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Yet another dog attack: Toddler mauled by family's bullmastif

Stephanie Linning
Daily Mail (UK)
Sun, 16 Nov 2014 15:18 UTC
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Ollie Cummings suffered bite marks and a deep cut across his face
A two-year-old boy suffered horrific facial injuries when he was mauled by a family's pet bullmastiff as he played in the kitchen of his mother's boyfriend's home.

Ollie Cummings was standing next to the dog as it was eating when it suddenly turned and began biting his head.

The toddler was left with a deep cut across his face and has undergone surgery to rebuild a section of his nose.

His mother, Natasha Wilson, 25, snatched her son from the dog's teeth before calling an ambulance to the Dundee home on Friday night.

The two-year-old was taken to Ninewells Hospital where he underwent a two-hour operation. He will need further surgery when he is nine or 10 years old.

Speaking from hospital, Ollie's grandmother, Debs Martin, 48, said: 'Ollie had been playing with some keys, walking from one door to another pretending to lock and unlock them.

Comment: Something strange seems to be happening in the animal kingdom as these reports of vicious attacks, often by family pets against their owners and family members seem to be occurring with increasing regularity. Perhaps the animal kingdom is reflecting the increase in bizarre behaviors that we are seeing in the human population. See:

SOTT EXCLUSIVE: Global canine insurrection? Another week of savage dog attack reports

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Attention

Sled dogs clash with muskox again near Nome, Alaska

Francesca Fenzi
knom.org
Mon, 03 Nov 2014 21:52 UTC
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© Bering Land Bridge National Preserve“Muskox family.”
In yet another clash between canine and ungulate, two dogs were injured last weekend by a muskox near a biking trail in Nome.

The dogs, which belong to musher Kirsten Bey, were flown to Anchorage for veterinary care and are now recovering. This latest incident comes after a series of muskox attacks throughout the summer and fall.

In late July, a dog belonging to Mitch Erickson was killed by a muskox in Icy View. Earlier that month, Nome resident Diana Adams was cited for taking a muskox out of season when it charged one of her dogs on the same lot.

A third dog was gored in an attack by a muskox on Anvil Mountain in early August. And a dog owner shot and killed a muskox near Wales later that month.

Comment: See also: One dog killed after another muskox attack in Nome, Alaska

Strange animal behaviour: Muskox repeatedly charged dog despite warning shots in Wales, Alaska - other similar incidents reported

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Fish

Deep ocean sunfish found on beach in North Queensferry, Scotland


BBC
Fri, 07 Nov 2014 21:35 UTC
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The sunfish can grow to 4m in length and weigh more than a tonne
An oceanic fish which normally lives up to 600m (1,968ft) below the surface has been washed up on a beach near Deep Sea World in North Queensferry.

The sunfish was discovered by a member of the public at East Bay beach who contacted the nearby aquarium.

Aquarists retrieved the stranded fish, which was around a metre long, however, it later died.

Deep Sea World's Chris Smith said: "This is the first sunfish stranding I have seen in the local area."
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Black Cat

Odd puma behaviour? Vancouver Island woman slams door on curious cougar

Katherine Dedyna
The Vancouver Sun
Fri, 14 Nov 2014 21:03 UTC
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Cougar at Carmanah Lighthouse station on the West Coast Trail. A Vancouver Island woman was alarmed to find a cougar staring straight at her — separated by only a screen door — on Thursday afternoon.
A Vancouver Island woman was alarmed to find a cougar staring straight at her - separated by only a screen door - on Thursday afternoon.

"I ran toward the glass door and slammed it shut, and he turned away and ran," said Riley Nicholson from her Creekside Glen townhouse on Atkins Road, which backs onto a ravine.

"What if he had just jumped through the screen?" she said. "That was scary - I think people need to know."

Nicholson was packing up to move when she saw the big cat on her patio about 4:45 p.m., and she wondered whether it was attracted by residual cooking odours caused by having her oven set on "clean," or by her cat, which had been outside playing a short time earlier
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Eye 2

Symbolic? Brown tree snake discovered dead still biting its neck, Australia

Emily Crane
Daily Mail, UK
Thu, 13 Nov 2014 20:40 UTC
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This dead snake was found home at Earville, just south-west of Cairns, on Saturday still plunging its fangs into its own neck
Did this snake kill itself using its own venom?

It certainly looked that way when Matt Hagan from Cairns Snake Catchers found the dead snake on Saturday still plunging its fangs into its own neck.

He was called to a home at Earville, just south-west of Cairns, after a woman found the 1.5 metre Brown Tree snake on her doorstep.
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Attention

Swedish hunter rushed to hospital after bear attack


thelocal.se
Sat, 15 Nov 2014 20:17 UTC
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© Mastassus/FlickrA brown bear.
A hunter was rushed to hospital after being attacked by a bear in Jämtland in eastern Sweden on Saturday.

The hunter was attacked by the bear while out elk hunting in with his dog in the vicinity of Hammerdal in eastern Jämtland.

The man was taken by ambulance to Östersund Hospital and the hospital later confirmed that his injuries are not life-threatening.

The man was born in 1993 and was part of a hunting party with a total of four hunters. According to Hans Ängquist, county spokesman at Östersund police, it was a female bear with two cubs who suddenly appeared and attacked the man after a dog started barking at an elk during the hunt.
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Info

Bear escape raises alarm at Servion zoo near Lausanne, Switzerland


thelocal.ch
Thu, 13 Nov 2014 15:56 UTC
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© Servion Zoo
Operators of a zoo near Lausanne are heaving sighs of relief after a bear weighing almost 300 kilograms was safely corralled after it briefly escaped from his compound.

An alert was issued around 3pm on Wednesday at the Servion zoo in the canton of Vaud after the Syrian brown bear took advantage of an improperly closed gate to make a bolt for freedom.

"Staff asked us to stay inside the restaurant," a visitor to the zoo told the 20 Minutes newspaper afterwards.

"We had to wait there a good hour."
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Wolf

Number of dog attack injuries treated at Ipswich Hospital UK have significantly increased in the last 2 years

Jason Noble
East Anglian Daily Times
Fri, 14 Nov 2014 10:54 UTC
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This woman was attacked by a dog in Ipswich
The number of dog attack injuries treated at Ipswich Hospital have gone up significantly over the last two years, according to new statistics.

The data, which was released under a freedom of information request, shows there has been a year-on-year increase from 2007 to 2013 - with the biggest leaps seen over the last two years.

In 2007, 138 injuries were treated at Ipswich Hospital, compared to 241 last year and 229 until the end of September this year. 
The biggest increase was from 168 in 2012 to 241 in 2013.

Experts have claimed the number of attacks is likely to rise due to increasing dog ownership and also blamed owners who mismanage their pets.

Sarah Connell, 55, a dog trainer from Best Buddies Dog Training in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, said: "From my point of view it may be caused by mismanagement. If people get to know their dogs and learn to understand their body language, it may not happen so much, because it depends on the dog's background as well.

Comment: See also: Thousands treated for animal bites in Cumbria as pets turn nasty, UK

Modesto, California: Vicious dogs roaming streets, chasing people and trapping them inside homes

Nine people killed by feral dog attacks in Rumbek, Sudan

Complaints about delinquent dogs at record level in the Highlands, Scotland

Indore reports at least 50 dog bite cases daily, India

UK: 300 per cent rise in the number of dogs attacks in Stevenage since January

'Out of control' dog reports increase in Midlothian, Scotland

Dog attacks surging in Yarra Ranges, Australia

SOTT EXCLUSIVE: Global canine insurrection? Another week of savage dog attack reports

Read More...
Wolf

Dog killed and owner injured in coyote attack in Mississauga, Canada

Graeme Frisque
insidehalton.com
Thu, 13 Nov 2014 10:31 UTC
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Maggie Kubat poses with her Yorkshire Terrier Gucci, who was killed by a suspected coyote in Mississauga on Friday (Nov. 6). The photo of the coyote is a file photo from the Mississauga News and not the coyote suspected of the attack
Another family dog was attacked and killed in Mississauga during another suspected coyote attack last Friday (Nov.7) - this time just a few feet from its owner and while on a leash.

This latest attack comes on the heels of a string of unusual attacks across the GTA that have resulted in the deaths of two small dogs in Mississauga and injuries to two people who were bitten in a Brampton neighbourhood in a matter of weeks

Rafal Kubat was walking his family's two dogs on the sidewalk near their home at Westbridge Way and Financial Drive at around 9 p.m. Friday night when an animal believed to be a coyote charged at him and mauled and ran off with Gucci, one of the family's two Yorkshire Terriers.

Kubat did his best to get the dogs - both of whom were on leashes - out of harm's way, but was knocked down in the attack. He tore his ACL and now requires surgery

Comment: It seems that these 'rare' coyote attacks on dogs are becoming increasingly common, of late. See also: More 'rare' urban coyote attacks on Indiana dogs

Dozens of pets killed by coyotes in College Park, Florida

Coyotes killing pets in Seal Beach, California

Spike in coyote attacks on animal pets in Claremont, California

Woman and dogs attacked by coyote in front of her Kilworthy home, Ontario

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Attention

Senior citizen killed by elephant in India


The Hindu
Tue, 11 Nov 2014 22:28 UTC
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A senior citizen was killed by an elephant in Hulaginakoppa village in Kalghatagi taluk of Dharwad district on Monday.

The deceased was identified as Ramappa Tadas (75), resident of the same village. Sources said Ramappa had taken his cattle for grazing and sighted movement in a nearby sugarcane field.

Mistaking it for a buffalo, he tried to chase it away, but the elephant trampled him instead.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sabakath Hussain told The Hindu that the incident took place at around 5.30 p.m. Officials of the Department of Forests rushed to the spot and chased the elephant into the nearby forests.
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