Results tagged “animals”

      

We're in the full throes of Fall and Halloween is this weekend which means pumpkins are everywhere. And some animals at Brookfield Zoo were the recipients of a special Halloween treat.

A DuPage County judge has ruled that Michael Jenkins of Carol Stream cannot be released from police custody, except to the care of a psychiatric facility, after allegedly throwing a 13-week old puppy down the stairs and then kicking it to death. Jenkins attacked the dog after it went to the bathroom in the house. According to Jenkins's mother, he called her last month, upset, and said that he was afraid he might hurt himself. She rushed over to the home, and found the dog dead on the floor. A necropsy on the animal showed that it suffered brain damage, a broken jaw and neck. Jenkins's attorney is trying to get his case heard in DuPage's Mental Illness Court Alternative Program, which could lead to treatment if convicted. [NBC 5, Tribune]

An endangered snake, once believed to be one of two remaining in northeastern Illinois, gave birth to four babies last week at the Lincoln Park Zoo, according to Chi-Town Daily News.

       

The Heartland Animal Shelter, a nonprofit, no-kill adoption service in Northbrook, has seen a surge in the number of abandoned pets over the last year, since owners are struggling to support them. According to The Northbrook Star:

              

July 1st marks a big day for the Brookfield Zoo: their 75th anniversary. And the zoo is planning a big celebration coming up to mark the occasion. The zoo will allow free admission for children under 11 on June 29, 30 and July 1 as well as 75 cent hot dogs, 24 ounce fountain cokes, and ice cream novelties at the zoo’s restaurants on those same dates. As for the big day itself, plans for July 1 include a special ceremony featuring remarks from Stuart D. Strahl, Ph.D., president and CEO of Chicago Zoological Society, plenty of cake, a singing of "Happy Birthday," and a performance by Tributosaurus.

         

We decided to head to Brookfield Zoo on Saturday morning and were there for the opening bell ringing at 9:30, when the stroller gang stormed the gates. The air was filled with little kid giggles and happy smiles because of the perfect weather. And because we arrived early in the day, many of the animals were out and about when it was possible to be the only onlooker. Peaceful!

A vote on Ald. Ed Burke's controversial plan to require all cats and dogs in the city to be sterilized hit a roadblock today when...the court reporter taking testimony at the City Council hearing had to leave. Still, the no-vote followed hours of testimony and the measure looks to be facing some opposition. Ald. Ray Suarez (31st) said, "It really doesn't make a lot of sense when you tell me what a dog owner can do." Ald. Ed Smith (28th) had an issue with Burke's claim that such a measure would stop dog attacks, saying, "We're on the wrong track." Still, Ald. Burke, who has promised to bring the measure up for voting again at a later date, was not deterred as he said, “I still believe there is a sufficient number of votes to pass this thing." [Trib]

Good Lord, what a depressing news day. Sometimes you have to just take a moment and look at pictures of animals that look alike to clear your head. If that doesn't work, there's always the Robocop and Unicorns Flickr gallery.

Barrington Hill's resident Mary Beth Holsteen entered a video of her pug spinning in circles to Alpo's nationwide contest asking consumers to show why their dog was a "meat maniac." Ike's pre-dinner dance moves won him the right to be on 2.5 million cans of Alpo and a one year supply of the grub. Mary Beth isn't doing too badly, either, collecting a cool $10,000 for the win as well as a party. In fact, we're pretty sure Ike will spin and eat so much at the party that he'll officially be the first dog to lean over a toilet bowl and declare he had too much fun last night. Ike's win also proves that Pugs. Are. Awesome. Even if they sometimes look like a cicada.

Margaret: Marcus, I'm having sort of an off day. Let us turn to the internet in search of wonder.

For the first time in its 74-year history, the Brookfield Zoo closed Sunday after its animal habitats sustain serious storm damage. The zoo reopened yesterday, but several exhibits are still closed today, but the zoo itself has reopened. According to the zoo's press release, aAnimals not on exhibit include the big cats and bears...Mexican gray wolves, dolphins, sea lions, seals, as well as the entire Fragile Kingdom exhibit." [Chicago Zoological Society]

Gaaah! Pigeons are annoying and gross and everything, but that's terrifying. [Telegraph, AP]

Wayne Evans, of the 3700 block of West Dickens, was charged with aggravated cruelty to an animal today. Witnesses told police they saw Evans hold a kitten by the back of its neck and throw it off a second-story porch. "Police found the kitten, which is about 8 weeks old, lying in the street bleeding from the mouth and unable to move its hind legs." Evans apparently said he threw the cat because it scratched him. [WBBM]

Donald Kolakowski of Niles has been charged with theft after he took home a puppy from a Petland store that he said was his but wasn't. According to the police Kolakowski saw a sign on the puppy's cage that said "I'm going home soon" and convinced an employee he was there to pick the dog up. She didn't ask for a receipt, and he apparently left with the miniature pinscher, who actually cost $1,600. The dog has been returned to the store, and Kolakowski, currently on parole, was releaed on bond.[Trib, Pioneer Local.]

There is a new baby giraffe at Brookfield Zoo. The six-foot-tall male calf, born August 15, weighed 150 pounds at birth and is a welcome addition to the zoo’s Habitat Africa exhibit, which now has five giraffes. Giraffe Calf Facts: A new calf grows rapidly – sometimes up to an inch a day – and by 6 months will be fairly independent of its mother. Scientists have estimated that only 25 percent of infant giraffes survive their first year of life.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals bought 65 shares of Chicago-based DeVry University last week, part of a plan to escalate its campaign against the technical school's veterinary program. PETA plans to show up at DeVry's November 13 shareholders meeting to stage a protest and appeal to the board. According to the animal welfare organization, the St. Kitts-based Ross University veterinary school requires their students to operate on healthy animals. PETA charges that "healthy dogs have their stomachs, intestines and urinary bladders needlessly cut open. Sheep have tissue removed and suffer from infected wounds because skin flaps are improperly sutured. Donkeys have the nerves in their toes severed, their ligaments cut, plastic tubes inserted through their noses to their stomachs, their abdomens punctured, their tracheas (windpipes) cut, and fluid removed from their joints – after which they are killed so that students can practise amputating animals’ bones and drilling into their skulls."

Ah, the travails of motherhood. Amazing how mothers continue on even in the harshest of environments: a jungle, a desert, or an alley in Albany Park. One opossum wouldn't let her urban surroundings keep her from her motherly duties of stowing her wee ones in her pouch (they are marsupials, after all). It also happens to be the winner of "The Most Disturbing Pic We've Seen All Week." Safe For Work but NSFTFOH (Not Safe For The Faint Of Heart). Check it out, along with a note from the photographer, after the jump.

An Orland Park man is facing animal cruelty charges after police discovered two sheep tied together in the back of the man's Worth autorepair shop. Senad Abdalla, 25, is also charged with violating the village's ordinance against keeping livestock. The sheep, who hadn't been well cared for, were taking to the Chicago Ridge Animal Welfare League. [Trib]

Four buffalo were shot and killed on I-55 in Braidwood this morning after they escaped from their farm. The hulking beasts were apparently running back and forth across the highway, and their owners shot them. You know, if Oregon Trail has taught us anything, it's that if you kill all the buffalo now, there won't be anything to eat later. Thanks, Braidwood. [AP]

Just us, or is time kinda standing still today? Maybe it's because I had a second this morning where I for some reason believed today was Friday, which it is not.

Three people were stabbed in Granddaddy's Deli on the 2300 block of West Taylor this afternoon. [WBBM]

Looks like the attack memo went out to the entire tiger world this week*. A McHenry County man was mauled Tuesday at a circus-training farm when he got too close to the big cat. Hawthorn Corp, whose name may ring a bell if you follow animal rights news, owns around 50 tigers, 20 of which are currently off performing in circuses. [Trib, photo by mape_s]

Frank Lee, 67, is facing felony animal abuse charges after authorities found his four horses so severely neglected that two had to be euthanized. The horses were malnourished and living in manure-filled stalls, and their hooves were so overgrown the animals could barely walk. The sheriff's video from the stable is incredibly sad.

"While in the pen with the tigers, one of the tigers jumped on the victim and knocked him to the ground," Stone County Sheriff Richard Hill said in a news release. "At that point, two other tigers joined in the attack and drug the victim to a water pool."

Continue reading "Tiger Attacks in Missouri"

Danield John Collins, 39, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of domestic violence/animal cruelty and two counts of neglect of a dependent. He forced his 7-year-old daughter to stab the family's cat.

The Lincoln Park Zoo's rockhopper penguin chick made its debut this afternoon. The chick hatched in early July, and zookeepers don't yet know its sex, but that shouldn't dissuade us from coming up with adorable names for him or her.

Animal activist and retired game-show host Bob Barker will testify before the Chicago City Council this morning, supporting a proposed ordinance that would require pet owners to spay or neuter their pets once they reach six months in age. "One of our most tragic animal problems is overpopulation and this ordinance would help immeasurably to solve that problem" Barker said in a statement released through Alderman Ed Burke's 14th Ward office. Burke, along with 19th Ward Alderman Virginia Rugai, is sponsoring the ordinance to reduce the number of homeless dogs and cats in the city.

Mayor Daley's latest gun buyback program is getting off to a slow start. [S-T]