THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Pamela Anderson sent a letter Saturday to Canada’s prime minister requesting an end to the country’s annual seal hunt.

The Canadian actress and spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals dropped the letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a mailbox in front of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans office.

Anderson called the hunt “an embarrassment to Canada” at a news conference, saying she made the appeal during the Winter Olympic Games here because “the whole world is watching Canada.” (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PIERCE, Colo. — The Colorado Division of Wildlife is investigating why two dead pronghorn and several prairie dogs were draped over a developer’s sign in Weld County.

Wildlife officials say the animals were killed last month and photographs of their heads and pelts on the sign were distributed online. DOW spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said this week that the pronghorns were killed in violation of game laws because pronghorn season is from August to October. Churchill says officials are investigating.

The sign was for Gold Stone Creek. It is located between Pierce and Nunn in northern Weld county.

It’s unclear why the animals were put there.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHOENIX — Investigators say a contractor and possibly an Arizona Game and Fish Department employee acted criminally in the death of what was believed to be the last living wild jaguar in Arizona.

The allegation is in a federal report obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

The state says the male jaguar known as “Macho B” was unexpectedly caught in February in a snare trap. Officials attached a tracking collar and released him. (more…)

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — There are more than 1,000 pounds of dog in the garage of Martha Rehmeyer’s home, and a story behind each bark.

As president of Carolina Great Pyrenees Rescue, Rehmeyer has heard about the dogs who got too big for the apartment or the owners who had to move, and all the other reasons dogs need new homes. She’s working with foster homes in North Carolina and South Carolina to keep 17 of the extra-large fluffy white dogs, and keeps another 10 dogs in kennels in her home near Peace Haven Road in western Winston-Salem. (more…)

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LINCOLN, Neb. — Injuries caused by playful dogs are not subject to a state law that holds dog owners liable for damage caused by dangerous dogs, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled in an opinion issued Friday.

The issue was raised by a Lincoln woman who said a playful golden retriever caused her knee injury.

Anne Underhill sued Shiloh Hobelman of Lincoln in 2007, about 18 months after she says Hobelman’s dog bounded up to her, injuring her knee. (more…)

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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. (more…)

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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.

(more…)

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. (more…)