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Saturday, April 19, 2008
Dog rescued after run-in with porcupine
An animal hospital is helping nurse an injured dog back to health after it had an unfortunate run-in with a porcupine.
The Allegheny County Dog Warden said he got a call earlier this week concerning the dog, who is named Blossom.
Officials say Blossom had been spotted lying in a ditch looking frail and malnourished.
Authorities say when they were able to track down the dog, she had porcupine quills covering her face and right shoulder, which forced her to walk only on three legs. Blossom is now getting treatment and is being cared for by the West Deer Dog Shelter.
With news video. There are more photos here.
The Allegheny County Dog Warden said he got a call earlier this week concerning the dog, who is named Blossom.
Officials say Blossom had been spotted lying in a ditch looking frail and malnourished.
Authorities say when they were able to track down the dog, she had porcupine quills covering her face and right shoulder, which forced her to walk only on three legs. Blossom is now getting treatment and is being cared for by the West Deer Dog Shelter.
With news video. There are more photos here.
Norwegian cruise ship rescues shipwrecked dog
Snickers the Sea Dog is barely more than a pup, but he's already an old salt.
The 8-month-old dog spent three months adrift in the Pacific with his owners and a parrot until their 48-foot sailboat ran aground in December on tiny Fanning Island, 1,000 miles south of Hawaii. Snickers and Gulliver had to be left behind as their owners hitched a ride on a cargo vessel.
Then in March, the SOS was sent out in a boating journal that the orphaned animals were to be destroyed on Fanning, one of 33 scattered coral atolls that make up the remote island nation of Kiribati.
As word spread, a bevy of people worked to rescue the cocker spaniel and the macaw. On April 9, Norwegian Cruise Line workers rescued Snickers from Fanning and dropped him off on Oahu island, Hawaii, where he will remain in quarantine until he is flown to Los Angeles.
The 8-month-old dog spent three months adrift in the Pacific with his owners and a parrot until their 48-foot sailboat ran aground in December on tiny Fanning Island, 1,000 miles south of Hawaii. Snickers and Gulliver had to be left behind as their owners hitched a ride on a cargo vessel.
Then in March, the SOS was sent out in a boating journal that the orphaned animals were to be destroyed on Fanning, one of 33 scattered coral atolls that make up the remote island nation of Kiribati.
As word spread, a bevy of people worked to rescue the cocker spaniel and the macaw. On April 9, Norwegian Cruise Line workers rescued Snickers from Fanning and dropped him off on Oahu island, Hawaii, where he will remain in quarantine until he is flown to Los Angeles.
Family gets dog back after kennel mix-up - Update
Callie came home. The real one. Not that she'll confirm her identity. She'll only bark.
Ken Griggs of Lake Oswego was reunited with his family's, more than two weeks after he claimed a Dundee boarding kennel returned the wrong female black Labrador from a spring break stay.
Can you tell the difference between the dogs?
Ken Griggs of Lake Oswego was reunited with his family's, more than two weeks after he claimed a Dundee boarding kennel returned the wrong female black Labrador from a spring break stay.
Can you tell the difference between the dogs?
Toddler dehydrated as punishment for bed-wetting
Two family friends accused of depriving a toddler of fluid for a week as punishment for bed-wetting have appeared in court in Meriden, Connecticut, to face charges over his death.
Police said 23-month-old Amari Jackson died of dehydration while Sharon Patterson and her brother Robert Patterson were caring for him in February.
Investigators said glasses around the house were laced with hot sauce to keep the boy from drinking.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Robert Patterson told police that the boy cried for his mother when he began staying with him and his sister, but "towards the end of his stay Amari was crying for something to drink".
Amari was pronounced dead at Yale-New Haven Hospital, where medical records indicate that he "appeared wasted" and had "sunken eyes".
Sharon Patterson, 39, was charged with manslaughter, cruelty to persons and risk of injury to a minor. Her 31-year-old brother was charged with cruelty to persons and risk of injury to a minor.
Police said 23-month-old Amari Jackson died of dehydration while Sharon Patterson and her brother Robert Patterson were caring for him in February.
Investigators said glasses around the house were laced with hot sauce to keep the boy from drinking.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Robert Patterson told police that the boy cried for his mother when he began staying with him and his sister, but "towards the end of his stay Amari was crying for something to drink".
Amari was pronounced dead at Yale-New Haven Hospital, where medical records indicate that he "appeared wasted" and had "sunken eyes".
Sharon Patterson, 39, was charged with manslaughter, cruelty to persons and risk of injury to a minor. Her 31-year-old brother was charged with cruelty to persons and risk of injury to a minor.
Policeman sues after human flesh fell into his mouth
An Australian policeman suffered psychiatric injury from attending traumatic events including an incident in which human flesh fell into his mouth, a judge has been told.
The incident occurred in 1992 when Christopher Cavanagh was required to recover pieces of the body of a worker who had fallen into a garbage shredder at a Sydney railway station.
While the incident led to his being medically discharged in 1994, the one-time NSW Police Rescue Squad officer had attended other horrific scenes, including the 1977 Granville rail disaster and a death scene where dogs had eaten part of a man.
Mr Cavanagh, now 58, of Northmead in Sydney's west, wants to take NSW Supreme Court damages action against the state, claiming he suffered psychiatric injury as a result of its negligence.
In his affidavit, he said he had been required to recover each piece of the man's body and try to lay them out. "At one stage, a piece of the body fell into my mouth, which made me ill," he said.
Although he told the debriefing officers of his concerns and need for blood tests, he said nothing was arranged and he had to organise them himself. The judge reserved his decision to an unspecified date.
The incident occurred in 1992 when Christopher Cavanagh was required to recover pieces of the body of a worker who had fallen into a garbage shredder at a Sydney railway station.
While the incident led to his being medically discharged in 1994, the one-time NSW Police Rescue Squad officer had attended other horrific scenes, including the 1977 Granville rail disaster and a death scene where dogs had eaten part of a man.
Mr Cavanagh, now 58, of Northmead in Sydney's west, wants to take NSW Supreme Court damages action against the state, claiming he suffered psychiatric injury as a result of its negligence.
In his affidavit, he said he had been required to recover each piece of the man's body and try to lay them out. "At one stage, a piece of the body fell into my mouth, which made me ill," he said.
Although he told the debriefing officers of his concerns and need for blood tests, he said nothing was arranged and he had to organise them himself. The judge reserved his decision to an unspecified date.
Elderly women face jail over insurance killings
It was a murder plot on slow burn. The two women, both in their 70s, would befriend the homeless in Hollywood, put them up, and insure their lives for millions. Then the women would cash in, dispatching their victims in staged hit and run accidents in dark alleys.
But yesterday a jury in Los Angeles found Helen Golay, 77, guilty of the murder of Paul Vados, 73, and Kenneth McDavid, 50. She faces the possibility of a life sentence without parole and will probably end her days in jail.
Her friend of 20 years, Olga Rutterschmidt, 75, was convicted of conspiracy to murder, which could lead to a 25-year prison term. The jury was to consider murder charges against Rutterschmidt yesterday.
The time delay between the murders - Vados was killed in 1999 and McDavid in 2005 - had allowed the two women to escape suspicion until two years ago when a detective overheard a colleague investigating a strikingly similar case.
But their trial, punctuated by tape recordings of the two women squabbling in jail, has exposed a murder plot reminiscent of the film Arsenic and Old Lace.
Golay, a former estate agent in Santa Monica, and Rutterschmidt, who had once owned a coffee shop with her husband, were both Hungarian-born.
Photo from here.
But yesterday a jury in Los Angeles found Helen Golay, 77, guilty of the murder of Paul Vados, 73, and Kenneth McDavid, 50. She faces the possibility of a life sentence without parole and will probably end her days in jail.
Her friend of 20 years, Olga Rutterschmidt, 75, was convicted of conspiracy to murder, which could lead to a 25-year prison term. The jury was to consider murder charges against Rutterschmidt yesterday.
The time delay between the murders - Vados was killed in 1999 and McDavid in 2005 - had allowed the two women to escape suspicion until two years ago when a detective overheard a colleague investigating a strikingly similar case.
But their trial, punctuated by tape recordings of the two women squabbling in jail, has exposed a murder plot reminiscent of the film Arsenic and Old Lace.
Golay, a former estate agent in Santa Monica, and Rutterschmidt, who had once owned a coffee shop with her husband, were both Hungarian-born.
Photo from here.
Volkswagen fan has Beetles on his back
A VW fanatic has turned himself into a "walking billboard" for the cult car-maker - with camper vans and Beetles tattooed over his back and arms.
Chris Redford, 28, is so obsessed with the German car-maker, he even plans to name his first daughter, due next month, Victoria Willow - to give her the iconic initials.
He has spent about £3,000 on the tattoos.
Shopkeeper Chris, of Eastbourne, said: "When I was about 16, a couple of my friends bought Beetles and I just fell in love with them. Now they're a major part of my life."
He is also planning more tattoos - including a new logo revealed recently by VW in Germany - and a pair of VW-branded wasps on his bottom.
His current collection of tattoos includes the number plates of all the VWs he has owned set in hearts, and the front of a giant winged Beetle between his shoulder blades. He is now keen to get the back of the vehicle tattooed across his chest.
Chris Redford, 28, is so obsessed with the German car-maker, he even plans to name his first daughter, due next month, Victoria Willow - to give her the iconic initials.
He has spent about £3,000 on the tattoos.
Shopkeeper Chris, of Eastbourne, said: "When I was about 16, a couple of my friends bought Beetles and I just fell in love with them. Now they're a major part of my life."
He is also planning more tattoos - including a new logo revealed recently by VW in Germany - and a pair of VW-branded wasps on his bottom.
His current collection of tattoos includes the number plates of all the VWs he has owned set in hearts, and the front of a giant winged Beetle between his shoulder blades. He is now keen to get the back of the vehicle tattooed across his chest.
Blind and deaf pensioner in signature row
A blind and deaf woman has been forced to live off her savings for almost a year because the Post Office will not let her withdraw her pension as her signature does not match the one in its records.
Joan Hopton, 81, of Cheltenham, Glos, lost her pension card in May last year. However, when she applied for a new one she was told by the company that it could not be issued because the name on the bottom of the letter did not match her original signature.
She used to collect a pension of £104 a week and is now owed about £4,000 since she lost her card.
Despite repeated attempts by members of her family to come to some arrangement with Post Office Ltd the company will not let her access the money.
The family have subsequently been told that they must write a letter to Post Office Ltd to officially close the pension account so it can be set up in either one of Mrs Hopton's daughter's names.
A Post Office spokesman said: "We are very sorry to learn of the problems Mrs Hopton has had with her account. A member of our high profile case team will contact her shortly to try to find a speedy solution."
Joan Hopton, 81, of Cheltenham, Glos, lost her pension card in May last year. However, when she applied for a new one she was told by the company that it could not be issued because the name on the bottom of the letter did not match her original signature.
She used to collect a pension of £104 a week and is now owed about £4,000 since she lost her card.
Despite repeated attempts by members of her family to come to some arrangement with Post Office Ltd the company will not let her access the money.
The family have subsequently been told that they must write a letter to Post Office Ltd to officially close the pension account so it can be set up in either one of Mrs Hopton's daughter's names.
A Post Office spokesman said: "We are very sorry to learn of the problems Mrs Hopton has had with her account. A member of our high profile case team will contact her shortly to try to find a speedy solution."
Teenager commits sex offences to be jailed with dad
A rapist's teenage son carried out a string of sex offences so he could be locked up with his dad.
Ricky Roberts, 18, who flashed at six women and molested two others, wanted to support his father Dale Burrows, 38, in prison.
The son got his wish yesterday when magistrates at Cheltenham, Gloucs, remanded him in custody for sentencing.
His father, who was convicted earlier this month of raping a women in a Cheltenham park 18 years ago, is in prison awaiting sentence.
Lawyer Graham Daniel, defending, said: "When his father got arrested, Ricky was very, very worried. He thought he could be of more use to him if he was also in custody."
Roberts admitted indecent exposure and groping. His father was caught after a DNA test on a relative led to him being identified as a rapist.
Ricky Roberts, 18, who flashed at six women and molested two others, wanted to support his father Dale Burrows, 38, in prison.
The son got his wish yesterday when magistrates at Cheltenham, Gloucs, remanded him in custody for sentencing.
His father, who was convicted earlier this month of raping a women in a Cheltenham park 18 years ago, is in prison awaiting sentence.
Lawyer Graham Daniel, defending, said: "When his father got arrested, Ricky was very, very worried. He thought he could be of more use to him if he was also in custody."
Roberts admitted indecent exposure and groping. His father was caught after a DNA test on a relative led to him being identified as a rapist.
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