Not even Joey Porter's pitt bulls would condone this: a 22-year old Louisiana man has been sentenced to five years in prison for stealing a calf and beating it to death with a shovel after the Saints lost to the Cowboys during the 2009 season.
According to the Time Picayune David LeBlanc Jr. was one of several men convicted in the case.
LeBlanc helped Dwayne J. Jenkins, 36, and Carnie B. Smith, 29, steal the 3-day-old calf on Dec. 19, 2009, from Folsom's Red Bluff Farms, famous for a petting zoo frequented by schoolchildren. They dragged the animal to the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex on Louisiana 1078, where they had attended the Saints party.
There, LeBlanc pummeled the calf with the shovel until it died while Jenkins and Smith watched, according to authorities.
Obviously a horrific crime and the judge slapped LeBlanc with the harsh sentence because he used "a dangerous weapon" that resulted in the "painful death" of a defenseless animal.
The judge ignored pleas from LeBlanc prior to the sentencing in which LeBlanc said he deserved either the same punishment if not a lighter one than his fellow defendants got because he was "the only one who came forth and told the truth" to investigators.
"The others lied the whole time," added LeBlanc, who wore a black-hooded sweatshirt and dark-blue jeans to the hearing. "(Prison) would ruin my life completely. I have a kid on the way. I could not do that."
I'm still not sure how killing a calf makes up for the Saints losing a football game. Whatever, there were a lot of people (myself included) who thought Michael Vick's prison sentence had more to do with his celebrity than justice being served. Given LeBlanc's punishment, that's apparently not the case.
An idea long overdue: a Mike Tyson reality show. On Animal Planet. SB Nation's Bad Left Hook blog has the details:
Debuting in 2011 and beginning filming soon, a new Animal Planet show starring Mike Tyson will "take audiences inside the intensely competitive and bizarrely fascinating world of pigeon racing," according to a network press release.
"I'm honored to be a part of this monumental show on Animal Planet," said Tyson. "I feel a great pride acting as an official representative for all the pigeon fanciers out there. I want people to see why we love these birds. It feels good returning to the rooftops of the city where it all started for me -- New York."
The pigeons. People come and go, wives come and go, fights come and go ... but the pigeons endure. He's been flying them ever since he was a little boy in Brooklyn. After Lewis savagely destroyed him last summer, the most humiliating of defeats, Tyson returned to Harlem and flew his birds for months on end. His wife filed for divorce. The boxing world left him for dead. He kept flying those damned pigeons. Earlier in the morning, I was talking with one of the locals who cares for Tyson's birds when he's away -- a guy named Ron -- who explained, "He likes the way they fly. I think he just likes coming up here. It's his place. He relaxes up here."
I'm intrigued. Not sure if Animal Planet has decided on a name for the show but I'm pushing for the Pigeon Whisperer. It's too obvious not to happen.
There are many excellent wildlife photographers, some of whom specialize in snapping shots of specific species. There is a photographer who has a uncanny knack for capturing images of big cats like the tiger, lion, jaguar, and leopard and the smaller “large cats” like the cougar, lynx and caracal. If he is a cat whisperer, wouldn’t all the kitties be clamoring to have this guy take their photo? Akishin Vyacheslav is a Russian photographer who is like a cat whisperer, traveling to zoos and reserves to snap shots that show us “how similar to human emotions” these cats can portray. Most of us have been around small domesticated cats, but using 25 of a cat whisperer’s extraordinary images, here are 10 large cats that we might not otherwise get close enough to say, “here pretty kitty kitty, smile for the camera.”
2010 is the Chinese Year of the Tiger but there may be as few as 3,200 tigers left in the world. The tiger is the most powerful, largest and heaviest of the Asian big cat species. Above is a tiger wallowing in the snow, licking its paw, and one posed as if playing peek-a-boo with photographer Akishin Vyacheslav. He states, “I have a desire to show beauty and grace of these remarkable animals.”
White tigers are the same species as other tigers, but do not have the orange color due to a recessive gene that creates the pale coloring. Akishin Vyacheslav wants to show us how human these large cats can be. He calls the top left photo “Well do not be angry, Mom.” The pink nose and blue eyes of the white tiger is striking in both pictures of the tiger in the snow and the tiger soaking in the water.
Lions are largest of the African big cat species. The lion is the tallest of the felines and is the second-heaviest big cat after the tiger. The male lion is roaring in the snow as if it is a bit cranky. Only the true “big cats” are capable of roaring. The female lion’s sneer is interpreted by the photographer as the zoo is bothering her, but she may be impersonating Elvis?
The leopard and the jaguar are often difficult to distinguish which is which. The jaguar is third-largest big cat after the tiger and the lion, while the leopard is the smallest of the four big cats. A leopard’s head is not as large as the jaguar’s and the leopard’s spots are smaller and more tightly clustered rosettes without the central spots found on most jaguars. The biggest difference between these two felines is that they live on different continents. The bottom right image is called “Gossips.”
Black panthers can actually be several species of large cats with an increased amount of dark pigmentation. Only two types of big cats are scientifically recognized as legitimate black panthers, the black jaguar and the black leopard. This feline has its typical markings upon close inspection. Often times people will call any large black cat a panther, whether it is a cougar, jaguarundi, bobcat or lynx. Their dark coloring may give them an advantage in the darker, dense regions of the forest where light levels are lower.
The cheetah is the fastest land animal. It is a large cat and considered a big cat by the more expansive definition. The cheetah can accelerate from 0 to 64 mph in three seconds. Besides the narrow waist and deep chest of a cheetah, these felines have “black tears” running from the corners of their eyes. Unlike “real” big cats, the cheetah can purr, but cannot roar.
The puma is also known as the cougar, mountain lion, mountain cat, catamount or panther, depending upon the region where they live. In fact, these slender agile cats hold the Guinness record for the animal with the highest number of names, including over 40 names in the English language alone. Cougars are almost as large as jaguars, but are less muscular and not as powerful. Although pumas resemble the domestic cat, they are about the same size as an adult human. Therefore, other than humans, no species preys upon mature pumas in the wild.
Snow leopards are smaller than the other big cats and have long thick fur, an adaptation to survive the cold mountainous regions where they live. They have stocky bodies, small rounded ears, and thick whitish fur on their bellies, all to help minimize heat loss. Snow leopards have wide feet that help them walk in the snow. They use their thick furry tails like a blanket across their faces when they sleep, again to help them hold in heat.
The lynx have short tails and distinguishing tufts of black hair on the tip of their ears. The baby lynx will stay with its mother for one winter, about a total time of nine months, before going out on their own to survive. The smallest lynx species are the bobcat and the Canada lynx, but a maximum of 88 lbs has been seen in different variations of the lynx species depending upon what area this feline lives.
The caracal is the quickest yet heaviest of all small cats. Males weigh between 28-40 lbs, while females weigh about 24 lbs. These cat are about 2-3 feet long, with another 1 foot of tail. In Africa, caracals are considered a type of vermin that preys on domesticated livestock. They hide well and are rarely seen in the wild. At the Moscow Zoo, this caracal was hybridised with the domestic cat.
You can find more of Akishin Vyacheslav’s (Акишин Вячеслав) photos here.
Crazy “Big Cat” Sounds
Here are more “big cats” so you can hear the funny noises that they make.
When it's pot versus pet, there's a bad trip in store
By Andrew Strickler
When Tank, a 3-year-old male pit bull mix, arrived with his owner at a veterinary office in Humboldt County, his jaws packed with white powder, it was clear that something was seriously wrong.
Earlier, Tank had mysteriously consumed an entire box of baking soda -- odd behavior, even for an animal with famously indiscriminate eating habits.
But more disturbing was Tank's demeanor. He sat trembling, his front legs stuck out at an awkward angle, his dilated eyes fixed on a distant point. A check of the heart revealed a coma-like 32 beats per minute, far below normal.
Joseph Humble, the attending veterinarian, suspected poisoning. But from what? The dog's owner pleaded ignorance. Tank, distracted, wasn't saying.
A few minutes later, the mystery was solved. "The guy called me right back and said, 'Doc, I know what happened,' " Humble recalls. " 'The dog ate some pot -- kind of a lot of pot.' "
Marijuana's action on humans is well understood: Once its psychoactive agent, tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC, is carried from the lungs or stomach by blood to the brain, it binds to nerve cells and activates the brain's pleasure centers. Effects include sensory sensitivity, motor impairment and an increased desire for Doritos.
The plant's effect on canines is considerably less benign. Even a few grams can cause staggering, vomiting, urinary incontinence and, in severe cases, seizures and coma. "Some people may enjoy pot, but I assure you dogs do not," Humble says.
Although no statistics are kept on marijuana poisonings, the nation's canine-to-pot ratio reveals potential for a problem. The American Pet Products Manufacturers Assn. estimates that 43 million U.S. households include a dog, while more than 25 million Americans fessed up on a 2003 government survey to having used marijuana at least once in the previous year.
In Northern California, which is believed to have the highest concentration of medical marijuana users in the country and where pot cultivation is a popular hobby, vets face a preponderance of such cases, with some attending to several zonked-out dogs a week.
But unlike in human medicine, where entire textbooks are dedicated to doctor-client communication, there are no such rules for vets, leaving them to their own strategies for broaching a touchy question: Any chance the dog ate your stash?
Because marijuana toxicity can resemble the early stages of a life-threatening poisoning by garden chemicals or antifreeze, identifying the toxin quickly is critical. But due to pot's shaky legal status, many people are reluctant to admit that their pet is stoned, and most vets choose to skirt the issue rather than confront owners.
"The classic question is, 'Do you have teenagers?' " says Edward Haynes, a Mendocino County veterinarian who sees a spike in such cases during the fall pot harvesting months. "Then you say, 'Is it possible that the dog came in contact with any recreational drugs?' " he says.
Owning up to the truth
Even in cases where the owner admits that the dog was exposed to pot, many are still reluctant to take responsibility. Humble, who says he treats dozens of marijuana poisonings every year, says, "It's always a roommate's or the neighbor's. It's never theirs."
As was the case with Tank. His owner explained to Humble that his roommate had baked a tray of potent marijuana cookies, leaving a warning that consumption should be limited to a quarter of a cookie. Left alone, Tank gobbled the entire batch. And the baking soda? "The animal had the munchies," Humble says.
Jeffrey Smith, a vet at Middletown Animal Hospital in Middletown, Calif., says he engages in profiling to aid diagnosis. "The majority of these cases, they tend to be young people, sort of 'living life and loving it' types," he says. "They come in two or three at a time with one pet, kind of nervous and looking at each other."
Other vets employ a mild form of blackmail. In cases where marijuana poisoning is suspected but not owned up to, some vets explain that if a more innocuous poison cannot be identified, their pet will need a full treatment of intravenous fluids, a stomach pump and an enema -- costing the owner hundreds of dollars, not to mention a seriously bad trip for the dog. "About two-thirds of people, you have to kind of squeeze it out of them," says Smith.
Once marijuana poisoning has been established as the cause of the patient's distress, vets say the best approach is to monitor the dog's vital signs and wait. "Most of the time, they do fine if you just let them sleep it off, just like people," says Haynes.
Because of the importance of distinguishing marijuana toxicity from other poisonings, some vets call the 24-hour poison hotline run by the ASPCA Poison Control Center in Urbana, Ill. Since 1998 the center has consulted on about 600 cases of marijuana toxicity among animals from around the country, with New York and California leading the list.
More than 95% of cases involved dogs, a disparity that does not surprise veterinarian Caroline Donaldson, an ASPCA consultant who has written about marijuana toxicity for the journal Veterinary Medicine. "Dogs eat anything and everything. It's the nature of the beast," she says.
Although canines are clearly on the front lines of the pot-versus-pet drug war, the ASPCA has documented a handful of cases involving cats, rabbits and horses. Humboldt County vet Judy Horvath once treated an iguana that fell unconscious after snacking on some buds supplied by its owner.
"We had to hook it up to an electrocardiogram to even find a heartbeat," Horvath says. The iguana came to several days later, shaken but alive.
Is it animal abuse?
Such cases bring up the question of legal responsibility. Although 12 states, including California, have decriminalized marijuana, the federal government still classifies pot alongside heroin and LSD as among the most dangerous Schedule 1 controlled substances. In addition, a 2004 California law obligates vets to report cases of animal abuse or neglect, which could include animals irresponsibly exposed to toxins.
Melissa Stallings of the California Veterinary Medicine Assn. says, "It's really up to each vet to make a common-sense call. They have to ask, does it rise to the level of abuse?" So far there have been no reported cases of a vet turning in a pet owner for pot-related abuse.
Smith sums up the feelings of many vets regarding their role in drug law enforcement. "My only concern is the animal," he says. "I don't have to be the local cop as well as the local vet."
Others feel obliged to take it further.
"A lot of times a kid will stash some pot in his room and leave the door open. In goes the dog and out goes the evidence," Haynes says. Once marijuana poisoning is established, he says he feels obligated to inform parents, if only to protect a dog with impaired short-term memory. "I've busted a lot of teenagers that way."
Just Born — the makers of Marshmallow Peeps — says they’ll be producing whale-shaped, and whale-sized, Marshmallow Peeps in an effort to end Japanese whaling.
PEEP will be using the marshmallow whale Peeps as decoys, hopefully tricking Japanese whalers into harpooning those instead of cute and cuddly whales. If successful, PEEP will look into other decoy opportunities. Baby seal Peeps are under strong consideration, especially with Canada’s seal hunt underway.
PEEP is Darryl Hannah’s brainchild.
Each Easter, Hannah and fellow gal-pal Drew Barrymore get together for a ritual Spring Cleaning. The tradition involves naming and nuking [microwaving] Marshmallow Peeps until they explode. The Peeps usually don names of prominent conservatives and members of the GOP. Last year when the Rush Limbaugh Peep kept getting bigger and fatter, and just wouldn’t die…Hannah had an idea.
The former mermaid had this to say, “Last Easter, after the Rush Limbaugh Peep broke Drew’s microwave, we joked…what if we covertly replaced prominent members of the GOP with Marshmallow Peeps. Like a McCain McPeep? So we actually tried making a few, but it just didn’t work out.”
“At first we tried making a Karl Rove Peep, but the mold kept turning out like that Emperor guy from Star Wars [the originals, not those crappy sequels],” she laughed. “The GOPeeps just weren’t working, it was really hard to get them right, and someone kept eating the Sarah Palin one!”
She said it was her work on Splash that gave her the idea of whale Peeps.
One obstacle, and the reason it took a year to develop the whale-sized Peeps, is that Peeps aren’t veggie friendly. “We wanted Greenpeace on our side.” Hannah said. “The last thing you wanna do is piss off a bunch of vegans from Greenpeace,” she warned.
Captain Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, said, “We will start deploying the whale Peeps when the ship leaves port next.” This is expected to happen sometime in June.
The whale Peeps will come in three flavors: pink, yellow and krill.
Large lobsters are usually too big to get caught in traps
A lobster believed to be some 140 years old is to be freed from the confines of a tank at a New York restaurant.
George the giant lobster, weighing 9kg (20lb), will be returned to the ocean, from where he was caught two weeks ago.
The crustacean was bought for $100 (£66) by the City Crab and Seafood and quickly adopted as its mascot, posing for pictures with restaurant patrons.
But animal rights group Peta sought the lobster's release, and will now put it back into the waters off Maine.
It will enter the ocean in the waters around Kennebunkport, where lobster trapping is banned.
George was originally caught off Newfoundland, Canada, and has spent about 10 days in the tank at City Crab and Seafood.
These intriguing animals don't deserve to be confined to tiny tanks or boiled alive
Ingrid Newkirk Peta
The approximate age of a lobster can be deduced from its weight.
Restaurant manager Keith Valenti said there was never any intent to harm the lobster, and the decision to keep it in the tank was made to offer customers a little something extra.
"We bought a big lobster, started taking pictures with kids and it worked out real well," Mr Valenti told Reuters news agency.
But it was a "no brainer", he added, to agree to the request to return George to the ocean.
"We never intended him to be sold, just draw attention to the restaurant, and he did."
Ingrid Newkirk, of Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) praised the decision.
"We applaud the folks at City Crab and Seafood for their compassionate decision to allow this noble old-timer to live out his days in freedom and peace.
"We hope that their kind gesture serves as an example that these intriguing animals don't deserve to be confined to tiny tanks or boiled alive."
This little guy changed Lawrence law...Or maybe it was this little guy
11 year-old Judson King became so enamored with the blue video game character Sonic the Hedgehog, he decided he needed a real one.
Then . .
"I got the breaking news they were illegal and that kind of made me really mad," Judson said.
Lawrence's animal code has long prohibited the fury rodents in the city limits, a fact that didn't particularly upset Judson's mother.
"I thought, that's my out. Now I don't have to get him one. Then he said, 'How do we make them legal?'" mom Rebecca Weeks said.
And that began a three year effort, perhaps crusade is a better word, to make hedgehogs legal in the city.
"I pretty much did research every single night for the past three years, and I daydreamed about having them. I had about 5,000 pictures of them," Judson said.
After the research, Judson sent a letter to city commissioners in January 2008, essentially asking them why they didn't like hedgehogs.
Eleven months later, commissioners put his issue on a city commission agenda.
"I was just playing with hedgehog pictures and then my mom comes in and says, "You are going in front of the city commission on Tuesday. I thought I would faint," Judson said.
At city hall, Judson arrived in a suit and tie and armed with personalized folders full of hedgehog facts for each of the commissioners.
It was no contest. Commissioners could not find a good reason why they were banned in the first place.
Judson King one, city commissioner nothing.
"I loved having him. I think he ought to run for commission in April," City Commissioner Sue Hack said.
Judson may not have the time.
Three years after he first asked for it, Judson got his hedgehog, Little Luke, for Christmas.
"Oh, it has been really worth it," Rebecca said.
Judson says all is going well with his new pet. But because hedgehogs are nocturnal, Little Luke's stirring frequently wakes Judson in the middle of the night.
.
All you art collectors out there. Here is a chance to get a Giclee copy of some of Ian M Sherwin work. Ian is planning on doing a whole series of Marblehead, Massachusetts paintings. His work is amazing.
These intriguing animals don't deserve to be confined to tiny tanks or boiled alive 
.
Posts
