Free Republic

Three Anaheim police officers justifiably shot and killed a suspected Anaheim gang member who fired at them and a police dog in March, Orange County District Attorney’s Office prosecutors said. Robert Andrew Moreno, 21, was hiding in a trash can in an Anaheim neighborhood shortly before he fired on the K-9 and officers, prosecutors said in a report issued late last month.

I actively look for and monitor defensive uses of firarms.   While some defensive uses of firarms are common, such as driving off intruders from a home, others such as defense against a grizzly bear, are rare.  They tend to stand out when they happen.   I missed this one, even though it did get some coverage in 2013.  The actual defense occurred two years ago in November of 2012. It is especially interesting because both bear spray and bullets were used.  The only other one that I recall happened this year. The bear was killed by the gunfire, dropping, literally...

 Mac, Coyote Fighter The first coyote was recorded in New Hampshire in 1972.  By 1980, they were found across the state.  Eastern coyotes have wolf genes, and are larger than the western variety, reaching as much as 60 lbs. The first coyote attack on a human in New Hampshire occurred in 2012.  Ironically, the boy's dog ran off, leaving him to fight the coyote.  From inquisiter.com: The boy’s dog ran away when the coyote approached which left the boy to fend off the coyote’s attack on his own. After repeatedly punching the coyote in the nose, the coyote eventually...

WESTLAKE, Ohio -- Margie, a cat rescued from the engine belt of a Westlake school bus last week, is recovering, but her medical bills are piling up. So far, the Westlake Animal Hospital has provided about $1,800 in care to Margie, who was found stuck in the bus' serpentine belt, according to a news release from the school district. The 1-year-old cat was discovered after Westlake bus driver Marge Laskowski radioed fellow driver Denise Wering during their morning routes on Nov. 12 to check the back of Wering's bus. When the drivers pulled off of Dover Center Road, they spotted...

CENTRE TWP., Pa. - Pennsylvania State Police are searching for a burglar who broke into a home, only to be attacked by a protective pooch. The brazen burglar broke into the home in the 1600 block of Railroad Road in Centre Township, Berks County. The crook headed straight to the bedroom, but he was in for a surprise after coming face-to-face with the owner's guard dog. A German shepherd attacked and forced the person out of the home, said police.

Buffalo, NY — A high profile case of Buffalo police killing a man’s dog while looking for non-existent drugs, has led to a Freedom of Information request revealing some sadistic figures. On June 3, 2013 Buffalo police raided a man’s home to look for crack cocaine. He was not there, nor was the crack. The home belonged to Iraqi war veteran, Adam Arroyo and his 2-year-old pit bull Cindy. Upon breaking down the door to Arroyo’s home, officers encountered Cindy, who was barely 50 pounds, and shot and killed her. They were at the wrong apartment. According to use of...

Yesterday morning I was traveling at 45 mph down a semi rural two-lane highway on my way to a doctor's appointment when suddenly a large buck with a huge rack flashed in front of me. An oncoming SUV hit the deer on the rump tossing it off the highway. I was driving subcompact and had I approached a split-second sooner the buck and I would've undoubtedly stopped there -- permanently. Be careful out there.

In this famous photograph by Bruno Engler, Bella Twin is shown with the hide from the world record grizzly bear that she shot in 1953 with a single shot .22 rifle.  The question is, what rifle is she holding?   It has been written that Jack O'Conner "heard" that it was an old Stevens single shot.   But as he only "heard" this, I do not think it is at all definitive.  This is said to be from page 304 of "The Hunting Rifle", published in 1953.   Given that the bear was shot in 1953, and the reference was near the...

Lake Forest, CA (FOX 11) - A German Shepherd puppy was turned into a Southern California rescue shelter last week who had apparently chewed off its own foot to free himself from a chain. The owners of "Rocky" turned the 10-month-old pup into a local shelter Nov. 9. They claimed they didn't know what happened to his hind foot, but they thought he might have "eaten it."

The German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County's website has been continually been hacked. Our cyber security experts have determined the hackers are from Yemen. The a-holes have been posting Arabic characters and deleting photos and adoption applications. So far we have determined no personal or financial has been stolen. Regardless, we've elected to shut down the website and build a new one. The hacking activity has been reported to authorities.

It is not uncommon for people to use guns to defend against aggressive dogs.  In this case, it was the owner who shot the dog, so there are few legal complications.   What is interesting is that only a little over a year ago, the possession of the gun in Chicago would likely have been illegal.   From cbslocal : The 26-year-old man was in lawful possession of the weapon and will not face charges, according to police. All handguns had to be registered in Chicago, and if the registration lapsed on handguns, you were not allowed to re-register them.   A...

In the past week, four bears were shot in claimed bear attacks in Montana.   There are few details at this time.  The black bear shooting has been ruled self defense, while the three grizzly shootings are still under investigation.  It does not appear that any of the shooters were hurt, so all four gun uses appear to have been effective.  No bear spray was reported used at this time.   In this article, the grizzly shooting is still under investigation, while the black bear shooting has been ruled self defense. The grizzly was shot and killed in a remote area...

Every time you hear the haunting honking of the geese overhead, think of the one chant Obama has never been able to throw away: “USA!” “USA!” As usual, the Creator will look after the rest. If, like me, you are blessed enough to live in the Great North East, every day now you can see and hear the geese making their exuberant annual trek south for the winter. There’s something ineffably haunting in the sound of their honking. For me their V-formation flights and haunting honks kept me spellbound before even discovering the inspiration that comes from the science that...

A jury in Ashville, North Carolina has found a man not guilty of taking a bear out of season, and of discharging a firearm in city limits, by reason of self defense.   Ernest James Page had always  claimed that he shot the 150-175 pound bear in self defense.  The jury discussed the issue for over two hours, but unanimously agree with Page.  It is significant that Page went to a jury trial, using a court appointed public defender, and won.  The District Attorney justified charging Page with these remarks: Moore said he has dismissed some cases in the past...

Dogs and guns have been an effective crime stopping combination for as long as people have possessed them.   They were proven effective once again in Butler County, Ohio.   The suspect broke out a basement window to gain access to the rural home of Brian Hiner.    Brian woke to the alarmed barks of his dogs, which appear to black and golden Labradors.  He then heard the intruder coming up the basement stairs, called the sheriff, and held Michael Roberts, pictured above, at gunpoint for the responding deputies. The deputies arrived, and took Roberts into custody.    Somehow, Roberts managed to escape...

Black bears are large, potentially dangerous animals.  A retired wildlife officer was forced to shoot one in his Florida home on 22 October, in Lake County. The bear broke though a window and entered the home.   When the man yelled at it, it turned and came toward him.  That is when he fired, at a distance that he estimated at 10 feet. From wftv.com: “I was very scared. I figured when I yelled it would take off, but it didn’t. It just looked right at me and started coming toward the window, where I was at, so that’s when...

You can watch a BBC video of this dogs event in Malaysia by clicking on the "Enza Ferreri Blog" link above. Malay Muslims have discovered dogs: KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 — A group of Muslims get acquainted with a dog at the ‘I want to touch a dog’ event at 1Utama’s central park earlier this morning. Around 200 dogs and their owners volunteered for the event, which sought to break cultural norms against dogs among Malaysia’s majority Malays. The video on the Malay Mail Online website quoted above is a mixture of people who surround a dog as if they'd...

My daughter was walking her precious teacup Pomeranian Sushi on her leash yesterday afternoon near her boyfriend's house in L.A. when an unrestrained husky was let out its front door. The husky charged little 5 lb. Sushi, picked her up biting and shaking and slamming her into the side of a car. My daughter jumped on top of the husky and pried her little pup out of its jaws and suffered bite wounds in the process. She rushed Sushi to the emergency vet where she died from internal injuries about 8 hours later. Needless to say, my daughter is absolutely...

Who would have thought that it would be illegal to defend children from a poisonous snake?  This is where the insanity of extreme gun restrictions have brought us.   In Florida, a mother was at a school event during a football practice session.  A water moccasin was discovered on the practice field, but attempts to kill it with sticks were not successful.  From newsherald.com: April Dawn DeMarco, 30, was arrested for discharging a .380-caliber handgun on the practice football field of Bay High School, 300 E. 15th St., during practice last week for the local Pop Warner football team. Demarco...

Tail-wagging love really does conquer all: James Wathen, a terminally-ill patient at Baptist Health Corbin in Corbin, Kentucky, had stopped eating and had become weak and frail. His condition kept deteriorating, and he was barely able to talk. Wathen managed to whisper to a nurse his wish to see his dog, Bubba, just one more time. The 73-year-old hadn’t seen his one-eyed Chihuahua with no bottom teeth since he arrived by ambulance at the Whitley County hospital six weeks earlier. “One of our social workers realized it was mourning the loss of the dog that was making our patient even...