Free Republic

A few weeks ago a human-interest story from South Africa was reported internationally. As described in the Wall Street Journal this past Friday: On Aug. 4, Graham and Sheryl Anley, while yachting off the coast of South Africa, hit a reef, capsizing their boat. As the boat threatened to sink and they scrambled to get off, Sheryl’s safety line snagged on something, trapping her there. Instead of freeing his wife and getting her to shore, Graham grabbed Rosie, their Jack Russell terrier. (One media account reported that Sheryl had insisted that the dog go first). With Rosie safe and sound,...

A hammerhead shark has shocked onlookers by giving birth to a litter of pups before dying on a packed Florida beach. The five-foot shark had been hauled to the shore by a man fishing at Panama City Beach, the Daily Mail reported. A beachgoer filmed as the fisherman abandoned his rod and dragged the creature onto the sand. As it writhed in the shallow water, the shark released its tiny hammerhead pups into the sea.

KENOSHA, Wis. —WISN 12 News investigates an operation raising questions about the use of government resources and the state policy that meant a death sentence for a fawn. "It was like a SWAT team," shelter employee Ray Schulze said. Two weeks ago, Schulze was working in the barn at the Society of St. Francis on the Kenosha-Illinois border when a swarm of squad cars arrived and officers unloaded with a search warrant. "(There were) nine DNR agents and four deputy sheriffs, and they were all armed to the teeth," Schulze said. The focus of their search was a baby fawn...

Visitors to one of France’s most beautiful tourist areas were today warned to be on their guard after a pack of feral cats launched an attack on a young woman. About six cats pounced on the unnamed dog owner as she walked her poodle in the city of Belfort, in the popular Franche-Comte region, on the Swiss border, dragging her to the ground and mauling her. She was bitten repeatedly and left with a torn artery which could have proved fatal, while the dog was also badly hurt. Josette Galliot, the mother of the 31-year-old victim, said: "They jumped on...

While much of the nation was focused on the pro-Trayvon Martin “protests” (practically riots) in Los Angeles and Oakland on Monday, demonstrators in Houston resorted to violence as they rallied for “justice for Trayvon.” The demonstrators in Houston on Monday evening successfully blocked traffic on a highway overpass and the road below. A woman, badly in need of getting her 7-year-old granddaughter to the hospital due to an allergic reaction, found herself at the mercy of the rowdy protesters.

Relatives recall Gizzell Kiara Ford as a smart, mature and respectful 8-year-old girl. Prosecutors said today her grandmother, Helen M. Ford, 51, of the 5200 block of West Adams Street, inflicted so many injuries on the girl over a long enough period and neglected her so badly that before she died Friday, Gizzell had maggots living in a head injury that had spread to another part of her scalp.

Four men charged in a quintuple shooting that left a toddler paralyzed at a Harvey apartment complex have pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges, according to court records. Jefferson Parish prosecutors charged Lashawn Davis, 20, of the Gretna area, Charlie Gumms, 18, and Davamte Robertson, 19, of Terrytown and Frankie Hookfin, 21, of Waggaman with five counts of attempted second-degree murder and aggravated criminal damage in the April 22 shooting at the Lapalco Apartments. Sheriff's deputies think Hookfin and at least one of his co-defendants stood outside an apartment door in the 2300 block of Lapalco Boulevard...

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – San Francisco Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man suspected of a brutal robbery/aggravated assault. On June 30, 2013 at around 1:50 a.m., A female victim was robbed by a group of suspects. One suspect kicked her so violently in the face that she was knocked unconscious, police said. The suspects are described as a group of approximately 5 black males and an adult black female. The group appeared to have been in their late teens or early twenties. It is believed the suspects committed multiple robberies and assaults after the Pink...

The bird feeder in Alfred and Annette Rockefeller's back yard attracts five different species of birds. A Ramsey couple are facing up to $500 in fines for their bird feeder, above, which has drawn complaints from neighbors. The borough has an ordinance against feeding wildlife, and an official said the feeder draws other animals. It has also drawn the attention of borough officials, who issued the couple a summons for feeding wildlife after receiving complaints from neighbors. Alfred Rockefeller, 77, who is disabled and homebound, said feeding the birds is one of his few joys since he became confined to...

It started as a joke between friends, but Morris the cat's bid to become mayor of the Mexican city of Xalapa, the capital of the state of Veracruz, has now turned into a social media phenomenon with a serious message about political disenchantment.

<p>Four central Pennsylvania residents said they used only a rope and a flashlight during a wild chase to rescue a young bear whose head had been stuck in a plastic jar for at least 11 days.</p> <p>Area residents first spotted the 100-pound bruin with its head in a red jar on June 3, but it eluded game wardens.</p>

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. (Genesis 1:20-23)The fifth day...

FULL TITLE: Three Chicago teens accused of raping a 12-year-old girl and putting the video on Facebook charged as adults CBS) CHICAGO -Three teenagers accused of raping a 12-year-old girl at gunpoint and posting the video of the assault on Facebook were charged with sex assault as adults on Friday, said the Chicago Tribune. According to the paper, the three boys were held in custody in lieu of $900,000 bail. The Tribune reported prosecutors say that on December 15, 2012, the girl went to 16-year-old Scandale Fritz's Chicago home to speak with him, and that when she arrived at the...

(Reuters) - Anyone wanting to live longer and cut their risk of suffering from heart disease might want to consider getting a pet.

BRIDGETON — It started with kids looking across the street at a groundhog in the Bridgeton Midget Football parking lot on Saturday. They crossed the street to get a closer look. They had never seen a groundhog before. What they didn’t count on was the groundhog chasing them back across the street to where Bridgeton Little League was playing. Bedlam broke out.

The suspects accused of raping and molesting a 13-year-old mentally disabled girl videotaped part of the crime, authorities said. District Attorney Pat Head would not say what the videotape revealed, but said he did not plan to show it to the grand jury. Up to 25 males — ages 12 to 25 — raped and molested the girl for 12 hours after luring her off of a bicycle and into an apartment building, police said Wednesday. Eight suspects have been arrested and warrants were issued for three others sought in the Oct. 13-14 attack, Cobb County police spokesman Dana Pierce...

Pet-loving citizens take note: Don't be late when renewing a dog license or forget to register that new puppy with the county. Not licensing your dog in Michigan means the local sheriff is required by law to have it killed. As Michigan Capitol Confidential first reported two years ago, the antiquated “Dog Law” (Act 339 of 1919) has not been followed in decades, but still is on the books. A recent bill is attempting to repeal it. The statute states that if a county treasurer locates an unlicensed dog, the animal is to be considered a “public nuisance” and killed....

A small group of men who engage in sexual activity with their pets gathered on Berlin's Potsdamer Platz earlier this year to protest a law ratified by the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, that bans bestiality. The lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, passed the legislation late last year as part of a comprehensive animal protection act that brings Germany in line with a European Union directive. German zoophiles now face fines of up to €25,000 for all forms of sex with animals. One of the protesters told the German newsmagazine The Local that a lobby group called ZETA...

How Animals Eat Their Food

The beaver pounced as a man went to take its photograph after spotting the animal on the side of a road during a fishing trip. A fisherman has been bitten to death by a beaver after trying to take its photograph. The man was on a fishing trip at Lake Shestakov in Belarus with two friends when they spotted the animal on the side of the road. He stopped so that he could take a picture but as he approached the beaver it pounced on him, biting him in the thigh. His friends attempted to stem the flow of blood...