Horse killed by bullet fired on Pennsylvania roadway

Timothy Antonio Diggs, 22, is facing seven misdemeanor counts, including reckless endangerment, cruelty to animals, and firing into an occupied vehicle, according to the East Lampeter Township Police Department.

The horse was pulling a buggy with five family members around 9 PM on November 24 when "an unknown type car traveling north passed the buggy."

The buggy's occupants, a married couple and their three young children, told investigators that they heard "a loud noise, described as sounding like a firecracker" as the vehicle passed.

Upon returning to their farm, the family discovered that the horse had been shot in the chest. The animal died before a veterinarian reached the family's residence.

Diggs, seen in the above mug shot, has been jailed since cops executed a search warrant at his home in early-December. During that raid, officers located handguns and a motorcycle that had been stolen in two separate burglaries.

Hundreds of seabirds - some dead and others covered in oil - have been washed ashore in south-west England.

The RSPB believes most of the deaths were a "sad but natural occurrence" after the recent stormy weather.

In Devon, about 40 puffins, guillemots and razorbills were found at Thurlstone, while others have been reported from Hampshire to Cornwall.

Some of the "pitiful" oiled birds are being cared for at the South Devon Seabird Trust in Teignmouth.

The trust's founder, Jean Bradford, told BBC News: "It's a catastrophe and I think with everything else that's going on with people, the birds and other animals have been overlooked a little bit."

Mrs Bradford said the oiled and storm-blown birds that had been rescued were in a "pitiful state".

"Even if these birds get to shore, very often it's the case that they're washed back out to sea by the enormous waves that are coming in.

"By the time they reach another beach, perhaps at low tide, many of them are too ill to be saved."

A number of birds were rescued from Chesil Beach in Dorset earlier in the week and taken to the RSPCA West Hatch animal centre in Taunton.

A baby girl was mauled to death by a dog that neighbours had allegedly warned was dangerous.

Ava-Jayne Corless, who was just 11 months old, suffered horrific injuries when the American pitbull terrier attacked her while she slept.

Her mother, Chloe King, 20, and boyfriend Lee Wright, 26, heard the commotion and rushed upstairs to rescue her from the jaws of the beast.

Paramedics were called and took Ava-Jayne to hospital where doctors were unable to save her life.

Miss King and Mr Wright were questioned on suspicion of manslaughter and child neglect, and were today released on bail.

Lancashire Police said: 'The two people arrested in connection with the death of Ava-Jayne Corless at Blackburn have both been released on bail pending further inquiries.'

A police spokesman said last night that the animal was banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991.

Military surgeons are being sent to Denmark for the controversial training on live animals - even though the practice is illegal in the UK.
Pigs are being shot so British Army medics can learn to treat battle wounds.

Military surgeons are sent to Denmark for the controversial training on live animals - even though the practice is illegal in the UK.

Animal rights group PETA has slammed the "cruel" practice.

A live pig dangles from a wooden frame as a soldier shoots it to inflict horrific injuries.

Military medics then operate on the animal's traumatic gunshot wounds while it is still breathing.

The shocking photos taken in Denmark have put the country at the centre of another animal cruelty row after the controversial killing of a giraffe at Copenhagen Zoo.

A shocking 65 per cent of forest elephants have been illegally killed for their ivory in between 2002 and 2013 new data from the field in Central Africa shows. Many organisations collaborated in the study, which was coordinated by WCS, and covered 80 sites, in five countries, over the twelve years of data collection.

"These new numbers showing the continuing decline of the African forest elephant are the exact reason why there is a sense of urgency at the United for Wildlife trafficking symposium in London this week," said Dr. John Robinson, WCS Chief Conservation Officer and Executive Vice President of Conservation and Science. "The solutions we are discussing in London this week and the commitments we are making cannot fail or the African forest elephant will blink out in our lifetime. United for Wildlife, which is headed by The Duke of Cambridge, is determined to work together to turn back these numbers."

Conservationists gathered at the United for Wildlife symposium - "International Wildlife Trafficking: Solutions to a Global Crisis" are discussing ways to protect wildlife and combat trade.

Said WCS's Dr. Fiona Maisels, one of the researchers releasing the new numbers and a co-author of the landmark paper: "At least a couple of hundred thousand forest elephants were lost between 2002-2013 to the tune of at least sixty a day, or one every twenty minutes, day and night. By the time you eat breakfast, another elephant has been slaughtered to produce trinkets for the ivory market."

The results show that the relatively small nation of Gabon has the majority (almost 60 percent) of the remaining forest elephants, while historically, the enormous Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) would have held the largest number of forest elephants. "The current number and distribution of elephants is mind-boggling when compared to what it should be," said WCS's Dr. Samantha Strindberg, one of the co-authors. "About 95 percent of the forests of DRC are almost empty of elephants."

The last two weeks have been marked by a run of storms in the Atlantic that have brought very high winds and seemingly endless rainfall. At first we worried about the weather's impacts on the land with widescale flooding in southern England. How would landbirds find enough food if the ground became saturated and the rain prevented them from foraging. Even our garden birds were suffering.

At the same time our coasts were being battered with high winds and huge waves. As defences were being breached, seawater was coming inland and would impact on plant communities and eventually their associated birds. Then, last week we started to see exactly what the storms were also doing to our seabird populations. North-west Europe has many millions of seabirds and the majority of these winter out in the Atlantic. We could only guess what it must be like out there for small birds that need to be able to dive for fish in roaring seas and winds up to 100 mph.

Fellow villagers had warned rubber tapper Wan Mahmood Wan Noh to be careful when he ferried his wife and child on a motorcycle because a wild elephant was roaming the Kampung Bukit Perawas area.

A sudden encounter with the beast yesterday proved tragic when he lost his four-year-old son.

Little Wan Aidit Nasrullah was killed after the elephant rammed the motorcycle he was riding with his parents while on their way to tap rubber.

Recalling the morning tragedy, Wan Aidit's mother, Rezamawati Che Mat Bidin, 37, said her husband had braked and the motorcycle screeched to a stop when an elephant suddenly appeared in front of them.

"He then did a quick U-turn. The elephant charged and rammed the motorcycle.

A tsunami of Snow Buntings

At first blush, this rural farmhouse may not appear to harbor what may be the most extraordinary bird feeding operation in Ohio. But indeed it does. If there is anything out there that rivals this in terms of sheer numbers, and the atypical "feeder" species involved, I am unaware of it.

I visited this Delaware County residence yesterday, after being tipped off to the amazing assemblage of birds by Dick Miller, whose sister and brother-in-law, Mike and Becky Jordan, reside in the home. Mike and Becky have been very gracious in extending their hospitality to visitors, including your narrator, which is much appreciated!

I'm not going to post their address on the Internet, but Mike and Becky do welcome birders who would like to witness the phenomenon that unfolds in the following photos. If you would like to visit, just send me an email at: jimmccormac35@gmail.com, and I'll pass along the pertinent information.

A 21ft dead whale has been washed up by the storm on Marazion beach.

Dog walker, Kristina Sapey was at Leys Lane beach this afternoon and took a photograph of the creature.

Commenting on Facebook, she said: "I think it's covered in mud. I didn't get too close as I didn't want the dog to go near it."

The coastguard are advising people to stay away from the badly decomposed animal which they said had died long before it was washed ashore.

A spokesman from Falmouth Coastguard said: "We would rather people didn't go along to see it. We don't want people going near it."

A coastguard team from Penzance went down to take details of the whale after they were alerted to this stranding around 9am this morning.

The spokesman said details would be passed on to the Natural History Museum and Cornwall Council.

A Canadian trapper says an owl viciously attacked him while he was checking his rabbit snares one night this week, leaving his face bloodied.

Kevin O'Neil, 55, of Digby County in Nova Scotia, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. the attack occurred Tuesday night while he was checking his traps after a day of lobster fishing.

O'Neil said he spotted the bird, probably a barred owl, before it targeted him.

"I kind of looked up at it jokingly and said to it, 'You bugger, you better not be eating my rabbits,'" he said.

But a few minutes later, he said: "It swooped down and struck me right in the face. Feet first."

He said the owl's talons ripped into his forehead and around his right eye.