Terrified dog is rescued by kayaker a MILE from coast after fleeing hit-and-run car crash that killed its mother-of-three owner

This is the moment a dog was rescued by a fisherman after swimming a mile out to sea when his owner was killed by a drunk hit-and-run driver while jogging.

Rory O'Connor plucked petrified Barney out of the water while off the coast of Sarasota, Florida.

His owner Donna Chen, a mother of three, was run over and killed by an alleged drunk driver as she jogged with Barney - who ran for his life when he saw the accident. 

It was only as he headed for the open ocean that he came across the kayaker, who heaved the bleeding and shivering pet on to his small vessel and returned to shore before taking the animal to a vet.

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Lucky find: The unnamed man spots Weisla Barney in the waters just off Sarasota in Florida

Tragedy: Blake Talman, 22, left, is accused of running over and killing Donna Chen, pictured right with her dog Barney  who ran from the scene after it saw its owner hit and killed 

To the rescue: The kayaker springs into action and adjusts his position to grab the dog and bring him on board

The kayaker later discovered that the dog was also in shock after witnessing the death of owner Ms Chen, 53.

Blake Talman, 22, is accused of running down Ms Chen while driving at 90mph in a 40mph zone after first escaping from another wreck on Saturday.

Days after the crash, a video emerged revealing the amazing rescue of her dog.

Posting the video on YouTube, the fisherman known only as midget2000x, said: ‘Our guess is that he was so freaked out and traumatised that he just wanted to get as far away from there as possible.

‘And when he ran out of land, he took to water.

‘I feel lucky that I was there fishing, because there was no place for him to go and I don't know if he could have made it much further.’

Hero: The man notes the dog's injuries before taking him back to shore

Back to safety: The dog was obviously traumatised by his experience and wouldn't leave the kayak

Happier times: Ms Chen pictured with her three children

Barney has now been returned to Ms Chen's bereaved husband and children and is recovering.

The mother’s death occurred just 40 minutes police say they had warned Talman and his friends to leave a beach concession stand because they were upsetting other customers with their allegedly drunken behaviour.

He walked away with a plastic whiskey bottle under his arm before getting in a Nissan Altima in his hands, according to friend David Brewer, who was a passenger.

Mr Brewer, 24, whose right eye was yesterday still swollen shut and purple from the crash, said that the friends went to the beach with two bottles of liquor, looking to have a good time.

‘We did, and some lady paid the price for it,’ he told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Mr Brewer said he, Talman and another friend, Michael Blakey, 25, were at the Siesta Key Beach pavilion around noon, drinking whiskey and listening to music.

Shaken: The fishermen presumed Barney had ended up swimming out to sea because he wanted to escape the horror of what had happened to his owner

Talman, who was fired from his job at concession stand there weeks earlier, was disturbing families there, according staff who alerted deputies.

Officers arrived and ordered the group to move - but Blakey allegedly started yelling abuse at the deputies as he left, so they arrested Blakey on suspicion of disorderly intoxication.

They then walked off to his car

Wreckage: What was left of the alleged driver, Blake Talman's, car after the incident

They sat in the parked car, drank some more, turned on music and then left, Brewer said.

At about 1.10pm, Talman is said to have struck a truck while driving along a beach road.

He is then believed to fled, driving 50mph above the speed limit before hitting a pole and striking Ms Chen.

 

by dailymail.co.uk

'Barbaric and abhorrent': Judge condemns badger baiters who laughed as their dogs ripped animals apart

Alan Alexander, 32, Richard Simpson, 37, and Paul Tindall, 31, and William Anderson, 26, were jailed for 16 weeks

Christopher Holmes, 28, and Malcolm Warner, 28, were handed 12-week custodial sentences suspended for 12 months

Four thugs who were caught laughing as their dogs tore wild animals to pieces have been jailed for their part in ‘barbaric’ and ‘abhorrent’ badger baiting.

Scarborough Magistrates’ Court heard how a group of six men and a teenage boy dug out and killed two badgers from a sett on farmland at Howsham, near York, in January last year.

Sobia Ahmed, prosecuting, said dogs played tug-of-war with one of the badgers before it was shot in the head and slung into undergrowth, while a pregnant badger was torn to pieces and bled to death.

Warning: Graphic content

A wildlife photographer Robert Fuller managed to take this picture showing one of the men snatching at a badger in the dog's mouth

Mr Fuller presented his photos of the gang badger baiting in the hope that they would help convict the men

Alan Alexander, 32, Richard Simpson, 37, and Paul Tindall, 31, all from York, and William Anderson, 26, from Pickering, North Yorkshire, were jailed for 16 weeks at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court after being found guilty of wilfully killing a badger, hunting a mammal with dogs, digging for badgers and interfering with a badger sett.

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Alexander and Simpson were also convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Another two men, Christopher Holmes, 28, and Malcolm Warner, 28, both from York, were handed 12-week custodial sentences suspended for 12 months after they pleaded guilty to wilfully killing a badger, digging for badgers and interfering with a badger sett.

District Judge Kristina Harrison said she was sending out a clear signal to anybody involved in such activities that they would be sent to prison.

'Barbaric': Richard Simpson, left, and Alan Alexander, right, arrive at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court to hear their sentence

A 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was given a youth rehabilitation order after he was also found guilty of wilfully killing a badger, hunting a mammal with dogs, digging for badgers and interfering with a badger sett.

Sentencing the men and the teenager, Ms Harrison said: ‘Badger baiting is regarded as a barbaric sport and the public feeling is one of revulsion.’

She continued: ‘The people of Yorkshire will not tolerate badger baiting in their midst. It’s barbaric, it’s abhorrent and anyone convicted of this kind of offence will receive a custodial sentence.

‘This is a clear signal to anybody who seeks to commit this kind of behaviour.’

'Abhorrent': Paul Tindall, pictured left, and William Anderson, right, arriving for sentencing

Ms Ahmed told the court that two witnesses, including wildlife photographer Robert Fuller, heard the sound of dogs barking excitedly and a badger squealing in distress and went to investigate.

When they reached the scene, they saw two large dogs attacking a badger.

Ms Ahmed said: ‘They had hold of it in their mouths and were shaking it violently. They said the dogs were playing tug of war with the badger.’

Mr Fuller today recalled how the men ‘laughingly’ encouraged the beasts before they spotted Mr Fuller and fled the rural scene by the River Derwent, near Howsham in North Yorkshire.

After some time, the badger was shot dead by Anderson and the men, who had become aware of the witnesses and tried to cover their tracks by throwing the dead badger into the undergrowth.

They then buried a second dead badger - a pregnant animal which had been torn to pieces by the dogs - back into the hole from which it had been dug.

Ms Ahmed said witnesses called the police and the men and teenager were arrested a short time later.

Police and RSPCA inspectors who visited the scene found animal intestines and badger foetuses scattered around and areas of congealed blood, believed to be from where the badger had been shot.

When they recovered the two badgers, one was found to have been shot at close range and had a fractured skull and jaw.

The group of men stuffed this dead badger back into its sett in attempt by the men to conceal the crime

The other had part of its abdomen missing and injuries consistent with being attacked by a dog.

Mr Fuller, 38, later gave his pictures to the police and RSPCA and they were used to convict the gang.

When they investigated, the authorities established the men had killed three adult badgers and three unborn cubs.

Ms Ahmed said the pregnant badger suffered 'a sustained attack by a number of dogs that had caused the badger to be torn to pieces and eventually it bled to death' while the other had a 'gunshot wound to the head immediately after a severe and sustained attack by a number of dogs'.

Wildlife photographer Robert Fuller caught the group in the act and was able to take pictures that helped secure a conviction

Ms Ahmed described the operation as a 'sophisticated enterprise' in which the men used equipment to track down the badgers.

Mr Fuller, who lives in Thixendale, North Yorksshire, was praised by the trial judge as ‘brave’ and ‘courageous’.

Alexander, Anderson, Simpson and Tindall were told they would serve eight weeks of their sentences before being released on licence.

They were each ordered to pay £750 costs and £100 compensation.

Each of the four defendants was handcuffed and led out of the crowded courtroom by security guards while members of their families sobbed.

Holmes and Warner were told to pay £250 costs and £100 compensation and the 17-year-old was told he would be placed under supervision for 12 months and would have to undertake a number of programmes, including one run by the RSPCA, as part of his youth rehabilitation order.

Mr Fuller today recalled of how he encountered the gang while he was out looking for otters with friend Ged Farmer last January.

He said: "In all there were 13 dogs, eight men with five guns and, as was later established, three dead badgers and three unborn cubs.

'I asked Ged to go and call the police while I took photographs of what was going on.

'I was scared about being seen but I was so sickened by it that I wanted to get pictures of the men being caught in the act.

'One badger gave up and the men just shot it dead.

'This gang were so brazen about what they were doing, it was almost as though they didn’t care.
'I knew that my pictures might be used as evidence in the future and I’m glad they help catch these men.' 

He added: 'What I saw that day shocked me. Badgers are tough animals. They will fight when under attack, but generally they are not aggressive.

'What turns my stomach about badger baiting is that they were doing it for the sheer thrill. The men I watched were laughing.'

Speaking after the sentencing, RSPCA Inspector Geoff Edmond said: ‘This is the highest level of animal cruelty. It’s people who have organised to go into the North Yorkshire countryside, dig out and cruelly bait badgers.

He added: 'The significance of what Robert Fuller did cannot be underestimated. It is not often a judge commends a witness and he thoroughly deserved it.

'I’ve been a wildlife officer for 20 years and this is the worst, most horrific and barbaric case I have seen.'

by dailymail.co.uk

This is the way they treat animals, the poor animal was shot more than 50 times and they said he was behaving like a gangster, how cruel :'(

No wonder he was a bit wild! X-rays show 'mobster' baboon who terrorised a city had been shot more than 50 times

These X-ray pictures show how a baboon carried out a reign of terror over a city suburb in South Africa - despite being shot more than 50 times.

Vets only discovered the number of wounds after the animal, known as Fred, was captured and killed by the authorities in Cape Town.

His post mortem was captured on camera for a Channel 4 documentary about the animal, which learned how to unzip bags and steal food from cars and houses despite carrying bullets and shotgun pellets around in his head and body.

Thief: Fred was shot more than 50 times after learning how to unzip bags and steal food from cars and houses

X-ray pictures show the baboon's body was left riddled with bullets after it terrorised people living in a South African suburb

By the time Fred was captured, he had bitten several people and even learned to listen for the click of central locking before jumping into cars full of people in search of food.

Vet Mark Evans, who presents Rogue Baboon: An Inside Nature's Giants Special at 9pm tonight, said Fred could 'bite like a lion...run like a cheetah...and rule his troop like a despotic emperor'.

Car-jacker: Fred stole food from cars before he was captured and killed by the authorities in Cape Town

He said the animal behaved like 'the most notorious gangsters', adding: 'Fred became very protective of his patch - anyone standing in his way faced intimidation and violence.'

Nasty: The thieving baboon terrorised people despite being shot more than 50 times

Dangerous: The angry animal the animal behaved like a gangster, authorities said

by dailymail.co.uk

There are 345 stray dogs being found every day, yet why is it so hard to give a dog a loving home?

Last January we lost our lovely ten-year-old Labrador, Oscar. The vet found an inoperable tumour in his abdomen and gently suggested we take him home to say our goodbyes. 

We cuddled him on the sofa and tried to feed him small morsels of his favourite cheddar, but it was obvious he was fading from us fast. 

Nothing prepared me for the agony of having him put to sleep the next morning. The children clung to him and wept before leaving for school — the same children who, as toddlers, had swung from his neck, covered his nose with Buzz Lightyear stickers and attempted to ride him like a horse across the garden.

Shona Sibary with her rescue centre dogs Juno (left) and Albus (right). More than 126,176 dogs have been picked up by local authorities over the past 12 months, but she found rescue wardens patronising

He was a family dog through and through. He’d seen me off at the front door to give birth to three babies and been there, waiting, each time I returned home — giving a gentle sniff to the tightly blanketed bundles, followed by a wag of approval.

Oscar’s death left us bereft and even though we’ve always owned a dog, it didn’t feel right, somehow, to rush into replacing him. But as winter thawed, so, too, did our resolve. By spring we were ready to share our lives with a four-legged friend again. 

I started researching breeders on Google and was horrified to discover the price of a Kennel Club-registered Labrador puppy was £600 to £800. We’d paid £250 for Oscar in 2000.

 

• It suddenly seemed hugely extravagant, not to mention socially irresponsible, to spend all that money on a dog when there are thousands of homeless mutts in rescue centres all over the country. 

Figures by the Dogs Trust, the country’s largest dog welfare charity, reveal that the number of stray dogs in Britain has reached an 11-year high, with more than 126,176 dogs being picked up by local authorities over the past 12 months — equating to 345 stray dogs being found every day.

You would think, with so many strays needing a home, I’d have been welcomed with open arms at any dog rescue centre of my choosing. 

But you’d be wrong. If I’d known then what I know now about the dog re-homing process, I’d have hot-footed it to the nearest pet shop, bought a goldfish and told the children to start bonding.

No one warns you of the ridiculous hoops you have to jump through and of the high-handed, often patronising manner of rescue wardens. 

'Juno (left) is a Husky-cross-Pointer with piercing blue eyes. At the age of one, she was still deemed to be a "puppy" and we were still "officially" not allowed to have her,' said Shona

There were times — during a ludicrously long-winded and bureaucratic process of adopting our two pets, Juno and Albus — that I wanted to turn to the centre and say: ‘Look, do you want us to take these dogs or not?’ 

Perhaps it’s not the same for everyone. Certainly, more and more celebrities are opting to re-home a stray rather than parting with money to a breeder — even President Obama. But I couldn’t help wondering if they were all subjected to the same relentless grilling about their suitability to own a dog as we were.

Did Barack have to throw open the White House doors and show an officious dog warden around his home and garden (to ensure it was properly fenced the entire way round) before they would let him take Bo, a Portuguese water dog? Somehow, I suspect not. 

Part of the problem for us was that with four children — one a toddler — I was reluctant to risk adopting an adult dog that might have behavioural problems. I felt, rightly or wrongly, it was just too much of a gamble and I would never be able to trust an older new pet in the same way I trusted Oscar. 

But, similarly to the child adoption process, puppies, like babies, are hard to come by. Dog homes are full of older dogs. 

A large proportion are cross breeds no one wants — pit bull terriers, Rottweilers and Doberman mixes.  

In re-homing a dog, I knew I couldn’t be too picky — but there are limits. I’d have been insane to put my children’s safety at risk by selecting a dog with questionable parentage and a dodgy background.

So when, in June, we found a rescue centre in the South of England advertising six Rhodesian Ridgeback-cross-Boxer puppies on their website, we couldn’t believe our luck.  

They were 12 weeks old — young enough to adapt to our family and still impressionable enough to train and fit into our way of life.

'Juno and Albus have brought that wonderful doggy spark back into our lives - wrestling for space on the sofa and barking endlessly at washing drying on the line,' said Shona

First mistake. I called the dog home to register our interest and was told their policy was never to re-home puppies into families with children younger than eight years old because — and I quote: ‘We can’t guarantee the puppy won’t, at some point in the future, bite one of your children.’

Instead, we were offered an older dog, one that had been assessed and deemed suitable to be around small people.

How they could guarantee that this dog — with eight years of goodness-knows-what treatment behind it — wouldn’t bite one of the children, I have no idea. 

This was to be the first of several regulations that struck me as having no logic whatsoever.

So I did something naughty. I’m not proud of it, but I called back the next day pretending to be someone else with three children over the age of eight. And no toddler. Now I could be considered for a puppy — but only if I had owned a dog as an adult. Otherwise I would not be deemed suitable.

The next step was attending an interview at the dogs’ home and meeting Albus — we had decided to name the puppy we had fallen in love with online. 

I can accept that an interview is an entirely reasonable part of the process. The centre must ensure their dogs are going to suitable families who will treat them well. After all, the last thing they want is for the dog to be abandoned a second (or even third) time.

They also insisted on seeking independent permission from our landlord (we live in rented accommodation) and separate references from our vet. 

Part of me was pleased they were being so thorough. But we were far from finished. 

Hurdle number two was that every member of the family had to visit Albus at the centre 70 miles away. Not just once. Or twice. But several times for ‘bonding’ purposes before they would release the puppy to us. 

This involved several expensive train journeys for all of us and, of course, on each occasion, I had to find childcare for the toddler who didn’t exist.

'I can't imagine our lives without Juno and Albus. Which is a shame, because they still don't legally belong to us,' said Shona

It was during one of these visits that we fell in love with another stray in the rescue centre. 

Juno is a Husky-cross-Pointer with piercing blue eyes. At the age of one, she was still deemed to be a ‘puppy’ and we were still ‘officially’ not allowed to have her. 

But having lied once, we were on a roll and so we decided to take both dogs.

Hurdle number three was The Home Visit. By then, I was starting to feel more than a little irritated. 

We had already expended a huge amount of time, money and energy in meeting their re-homing requirements. Sending a warden to assess our home seemed to be an excessive measure. 

Let’s not forget we are talking about a dog — not a child. We were clearly a nice, middle-class family trying to do the right thing by giving not one, but two, strays a loving future with our family. 

The centre had been assured that our garden was properly fenced and secure — the reference from our vet had confirmed this. 

I had also told them that we live in the middle of beautiful National Trust countryside and are experienced dog owners. 

But their stance through the entire process was one of distrust and annoying superiority. 

They even insisted we pay for a whole term of puppy-training classes — and show them the receipt — before they would consider releasing Juno and Albus to us.

On the day of the home visit, supposedly the final box-ticking exercise, we removed all evidence of the toddler from the house. 

The warden arrived for the inspection bringing another dog with her and asked if it could come inside the house. I suspected immediately this was a test of how dog-loving we are.

I made all the appropriate cooing noises despite the fact it was quite a smelly dog who proceeded to relieve itself all over our hallway rug. 

By then, I would have done anything to get this woman to authorise our suitability — including waxing lyrical about the smell of dog urine. 

'If the rescue centre finds out we have broken any terms of our contract (ie that we have a two-year-old), they have the right, with police force, to remove Juno and Albus from our care,' said Shona

Then she checked every single downstairs rooms and opened all our cupboards.

Luckily, she failed to see a toddler’s dummy on the draining board and, after a thorough inspection of the garden, shed and greenhouse she drove away — without once offering to help clean the hallway rug.

So, finally, after weeks of meeting the dog rescue centre’s requirements and attending a three-hour seminar on how to care properly for a canine, we were finally cleared to take Juno and Albus home. 

Don’t get me wrong. I am as much of a dog lover as the next person. But there were many times during our re-homing adventure that I couldn’t help feeling the pooch police had lost the plot. 

I’m quite convinced Madonna had an easier time adopting David and Mercy from Malawi than we did our two puppies. 

Oh, and of course we still needed to pay £120 per dog for the privilege of this grilling we’d been subjected to. 

Now that they’re with us, it all feels worth it. They’ve brought that wonderful doggy spark back into our lives — wrestling for space on the sofa and barking endlessly at washing drying on the line.  

In fact, I can’t imagine our lives without them. Which is a shame, because they still don’t legally belong to us. 

If the rescue centre finds out we have broken any terms of our contract (ie that we have a two-year-old), they have the right, with police force, to remove Juno and Albus from our care. 

That’s why I’m writing this article  — in the hope the centre will realise they are, at times, a little too stringent and this may put off some affectionate owners. After all, Albus and Juno couldn’t be more loved.

If we ever go on holiday abroad, we have to tell them. If for any reason we are unable to continue to look after the dogs, we are not allowed to give them away to family or friends — they have to go back to the rescue centre. 

Oh, and Juno and Albus are micro-chipped back to the dogs’ home, so if they do ever find a gap in a fence and decide to run off, the dogs’ home will always know.

So there you have it. Barking mad or sensible measures? I’ll let you decide or, perhaps, we should let sleeping dogs lie.

by dailymail