery and weapons charges. By Friday police had caught eight of the 28 escapees with the massive manhunt continuing. One prisoner was found drunk and brandishing one of the stolen rifles not far from the jail while another was caught after crashing a pick-up truck he had stolen from a nearby farm, police said.
The ladies then stripped and handcuffed the guards before stealing their master keys and opening every cell in the prison, investigators said. Inmates walked through prison's front doors, taking three rifles, revolvers and ammunition from a storage room as they left. "The plan was to seduce them … Whoever wanted to escape left by the front door," Police Chief Angelina de Andrades Ferreira said. The disgraced and groggy guards were found handcuffed and near-naked the next morning.
Police later found a bag containing the outfits, some resembling skimpy police uniforms, near the prison. "From the moment they drank the whisky, the agents don't remember a thing," Chief Andrades Ferreira said. "One was found dizzy, trying to wake up. Another slept for the whole afternoon and couldn't even be questioned." The guards were arrested and face charges of facilitating a jailbreak and culpable embezzlement because of the firearms theft.
YouTube link.
One of the seductive liberators is thought to be the girlfriend of 18-year-old Bruno Amorim who investigators believe masterminded the plot. Amorim has fled while on sentence of attempted murder, robbery and weapons charges. By Friday police had caught eight of the 28 escapees with the massive manhunt continuing. One prisoner was found drunk and brandishing one of the stolen rifles not far from the jail while another was caught after crashing a pick-up truck he had stolen from a nearby farm, police said.
Italian senators rule that describing a black person as an orangutan 'isn't racist'
Italy's deputy Senate president describing a black minister as an "orangutan" does not amount to racism, senators have decided.
Roberto Calderoli sparked outrage in July 2013 with his comments about Cecile Kyenge, then Italy’s integration minister:
He said: “When I see Kyenge I can’t help but think of an orangutan.”
A member of the far-right Northern League (Lega Nord) party, Calderoli refused a call from Italy’s sitting prime minister, Enrico Letta, to step down and the deputy senate president has remained in his post ever since. His “I’m not racist” position has now won the backing of senators, who ruled that the orangutan comment does not amount to racial hate. The move was supported by Kyenge’s Democratic Party (PD), with only the Five Star Movement (M5S) opposing.
Kyenge, who lost her ministerial position when Matteo Renzi became premier a year ago, said she was “surprised” and “sad” about the ruling. While she had forgiven Calderoli for the slur, Kyenge worried about the broader impact of the Senate decision: “If a person who represents the institutions can insult anybody, I ask: who protects the weak [members of society] in this country?
"It’s creating a very dangerous precedent.” Far-right politicians are “taking advantage of the [economic] crisis”, capitalizing on citizens’ fear and “looking for someone to blame”, Kyenge said. “A lot of parties are consciously doing this to divide society. I regret the lack of courage of the political class and the institutions,” she added.
A member of the far-right Northern League (Lega Nord) party, Calderoli refused a call from Italy’s sitting prime minister, Enrico Letta, to step down and the deputy senate president has remained in his post ever since. His “I’m not racist” position has now won the backing of senators, who ruled that the orangutan comment does not amount to racial hate. The move was supported by Kyenge’s Democratic Party (PD), with only the Five Star Movement (M5S) opposing.
Kyenge, who lost her ministerial position when Matteo Renzi became premier a year ago, said she was “surprised” and “sad” about the ruling. While she had forgiven Calderoli for the slur, Kyenge worried about the broader impact of the Senate decision: “If a person who represents the institutions can insult anybody, I ask: who protects the weak [members of society] in this country?
"It’s creating a very dangerous precedent.” Far-right politicians are “taking advantage of the [economic] crisis”, capitalizing on citizens’ fear and “looking for someone to blame”, Kyenge said. “A lot of parties are consciously doing this to divide society. I regret the lack of courage of the political class and the institutions,” she added.
Burst heating pipe caused near boiling water to flood the streets of Swedish city
A burst heating pipe caused near boiling water to flood the streets of a city in Sweden.
Large quantities of water of around 88 degrees poured out of the pipe, turning Sankt Laurentiigatan in Lund into a river at around 6pm on Friday.
Emergency services determined the source of the leak to be a fractured district heating pipe in the city centre. Energy firm Kraftringen posted on its website: "We ask you to be very attentive to the water from the district heating leakage and avoid coming into contact with this as it has a temperature of 88 degrees".
The area was cordoned off while the leak was dealt with. The water caused a cloud of hot steam which cloaked the street, reducing visibility to a minimum. "Units reported almost zero visibility," said Nils Norling at Skåne police.
YouTube link.
Local residents were seen using wooden pallets to walk precariously down the flooded streets to avoid the risk of burning themselves. "I don't know what I can say. It is totally crazy. There is water everywhere. It's unreal," witness Lina Aspegren said.
There's an additional video here.
Emergency services determined the source of the leak to be a fractured district heating pipe in the city centre. Energy firm Kraftringen posted on its website: "We ask you to be very attentive to the water from the district heating leakage and avoid coming into contact with this as it has a temperature of 88 degrees".
The area was cordoned off while the leak was dealt with. The water caused a cloud of hot steam which cloaked the street, reducing visibility to a minimum. "Units reported almost zero visibility," said Nils Norling at Skåne police.
YouTube link.
Local residents were seen using wooden pallets to walk precariously down the flooded streets to avoid the risk of burning themselves. "I don't know what I can say. It is totally crazy. There is water everywhere. It's unreal," witness Lina Aspegren said.
There's an additional video here.
Resting woman rescued by firefighters after robot vacuum cleaner sucked up her hair
A powerful robot vacuum cleaner caused an unusual accident involving a Korean housewife last Tuesday that required the intervention of firefighters and paramedics.
The unfortunate lady in her fifties had her hair sucked up into a robot vacuum at her home in the city of Changwon, South Korea. On the day of the accident she turned on her robot vacuum as usual, and laid down flat on the floor to rest, leaving the robot to do its job.
The robot vacuum came around her relaxing on the floor, and suddenly sucked her hair into its nozzle. The vacuum stopped running one to two minutes after the sudden hair intake. The startled housewife called 119, Korea’s emergency telephone number.
Fortunately, firefighters and paramedics quickly arrived at the scene, and successfully disjoined her hair from the nozzle. The housewife suffered only minor injuries. The problematic robot vacuum had a nozzle with a roller inside, which sweeps and vacuums floors. The Changwon Fire Service Headquarters presumed that the vacuum’s sensors identified the woman’s hair as dust.
The unfortunate lady in her fifties had her hair sucked up into a robot vacuum at her home in the city of Changwon, South Korea. On the day of the accident she turned on her robot vacuum as usual, and laid down flat on the floor to rest, leaving the robot to do its job.
The robot vacuum came around her relaxing on the floor, and suddenly sucked her hair into its nozzle. The vacuum stopped running one to two minutes after the sudden hair intake. The startled housewife called 119, Korea’s emergency telephone number.
Fortunately, firefighters and paramedics quickly arrived at the scene, and successfully disjoined her hair from the nozzle. The housewife suffered only minor injuries. The problematic robot vacuum had a nozzle with a roller inside, which sweeps and vacuums floors. The Changwon Fire Service Headquarters presumed that the vacuum’s sensors identified the woman’s hair as dust.
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