Trap Put On Elementary School Grounds After Dog Sighting

Posted: 5:37 pm EDT March 22, 2011Updated: 5:51 pm EDT March 22, 2011

INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. -- Union County Animal Services placed a dog trap on the grounds of Poplin Elementary School in Indian Trail last week after a dog resembling a pit bull was seen walking around the campus.

It marked the second time in about a month that students and administrators had seen the animal. School officials emphasized the dog was not seen acting aggressively.

“The unknown of an animal no one’s familiar with is, what is it going to do?” said Sgt. Lynn Yow with Union County Animal Services.

Channel 9 arranged for Yow to demonstrate the type of trap used to catch nuisance and stray dogs. It was a black metal cage about three feet high and four feet long. Dog food is used as a bait to attract the animals, and when they step into the trap, it triggers a mechanism to close it. The trap is meant to contain the dogs and not hurt them.

“(Strangers) don’t know how (the dog) reacts to human contact,” Yow said. “If it’s going to walk up to you, if it’s going to run off if you try to approach it (or) if it’s going to attack you if you try to walk up to it.”

The sightings come at a time of heightened concern about the potential dangers of dogs. Earlier this month, a school resource officer shot and killed a German shepherd at a school in Monroe after it threatened a student. In January, two pit bulls mauled 5-year-old Makayla Woodard to death in Waxhaw and severely injured her grandmother as she tried to save Makayla. The incident prompted town leaders in Waxhaw to consider amendments to its animal control ordinance.

Parents of students at Poplin said they didn’t want anything like that happening at their school.

“What else can they really do, except put the trap out and keep an eye, which I know that they will do,” Judy Silberquit said.

Jemal Davis said his fourth-grade daughter told him about the dog sighting last week. While he said he’s reassured by the actions of the school district and the county, his daughter was not.

“She was a little nervous about it because of all the reports of the bad dogs,” he said.

Animal Services said being aware is the best defense, especially since calls for nuisance dogs went up in the weeks following the Waxhaw incident. Yow said it’s better to be safe than sorry.

“Especially on school property,” he added.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/27284710/detail.html

Chimpanzee persecutes police in brief taste of freedom

A chimpanzee broke free from its chains and smashed up a police car in a short-lived city rampage before it was recaptured.


The primate broke loose a few miles from the Kansas City Zoo shortly after noon yesterday.


The ape was actually a pet called Sueko that escaped from its chains.

Efforts to tranquillise the chimp failed, meaning Sueko was able to climb on a patrol and strike the passenger window with his fist.

Eventually the owner managed to coax it into a cage,

The owner was cited for having a dangerous animal in an urban area.

.http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/844582-chimpanzee-persecutes-police-in-brief-taste-of-freedom

Chimpanzee persecutes police in brief taste of freedom

A chimpanzee broke free from its chains and smashed up a police car in a short-lived city rampage before it was recaptured.


The primate broke loose a few miles from the Kansas City Zoo shortly after noon yesterday.


The ape was actually a pet called Sueko that escaped from its chains.

Efforts to tranquillise the chimp failed, meaning Sueko was able to climb on a patrol and strike the passenger window with his fist.

Eventually the owner managed to coax it into a cage,

The owner was cited for having a dangerous animal in an urban area.

.http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/844582-chimpanzee-persecutes-police-in-brief-taste-of-freedom

Second PC sighting of mystery monkey in Lincolnshire

19 August 2010

A mystery monkey has been spotted for a second time by a second police officer in a Lincolnshire village.

Pc Paul French appealed for information after he saw the animal on Mill Hill Way in South Cockerington, near Louth, on Friday morning.

Now Pc Ian Garrick has come forward to say he also spotted the animal in the same location on Sunday.

A police spokeswoman said no-one had come forward to report a missing monkey.

Pc French, who reported seeing the animal on Friday, said it ran in front of his patrol car and then scampered over a hedge.

People are required by law to have a Dangerous Wild Animals Licence to keep a monkey as a pet.

East Lindsey District Council said only one licence had been issued in the area and that animal was not missing.

Officers have appealed for anyone with information on the monkey to come forward.

The officers have described the monkey as being a similar size to a squirrel, dark brown in colour with a long, straight, upright tail.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-11029224
(Submitted by Liz R)

Beetlecam gets up-close with dangerous animals

April 23, 2010 1:47 PM

A wildlife photographer has produced a stunning set of close ups of some of Africa's most dangerous animals, by using a remote-control camera.

Brothers William and Matthew Burrard-Lucas came up with the odd looking device to enable them to take photos of animals while sensibly keeping at a safe distance.

Their Beetlecam creation is essentially a digital SLR camera and two flash guns mounted onto a remote-control car - but it has taken images the BBC Wildlife department would be proud of.

Beetlecam was recently tested in Tanzania's Katavi National Park for two weeks where it was all going well… until they got a bit too close to a lion which predictably mauled it.

William said that once the lion had lost interest in the now mangled Canon 400D camera they were able to recover an intact intact memory and download the images to their computer.

Speaking of the project the brothers said: "We thought that Elephants would be an easy subject for BeetleCam’s first outing. We were wrong… we quickly learned that Elephants are wary of unfamiliar objects and due to their highly sensitive hearing.

"They are almost impossible to sneak up on! Over the course of the trip, we learnt that the best way to photograph an elephant was to position the camera well in front of it and then let the animal approach in its own time.

"With this technique we enjoyed great success and managed to get some incredible photos of these colossal creatures."

See more photos at: http://newslite.tv/2010/04/23/beetlecam-gets-upclose-with-da.html