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Filed under: Chew on This

Rounding up our favorite photos, entertaining videos and compelling stories from the Web each week!

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  Penguin Noir

  Onlookers were stunned to see a rare all-black penguin. Turns out the bird was just going through a goth phase. [via The Daily Mail]

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  Worth More Than Gold

  Olympian Steven Holcomb isn’t satisfied with one gold. Now he has another one: a rescued golden retriever he met on the set of Today.[via People Pets]

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  No Service Dogs At Subway?

  Subway sandwiches refused to allow a man and his seeing-eye dog into the building. The dog just wanted a $5 footlong![via CBC News]

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  Eagle vs. Deer

  One man not only sees an amazing act of nature, he photo-documents it. Watch as a very hungry eagle tries to nab a deer. Yes, a deer..[via Chicago Wildlife News]

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  Hen Raises Puppies

  Some people believe that this chicken, who has bonded with a litter of puppies, thinks she’s a dog. But maybe the dogs think they’re chickens.[via The Daily Mail]

 

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Filed under: Pets News

West Zest, Flickr

Forced to decide whether their country of Switzerland should create a national system to provide state-funded lawyers to represent animals in court, the Swiss people voted, and the outcome was a resounding no. “The measure was rejected by around 70 percent of voters,” reports BBC News.

Currently, Zurich is the only Swiss canton (an administrative district similar to a county in the United States) to have a government-subsidized animal lawyer. Antoine Goetschel represents dogs, cats, guinea pigs, farm animals, and even fish who have been abused, reports the (U.K.) Telegraph.

“People accused of animal cruelty very often hire lawyers to defend themselves,” Goetschel tells the Telegraph. “Why shouldn’t someone speak for the animal as well? It’s about fairness and defending a minority.”

The referendum was required to be held after “activists from the Swiss Animal Protection (SAP) collected more than the 100,000 signatures required to force a national ballot,” reports the Telegraph. But the animal activists were in the minority. The majority of voters in 26 cantons in Switzerland voted against the measure. Goetschel wasn’t surprised. “Animal welfare has been a big topic in Switzerland in the last few years and perhaps this has been too much for some Swiss,” the Zurich animal lawyer told the Telegraph.

Switzerland has some of the world’s strictest animal protection laws, reports the Telegraph. “It recently changed its constitution to protect the ‘dignity’ of plant life and made a law last year establishing rights for creatures such as goldfish and canaries,” states the Telegraph. “Pigs, budgies and other social creatures cannot be kept alone; horses and cows must be regularly exercised outside their stalls and dog owners are required to take a training course to learn how to properly care for their pets.”

What do you think? Is the notion of state-funded lawyers for animals just too bizarre? Or is it a great idea?

 

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Filed under: Funny Animal Videos

This video starts off slowly. We know. Your first reaction is going to be, “Why do they want me to watch this kind of sad video of an injured three-legged bear and its cub?”

But then, about 51 seconds in, you see what we’ve seen. You’ll say “wait… wait… what? What? What is going on? No… No! It’s impossible… This can’t be happening!”

This isn’t just any bear! Watch and be amazed.

 

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Grabbed from link

Filed under: Chew on This

Rounding up our favorite photos, entertaining videos and compelling stories from the Web each week!

• 
  

  Froggy See, Froggy Do

  Who cares about violence in movies when our daughters are being inspried by princess and frog make-out sessions? And, worryingly, it’s actually sending them to the hospital.[via AOL Health]

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  Tortoises Love Yams

  For their enclosure renovation, these Galapagos tortoises were coaxed out with yams. You don’t want to be between these guys and a Thanksgiving Dinner table [via Sign on San Diego]

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  Temple’s Wisdom

  Temple Grandin, animal expert extraordinaire, speaks about dog psychology. Shockingly, they are thinking about more than “Food! Food! Food!” [via Dogtime]

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  We Think He’s People!

  An explanation for why you dress your dog…. and talk baby-tak to him… and ask his opinon on things…[via Live Science]

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  Coyote on the Green

  Reason #768 not to go into Central Park without adequate protection: Coyotes.[via New York Magazine]

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By Kris O’DonnellGAINESVILLE, Fla. – When intern Katie O’Rahilly readies the paints and canvas, she knows some anxious would-be artists await her. … full story

Discussion

I am glad that she has a place that can rescue them. (by di (booboopugs))

this is cool. Shows how intelligent animals are. I had heard of a similar experience from a zoo, yea… (by MK (trainerdoggie))

What a wonderful thing she did by setting up this sanctuary. It is great that these monkeys have a … (by bowne)

i think if these poor souls have to be there that it is wonderful they are given something to do tha… (by daryl b. (darylob))

i love that they are given a choice of ways as you said to enrich their lives (by daryl b. (darylob))

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Filed under: Pets News

Gerard Julien, AFP / Getty Images

A tragedy that claimed the life of one of SeaWorld Orlando’s animal trainers Wednesday has shut down the popular “Believe” shows and “Dine with Shamu” experiences at all SeaWorld locations indefinitely.

According to details released by SeaWorld to CNN, Dawn Brancheau, 40, had just completed a session with killer whale Tilikum in front of a crowd at the Orlando theme park. Although she was standing outside the pool, Brancheau’s long blonde ponytail was in reach of the whale, who grabbed it in his mouth and pulled her underwater.

Cited as one of the park’s “most experienced animal trainers” in a letter posted by SeaWorld CEO Jim Atchison on the company Web site, Brancheau had always dreamed of working at SeaWorld, In an interview with Brancheau’s mother, the New York Daily News reports that the trainer had fallen in love with killer whales 29 years before on a family vacation at SeaWorld and said “I wanna be a Shamu trainer.” She’d worked at SeaWorld since 1994, with the orcas since 1996, putting on frequent shows for the public.

Tragedies like these make it clear that although theme parks are an amazing way for us to interact with and better appreciate these fascinating animals, there are serious dangers and concerns about keeping wild animals in captivity.

Brancheau’s death is still under investigation, although park officials have confirmed she was held under water for an “extended period of time,” and witnesses told CNN affiliates they saw Tilikum violently shaking the trainer’s body, forcing her shoe to fly off.

Continue reading SeaWorld Tragedy Claims Orca Trainer

 

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