A woman was held hostage in her house by a horny goose. Joanne Martin said she tried to leave her Witt, Illinois, home earlier this month and caught an amorous goose in the throes of mating season making advances to the concrete goose statue next to her car. Whenever she opened the door, the goose put down his head and charged at her. Martin said she called two friends who agreed to come over after work, about four hours later. They ended up calling in another four men. Eventually, some of the group was able to distract the goose long enough to allow the others to move the statue into a shed and close the door. The goose seemed to calm down and soon left her property.
A beloved giraffe from the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was dismembered and placed in a trash dumpster following its death. The giraffe, Kashka, had suffered a debilitating leg injury after a recent fall. Zoo officials said attempts to treat her condition would not likely be successful, so veterinarians decided last week to euthanize the 16-year-old giraffe that stood 15 feet tall and weighed about 2,000 pounds. Instead of following protocol and taking the giraffe to the landfill, a zoo worker put the dismembered giraffe carcass in a dumpster near the zoo last Thursday. A garbage truck driver spotted the remains the next day and reported it to his supervisor. Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry was outraged, calling it unacceptable behavior from a city employee. He has ordered an investigation into the incident.
Hundreds of exotic birds perished in a fire at a Las Vegas nature preserve and sanctuary. It's estimated that 250 birds died before Las Vegas firefighters arrived a little before 5:30 a.m. Friday to battle flames raging across the grounds of the Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary at the northwest edge of Las Vegas. The facility is a non-profit organization established in 1970 as a sanctuary, education center and rescue operation for animals ranging from tortoises to horses to birds. It has housed large flightless birds including ostriches, emus and rheas, along with smaller species like finches, cockatoos, parakeets, macaws and parrots.
Here's a new twist on animal hoarding. An Australian woman was found living in her car with 23 pets - 12 of which were cats. Carol Lynette Samuels, 66, was discovered in the underground parking lot at a shopping mall in Arundel. Samuels told police that was a successful cat breeder but tough financial times last year had forced her to move out of a $1.5 million mansion. She moved into her car along with her pets. Inside the car, authorities found 11 long-haired Persian cats and a Himalayan cat inside seven cages on the back seat and nine Pomeranian dogs and two poodles beside the car. Vet checks showed the cats were malnourished had matted fur, fleas and cat flu. The RSPCA seized the animals and one cat had to be put down.
A golden retriever swallowed a three-carat, $20,000 diamond inside a Rockville, Maryland, jewelry store. It happened back in late January, when the owners of Robert Bernard Jewelry were examining the diamond brought in by a dealer. The diamond was accidentally dropped on the store floor, and before any of the humans could react, Soli, the store owner's dog, ate it up. Three days later, the dog and the owners were relieved when the diamond reappeared during Soli's daily walk. "It was a happy ending to say the least," owner George Kaufmann said.
A cat has come back from the dead – nine months after his owners buried their cherished pet. Angelo Petrillo and wife Katy were devastated when ginger tom Alfie went missing last June. Two weeks later, a neighbour told them Alfie had been spotted dead by the side of the slip road near junction 21 of the M62.
Angelo, 39, recognised the cat as his own and buried it in land near the family home in Milnrow, Rochdale. The couple moved to a house about a mile away in November. But this week they were stunned to receive a text message from the family who moved into their old home saying a ginger tom cat was going ‘berserk’ outside and trying to get in. They said it couldn’t be their cat as they had buried Alfie.
But the next day they had three more calls from former neighbours saying the cat was meowing all night and asking if it belonged to them. Katy, 35, drove to the house to reassure them that it was definitely not their cat. But when she arrived, she was stunned to see Alfie.
Angelo said: “It was just unbelievable – the cat I had buried nine months earlier, the cat we spent about a month grieving over was back and my wife just couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“I was 100 per cent certain the cat I had buried was Alfie – he had the same markings, was the same size and everything about him matched, so when my wife walked through the door with Alfie I was totally stunned – it was like he had risen from the dead.”
The couple do not know where Alfie has been living since the summer but their vet told them he probably got lost and by the time he eventually found his way home, the family had moved. Angelo added: “It is just one in a million – we even marked ‘Alfie’s’ grave so it’s amazing he’s back.”
