deaths

[spaminator]

Potbellied pig, six piglets found dead in ditch: Norfolk OPP
Author of the articleostmedia News
Postmedia News
Simcoe Reformer
Published Jan 11, 2023 • < 1 minute read

A potbellied pig and six piglets were found dead in a ditch in the Houghton area on Sunday.

Norfolk OPP responded to an animal complaint at an 8th Concession ENR, Houghton address at just after 8 a.m.


A black-coloured, potbellied pig and six piglets were located in the ditch along a non-serviced gravel road, said police.

The investigation is continuing.

Police are asking anyone in the area who has video surveillance that captured a vehicle or any individuals to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122.

Those wishing to remain anonymous are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or leave an anonymous online message at

Crime Stoppers of Haldimand & Norfolk

helpsolvecrime.com

Potbellied pig, six piglets found dead in ditch: Norfolk OPP

A potbellied pig and six piglets were found dead in a ditch in the Houghton area on Sunday.

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Potbellied pig, six piglets found dead in ditch: Norfolk OPP
Author of the articleostmedia News
Postmedia News
Simcoe Reformer
Published Jan 11, 2023 • < 1 minute read

A potbellied pig and six piglets were found dead in a ditch in the Houghton area on Sunday.

Norfolk OPP responded to an animal complaint at an 8th Concession ENR, Houghton address at just after 8 a.m.


A black-coloured, potbellied pig and six piglets were located in the ditch along a non-serviced gravel road, said police.

The investigation is continuing.

Police are asking anyone in the area who has video surveillance that captured a vehicle or any individuals to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122.

Those wishing to remain anonymous are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or leave an anonymous online message at

Crime Stoppers of Haldimand & Norfolk

helpsolvecrime.com

Potbellied pig, six piglets found dead in ditch: Norfolk OPP

A potbellied pig and six piglets were found dead in a ditch in the Houghton area on Sunday.

torontosun.com

Seven.

Lisa Marie Presley.

 

[spaminator]

Hotel worker in golf cart intentionally mowed down endangered birds: Cops
To recover from hunting, black skimmers recuperate by lying fully stretched out on the beach in an act known as "loafing"

Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Jonathan Edwards
Published Jan 13, 2023 • 3 minute read

Black skimmers were among the hardest-hit bird species after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on April 20, 2010, spewing 134 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over the next 87 days.


Carried by wind and waves, the oil spill tarred 1,300 miles of shoreline from eastern Texas to the Florida Gulf. More than 1 million birds died in the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history.


In the nearly 13 years since, other threats have chipped away at the black skimmer population, Julie Wraithmell, executive director of Audubon Florida, told The Washington Post. Those include natural predators and coastal development, along with just regular people enjoying the beach, unaware they’re scaring birds away from their nesting territory and forcing them to leave their eggs unattended and vulnerable.

“We have a lot to do to bring them back,” Wraithmell said.

On Monday, black skimmers contended with another foe: A rogue hotel golf cart.


Around 1:15 that afternoon, police on Marco Island in southwest Florida went to the beachside JW Marriott hotel, according to a police report. Witnesses had reported watching a hotel employee driving a delivery golf cart in a “reckless” manner, intentionally running over and killing five black skimmers, which are on the state’s threatened and endangered species list.

JW Marriott staff told the officer who investigated that they had already suspended the employee, 24-year-old Renardo Stewart, the police report states. The officer detained Stewart, and after he allegedly admitted to driving a golf cart through a flock of birds, officers with the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission charged him with five misdemeanors related to violating the state’s endangered and threatened species rule.


In a brief interview with The Post, Stewart described what happened as “a complete accident” before declining to comment further.

Douglas Corbett, director of sales and marketing at JW Marriott, said the hotel was working with officials to handle “this serious matter.”

“We are devastated to learn of the recent incident on our beach,” Corbett wrote in an email to The Post.

Related to terns and gulls, black skimmers are black-and-white birds armed with long, black bills spiked with brilliant splashes of orange and red, Wraithmell said. They hunt by flying just above the surface, plowing the lower part of their beaks through the water and then snapping them shut when they snag a fish.

Since hunting this way is taxing, black skimmers recuperate by lying fully stretched out on the beach in an act known as “loafing,” which is likely what they were doing Monday afternoon, Wraithmell said.


Black skimmers are an integral part of “the Florida experience,” she said.


People often forget that the beach is a habitat, home to a rich, if often invisible, world above and below the sand, she said. They think of it as “just a sterile strip of sand between the built environment and the ocean.” But it’s an entire ecosystem that animals depend on because they have nowhere else to go.

That being said, people are happy to give the birds space once they learn that getting too close scares off the birds, leaving their eggs vulnerable to opportunistic predators such as crows.

“Most people don’t wake up and say, ‘I’m going to do grave harm to adorable baby birds,'” Wraithmell said.

Wraithmell said she was “horrified” when she learned that someone had killed five birds by allegedly mowing them down with a golf cart. What happened suggests a “complete callousness and disregard for life and the wildlife that makes Florida special,” she said.

It would be hard not to spot the birds’ bright orange-and-red beaks and easy to avoid at least some of them since they were apparently several feet apart, Wraithmell added.

“I struggle to see how an accident of that magnitude could happen,” she said.

Hotel worker in golf cart intentionally mowed down endangered birds: Cops

To recover from hunting, black skimmers recuperate by lying fully stretched out on the beach in an act known as "loafing"

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Intent isn't reckless. It's intentional.

 

[spaminator]

Former lieutenant governor of Ontario David Onley dead at 72
Previously had long career as television journalist

Author of the articleostmedia News
Published Jan 14, 2023 • 3 minute read

David C. Onley, the lieutenant governor of Ontario from 2007-2014, has died at 72, according to the office of Elizabeth Dowdeswell, the current lieutenant governor of Ontario.


Dowdeswell released a statement on Saturday night. It read in part:


“It is with great sadness that I have learned of the death of the Honourable David C. Onley. On behalf of the people of Ontario, I convey my deep condolences to his wife Ruth Ann, to their children Jonathan, Robert, and Michael, and to their extended families.

“Mr. Onley served our province with distinction as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. He was a valued friend and colleague, and I was always grateful to receive his counsel, particularly in the summer of 2014 following my appointment as Lieutenant Governor,” Dowdeswell said.

Onley was the third-longest-serving Ontario viceroy since Confederation.

Onley had previously gained fame as a television journalist, primarily for Citytv and later for CP24.


He was the first visibly disabled person to serve as lieutenant governor and always championed accessibility issues.

“His smiling face and exceptional skills as a communicator were already familiar to the many Ontarians who had followed his career in television journalism, which included a focus on science and technology reporting. Early in his media career, camera shots often focused only on his upper body, but Mr. Onley insisted that he be shown in his mobility device. Not content to simply lead by example, he was an active advocate on disability issues, particularly in the area of making the economic case for improved access to employment for people with disabilities,” Dowdeswell wrote.

“Before his time as Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Onley served as the chair of the Accessibility Standards Advisory Council and as a member of the accessibility councils for the Rogers Centre and the Air Canada Centre. Upon taking office as The Queen’s representative on September 5, 2007, he brought with him a conviction that every person should be able to contribute to the heights of his or her own ability. As Ontario’s first Lieutenant Governor with a physical disability, he adopted accessibility as the overarching theme of his mandate, just as he had made breaking down barriers a mission earlier on in his life.”


The statement concluded: “Mr. Onley believed so deeply in the goodwill and firm practicality of Ontarians that he saw no reason why we could not lead the world in transforming society so that everyone is able to contribute something of value. And there is no doubt that his legacy has positively impacted the lives of people across Ontario.”

No details were provided about the timing or cause of his death but Dowdeswell said he is survived by his wife Ruth Ann and three sons.

Onley used a motorized scooter throughout his life after contracting polio as a child and frequently drew on his lived experience when highlighting existing accessibility barriers in all facets of society.

Perhaps his most prominent advocacy work came in March 2019 when he completed an independent review of Ontario’s accessibility law, the first of its kind tabled in Canada.


Onley’s scathing report on the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act offered a withering indictment of nearly all aspects of the law and concluded the province was nowhere near its stated goal of ensuring universal accessibility by 2025.

At the time the report was released, he told The Canadian Press that disabled residents were barred from full inclusion in the province at nearly every turn, likening some of the barriers they face to long-abolished Jim Crow laws that perpetuated racial discrimination in the United States.

“This is a matter of civil rights, and people with disabilities are being discriminated against on a daily basis in multiple ways,” he said. “We don’t like to use the word discrimination because it gets tossed around, but what other word describes the situation? It is discrimination.”

Kathleen Wynne, who served as Ontario’s premier during much of Onley’s term, shared condolences on Twitter.

“Inexpressibly sad to hear that our world has lost David Onley,” she wrote. “A gentle, intelligent, compassionate man. Much love to his family and friends.”

— With files from the Canadian Press

Former lieutenant governor of Ontario David Onley dead at 72

Former lieutenant-governor of Ontario David Onley dead at 72

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

40-foot sperm whale with open wounds found dead on Oregon beach
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Kelly Kasulis Cho
Published Jan 17, 2023 • 2 minute read
In this photo provided by Oregon State Parks, a dead sperm whale is seen washed up on the Oregon coast near Fort Stevens State Park in Clatsop County, Oregon on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023.
In this photo provided by Oregon State Parks, a dead sperm whale is seen washed up on the Oregon coast near Fort Stevens State Park in Clatsop County, Oregon on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. PHOTO BY OREGON STATE PARKS /AP
A young, 40-foot sperm whale with large gash wounds was found dead on an Oregon beach on Saturday, in a loss for an endangered species that has struggled to recover its population despite a halt in commercial whaling decades ago.


The whale was found bleeding out on a beach near Fort Stevens State Park and appeared to have died before washing ashore, the Seaside Aquarium said Saturday on Facebook. Video footage of the whale shows it lying with its mouth open in a rippling pool of blood, with a large gash running through its side.


Michael Milstein, a public affairs officer for the West Coast Regional Office of NOAA Fisheries, said that the whale appears to have died after being struck by a ship and that the carcass probably floated ashore. NOAA Fisheries conducted a routine necropsy – an autopsy for animals – on the body to determine cause of death.

“Sperm whales are less common up in the Northwest in the wintertime than they are in the summer, so it’s somewhat unusual to see them here at this time of year,” Milstein said.


About 2,000 sperm whales are thought to live off the West Coast, according to Milstein. The population has not recovered as swiftly as other species after commercial whaling was largely cut off by the mid-1900s, but “they are definitely on the upswing,” he said.

“The last sperm whale hunted and killed off the West Coast was 1971. It really wasn’t that long ago,” he added.

In this photo provided by NOAA Fisheries, a NOAA employee conducts a necropsy of a dead sperm whale beached on the Oregon coast near Fort Stevens State Park in Clatsop County, Oregon, on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, (NOAA Fisheries via AP)
In this photo provided by NOAA Fisheries, a NOAA employee conducts a necropsy of a dead sperm whale beached on the Oregon coast near Fort Stevens State Park in Clatsop County, Oregon, on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, (NOAA Fisheries via AP)
Sperm whales form deep bonds with their family members and travel together for years or even a lifetime, depending on their sex. Females typically stay in the same social unit in tropical waters for their entire lives, while males eventually leave between the ages of 4 and 21 to form “bachelor schools.”

As the males age and grow in size, they begin migrating toward the poles, meaning that bachelor schools shrink in size, with the largest males often traveling alone. Some will return to tropical waters to mate once they have reached their 20s or older, and females only reproduce every few years.


Liz Slooten, a trustee of the New Zealand Whale and Dolphin Trust who has studied the sperm whale as a professor at the University of Otago, said the whale in Oregon may have recently separated from its social unit.

“It looks like a fairly young whale,” she said. “It could be one of these whales that has recently left its pod with its mom and grandma and all the other whales that it knows.”

She said its wounds appeared consistent with “a collision with a very large propeller,” and that evidence gathered from necropsies is often used to make a case for rerouting ships away from whale breeding grounds.

In general, sperm whales face a variety of threats, including strikes with vessels, environmental complications caused by climate change, entanglement in fishing gear and confusion caused by underwater noise pollution.

The global sperm whale population is estimated to have been nearly 2 million in 1710, before large-scale commercial whaling, according to a recent study. It had recovered to about 850,000 in 2022.

40-foot sperm whale with open wounds found dead on Oregon beach

A young, 40-foot sperm whale with large gash wounds was found dead on an Oregon beach on Saturday, in a loss for an endangered species that has struggled to…

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Much-loved Hurricane Hazel McCallion dead at 101
Author of the article:Kevin Connor
Published Jan 29, 2023 • Last updated 12 hours ago • 3 minute read

“Hurricane” Hazel McCallion was lauded as a driving political force in the GTA following her death Sunday at the age of 101.


Family friend Premier Doug Ford announced the death of McCallion, who served as Mississauga’s mayor for 36 years and was also a businesswoman, an athlete, a wife and a mother.


“She led the transformation of Mississauga into one of Canada’s largest cities. Hazel’s mark on her community can be found in the many places and organizations that bear her name, including the Hazel McCallion Line,” wrote Ford.

“There isn’t a single person who met Hazel who didn’t leave in awe of her force of personality. I count myself incredibly lucky to have called Hazel my friend over these past many years.


McCallion, who would have turned 102 on Feb. 14, was given the nickname “Hurricane Hazel” for her political style.

Born in 1921 in a small town on Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula, she left for Montreal at 16 to finish high school and then went on to secretarial school before landing her first job at the Louis Rolland Paper Co. in 1940.


While in Montreal, McCallion, at 5-foot-3, turned her love of hockey into a professional pursuit and played for two seasons.

She later became an office manager at the engineering firm Canadian Kellogg and was relocated to the company’s headquarters in Toronto in 1943. In 1945, McCallion met her husband, Sam McCallion. They married in 1951 and moved to Streetsville and had three children.

Sam McCallion was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and died in 1997.



McCallion was elected mayor of Mississauga in 1978, envisioning it as a livable city and not just a suburb of Toronto.

Under McCallion, Mississauga grew from an area of small towns and farmland into the sixth-largest city in Canada.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Toronto Mayor John Tory were among the many who tweeted their condolences.

“Today, we grieve the loss of Mississauga’s matriarch, Hazel McCallion, a fierce and passionate leader who touched the lives of so many,” said Bonnie Crombie, Mississauga’s current mayor. “She lived a life of service before self — everything she did was for betterment of our city. My deepest condolences to the McCallion family,” Crombie wrote

By 1966, she was chair of Streetsville’s planning board and president of the local Chamber of Commerce as she was concerned about the development in the town.


It was at this point there was the amalgamation of the nearby villages of Clarkson, Lakeview, Cooksville, Erindale, Sheridan, Dixie, Meadowvale and Malton into Mississauga.

Streetsville and Port Credit didn’t join and McCallion became mayor of Streetsville in 1969.

But as Mississauga expanded the city became emblematic of urban sprawl – low-density, car-dependent residential development.





As this happened she gained the nickname Queen of Sprawl.

She never accepted criticism of her political leadership, which resonated with voters.

She was acclaimed back into office in 1980, re-elected in 1982 and 1985, acclaimed in 1988, and re-elected in 1991, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2010.

McCallion handled the world’s largest peacetime evacuation in November 1979 when a Canadian Pacific freight train loaded with explosive materials derailed in the city.


McCallion evacuated the city and said Mississauga was closed until further notice, which was six days later.

She was admittedly a trailblazer for women in politics, but she didn’t consider herself a feminist.

There were controversies.

McCallion faced conflict of interest allegations in 1981, after a lawsuit was brought against her for taking part in a council debate and vote on the development of 3,800 acres of land, some of which she owned.

A court ruled in 1982 that McCallion violated aspects of the Ontario Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.

However, the court declined to remove her as mayor.


In 2013, a resident brought forward conflict of interest allegations and tried to have McCallion fired.

The charges came from her participation in a 2007 council vote that may have benefited her son’s company.

The courts dismissed the case.

When she retired in 2014, she was the country’s sixth-highest-paid mayor, earning $181,098.

kconnor@postmedia.com

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1619719376785244160

Much-loved Hurricane Hazel McCallion dead at 101

The legendary Hurricane Hazel has passed away just shy of her 102nd birthday.

torontosun.com

 

[petros]

Bobby Hull has left the ice....

 

[spaminator]

Pigeons found decapitated, zip-tied in Edmonton
Police received a call about the dead birds Monday morning

Author of the article:Hamdi Issawi
Published Feb 09, 2023 • 3 minute read
Five pigeons have been found dead in a north Edmonton park. The pigeons were decapitated and had their claws tied together.
Five pigeons have been found dead in a north Edmonton park. The pigeons were decapitated and had their claws tied together. PHOTO BY LARRY WONG /Postmedia, file
Animal cruelty investigators are looking into several pigeons found in north Edmonton with their legs zip-tied and heads lopped off, police say.


Edmonton Police Service (EPS) received a call about the dead birds Monday morning and later found them near a walking path in the area of 82 Street and Crystallina Nera Drive, spokesman Scott Pattison said in an email. Pattison also said the person who reported the scene encountered the bound and decapitated birds a day earlier, but he did not answer questions about the number of pigeons found, or whether they were wild or domesticated by publication time.


The Edmonton Humane Society (EHS) is deeply saddened by the incident, and appreciative both of the initial report and subsequent investigation, CEO Liz Sunley said in an email statement.

“Cruelty towards animals of any kind is unacceptable, and we are grateful that a community member cared enough about the welfare of these birds to report it to the proper authorities,” Sunley said. “It’s important that we speak up when animals are treated inhumanely so they can be helped and future acts of cruelty prevented.”

Neighbourhood resident Andrew Jacobs told Postmedia he discovered the birds on Sunday and reported it to police the following day. The remains included six white birds with coloured markings on their feathers, he said.

On Oct. 21, police posted a video to social media of a suspect stealing 45 pigeons from a backyard enclosure three days earlier. The birds were reportedly competition pigeons worth about $13,500, police said.

Police later said tips generated from the video helped identify a suspect in the theft, and they arrested a 32-year-old male on Nov. 4 who was charged with theft over $5,000.

Police have also been investigating several other animal cruelty incidents recently reported in Edmonton.



Dead dog found bound
In December, police turned to the public for help with an investigation surrounding a group of teenage boys who allegedly stomped a cat to death two months earlier in northeast Edmonton’s Evansdale neighbourhood.

Several people witnessed the Oct. 9 incident near a bus stop at 150 Avenue and 89A Street, police said, and one woman driving by at the time stopped her car and attempted to intervene.

The cat’s owner, who lives nearby, ran outside upon noticing the disturbance but the group of boys boarded a Route 113 bus, police said.

Also in December, police responded to an animal abuse complaint at Kittlitz Park, near 28A Street and 36A Avenue, where residents found the remains of a medium-sized neutered dog with its paws bound together.

Police described the dog as a crossbreed between a German shepherd and a pit bull that was about three years old and had light brown hair and dark shading around the ears, muzzle and tail.

CCTV video from 9:45 p.m. on Christmas Day appears to show a person wearing a dark hoody and pants with a white stripe along the side dragging the motionless dog by a rope eastbound along a sidewalk at 36A Avenue at 28A Street, police said.

Following these two incidents, EPS Sgt. Olena Fedorovich said in January that police investigating animal cruelty cases often find associated incidents of violence against humans and vice versa.

Cat suffers arrow injury
What’s more, a two-year-old, black male cat named Milo that went missing from a home near 164 Avenue and 59 Street on New Year’s Eve was found on the owner’s porch eight days later with an arrow through the middle of the feline’s back.

Police said the injury was not likely an accident and the cat is expected to make a full recovery.

Police ask anyone with information about these cases to call Edmonton Police Service at 780-423-4567 or #377 on a mobile phone. Tipsters seeking anonymity can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit a tip online at http://p3tips.com/250.

— With files from Madeline Smith and Anna Junker

hissawi@postmedia.com

@hamdiissawi

Tip Form

Submit an anonymous tip online.

p3tips.com

Pigeons found decapitated, zip-tied in new animal cruelty case: police

Animal cruelty investigators are looking into several pigeons found in north Edmonton with their legs zip-tied and heads lopped off, police say.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Ukrainian trucker acquitted in crash that killed 7 ordered to be deported
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Kathy Mccormack
Published Feb 09, 2023 • 2 minute read

CONCORD, N.H. — A judge has ordered the deportation of a commercial truck driver from Ukraine who was taken into custody by immigration authorities last year shortly after he was acquitted of causing the deaths of seven motorcyclists in New Hampshire.

Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 27, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, had a series of immigration hearings after he was acquitted in August on seven counts of manslaughter, seven counts of negligent homicide and one count of reckless conduct. The charges stemmed from a June 21, 2019 crash in Randolph, New Hampshire, that killed seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, an organization of Marine Corps veterans and their spouses.


Zhukovskyy’s attorney has asked for asylum for his client, who came to the U.S. when he was 10 years old. His lawyers say he has permanent residency status. However, on Feb. 3, the immigration judge ordered Zhukovskyy’s removal, according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review.

Zhukovskyy, who has been held in Pennsylvania, has until March 8 to file an appeal.

“I’m not going to be able to give you any comments on the record,” his attorney, Kevin Murphy, told The Associated Press on Thursday. Zhukovskyy’s family declined to comment.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered Zhukovskyy to be detained after the 2019 crash, and he was picked up following the verdict in New Hampshire on Aug. 9. He had been jailed in New Hampshire between the time of the crash and the verdict.

Motorcyclists from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island died in the accident.

Prosecutors argued that Zhukovskyy — who had taken heroin, fentanyl and cocaine earlier on the day of the crash — repeatedly swerved back and forth before the collision and told police he caused it. But a judge dismissed eight charges related to whether he was impaired, and his attorneys blamed the lead biker, Albert “Woody” Mazza Jr., saying he was drunk and not looking where he was going when he lost control of his motorcycle and slid in front of Zhukovskyy’s truck.

“At this point in time and with everything that happened the way it did, it’s really superficial to me,” Manny Ribeiro, a former Jarheads member who was injured in the crash, said of the deportation order. “In the big picture, it’s miniscule.”

According to ICE, Zhukovskyy was previously convicted of drug possession, driving with a suspended license, furnishing false information and larceny.

It was unclear under what circumstances he could be sent back to Ukraine, given that the country is a war zone. Details of the judge’s decision were not made public.

In March 2022, ICE paused repatriation flights to Ukraine after the country was attacked by Russia. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also announced it was authorizing Ukrainians for Temporary Protected Status for 18 months.

The designation “is based on both ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in Ukraine that prevent Ukrainian nationals, and those of no nationality who last habitually resided in Ukraine, from returning to Ukraine safely,” the department said.

Ukrainian trucker acquitted in crash that killed 7 ordered to be deported

A judge has ordered the deportation of a commercial truck driver from Ukraine who was taken into custody by immigration authorities last year

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

He'll be a heck of an asset to the Ukrainian army.

 

[spaminator]

20 snow geese hit and killed on Richmond road: RCMP

Over the past few days, police have received reports of wild geese being run over on roads around the city

Author of the article:Joseph Ruttle
Published Feb 15, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 1 minute read

Richmond RCMP are warning drivers to watch for flocks of migrating birds after about 20 snow geese were found mowed down on Blundell Road.

Over the past few days, police have received several reports of wild geese being run over on roads around the city.


On Monday morning, the snow geese were found dead in the 6200-block of Blundell and they appear to have been hit by a vehicle.

“Due to the large number of birds killed in this instance, Richmond RCMP has been liaising with the B.C. SPCA and an investigation into this matter continues,” said Cpl. Ian Henderson in a news release.

Then, early Wednesday, police were called about a large flock of geese near the intersection of No. 1 and Francis roads. Three geese were killed after likely being hit by a vehicle. The road was cleared and warning signs have been set up to advise drivers to use caution.

“Every year at this time we see large numbers of migratory birds flocking to our local greenways, fields, parks and school grounds,” said Henderson. “But they also move out onto nearby roadways. Drivers need to slow down and pay attention to the roadways, especially in poorly lit areas and during the early morning hours.”

Henderson said there’s no evidence of criminal intent or links between the incidents. But anyone with information is asked to call the Richmond RCMP at 604-278-1212.

20 snow geese hit and killed on Richmond road: RCMP

Over the past few days, police have received reports of wild geese being run over on roads around the city

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Seven skunks poisoned to death in Richmond, B.C.
A wildlife protection charity said they don’t know whether skunks were the target or inadvertent victims

Author of the article:Cheryl Chan
Published Feb 17, 2023 • Last updated 2 days ago • 2 minute read

Two Metro Vancouver wildlife protection agencies are sounding the alarm after several skunks have died from poisoning in Richmond.


Seven skunks have been brought to the wildlife rehabilitation centre Critter Care in the past month — one on Jan. 16 and six in the last three days, including three on Thursday.


All of them were found or came in with the same symptoms that indicate poisoning, said wildlife technician Emma Robson.

“They have all come in visibly seizing, foaming at the mouth. They can be unresponsive, but still breathing, and have no pupil response.”

Three of the skunks died en route from Richmond to Critter Care’s Langley facility, while four had to be euthanized.

“Treating poison is very difficult and we don’t have a lot of success with it,” said Robson.

One of the finders of the skunks didn’t report an address, while two reported finding the distressed skunks on No. 5 Road. The other addresses cover a large swath of South Richmond: The 6690-block of Chelmsford Street, 10300-block of Whistler Place, 4060-block of Regent Street, and the 8300-block of Saunders Road.


Robson said it’s not uncommon for the centre to treat poisoned wildlife, but the number of poisoned skunks have set off alarms.

“Usually we’d get a skunk here and there, but getting three in one day is crazy.”

Lesley Fox of the Fur Bearers, a wildlife protection charity, said they don’t know whether skunks were the target or inadvertent victims. Someone could be trying to get rid of rodents with poison and the skunks accidentally ingested the poison, she said. Robson said it’s also possible that the skunks, which prey on smaller rodents like mice, could be getting poisoned through the food chain.

There have been no reports to date of other wildlife suffering from poison, but other animals such as dogs, cats, birds and other wildlife could be at risk.


“Not only is poison extremely inhumane, but it’s also dangerous,” said Fox. “Once it’s in the ecosystem, there’s a ripple effect that happens. Poison not only impacts the targeted species, but it could also impact birds or people’s pets.”

Under legislation, skunks aren’t a valued species and are considered pests, she said. They also fall outside the jurisdiction of the B.C. Conservation Office, the B.C. SPCA and the City of Richmond.

“It’s frustrating because no one is taking responsibility. It’s extremely short-sighted because many other animals can be affected.”

Fox is urging residents near where the poisoned skunks were found to take precautions, including keeping their cats indoors or their dogs on leashes. People should also report anything suspicious or other dead animals to Critter Care or the provincial RAPP line at 1-877-952-7277.

Fox is also urging anyone using poison to remove rodents to stop, and instead consult humane wildlife removal experts certified by the B.C. SPCA’s AnimalKind program.

chchan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/cherylchan

Seven skunks poisoned to death in Richmond

Wildlife protection groups are sounding the alarm about the risk posed by poison to wildlife, pets and other animals.

torontosun.com

 

[petros]

Rats in Richmond are at plague levels. Skunks eat rats. 10s of thousands are poisoned yearly in that municipality and city. It's gross.

Thank you for composting.

 

[spaminator]

17 wild horses shot dead near Kamloops, B.C., in 'disheartening' act: RCMP
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Mar 14, 2023 • 1 minute read

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Authorities in British Columbia are investigating after 17 wild horses were shot in what Mounties are calling a “disheartening act.”


The RCMP say in a news release that Tk’emlups Rural RCMP received a report of several dead horses found about 65 kilometres west of Kamloops, near Walhachin, B.C., on Friday.


Police say the RCMP’s Forensic Identification Section carefully examined the scene, along with a veterinarian and a livestock investigator.

They say the animals appear to have been from a herd of feral horses that frequent that area.

RCMP say the motive has not yet been confirmed and the investigation is ongoing.

They say the horses are of cultural significance to the local Skeetchestn Band and are asking anyone with information to come forward.

17 wild horses shot dead near Kamloops, B.C., in 'disheartening' act: RCMP

Authorities in British Columbia are investigating after 17 wild horses were shot in what Mounties are calling a "disheartening act."

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Millions of dead fish wash up amid heat wave in Australia
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Canberra,Australia
Published Mar 19, 2023 • 2 minute read
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This image grab from a video taken on March 17, 2023 courtesy of Graeme McCrabb shows dead fish clogging a river near the town of Menindee in New South Wales.
This image grab from a video taken on March 17, 2023 courtesy of Graeme McCrabb shows dead fish clogging a river near the town of Menindee in New South Wales. PHOTO BY HANDOUT/COURTESY OF GRAEME MCCRABB /AFP via Getty Images
CANBERRA, Australia — Millions of fish have washed up dead in southeastern Australia in a die-off that authorities and scientists say is caused by depleted oxygen levels in the river after recent floods and hot weather.


Residents of the Outback town of Menindee in New South Wales state complained of a terrible smell from the dead fish.


“The stink was terrible. I nearly had to put a mask on,” said local nature photographer Geoff Looney.

“I was worried about my own health. That water right in the top comes down to our pumping station for the town. People north of Menindee say there’s cod and perch floating down the river everywhere,” he said.

The Department of Primary Industries said the fish deaths were likely caused by low oxygen levels as floods recede, a situation made worse by fish needing more oxygen because of the warmer weather.

Police have established an emergency operations centre in Menindee to coordinate a massive cleanup this week.


State Emergency Operations Controller Peter Thurtell said the immediate focus was to provide a clean water supply to residents.

“There is no need for community concern as the initial assessment has determined multiple viable solutions to maintain water supply to the Menindee township and surrounds,” he said.

State agencies also started to release higher-quality water where possible to boost dissolved oxygen levels in the area.

“We’ve just sort of started to clean up, and then this has happened, and that’s sort of you’re walking around in a dried-up mess and then you’re smelling this putrid smell. It’s a terrible smell and horrible to see all those dead fish,” said Jan Dening, a Menindee resident.

Mass fish kills have been reported on the Darling-Baaka River in recent weeks. Tens of thousands of fish were found at the same spot in late February, while there have been several reports of dead fish downstream toward Pooncarie, near the borders of South Australia and Victoria states.

Enormous fish kills occurred on the river at Menindee during severe drought conditions in late 2018 and early 2019, with locals estimating millions of deaths.

Millions of dead fish wash up amid heat wave in Australia

Millions of dead fish have washed up in Australia which authorities say is caused by depleted oxygen levels in the river after floods and hot weather.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

8 dolphins dead after stranding in New Jersey
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Mar 22, 2023 • 1 minute read

SEA ISLE CITY, N.J. — Eight dolphins have died after they became stranded on a beach in New Jersey, marine animal welfare officials said.


The Marine Mammal Stranding Center said on Facebook on Tuesday morning that a pod of eight common dolphins had become stranded in Sea Isle City and that staff and a veterinarian had responded with help from local officials. Officials said at the time that two of the dolphins had died.


On Tuesday afternoon, officials said the remaining six dolphins were assessed by the veterinarian and the decision was made to euthanize them to prevent further suffering. Their conditions were rapidly deteriorating and returning them to the ocean would have prolonged their inevitable death, officials said.

The dolphins have been taken to the New Jersey State Lab for necropsies.

“We share in the public’s sorrow for these beautiful animals, and hope that the necropsies will help us understand the reason for their stranding,” the Facebook post said.

Officials: 8 dolphins dead after stranding in New Jersey

SEA ISLE CITY, N.J. — Eight dolphins have died after they became stranded on a beach in New Jersey, marine animal welfare officials said.

torontosun.com

 

[Dixie Cup]

8 dolphins dead after stranding in New Jersey
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Mar 22, 2023 • 1 minute read

SEA ISLE CITY, N.J. — Eight dolphins have died after they became stranded on a beach in New Jersey, marine animal welfare officials said.


The Marine Mammal Stranding Center said on Facebook on Tuesday morning that a pod of eight common dolphins had become stranded in Sea Isle City and that staff and a veterinarian had responded with help from local officials. Officials said at the time that two of the dolphins had died.


On Tuesday afternoon, officials said the remaining six dolphins were assessed by the veterinarian and the decision was made to euthanize them to prevent further suffering. Their conditions were rapidly deteriorating and returning them to the ocean would have prolonged their inevitable death, officials said.

The dolphins have been taken to the New Jersey State Lab for necropsies.

“We share in the public’s sorrow for these beautiful animals, and hope that the necropsies will help us understand the reason for their stranding,” the Facebook post said.

Officials: 8 dolphins dead after stranding in New Jersey

SEA ISLE CITY, N.J. — Eight dolphins have died after they became stranded on a beach in New Jersey, marine animal welfare officials said.

torontosun.com

I wonder if there were windmills in the area? Apparently, they're having a negative impact on sea life (i.e. whales).

 

[Ron in Regina]

I wonder if there were windmills in the area? Apparently, they're having a negative impact on sea life (i.e. whales).

I’ve heard that windmills swat Birds & Bats out of the air, but nothing about a negative impact on sea life like Whales. Interesting.

I’m going to have to Google that later on this weekend.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

I’ve heard that windmills swat Birds & Bats out of the air, but nothing about a negative impact on sea life like Whales. Interesting.

I’m going to have to Google that later on this weekend.

Why? The obvious answer will be that we need safe, clean, efficient sulfur dioxide.

And lead, of course.