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THIS giant feral pig was shot on a Pilbara cattle station after it was spotted eating a dead cow. The picture has been circulating on the internet alongside claims the boar was killed at various locations across Australia. It was written off as a hoax by many, including WA's Department of Environment and Conservation, and sparked much debate when published on website PerthNow. But The Sunday Times has confirmed that the pig was shot on a Pilbara cattle station near Newman, 1200km northeast of Perth. Sources close to the family of the man in the photo have confirmed he is...

Humane Society of the United States helps transport cats from the wild to a California sanctuary:Sheldon, an orange tabby born in the wild, is one of seven feral cats who have been rescued from San Nicolas Island, off the Southern California coast, where plans are in place to eradicate the feline population to preserve the native species. These seven island cats have been spayed/neutered, vaccinated and checked by a veterinarian and are now living at a sanctuary north of Los Angeles. Getting these cats off the Navy-owned island and taking them to an approved facility was part of a deal...

U.S. streets could soon be overrun with cats if communities fail to get a handle on growing feline populations, a veterinary medicine researcher says. *** Who herds cats? The perception is that the government provides funding for the control of cats, but "by and large, that is not the case in Ohio," Lord said. "Government has tended to not want to be involved with cats. And I don't know if they can avoid it anymore." ***

Russian police are hunting a "werewolf boy" - who snarls and bites - after he escaped from a Moscow clinic just a day after being rescued from the wild. Doctors expressed shock saying he was found living with a pack of wolves in a remote forest in the Kaluga region of central Russia. The 'werewolf boy' has escaped from a Moscow clinic just a day after he was found. It is thought he was raised by wolves and his toenails are like claws"He's clearly dangerous to other people," said a police spokesman yesterday. "He's got typical wolf-like habits and behaviour....

GALVESTON — After 8 1/2 hours of deliberation over two days, jurors today said they were hopelessly deadlocked in the trial of well-known bird watcher Jim Stevenson on animal cruelty charges for the killing of a feral cat. Galveston County District Judge Frank Carmona declared a mistrial after the four men and eight women on the jury sent out a note saying they could not change their votes without violating their consciences. Eight jurors voted to convict and four held out for acquittal in an at times heated atmosphere, according to juror Donald Cook, 42, a network administrator from League...

My community has a problem with feral cats. The animal control department has a no-kill policy so they never seem to be able to catch them, muchless reassign them. Animal-rights wackos continue to feed them and never neuter them. Consequently, the females are constantly pregnant and we now have an over-population that no one wants to deal with. If you do not have a big dog in your yard, your grass (and doormats, outdoor furniture, etc.) will reek from the waste these cats spread everywhere. Has anyone else had a problem like this? What has your community done?

The US Fish and Wildlife Service says a pack of endangered Mexican gray wolves has killed a horse belonging to a Catron County family. Mark Miller and his family returned to their homestead on the Diamond Creek in southwestern New Mexico about three weeks ago to find the remains of their horse. Tracks show the wolves apparently chased the horse from a pasture into a corral and killed it. Miller says his family has tried yelling at the wolves, throwing rocks and installing noisemakers, but he says the pack continues to be a problem.

Feral Shih Tzus roam Ga. condo complex MARIETTA, Ga., Jan. 19 (UPI) -- A small pack of feral, and very small, Shih Tzus has been evading capture at a Georgia condominium complex. The group of four dogs first showed up at the Covered Bridge complex in Cobb County in the Atlanta suburbs around Thanksgiving. Since then, two of them have disappeared, including one believed to have been killed by a car. The two remaining dogs appear to have reverted to their wild roots as the alpha male and female of their own small wolf pack -- albeit wolves that weigh...

When they found her last week, her father said, she was "bare-bones skinny" and shaking, scuttling like a monkey along the ground to snatch up grains of rice, her eyes "red like tigers' eyes". So when the first pictures of Rochom P'ngieng, the woman supposedly lost in the jungle for 18 years, emerged yesterday showing a calm and apparently healthy young woman rather than an emaciated, feral beast, the mystery surrounding her remarkable story deepened. Sal Lou, 45, a policeman from a remote village on the Cambodian-Vietnamese border, told a local newspaper on Thursday that his daughter, who disappeared, aged...

GALVESTON — Ornithologist Jim Stevenson won't say how many feral cats he has shot since he moved to Galveston a decade ago but acknowledges "it's a lot fewer than the number of birds I've saved." Stevenson, 53, is charged with animal cruelty in the shooting death of a cat near the San Luis Pass Bridge at the far west end of Galveston Island on Nov. 8. Stevenson doesn't admit to that offense but has stated in a posting on an Internet birders' Web site that he shot as many as 24 cats with a .22-caliber rifle on his property in...

Key West orders signature feral fowl off its streets Wed Apr 19, 3:13 PM ET MIAMI (AFP) - Fearing they could represent a potential bird flu threat, the Florida town of Key West has ordered the famous feral chickens that wander its streets to the coop, authorities said. The US island town, known for a live-and-let-live attitude, in this case got a bit firm, and late Tuesday ordered the more than 2,000 birds removed from public places, such as parks and streets. "Key West has many uncooped roosters and chickens, many of which could become a transmission source of the...

RECREATIONAL hunters using rifles, crossbows and dogs will be allowed to kill feral animals in state forests and on public lands in a controversial trial next month. Licensed huntsmen will be allowed to hunt feral cats, dogs, deer, goats, pigs and foxes after the State Government approved the two-day trial in four public locations from February 4. However, a declaration published in the NSW Government Gazette on Friday reveals the four state forests have already been designated as the first official, full-scale hunting grounds. The proposed order allows hunting for five years in these areas, with hundreds more to follow...

Suburban streets in the grip of feral youths, says police chief By Nigel Bunyan (Filed: 18/05/2005) Feral youths are running wild in suburban streets with no fear of either the police or the criminal justice system, a senior police officer said yesterday. Chief Supt David Baines, of Greater Manchester police, spoke out as Phil Carroll, 48, continued to fight for his life after being attacked by a gang of youths he had confronted in an alleyway behind his home.Mr Carroll, from Lower Broughton, Salford, gave chase to the gang when one of them threw a stone that hit his car....

Cats are the No. 1 favorite pet of Americans; there are millions of felines that are pampered, loved and well cared for by their owners. I love my playful little kitten; I would do anything in the world to make sure that Ebony is happy and in good health. Unfortunately, there are also millions of feral or wild cats that kill millions of birds and other small animals. These feral cats are at best a general nuisance, and at worst a serious threat to other wildlife. The question is how do we address this serious problem? How do we manage...

Posted: April 12, 2005 Wisconsinites have spoken - at least those who showed up at Conservation Congress meetings - and it's bad news for feral cats. Cat Hunting What's Next The Conservation Congress will vote next month on whether to recommend the proposal to the Natural Resources Board. That board would then decide whether to order the Department of Natural Resources to ask the Legislature to support the change. Related Coverage Video: TMJ4 Coverage Recent Coverage 3/11/05: Both sides bare claws in debate over shooting feral cats 3/10/05: Cat-hunt plan has promoter in cross hairs Vote results released Tuesday...

Feral Cat Hunt Debate Continues - If Conservation Congress Passes Resolution, Process To Become Law To Begin MADISON, Wis. -- The controversial issue of hunters shooting feral cats went to the Wisconsin Conservation Congress Monday. Representatives from 72 Wisconsin counties listened to residents concerning the proposal that would make feral cats an unprotected species, meaning the cats could be hunted and killed. The proposal is fueled by a University of Wisconsin study that found non-native feral cats were a threat to native animals like lovebirds. (Lovebirds? I think they mean 'song birds.' Sloppy editing!) If most of the counties pass...

Goodbye, Kitty? If a firefighter from La Crosse gets his way, stray cats in Wisconsin could legally be blown from here to feline eternity. Not surprisingly, the proposal to allow the shooting of free-roaming cats has horrified cat lovers nationwide. "This really crosses the line in human and cat relations," said Ted O'Donnell, owner of a pet supply store in Madison. He has set up a website called dontshootthecat.com. "I remember when firefighters used to rescue cats -- not shoot them."

Theunissen - Cut off from the rest of the world, with only veld and animals for company, a husband and wife and their four children have spent the past 20 years all alone on a remote Free State farm. The four children - aged 26, 22, 18 and 14 - have never had contact with the outside world and their behaviour is so animalistic they can't even communicate in an understandable language. One of them walks on all fours, almost like a monkey. An assortment of healthcare experts have been ordered by the Free State department of health to assess...

Horse (Non)Sense Thomas McIntyre Wild Horses is an oxymoron. Wild equines did evolve in the Western Hemisphere, but they also started going extinct here millions of years ago...... These feral horses and donkeys are about as wild as stray cats and park pigeons. Like many feral animals, they are whizzes at exploiting newfound habitats........ And predators have never represented a threat: In the early 1800s, when it was seemingly possible to walk(rather briskly, to be sure) on the backs of wolves and grizzly bears from the Mississippi to the Pacific, feral horses were estimated to number 2 million................. Then in...

Feral Cat Coalition - San Diego, California Is spay/neuter/release working? Statistics from the San Diego Department of Animal Control as of 6/30/97 show that while the number of cats adopted or claimed by owners has remained fairly constant over the years, there has been a decrease of almost 50% in the number of cats impounded and killed as compared to 1992 (when the FCC clinics started). Before the FCC was formed, the number of cats impounded and killed had been going up 15% per year! So, you ask, what exactly is a feral cat??? Read on, and you'll learn more...