“I totally understand the loss of a loved one & the fear factor that big cats are prowling around; but I hardly think burning Forest Official vehicles, is going to help the matter. If anything it will have hindered the Forest Officials from tracking the tiger! The problem is obvious, the big cats are losing their forests & the animals they would normally pray on. I don’t think a tiger can be called a man-eater, he isn’t biased about what he eats…he just has to eat to survive! Granted humans shouldn’t be on the menu, but if there is no meat left to hunt in the wild, of course they are going to stalk areas where they see food; i.e humans! Their habitat is being cut down for wood & to grow crops or build houses; so the tigers have no way to survive…they will kill anything when hungry. I’m sure they would rather stick to their own diet of forest animals but if there are none, due to lack of habitat, what do you expect? They can’t survive on fresh air!!”
“I’m sure the Forest officers were just as shaken by the latest tragedy’s & intend on trying to find & relocate the tiger! I hope & pray they get hold of that tiger before the villagers do, because once they get into mob mode, it’s a free for all, who knows what they will do to the tiger. Perhaps burn & torture it like they did when they caught a leopard poaching on human land! However, even if the tiger is caught & relocated, I’ll bet there is another tiger, just waiting to take its place! Something radical has to be done to save both human & animals from being killed…They must stop cutting down the tigers habitat, which includes the tigers natural pray. Or use the land to build more houses & grow more crops to fulfill India’s growing population. The attacks on humans won’t stop, until humans stop poaching the tigers habitat & food supply!! “
The mob had attacked forest personnel, including local forest range officer while keeping some of them hostage, besides policemen and local journalists.
They said forest officers were overlooking the fact that some tigers had turned into man-eaters.
Two motorized vessels and a dozen vehicles owned by the department were also set on fire, said officials. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC were issued to bring situation under control. Amod Lakda (55), posted at Karchulia village’s government middle school, was attacked by the tiger in the buffer area near a water tank inside Khitouli range. He was a native of Chhattisgarh‘s Jashpur area.
Villagers claim this was the fourth incident of an attack by a big cat. Forest officers had been ignoring their pleas to shift the tiger. They say the matter was taken with chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, but in vain.
“Extensive damage has been caused to forest department property. The death of a teacher following tiger attack provoked people to go berserk,” said Narendra Kumar, chief wildlife warden.
Meanwhile forest officers have launched a hunt for the tiger for shifting it to a safe location.
The woman went missing on Saturday and the body was found in a jungle the next day.
Rambai Dhurve, 22, a resident of Manjhipur village, went into jungle to collect wood along with other villagers, but she did not return, sources said. Next day, when villagers went to look for her into the forest, the body was found there.
“It is an unfortunate incident and a natural accident. Incidents like these have rarely been reported here. The girl went to collect wood and the carnivore was in the trench. The animal attacked her. It is nothing like animal specifically attacked a human being,” Kanha National Park director J S Chauhan told TOI.
“The entire area was searched using elephants on Monday to spot animal, but the big cat could not be trapped. Pugmarks were seen near river and it was quite possible that animal had escaped into the jungle. However, the area will be searched again on Tuesday,” he said.
“How many times do we have to go over this; it’s the bloody owners that give this breed a bad rap! Irresponsible owner’s are one of the major causes for all the problems the breed faces today. Pitbulls have long been selectively bred, over the years to be fighting machines, they are sturdy & strong with a powerful bite force; genetics & training play an important role in how the dog will respond to other dogs or humans. Pitbulls are not inherently aggressive to people; unless taught to be!
Some owners (Perhaps the boyfriend) just want a pitbull to use as a power status or for intimidating others; which is just an accident waiting to happen; and it did! This tragedy could have been avoided had the owner been a responsible one & kept the dog under control; instead of it being allowed to roam freely around the house, whilst they watched TV? The mother must have been aware of the dogs temperamentt; why didn’t she insist the dog be put in a crate or a locked room; whenever the baby was around? No dog should be left unattended with children; especially babies! The owner would have known, without doubt, what his dog was capable of doing; for that reason, I think they should both be held responsible for this terrible tragedy! R.I.P little one x
11-month-old Ava-Jayne Corless attacked by pet late last night
Neighbours report seeing ‘vicious and terrifying’ pit bull type dog
Victim’s mother and stepfather arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and bailed this morning
Baby’s father pays tribute to ‘the most beautiful and adorable little girl’
Lancashire Police say dog involved in the attack was a banned breed
A baby girl was mauled to death by a dog that neighbours had allegedly warned was dangerous.
Ava-Jayne Corless, who was just 11 months old, suffered horrific injuries when the American pitbull terrier attacked her while she slept.
Her mother, Chloe King, 20, and boyfriend Lee Wright, 26, heard the commotion and rushed upstairs to rescue her from the jaws of the beast.
Paramedics were called and took Ava-Jayne to hospital where doctors were unable to save her life.
Victim: Ava-Jayne Corless, aged 11 months, has been mauled to death by a pet dog
Miss King and Mr Wright were questioned on suspicion of manslaughter and child neglect, and were today released on bail.
Lancashire Police said: ‘The two people arrested in connection with the death of Ava-Jayne Corless at Blackburn have both been released on bail pending further inquiries.’
Parents: Ava-Jayne pictured with her father Dean and mother Chloe, who are no longer together
A police spokesman said last night that the animal was banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991.
Senior officers have launched an investigation into reports that neighbours had called Lancashire Constabulary to complain about dangerous animals at the property in Blackburn.
Faisal Shahzad, 35, fled after two dogs broke through his garden fence. ‘I had to run quickly into the house and barricade the door because they were tearing after me,’ said the taxi driver.
‘I’ve got three children and they were all in the house absolutely terrified. The two dogs were scary. I called the police and they said something would be done and my neighbour also called the RSPCA.’
Another neighbour, 80-year-old Brian Harrison, said: ‘That dog was a nightmare for neighbours and people were worried about approaching it.
‘It’s an absolute tragedy that should never have happened. ‘Only last year it mauled to death a neighbour’s cat and nothing was done about it.’
Kyle Perry, 19, was chased down the street by the dog. ‘It was a big dog and it used to just bark and bark,’ he said. ‘I have been chased by it down the street. It was terrifying.’
Blackburn MP Jack Straw said: ‘What will it take to convince people not to keep dogs like this – and to get across to all dog-owners, of every breed of dog, that no dog should ever be left unsupervised with a baby?’
The incident happened at around 11pm on Monday while Miss King was visiting Mr Wright at his home 40 yards from hers.
The pair are understood to have put the baby to sleep in a bedroom and were watching television downstairs when they heard the attack begin. By the time they reached Ava-Jayne she had suffered catastrophic injuries. The dog was destroyed.
Chief Superintendent Chris Bithell said previous contact with neighbours would form part of the police investigation.
Last night, police said the dog had been identified by experts as a pitbull. Owners cannot be prosecuted for dog attacks on private property until new legislation comes into force this spring.
Arrest: The victim’s stepfather Lee Wright is being questioned by police on suspicion of manslaughter
Tougher sentences will be introduced under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill.
Rachel Cunningham, of the Blue Cross animal charity, said: ‘We can only hope the Government’s planned changes to the bill will allow authorities to step in at the first sign of a dangerous dog and help prevent terrible events like this.’
Jennie Rudd, of animal welfare campaign group Naturewatch Foundation, said dog attacks were caused by irresponsible owners.
Danger: The dog was described as a ‘menace’ before the attack and previously killed a neighbour’s cat
She added: ‘If it has aggressive tendencies it is the owner’s responsibility to make sure it never gets near a child, and that it isn’t forced into situations where it feels it has to attack – because there is always a reason for a dog to bite.’
Last night Ava-Jayne’s father, Dean Corless, 24, said he was devastated by the tragedy: ‘I rushed to the hospital to see her straight away.
‘She was the most beautiful and adorable little girl, she was just the best. She was my whole world. Her mum and I aren’t together any more, but I saw Ava-Jayne all the time. I will miss her every single day, I just don’t know what to do now.
‘It is just so tragic. I have my family around me now, but we are all devastated.’ The RSPCA confirmed the charity had been contacted after a dog at the address killed a neighbour’s cat. The death was treated as an accident with no action taken.
December 21, 2013 by Ric O’Barry, Earth Island Institute
By Ric O’Barry
Director
Dolphin Project
Earth Island Institute
I’ve been in Taiji since last week, working closely with Sakura and other Japanese activists who are visiting. My friend Satoshi, head of Flippers Japan, is coming to visit here soon.
TAIJI TRAGEDY CONTINUES
The good news is that there is a growing movement of Japanese animal rights activists who agree with us that the dolphin hunts in Taiji are cruel and should end. They are conducting demonstrations in Tokyo and coming to Taiji to see the dolphin hunts for themselves.
Sakura has been posting updates from Taiji for the past three months in both Japanese and English (including on our Dolphin Project Facebook Page).
She is really dedicated, talking to every Japanese tourist who comes to visit Taiji about the dolphin hunts. We wish we could clone her!
All this activity in Japan gives me hope for the future.
I need hope right now. The dolphin hunts here are still very ghastly and would make anyone sick.
Risso’s dolphins in the Cove from a drive hunt on Friday in Taiji. These beautiful animals were all killed. Photo by Sakura Araki.
Some other good news: the dolphin killers have announced they will be stopping hunts on their annual end-of-year break, from Dec. 24th through January 4th.
So at least some dolphins and whales will get a respite for the holidays.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday season, too. We cannot give up our efforts to stop the dolphin hunts here in Taiji and throughout Japan.
We should draw strength from our progress so far – we have accomplished quite a bit since 2003 when I first saw the dolphin hunts in Taiji for myself.
The Earth Island Dolphin Project Team and I will continue the effort for as long as it takes. I can guarantee to you that we will not give up!
ORCAS AND DOLPHINS DO NOT BELONG IN CAPTIVITY! Orcas and Dolphins Do Not Belong in Captivity!
The recent documentaries Blackfish and The Cove show that putting dolphins and orcas in captivity is unethical and cruel, ripping them from their families that they would normally grow up with and depriving them of the freedom of the open ocean, instead confining them to small concrete tanks to do tricks for dead fish.
Director Lincoln O’Barry
Editor: Tracy Hof
Post: MPC LA
Song: Release Me
Special thanks to the amazing Frida Ohrn on vocals
Oh Laura
ITunes: itunes.apple.com/us/artist/oh-laura/id254454772
Cosmos Music Group
Warner/Chappell
Special Thanks to Elexis Stern at MPC LA
Help us spread the word so that millions of people can see this video and get involved. PLEASE SHARE THIS LINK.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS ISSUE
Dolphins have evolved over millions of years, adapting perfectly to life in the ocean. They are intelligent, social and self-aware, exhibiting evidence of a highly developed emotional sense. Here are just a few of the issues with captivity:
Captures of dolphins are traumatic and stressful and can result in injury and death of dolphins. The numbers of dolphins that die during capture operations or shortly thereafter are never revealed in dolphinariums or swim-with-dolphins programs. Some facilities even claim their dolphins were “rescued” from the ocean and cannot be released. This claim is almost invariably false.
Training of dolphins is often deliberately misrepresented by the captive dolphin industry to make it look as if dolphins perform because they like it. This isn’t the case. They are performing because they have been deprived of food.
Most captive dolphins are confined in minuscule tanks containing chemically treated artificial seawater. Dolphins in a tank are severely restricted in using their highly developed sonar, which is one of the most damaging aspects of captivity. It is much like forcing a person to live in a hall of mirrors for the rest of their life – their image always bouncing back with no clear direction in sight.
Dolphins and whales have been shown by recent scientific research to be sensitive with likely more ranges of emotions than humans, with culture that is handed down through generations, and personal names. They deserve our respect and the right to remain in the wild, free from harassment and harm.
Earth Island Institute’s campaign to protect dolphins and whales focuses on stopping the killing of these animals in the wild in places like Japan, Indonesia, the Faroe Islands and the Solomon Islands, as well as stopping the blood dolphin$ trade to dolphinariums around the world. In fact, these dolphin hunts are often supported by the dolphin trade to catch some individuals for captivity, while the remainder are slaughtered.
These success stories were accomplished by people like you taking action and stopping all support of dolphin shows and all swim-with-dolphin facilities.
WRITE A LETTER to Your Local Newspaper. Click HERE for a sample.
HELP SPREAD THE WORD – Let your friends, family, school mates, and service club members know about the problem of keeping whales and dolphins in captivity.
“Perhaps more people need to see the documentary film ‘BlackFish’; for only then, can one begin to understand why it is so wrong to keep these magnificent creatures captive! I don’t blame Tilikum for the injuries or deaths of any trainers (although of course I am sorry, they were put in that situation in the first place) I blame Tilikum’s captors & jailers for keeping him as a sperm donor & keeping him in the equivalent of a bath tub for kids! After 30 years wouldn’t you be pissed off?? As far as I am concerned anyone who performs there as an artist or pays to see the captive sea life shows (who haven’t seen ‘Blackfish; so perhaps don’t know any better); are just as bad as those keeping Orcas & other sea mammals captive”
“Take a look at the following – Just one piece of evidence as to why Orcas should not be held Captive!!”
As an animal activist, who recently viewed Blackfish, I feel it’s important to make sure each of the performers SeaWorld has scheduled are made aware of what is truly happening to the amazing animals that are trapped there. Please join me in telling Martina McBride you do not want her to support SeaWorld’s animal cruelty.
Martina McBride is an amazing artist who works diligently to end domestic violence.
SeaWorld Orlandois where the orca Tilikum is kept. He was caught in the wild about 30 years ago and has since been involved in three human deaths including that of SeaWorld trainerDawn Brancheau right there in Orlando.
The orcas at SeaWorld’s theme parks (if they cared about animals, they would be non-profit sanctuaries or rehabilitation centres) are kept in tiny tanks where they become stressed, lack proper exercise, and are a risk to other animals and people.
SeaWorld also has also been fighting to import even more wild animals, beluga whales, into the United States, so it can make money off their captivity. And they’re fighting to get trainers back into the water for performances even though they’ve been fined tens of thousands of dollars because it’s already been proven to be a huge risk to the workers.
Please join me in politely asking Martina McBride to drop plans to perform at SeaWorld. To do so would be promoting cruelty to orcas and other animals.
“We persuaded other artists not to play at Seaworld, so lets pursued Martina McBride also; please tweet & share to all; lets show Seaworld how a small group of misinformed individuals can act!” (Read last but one paragraph)
Dec 9th – Big Name Musicians Cancel SeaWorld Gig, Question Whales In Captivity
ORLANDO (CBSMiami/AP) – Top rock and country music acts are canceling plans to perform at SeaWorld Orlando because of questions raised in a new documentary about the effects of captivity on whales.
The rock bands Heart , Barenaked Ladies, along with country crooner Willie Nelson have cancelled their planned performances at SeaWorld in Florida for the Brew & Barbecue music series in February.
A posting on Heart’s official Twitter page said the decision was influenced by the recently released documentary “Blackfish.” The documentary raises questions about the effects of captivity on killer whales at marine parks such as SeaWorld.
Nelson and Barenaked Ladies made their decisions after fans launched Change.org petitions urging them not to perform at SeaWorld.
SeaWorld spokesman Nick Gollattscheck said they were disappointed that “a small group of misinformed individuals” was able to influence the performers. “Cheeky Bxxxxxd!”
“The bands and artists have a standing invitation to visit any of our parks to see firsthand or to speak to any of our animal experts to learn for themselves how we care for animals and how little truth there is to the allegations made by animal extremist groups opposed to the zoological display of marine mammals,” Gollattscheck said. “Oh bla bla bla bla, of course it would be a small group of misinformed individuals; able to influence performers…so get over yourself….beware the wrath of animal activists….we are not that small a group; as you have clearly found out!!”
I felt for that girl See realtime coverage Lion fatally mauls woman at Calif. sanctuaryLion Attacks and Kills Girl at California Sanctuary, Cat Haven – California
DUNLAP, CALIF. A male African lion killed a worker on Wednesday at a private wild animal park in Central California where the cat had been raised since it was a cub, authorities said.
The worker was attacked and fatally injured after getting into an enclosure with the lion at Cat Haven in Dunlap, Calif., Fresno County sheriff’s Sgt. Greg Collins said. The founder of the park, Dale Anderson, said the worker killed was a female intern-volunteer. The sheriff’s office originally said the worker was male.
Sheriff’s Deputy at Cat Haven following fatal attack. / KPGE Investigators were trying to determine why the worker was inside the enclosure and what might have provoked the attack, Collins said.
The facility, which is licensed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, is about 45 miles east of Fresno in the Sierra Nevada foothills. It is normally closed on Wednesdays, and only one other worker was there when the mauling happened, Collins said.
He said the county received an emergency call from Cat Haven about 12:30 p.m., and a second call 20 minutes later reporting the injured person had died.
A call to Cat Haven on Wednesday went unanswered.
CBS affiliate KGPE reports that the lion has been shot and killed.
The lion, a 4-year-old male named Couscous, had been raised at Cat Haven since it was 8 weeks old, said Tanya Osegueda, a spokeswoman for Project Survival, the nonprofit that operates Cat Haven.
Osegueda did not know how the park acquired the cub.
Cat Haven is a 100-acre wild animal park just west of Kings Canyon National Park. Since the property opened in 1993, it has housed numerous big cats, including tigers, leopards and other exotic species.
Couscous was one of about two dozen animals at Cat Haven, which has had a good safety record, Spada said.
Another big cat sanctuary, Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Fla., told the AP last year that at least 21 people, including five children, have been killed and 246 mauled by exotic cats since 1990. Over that period, 254 cats escaped and 143 were killed.
Tatiana, a tiger at the San Francisco Zoo, was killed by police after jumping out of its enclosure and fatally mauling 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. and injuring two other people in 2007.
Cat Haven has housed Bengal tigers, Siberian lynx, caracals, jaguars and leopards of various types as well as bobcats native to the area. Its founder Dale Anderson, described the private zoo several years ago as one of a handful of facilities across the U.S. that has all of the big cat species in one place.
The News Article
“The lion was also killed,” CalFire spokesman Ryan Michaels told ABC News.com.
The incident occurred at around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Sierra Cat Haven in Dunlap, a small town in Fresno County near King’s Canyon National Park, authorities said.
The worker was inside the cat enclosure when the attack occurred, officials said. It was not immediately clear what the worker was doing inside the closure, or what prompted the attack.
In an interview with KFSN, Sgt. Gregg Collins of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said responding deputies found the worker dead inside a big cat enclosure.
Authorities have not named the deceased worker, but Dale Anderson, the owner of the facility, told reporters it was a female volunteer intern, KFSN reported. Anderson reportedly was crying as he read a statement to the media.
The animal involved in the attack, 4-year-old maleAfrican lionnamed Couscous, was shot by a Fresno County sheriff’s deputy who responded to a call, authorities said.
Prior to sheriff’s deputies’ arrival on the scene, another employee had tried unsuccessfully to lure Couscous away from the victim and into another enclosure.
Tony Spada of the Fish and Wildlife Department said wildlife forensic personnel would “look at the animal and determine if the animal did, in fact, attack the subject, and then we will have our findings. And we work closely with the homicide detectives and/or detectives working the case.”
The 100-acre facility is home to a variety of wild cats — including tigers, leopards and other threatened and endangered species which are kept for limited breeding and use in educational programs, according to Cat Haven’s website.
Officials said the park has had a good history, and had an active permit to operate.
Cat Haven also runs an outreach program, and its “cat ambassadors” may sometimes be taken off-site to make appearances as part of that program, the website said.
The preserve is run by a core staff supported by volunteers.
Couscous had been raised at the preserve since he was a cub.
The districts of western UP are synonymous with sugarcaneplantations and the adaptable big catshave utilised these tall crops as habitat where they live and breed. Combined with the increasing pressure on forest habitat in Uttar Pradesh, the once rich leopard population in the state is under constant threat.
The sugarcane plantations in the state are ideal habitat forleopards as they provide cover that allows them to remain unseen. Studies have shown that in many cases farmers and leopards use the same path at approximately the same time without the leopard being detected.
There has however been a gloomy increase in the number of incidents in human-leopard conflict in the state, many of them leading to the leopard being killed. In 2011, a leopard that was found in the sugarcane fields in Bahadurpur area of Ghaziabad and was eventually killed by them before environmentalists could intervene.
As per a report by the Union ministry of environment report In Uttar Pradesh, as many as 22 persons were killed in wild attacks in 2010-11. Meanwhile, the state’s green cover has been staggering for years, despite all the plantation efforts by forest department. The green cover, in the last five years has gone down from 9.26% to 9.01%. In UP, moderately dense forest (which has 40-70% canopy formation) has gone down from 4,563 sq km to 4,559 sq km.
As per experts, this combined with the massive increase in population in the state has directly led to such cases of conflict. As per guidelines released by MoEFF in 2011 related to dealing with leopard-human conflict – the big cats are not usually inclined to attack people, on the contrary, they avoid people.
In a study, wildlife biologist Vidya Athreya and social scientist Sunetro Ghosal found that in the absence of their usual prey, such leopards that exist on the fringes of ruralIndia – especially in sugarcane plantations – survive on a diet of feral dogs, pigs and livestock. The few wild animals they feed on are mongoose, civet cats and rodents.
While a number of farmers in the area feel proud that the leopard lives alongside them, others aren’t so tolerant. “We are forced live alongside these government-owned predators. They thrive in our farms and harm our livestock, yet we can’t attack and kill them,” said Umar Yadav, a farmer in Bahadurpur. “But some do, in the most horrific mob attacks imaginable”
Department officials require crisis and people management training in order to perform their jobs better. Compensation payments should be made less tedious and bureaucratic; it should be linked to effective protection, so that those who take better care of their livestock are rewarded, and support provided to those who lack the resources to adequately protect their animals,” said an environmentalist.
“My sympathies are with the family at this sad time. However I can not go against my views, that wild animals be caged & used as entertainment for humans. It only becomes a matter of time before a tragedy on either side can happen. Tigers or any other animal do not belong in circuses. No animal should be forced to perform unnatural & repetitive tricks that are harmful to the animals health. It has been well documented that animals in circuses are taught through fear, it is this fear that makes the animals perform, not because they either like or want to.”
” No wild tiger would jump through fire, just as no wild elephant would stand on its head or hind legs. It has also been proven that many animals suffer stress, depression & show signs of psychosis; i.e. repetitive bobbing or pacing back & forth. These powerful creatures belong in the wild not behind a cage, or performing in a circus ring; I think the days of the traditional circus with wild animals will come to an end very soon!”
U.S. citizen Alexander Crispin circled two tigers during his act
One of the animals then lunged towards him and pulled him down
The 35-year-old was bitten on the neck before dying in hospital
Video of the attack in Sonora state was posted on YouTube
A tiger killed its trainer during a circus performance in northern Mexico, it emerged today. 6/02/2013
Footage posted on YouTube purportedly shows the trainer, American Alexander Crispin circling two tigers during his act for Circo Suarez in Sonora state.
One of the animals then lunges towards the 35-year-old and pulls him to the ground
This picture is believed to show the trainer Alexander Crispin ‘Suarez’, who was killed by a tiger during a performance of Circus Suarez in the city of Hermosillo, Mexico
Mexican news agency Notimex reported Mr Crispin suffered neck injuries from bites and scratches on Saturday.
He was taken by ambulance to the Red Cross hospitalHuatabampo, Sonorawhere he died while receiving medical care, as a result of hypovolemic shock
The video shows spectators fleeing the circus tent as two workers beat the tiger to free Mr Crispin, who was pinned to the ground.
It is presumed that the Bengal Tigerwas killed by one of the companions of the trainer during the struggle to try to save the trainer’s life.
The owner of Circo Suarez was yesterday called to testify at the Public Ministry in the town of Etchojoa, where the attack occurred.
Thumbs up: Alexander Crispin is believed to be shown in this picture playing with a tiger
Valente Malon, who local media says is the owner of the circus currently set up in the town’s Plaza Indigena, was summoned by officials.
In the wild, Bengal tigers live alone and aggressively scent-mark large territories to keep their rivals away – but rarely attack humans. “Only when they are fed up performing the same routine acts night after night”
The most famous of these occurred in October 2003 when Roy Horn, of the famous Siegfried & Roy Las Vegas show, was attacked by a seven-year-old white tiger named Montecore during one of the duo’s performances.
Horn was in critical condition for several weeks after he suffered massive blood loss and a stroke, but eventually recovered.
In their natural habitat Bengal tigers are powerful nocturnal hunters that travel many miles to find buffalo, deer, wild pigs, and other large mammals.
The tigers use their distinctive coats as camouflage and lie in wait and creep close enough to attack their victims with a quick spring and a fatal pounce.
A hungry tiger can eat as much as 60lbs in one night, though they usually eat less. Despite their fearsome reputation, most tigers avoid humans however, a few do become dangerous man eaters. “Usually when there is a human animal conflict, humans are encroaching on tiger areas which is having a devastating effect on the tigers pray. They are usually killed after they have taken a villagers goat or cow…but they have to eat!”
These animals are often sick and unable to hunt normally, or live in an area where their traditional prey has vanished. Females give birth to litters of two to six cubs, which they raise with little or no help from the male.
Cubs cannot hunt until they are 18 months old and remain with their mothers for two to three years, when they disperse to find their own territory. “That is if they are lucky enough not to get caught in a trap, poisoned or killed by poachers. Tiger wine is having a massive effect on wild tigers, they stand no chance above the human ways of killing”
“How many more accidents is it going to take, before those interested in money alone; stop & think about what is right for the animal? This could have been a lot worse, that little girl was lucky!”
SeaWorld defended itself Sunday from criticism from a family after a dolphin bit their 8-year-old daughter at the Orlando attraction. A video posted online shows the girl standing along the edge of a pool, one of several people feeding dolphins. After she picks up a paper plate that once held the marine mammal’s food, a dolphin lunges at her and bites her hand.
The dolphin let go after a few seconds, but not before leaving three puncture wounds on the girl’s hand.
In a statement, SeaWorld spokeswoman Becca Bides said on-site “educators and animal care staff … immediately connected with the family. In addition, a member of our health services team was in the area at Dolphin Cove and quickly responded and treated the young girl.”
Yet in an interview with CNN Atlanta affiliate WSB, the family at the center of the November 21 incident faulted the central Florida attraction’s staff for not warning them the dolphins might bite and for their response after the girl was injured.
“We felt powerless,” the girl’s father, Jamie Thomas, said in explaining their decision to post a video on YouTube. “We thought, look, we’ve got this video, let’s make it public, and let’s try to put some pressure on SeaWorld to make some changes.”
The 8-year-old, Jillian Thomas, said she “accidentally held” up the paper plate, after which the dolphin “jumped up and ate the carton and bit my hand.”
“I was thinking it was going to haul me into the water,” she said. “And this is a little crazy, but I thought it was … going to eat my hand off.”
Jamie Thomas said those feeding the dolphins were told the paper plate should stay on the wall, “but we really didn’t know why.” No one signed a disclaimer, and there were no signs indicating any risk, the father said.
The girl’s mother, Amy Thomas, said she was upset about SeaWorld staffers’ response.
“They did not tell us to look out for any signs of infection,” the mother said. “We had to ask for Band-Aids.”
The Thomas family never contacted SeaWorld after leaving the park, Bides said.
She defended the attraction and its protocol, including “specific instructions to not pick up the paper trays at any time.”
“Our guests are given clear instructions on how to feed the dolphins in an appropriate and safe way,” Bides said. “… Unfortunately, there are times when instructions are not followed.”
“I’ve heard a lot about Cesar Millan‘s training since the Alan Titchmarsh show. But until I found the right videos I didn’t want to post any story. But I found the one regards the show, plus a slowed down version of what Titchmarsh is talking about when he refers to ‘thumping a dog’. I’m not saying everything he does is bad…watch the videos below to see what you think. I am no animal trainer but have lived with dogs, breeds from GermanShepherd’s to Chihuahua’s & horses of all breeds & sizes, since I was knee high to a grasshopper. When working with big animals like horses it’s vital you learn to take note of their body language, because it will save you from getting your butt kicked or hand bitten…all of which I have had done to me, so many times, when I was younger.”
“Going & crying about it to my parents didn’t help, the best advice they gave me was, ‘if you don’t want it to happen again, learn to respect their space & get them to respect yours, they will tell you via their body language if their pissed at you’! It took a long time for me to pick up on such subtle actions as a tail flick to tell me, ‘I’m warning you get out my stable I’m busy eating’ but I finally got it. I don’t know about other animals, but with horses & dogs the body language is similar, the eye’s, nostrils, lips, chewing & licking, ears, tail…that is how they communicate with us.”
“But there are the usual dick heads who want their dogs tails docked or ears cropped because it’s our preference…to make them look better. If you don’t like a breed the way it is, don’t bloody well buy one…simple! We have no business nor any right to be cutting off bits from animals or de-vocalising them, just because it suits us!! If we are to live in harmony with our pets & understand their needs, wants & desires, then as owners we must learn to listen to what their bodies are telling us!”.
Charges £60,000 for controversial methods, including electric shocks
A week ago, Hollywood ‘dog whisperer’ Cesar Millan scarcely registered in the national consciousness. But now, after a single appearance on ITV’s normally sedate Alan Titchmarsh Show, he has become one of Britain’s most controversial characters.
The normally genial host turned on him, saying: ‘You punish dogs. You hit them. I’ve seen you punch a dog in the throat to get it to behave, and to most people, like myself, this is totally unacceptable as a way of training an animal. You also work with electric shocks and spikes on collars – and that’s pretty barbaric treatment.’
Unsurprisingly, the spat triggered an internet frenzy. Many critics were vituperative about Cesar’s controversial methods. Others say the Mexican-born dog trainer – who is rumoured to charge £60,000 to tame Hollywood pets – uses tried-and-tested methods.
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Cesar robustly defends his methods. ‘I am not brutal or cruel to animals,’ he insists. ‘My mission has always been to save dogs – especially troubled and abandoned dogs. I’ve dedicated my life to this. My newTV series is all about saving shelter dogs and rehabilitating them so they can be adopted by good families.’
Cesar insists he uses the more controversial techniques only on what he calls ‘red-zone’ animals: aggressive and abandoned dogs who could never be re-homed without proper training.
He says he never hurts the animals, only touches them lightly. But he also says that spike chokers and electrical devices ‘may be helpful’.
On his website, Cesar says that an electronic dog collar ‘is the most successful’ at stoppingunwanted barking, but says owners should seek expert advice before using them.
He says: ‘I use many techniques to rehabilitate dogs. In extreme cases – by which I mean cases where I’m the last resort before a dog is put down – these tools may be helpful. But they are just one of many techniques.
‘The processes I prefer are exercise, discipline and affection. I realise there is debate about what techniques are “best” or right, but I focus on the fundamentals of the problem – the question of why the dog is behaving like he is. Then I know what technique from a wide range of options is the best to solve the problem.’
A-list celebrities including Scarlett Johansson, Oprah Winfrey, Charlize Theron and Yasmin Le Bon are all fans.
Le Bon’s husband, Duran Duran star Simon Le Bon, last week tweeted:
‘What did Alan Titchmarsh say about Cesar Millan that’s seriously put my wife on the warpath? He should be afraid, very afraid! Cesar Millan is pretty close to holy in this house.’
While animal rights groups voice disquiet about some of his methods, many on the internet seemed to side with Cesar. Jessie from Stoke-on-Trent spoke for many when she posted:
‘There is no point asking a red-zone dog, as they’re called, to sit and offer him a treat.
‘His behaviour demands immediate action to dominate the dog and that is what Cesar does.
‘If people took the trouble to actually watch him at work on his TV show, they might realise that dogs are not children and should never be treated as such.’
Cesar himself insists that calmness is the key to canine obedience. ‘When I approach an animal, I want to demonstrate that I’m calm,’ he says. ‘Then I ask myself what he needs. Both those considerations must come before any needs of the human. If you’re calm, the animal will pick up on that. I believe a calm dog is a happy, obedient dog that won’t get into trouble.
‘There’s a time for excitement but it isn’t first thing in the morning. Don’t start your dog’s day with excitement.
‘ We’ve got to become better at listening to what a dog is trying to tell us. I always start off by teaching the owner to relax before I start working with their dog. Otherwise, they’re influencing their dogs negatively.’
Nor should you judge a dog by its breed, he says. ‘Don’t suspect a rottweiler or a pit bull before you’ve met it. And look at the owner. That will tell you all you need to know about the dog. Dogs d don’t see themselves as breeds. When a beagle meets a pit bull, he’s not thinking: “Are you the one everyone talks about?” They see themselves as individual dogs.’
Wherever your sympathies lie, 43-year-old Cesar’s personal story is extraordinary, even by Hollywood standards. He was born into abject poverty in Culiacan, Mexico, where three generations of his family lived in a one-room shack. His spare time was spent on the farm where his grandfather worked, which is where the young Cesar learnt about dogs.
In December 1990, he left home to seek a new life in America, crossing the border illegally. ‘I wanted to be the best dog trainer in the world. It felt like a calling I couldn’t ignore,’ he says. A decade later he has a 43-acre ranch in Santa Clarita, California, a new house in the affluent Studio City area of LA, a TV series syndicated to 110 countries, and a string of celebrity clients.
It was a transformation that nearly stalled at the very start. Cesar tried for two weeks to cross the border. ‘Luckily, I was always stopped bythe US guards. They’d give you a sandwich and a can of cola and send you back,’ he says. ‘They did not abuse you like the Mexican guards. You d didn’t want to get caught by them.’
CESAR had only $100 to his name – exactly the sum demanded by a man who told him that he could get him over the border into America. ‘He was a dirty, skinny guy,’ he says. ‘But for some reason, my gut told me that I could trust him.’
That night, they stood up to their chests in water in a hole while they watched until the border guards changed shift. ‘That’s when we ran for it across the border and into a sewage tunnel, where I was told to wait.’
The man eventually returned in a taxi that took Cesar to the American town of Chula Vista. For weeks, he slept rough, sweeping floors and washing cars to get enough money to eat. Then he got a job in a dog-grooming parlour – despite not speaking a word of English – after demonstrating that he could calm a snarling spaniel. The parlour’s owners even allowed him to sleep there.
Cesar taught himself English by listening to the radio. Two months later, he moved to downtown LA. ‘My goal was Disneyland or Hollywood, the home of Lassie and Rin Tin Tin – the dogs that inspired me to come to America,’ he says. ‘Our dogs on the ranch back home didn’t do tricks like them. I found out later, of course, that there were lots of Lassies, lots of Rin Tin Tins so the whole thing was fake.’
It was in LA that his reputation as a dog whisperer began to grow. ‘The LA Lakers played basketball nearby. A lot of them had rottweilers and pit bulls that were causing problems, and I started dealing with them,’ he says.
Music producer Tony Spoon heard about Cesar and asked him to train his rottweiler, Kanji. Spoon’s friend Jada Pinkett – Hollywood actress and Mrs Will Smith – was so impressed she asked if he would train a dog for her.
‘She wanted me to see her two rottweilers who were pretty much out of control. She introduced me to Will, but I didn’t know who he was, either. It was only when the movie Independence Day came out [in 1996] that I realised who I was dealing with.
‘Will’s animals had received plenty of affection but no direction. They lived in a fabulous house but they were frustrated. They needed good, long walks. I also taught them discipline when it came to eating. A dog’s natural tendency when there’s food around is to keep checking that another dog isn’t about to take it from him. They’re very competitive. So I clicked my fingers and made them concentrate on the dog bowl in front of them.’
Cesar’s fame was spreading. Nicolas Cage asked for help with his dogs. Scarlett Johansson asked him to help her mother’s wayward bulldog, then her own timid chihuahua. Charlize Theron needed to train a rescue pit bull. Then Oprah Winfrey mentioned on her show that her dog, Sophie, had started biting other dogs. ‘We made contact with her office and it all went from there,’ he says. ‘In the human world, Oprah is a leader. But in the animal world, she isn’t.’
And that is a position Cesar seems very keen to hold for himself – however controversially.
Cesar Millan will be touring the UK with his seminar from April. Details are at cesarmillanlive.com.
Aggressive techniques are exciting for TV – but terrible for the animals
When the American Navy wanted to train dolphins for military purposes, they quickly picked up on the fact that rewards work a lot better than punishment. It’s all there in the history books of animal training, but it doesn’t make for good TV.
Cesar Millan is a showman. He presents himself as a modern-day gladiator wrestling with snarling animals he calls his ‘red-zone cases’ – and he usually ends up getting the upper hand by punching and kicking the dogs to prove who’s boss.
Cesar claims he’s merely ‘touching’ the animals, but most informed dog lovers wouldn’t see it that way – certainly Alan Titchmarsh didn’t let him get away with that excuse on his ITV chat show last week.
Apart from the tweed skirt, there’s really not much difference between Cesar and Britain’s own Barbara Woodhouse. But Barbara was training dogs 35 years ago, when none of us knew any better.
The science of dog training has moved on a lot since then, but Cesar hasn’t. Who needs proper scientific techniques when you can make a fortune on the back of celebrity endorsements, his Hollywood smile and wrestling with powerful dogs that sometimes bite him?
Proper, positive, qualified dog trainers would never do that for the cameras. But it’s much better television to see Cesar zapping a dog with electric shocks or tightening a prong collar so the spikes go into a naughty dog’s neck.
Cesar said last week that shock collars were an ideal training tool for people with disabilities to use on their dogs. “Being disabled myself, I don’t like the way he is referring to us…does he mean because we can’t get out of our wheelchairs that it’s easier to shock a dog? But use a shock collar in Wales and you could get six months in prison or a £20,000 fine. Hopefully, England’s animal welfare laws will catch up soon, too.
Caesar’s loyal fans claim his detractors are jealous of his fame and fortune, but it’s much more complicated than that. Even if you accept his claim that he’s merely ‘touching’ the animals, it’s a real problem that Cesar’s techniques are already being aped by scores of copycats whose only qualification is usually watching his show.
And just as his imitators probably won’t have his gorgeous Hollywood smile, they might also not have the benefit of his ‘calm assertiveness’ or, crucially, the TV editing skills that ensure the required happy ending. The result could be serious cruelty to dogs – and a trip to A&E for the unsuspecting owner.
“I like to back up evidence as much as is possible, so hopefully these 2 videos will help explain all….the first video is the one that Titchmarsh mentions, saying cesar thumped the dog…watch the body language…who instigated that stand off??
“Now watch the video slowed down…you can clearly see the dog is trying so hard to say ‘I’m sorry don’t hurt me’ watch the eyes, body posture, chewing & liping licks, blinking…all signs that say ‘I don’t want to fight, just go away, leave me, but you keep invading my space'”
All comments containing swear words and insults are now going to be deleted, whichever ‘side’ you are on. Recent quote from a legitimate dog trainer on people that frequently get bitten. “”The person has no business working with dogs in the first place.
If you can’t keep a dog, as a supposed trainer, from getting upset you have no business doing that job and you should be ashamed of yourself.”
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ABOUT THESE POSTS
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