THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MINNEAPOLIS — “Ever had leprosy? Thanks to animal research, you won’t.”

That message, emblazoned on 15 billboards around the Twin Cities, strikes at the heart of a largely hidden but heated health care battle being waged beyond the national debate over access to medical care. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

OKLAHOMA CITY — It’s not unusual to see a deer or a cow crossing Oklahoma’s rural highways. But an elephant?

A couple driving home from church nearly slammed into a giant pachyderm that had escaped from a nearby circus late Wednesday. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WALNUT, Calif. — Lukas was all bite, buck and bitterness before Karen Murdock adopted him six years ago and made him an Internet star.

Murdock introduced the 16-year-old Thoroughbred to carrots and kindness, helped him forget years of abuse and taught him tricks: He can smile, yawn, kiss, nod, identify shapes, numbers and letters, fetch, wave, salute, pose and stretch — and he does some of it with his front feet on a pedestal. Read the rest of this entry →

PITTSBURGH POST- GAZETTE

They may be kept with the best of intentions, but exotic pets can create havoc at home and in nature.

Sometimes they turn on their owners, as happened to Kelly Ann Walz, 37, of Saylorsburg, Pa., who was mauled to death Oct. 4 by a 350-pound black bear while cleaning its cage.

Walz reportedly had thrown a shovelful of dog food to one side of the cage to distract the bear while she cleaned the other side, instead of putting the animal into a separate area. Read the rest of this entry →

DAVE HUGHES
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

CLARKSVILLE — Two Johnson County women have been charged with felony cruelty to animals after a large dog-breeding operation was discovered earlier this month, authorities said.

Christine Yarrington, 60, and Lynn Elise Burkett, 51, both of rural Lamar, were each charged in Johnson County Circuit Court on Thursday with eight counts of aggravated cruelty to animals. Authorities previously had not identified the women. Read the rest of this entry →

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE
RESCUE IN THE ROCK

Most shelters in central Arkansas do not offer black cats for adoption during October, fearing the animals will be used as Halloween props or injured in pranks or rituals.

“There are bad people out there,” said Jacksonville Animal Shelter Kennel Manager Kerrie Henderson. The shelter doesn’t allow adoptions of black cats in October. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SALEM, Ore. — Tammy Thompson lives in a tarp-covered tent on Salem’s fringe, sharing her “little spot in the woods” with three much-loved dogs.

“They’re my children. They’re everything to me,” said Thompson, 44.

That’s why she was grateful for a local program that provides free exams, vaccinations and medications for the pets of homeless people. The aim is to improve public safety and show compassion for homeless people. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Former television game show host Bob Barker, who ended episodes of The Price is Right by asking viewers to spay and neuter their pets, donated $1 million to Drury University to establish a professorship on animal rights that he hopes will lead to a full undergraduate degree program.

Barker, who graduated from the small liberal arts school in 1947 with a degree in economics, said Tuesday that he hopes the school will eventually be able to offer a program of studies that would train them to be animal rights activists and to respect animals.

“I think some students would become full-fledged animal rights activists,” Barker said. “Some will become lawyers and doctors who will always be interested in animal rights. And some will have more respect for animals.” Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MEDFORD, Ore. — A Central Point woman has been sentenced to 18 months probation after pleading guilty to neglecting her horses.

Jackson County Judge Ray White also ordered 58-year-old Debbie Tabor to refrain from owning horses for 18 months or caring for domestic pets for five years. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nev. — A new federal proposal to manage wild horses is rekindling debate over another fixture of the Western range: cattle.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last week proposed moving thousands of mustangs to preserves in the Midwest and East to protect horse herds and the rangelands that support them. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW ORLEANS — An endangered sea turtle that apparently was washed miles inshore by Hurricane Ike and spent months trapped in a land-locked pond in southwest Louisiana is being released back into the Gulf of Mexico.

The 90-pound, 4½-foot-long female is the largest Kemp’s ridley turtle rescued since the sea turtle rescue program began 10 years ago, said Michele Kelley, Louisiana marine mammal and sea turtle stranding coordinator. The turtle’s shell is 3 feet across. Read the rest of this entry →

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE
RESCUE IN THE ROCK

Horses and riders from four states will jump for joy Oct. 17 to raise funds for special needs children participating in equine-assisted therapy at Horses for Healing in Bentonville. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

JULIE STEWART
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

MOUNTAIN HOME — An old-fashioned law enforcement tool helped authorities catch William and Tammy Hanson, who officials said were on the run for more than three years in a notorious animal cruelty case in Baxter County.

Tipsters turned them in, officials said Wednesday. Read the rest of this entry →

JULIE STEWART
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

MOUNTAIN HOME — Tammy Christine Hanson was returned to Baxter County late Friday after nearly four years on the run in an animal-cruelty case that gained national notoriety.

Authorities were also seeking the return of her husband, William Hanson, 44, from a jail in Johnson County, Mo. Read the rest of this entry →

501PETS NEWS SERVICES

New Yorker Donnell Walters was arrested Sept. 11 in the beating of his boyfriend’s dog, a 4½-pound Yorkshire Terrier named Lucy.

Lucy’s owner alleges that in late July, a verbal dispute triggered Walters, 22, to assault the canine. Walters is accused of repeatedly slamming or dropping Lucy to the ground, shattering one of her legs. Read the rest of this entry →

CAROLYNE PARK
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

The barn stall wasn’t the sterile, well-equipped hospital operating room Dr. Pamela Howard was used to, and the 680-pound patient on the floor was a long stretch from her usual patients in the burn center at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

But the wounds were familiar. As a burn and trauma surgery specialist, she knows them well. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LITTLE ROCK — Authorities say a 3-year-old horse was critically injured when it was dragged down the road in Independence County.

The man driving the truck has been arrested for driving while intoxicated and Humane Society officials want him also charged with animal cruelty. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jeff Bennett, a volunteer with Pilots N Paws

TAMPA, Fla.  — Lady Di is a lovely purebred collie with a pleasant disposition, just like lots of other dogs dumped at shelters in areas that lack anywhere near enough would-be owners. Unlike all but a lucky few of those animals, she got a plane ride away from death row.

Along with one of her sick, emaciated pups, Lady Di recently was brought to a shelter in the central Alabama interstate town of Clanton by a man who first tried to give her away in a Walmart parking lot.

Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FRANKLIN, Ohio — A woman’s pet cat has been found alive, buried beneath debris 26 days after an Ohio fire.
Sandy LaPierre says she assumed 1-year-old Smoka had died from the Aug. 10 fire in Franklin, about 30 miles north of Cincinnati. The blaze broke out in a building housing a flower shop and LaPierre’s second-floor apartment.

A demolition company moved in to tear down what was left of the building the day after the fire. A crew from Stark Wrecking Co. came back Sept. 4 to clear away the rubble and found Smoka’s head sticking out from under 16 feet of debris.
LaPierre says her female cat lost a lot of weight and has been gobbling down food to make up for it. She says Smoka has some difficulty walking but otherwise seems OK.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Can a canine companion soothe the volatile emotions of a soldier haunted by post-traumatic stress disorder?
It may sound far-fetched, but the Department of Defense wants to find out.

It’s spending millions of dollars on medical research projects like this that may yield groundbreaking results but are too speculative for other government agencies to consider. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. (AP) — The owner of an animal rescue farm in Maple Valley, southeast of Seattle, says two of her horses had to be destroyed after they were attacked by a pack of dogs.

Patricia Clark tells The Seattle Times that two foals of the mares that were hurt Saturday also were injured. Clark runs Serenity Equine Rescue & Rehabilitation in Maple Valley, where she cares for abandoned horses, goats and pigs.

King County spokeswoman Christine Lange says the owner of the dogs surrendered them to the county’s animal control agency and the dogs were euthanized Sunday morning. Lange says the five dogs involved were of mixed breeds.