Animals & Pets

Horse racing is coming under fire from animal rights group PETA (which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). The organization states that they will hold a protest of the second leg of horse racing's triple crown, the Preakness Stakes, because of the deaths of Barbaro, who won the run roses but died in following race held at Pimilico Racetrack in 2006, and Eight Belles who broke down after finishing second at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

PETA is pushing for a wide array of changes to thoroughbred industry. The group staged a protest yesterday in Lexington, Kentucky, with 20 protesters with signs that had sayings such as "Stop Racing Horses to the Grave". A PETA spokesperson said this of the horse racing industry:

"Unfortunately, money and speed is all that matters to these people, and Eight Belles is the most famous recent example in a string of broken and dead animals," Lindsay Rajt stated.

The trainer of Eight Belles shot back at PETA saying they were capitalizing on a tragic situation and using the horrific event as a fundraiser for their organization. Larry Jones, who trained the filly, stated:

Triathelete David Martin, 66, died on Solana Beach Friday after a shark lifted him out of the water with his legs in its jaws, which left deep lacerations and shredded Martin's wetsuit. Helicopters continue to scan the coastline in search of the shark, which is believed to be a great white shark, that killed Martin.

According to city and county officials, beaches in San Diego will remain closed, and will be patrolled throughout the weekend.

While the weekend weather forecasts promises dry winds and summery temperatures, tempting weather to head to the beach, those thousands who would normally make a beeline for the beach will now have to weigh the risks of ignoring authorities and risking their lives to take a dip in the ocean.

David Martin was the first shark fatality in San Diego County since 1994. Before that, the last known fatal shark attack in the area was in 1959.

Experts indicate that the likelihood of finding the shark that attacked Martin, a retired veterinarian, was slim.

Sharks are a rare occurrence in SoCal, however, female great white sharks occasionally swim south to pup. Experts believe that the bite pattern on Martin's legs indicate that the shark was a great white that was 12 to 17 feet long.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said that an Eastern gray wolf killed on a western Massachusetts farm was the first of its species spotted in the state in 160 years. The wolf, which was killed after mauling 13 sheep, was the first Eastern gray wolf confirmed in the sate since the species was driven out of the area by hunters in the 1800s.

THomas Healy, head of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Northeast region, said, "To find a real one is pretty exciting. But what we don't know about this animal far outweighs what we do know."

According to Healy, the wolf likely made its way to Massachusetts from Canada or the Great Lakes region. He noted that there is no indication that the wolves are breeding in the area.

Some wildlife specialists, however, have suggested that a resurgence of gray wolves in the New England area could help balance out the ecosystem, especially when it comes to controlling deer populations.

Researchers in South America claim to have discovered the fossilized remains of a one-ton beast of a rodent that thrived in the forests and estuaries of the continent four million years ago. The giant skull of the Josephoartigasia monesi was found on the coast of Rio de La Plata in Uruguay in a broken boulder.

Researchers Andres Rinderknecht of the Museum of Natural History and Ernesto Blanco of the Institute of Physics studied the fossil in Montevideo. J. Monesi's skull was a massive 53 centimeters long, and scientists used this to determine that the size of the rodent was about 1-ton, or the size of a small car.

"We report the discovery of an exceptionally well preserved fossil skull of a new species of rodent, by far the largest ever recorded," said the scientists in the 'Proceedings of the Royal Society, Biological Sciences' journal.

"The creature itself weighed between one and 1.4 tons. Its skull is half-a-metre long and reached a length of around three metres, assuming its body was barrel-shaped like that of a capybara. The incisors of the mega rodent were around four inches and characteristics of its teeth suggest that it dined on aquatic plants, perhaps even fruit," said Dr. Blanco.

A tiger escaped from its cage at the San Francisco Zoo on Tuesday evening, killing one and injuring two others. According to the director of animal care at the zoo, Bob Jenkins, the tiger that escaped its cage is "Tatiana".

Tatiana is the same tiger that mauled its trainer one year ago. The 350-lb tiger somehow escaped its pen just after the zoo's 5pm closing time, and killed a man in his 20's standing near the tiger exhibit.

Two other visitors were injured, and are in stable but serious condition at San Francisco General Hospital. It is not yet known how the tiger was able to escape.

South Korean officials say that scientists in their country have successfully cloned cats by manipulating a florescent protein gene. The side effect to the procedures is that the cloned cats glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet beams. Nevertheless, scientists hope that this procedure may help develop treatments for human genetic diseases.

The South Korean Ministry of Science and Technology confirm that a team of scientists, led by Kong Il-keun, have produced three cats with altered fluorescence protien (RFP) genes. Kong Il-keun is an internationally recognized cloning expert at the Gyeongsang National University.

The ministry issued a statement which said:

"It marked the first time in the world that cats with RFP genes have been cloned. The ability to produce cloned cats with the manipulated genes is significant as it could be used for developing treatments for genetic diseases and for reproducing model (cloned) animals suffering from the same diseases as humans."

All three of the cats were born in January and February. One of the cats was stillborn, while the other two cats grew to become glow in the dark adult Turkish Angoras.

Eva Mendes has joined the likes of Alicia Silverstone, Christina Applegate, Kim Basinger and Pamela Anderson in the ‘I’d Rather Go Naked…’ advertising campaign of PETA. The 32 year old actress advertisement will displayed on a billboard in New York City's Rockefeller Park sometime today.

Mendes says she agreed to the campaign because, "Killing a poor animal and wearing her fur isn’t cool. Respecting all life forms is cool.”

Don't wear fur or order the steak if you plan on meeting actress Alicia Silverstone for dinner. The 'Clueless' star is the latest celebrity to do an advertisement for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. On PETA's website Silverston, who is a vegetarian, issued this statement:

Like most people, I wasn’t always a vegetarian, but I’ve always loved animals. If you ever have a chance to meet a cow, pig, turkey, or goat, you will see that they are just as cute and funny as your dogs and cats and that they, too, want to live and feel love. They don’t like pain. Now when I see a steak, it makes me feel sad and sick because right away, I see my dog or the amazing cows I met at a sanctuary. I’ve been vegan for 10 years, and it’s the single-most important and helpful decision I have ever made. Physically, the effect has been amazing. Once I went vegan, I lost the weight I wanted to lose, my nails were stronger, and my skin was glowing. I feel great, and I look better now than I did 11 years ago.

This year, eight new species have been added to Ohio's list of endangered species by the Ohio Division of Wildlife. Amongst some of the newly added species are the river jewelwing and Allegheny crawfish.

Every five years the state surveys species and updates their survival status, as well as the endangered species list. Other species, such as black bears, bald eagles, and river otters, who were once on the verge of extinction in the state of Ohio, have rebounded over the past ten years.

For a complete listing of all of Ohio's endangered species, visit the Division of Wildlife website.