An Arkansas Democrat-Gazette file photo

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE

Feline Rescue and Rehome of Little Rock received a $600 grant last week from Petfinder.com Foundation to vaccinate cats in its care for a year.

“This grant will make a huge difference toward ensuring the cats seen in our clinics will receive their vaccinations when owners cannot afford them and ease the burden for so many abandoned and homeless cats coming through our program,” said FURR President Lynn McAllester.

The money will buy feline viral rhinotracheitis vaccine, which protects cats from three contagious diseases: rhinotracheitis, calcivirus, and panleukopenia. (more…)

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE

A Mountain Home woman faces 23 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty after 14 starving dogs were seized from her property, said Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery.

Jeannie Marie Matticks, 47, was released from custody after posting $4,500 bail and will appear in Baxter County District Court on Aug. 19.

The dogs are receiving veterinary care at Baxter County Animal Control.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Watching our little avian neighbors enjoy the backyard birdbath and feeder is one of life’s quiet pleasures. But when night falls, they too need a place to sleep.

Designers and craftsmen have turned their creative talents to the task; some of the results might make you wish you could downsize yourself and grow some wings.

First, some general tips about choosing and installing birdhouses: (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Knoxville veterinarian trying to save an injured dog was killed by a hit-and-run driver.

Police spokesman Darrell DeBusk told The Knoxville News Sentinel an officer was working traffic in North Knoxville on Thursday night when he heard a vehicle strike a dog that had escaped from a nearby home.

The officer was checking the lab mix when 37-year-old Kathyrn Denise Geiger Gilpatrick came out of her home to help. DeBusk said the veterinarian was struck by a hit-and-run driver as the officer was moving his cruiser to block traffic. She died of her injuries on Friday morning at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. (more…)

THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Coyotes live in densely populated cities all over the nation, even in that ultimate of urban areas – New York. On March 26, a young coyote was captured by city police officers after leading them on a two-day chase.

News reports noted that coyotes are “firmly established” in New York.

Likewise in Little Rock and not just because the city’s growth is taking over their habitat, says Tracy Roark, director of Little Rock Animal Services Division. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ROBINSON, Texas — As the area’s only licensed wildlife rehabilitator, Jane Thomas cares each year for 600 to 800 battered, bloodied and needy animals that otherwise wouldn’t have a prayer.

Hawks that slam into 18-wheelers. Deer tangled in shredders. Pelicans shot by children given a gun for Christmas.

For the past 32 years, the 54-year-old Thomas has spent her days wrapping broken limbs, cleaning foul-smelling cages and chopping up meat and vegetables to feed a variety of animals — from bobcats and deer to baby rabbits and roadrunners. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — A judge in Houston has ordered 18 months in state jail for a man convicted over the 2008 killing of a tame deer known as Mr. Buck.

Brandon Eugene Gregory in August pleaded guilty to taking a wildlife resource without landowner consent in an incident involving the friendly deer in a sanctuary.

The remains of Mr. Buck were located on Nov. 25, 2008, at Bear Creek Pioneers Park. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES — Saving a German shepherd stuck in the rising Los Angeles River was the right thing to do, the risks were slight, rescue crews were on standby, extra taxpayer money wasn’t used and the alternatives were unacceptable, authorities said Monday.

The helicopter and swift water rescue crew members that saved the dog on Friday have been hailed as heroes, feted on television and radio and congratulated on the Web and in print. But they have also been vilified by a few in blogs, on social networks and story comment sections.

“You’re not going to please everybody. There’s always 10 percent, they either don’t like animals or think we are wasting taxpayer money,” Capt. Steve Ruda said. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. — An improvised group of animal lovers for years sheltered, captured and adopted stray cats that were dumped on the Tennessee Valley Authority reservation, but TVA officials recently requested that the animals be gone for good.

The trouble is, organizers say residents will keep supplying unwanted “Rock Pile cats” on the Rock Pile section of the reservation.

On a recent day, four cats hung around a rock crevice adorned with pillows and blankets. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona — Police in a small northern Arizona city are investigating the deaths of two giraffes from Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, and two others likely will have to find new homes.

Freddie and Tom Hancock of Page acquired the giraffes as part of a plan to build a wildlife preserve on city property they leased in 2008 that also would house exotic birds, reptiles and a camel. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONTEZUMA, Iowa — Sheriff’s deputies in Poweshiek County say they have arrested two men in connection with the stabbing of 17 cattle at a sale barn in Montezuma last week.

Poweshiek County Chief Deputy Lawrence McNaul says deputies arrested 20-year-old Robert Edward Fults and 22-year-old Jamey Leroy Christofferson Wednesday evening.

Fults and Christofferson, who are both from Montezuma, are each charged with 17 counts of livestock abuse. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nevada — In one of the worst cases they can remember, Nevada agriculture officials have cited a woman for animal cruelty for neglecting more than 100 barnyard animals, including 35 starving horses and a goat that died from eating wool off a sheep carcass.

Jan Lemley of Battle Mountain faces 42 counts of animal cruelty. Each count carries a civil fine of $1,000, said Nevada Department of Agriculture spokesman Ed Foster.

Lemley did not immediately return a telephone call from The Associated Press on Wednesday. She told The Battle Mountain Bugle, which first reported the incident, that her attorney had advised her not to comment. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MILFORD, Conn. — Milford firefighters used a truck-mounted crane to rescue an elderly horse that got stuck in more than a foot of snow over the weekend.

Fire officials say the 31-year-old warmblood fell down Sunday morning outside Fox Trotter Horse Farm and became lethargic and numb after struggling unsuccessfully to get up.

Firefighters tried several methods to lift the horse, including inflating air bags beneath it and using water hoses to try to lift it up, before firefighter Dave King offered his boom truck with a small crane. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CENTRAL ISLIP, New York — A judge ordered a New York woman held on $100,000 bail Friday after prosecutors cited evidence that some of the 42 dead animals buried in her yard had been tortured, with duct tape around their mouths or signs that they had drowned.

Sharon McDonough, 43, had been free without bail after her November arrest on misdemeanor charges, but she was taken away in handcuffs after her appearance Friday in Suffolk County Court.

McDonough faces “the likelihood of a felony indictment,” said John Cortes, assistant district attorney. Authorities initially found 20 dogs buried behind her Selden home in early November; a subsequent search Dec. 8 uncovered another 22 dead animals. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CLARKSTON, Mich. — Animals may not have any concept of holidays, but if they did, some local animals might find themselves thanking Kid Rock this holiday season.

“I’ve always tried to help out where I can locally; I do a lot of things nationally and worldwide, too, but if I can’t start out by helping in my hometown, then why bother?” said Robert Ritchie, the Clarkston area resident and Romeo native better known as musician Kid Rock. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LINCOLN, Neb. — A Lincoln teenager has been ordered to serve probation until he turns 19 for helping torture and kill a cat.

Seventeen-year-old Jacob Weichel received his punishment Friday. He’s also banned from having a weapon or owning pets during his probation period and must complete 50 hours of community service. (more…)

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

DETROIT — When someone shot Jose Cantu’s pit bull in broad daylight, Cantu didn’t call the Pontiac, Mich., cops. He called Pam Porteous and the Animal Care Network.

“I called Pam first because I knew she would come right out and take care of it,” said Cantu, 32, an unemployed construction worker who, like many Pontiac residents, has come to rely on the group for pet needs in the financially troubled city. (more…)

McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

Flea control is important for all of our pets. However, if your pet is extremely itchy on the area above his/her tail, the most likely cause is flea allergy.

A single flea bite on a flea-allergic pet will result in several days of intense itching especially around the lower back and rear limbs. For those pets, control is not enough, the fleas must be eradicated. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WALLINGFORD, Conn. —Equine care, etiquette and vocabulary consume Rita Rapuano’s days, from the time she first awakes on the 5-acre Rap-A-Pony Farm.

When she steps outside her house, which is next to the barn, it alerts the farm’s 15 show horses, including the 10 born and raised there as well as Skylar, offspring of Rugged Lark, the noted stallion who won two coveted Super Horse titles at the American Quarter Horse Association World Show and produced an award-winning son.

“When I get up in the morning, I’ll come out the side and they’ll all scream at me like, ‘hey!” she said. (more…)