Category Archives: Euthanasia

LEBANON Five dogs that killed Lebanon resident Loretta Mae Moore in September will likely escape euthanasia because local ordinances and state law didnt adequately address dog attacks on their owners property.

A pit bull has already been rehomed.

Boone County Coroner Justin Sparks said that after a forensic pathologist performed the 84-year-olds autopsy, he determined her cause of death to be mutilation from dogs.

Moores sons four dogs and a fifth dog he was fostering were in the house they shared on Elizabeth Drive in Lebanon when he left for work Sept. 14. James Moore found his mothers body when he returned home, police said.

Part of her arm was missing and has never been found, and all five dogs had apparent blood stains around their mouths, according to the countys petition to destroy the dogs filed in Boone Circuit Court on Sept. 24.

The City of Lebanon, Boone County, and the state of Indiana lack ordinances and laws to give the authority to euthanize dogs that attack on their owners property, Robert Clutter, attorney for the Boone County Commissioners, said.

I guess none of us contemplated this type of situation, Clutter said. We are trying to find a way to dispose of the dogs."

By state law, if the dogs leave the owners property and attack someone, there are a lot of remedies, Clutter said. But if an attack happens on the owners property, weve got some very limited remedies almost none.

Jim Moore wants his dogs back, and at least one other person offered to adopt the two huskies in the pack, authorities said.

Jim Moores four medium- to large-sized dogs are being held by the Boone County Sheriffs Office pending complete autopsy reports and conclusion of the Lebanon Police Departments investigation into Lorettas death.

State law considers dogs property, so were entitled to hold them as long as the investigation is still open, and its still open, Clutter said.

The fifth dog is a pit bull that Jim Moore took into foster care about a month earlier from Luccis House Bully Rescue of Indianapolis.

The county reached an agreement with the rescue group and released Chance to its custody Monday.

We agreed to permanent placement outside of Boone County and with a trainer who is very used to working with dogs who have behavioral issues, Clutter said. As part of the agreement, the dog is not allowed back in Boone County."

A woman who identified herself on the phone as the director of Luccis House declined to name herself or comment about the dog Tuesday.

As for the remaining four owned by Mr. Moore, weve not yet arrived at satisfactory negotiations with his attorney, Clutter said.

Were trying to look toward a possible release of the dogs that would still protect the public as much as we can, he added. Were looking at a number of options. Mr. Moores attorney has been receptive to some different suggestions.

Its just all-around a terrible, traumatic situation.

Loretta attended services at Lighthouse Baptist Church when she moved to Lebanon from West Virginia years ago, her pastor, the Rev. Merv McNair said, adding that her attendance had been sparse since the pandemic.

She had lived in her own home at first until a rotator cuff in her shoulder gave her a lame arm and she moved in with her son, McNair said. Loretta rode to services with McNairs mother-in-law.

She was always, always happy to be here, McNair said. She felt the love here.

She knew the word of the Lord, he continued. She had the grace of God. She knew Christ. Ive got to believe that she was in glory before all the dog thing took place.

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Dogs that killed Lebanon woman will probably escape euthanasia - The Herald Bulletin

A bill being considered by Lords has reopened the debate over whether people dying in pain should be able to ask for help to end their own lives.

Supporters of the 'assisted dying' bill argue that it is inhumane to force people who have a terminal illness and will die within up to six months to continue to live in pain when they would prefer to end their own lives.

But the potential legalisation, which would allow terminally ill adults to request assistance to end their own life, risks opening the door for euthanasia, according to a prominent critic of a bill being considered by peers.

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff claims even the term 'assisted dying' is a euphemism for assisting suicide and euthanasia, with campaigners behind the bill already calling for far wider legislation.

The private members' bill, put forward by Baroness Meacher, received its first reading in May, with a second hearing due this autumn. It would only apply to over 18s who can satisfy the High Court they have the mental capacity to make the decision to end their lives.

Ilora Finlay, who is a professor of palliative medicine at Cardiff University School of Medicine and was made Baroness Finlay of Llandaff in 2001, has warned of the 'dangers' of the bill, arguing its qualifying criteria remain too vague.

"Many people are unaware of the dangers in going down this road," she said.

"The bill has qualifying criteria that are not safe, cannot be verified with certainty and are far too vague.

"For example, a prognosis of six months is impossible to state with any accuracy at all its guesswork. And the bill paves the way for its own expansion. Why not twelve months prognosis? Or conditions such as anorexia or mental illness? Looking at places where assisted dying is in place, thats what happens the boundaries widen further.

"The bill does not even state how assessments are to be monitored to ensure they are done properly.

"We are already short of 50,000 doctors, as well as a shortfall of nurses, and services are under immense pressure. This bill as written will take time away from looking after patients and implies the only way to die is by being poisoned by lethal drugs.

"And the bill seems to open the door to euthanasia too campaigners are already calling for far wider legislation".

Baroness Meacher who has presented the bill is chairman of Dignity in Dying, a group campaigning for change across the UK.

She said: My private members bill on assisted dying is modest in its scope and yet its potential to transform all our lives and deaths for the better is colossal.

"This option would enable terminally ill, mentally competent people whose suffering is beyond the reach of palliative care to die well and on their own terms, should they choose it. And it would also provide invaluable comfort and control to countless more who may never avail themselves of this option but would be comforted by the simple fact of its existence. It is an insurance policy against intolerable suffering, and that benefits us all.

Meanwhile, the current law thwarts open discussion between dying people, their doctors, friends and family, forcing people to suffer unbearably against their wishes or contemplate sedation, starvation, suicide or Switzerland.

"It is time for Parliament to act and thus improve the ability of all of us to lead happier lives in the knowledge that we will have some control over how we die, as is already available to an increasing number of citizens the world over.

READ MORE:The very good news masked by the rocketing headline Covid rate in Wales

Baroness Meacher's bill proposes two independent doctors and a High Court judge having to assess each 'assisted dying' request, which she says if granted would enable a terminally ill person to die in a manner, time and place of their choosing.

The legislation is based on a bill tabled by Lord Falconer in 2014, which was supported by peers at second reading. Two opposition amendments were defeated by large margins at committee stage however, and the parliamentary session ended before it could progress further.

The bill is modelled on legislation that has been in place in Oregon, USA for over 23 years, since adopted by 10 other American states, three Australian states and New Zealand.

Baroness Finlay meanwhile is a former president of the Royal Society of Medicine, a professor of palliative medicine at Cardiff University School of Medicine, and a consultant at the Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff.

She was made a life peer as Baroness Finlay of Llandaff in 2001, two years before she proposed a bill to ban smoking in public buildings in Wales, which was implemented three years later.

She said: "The current law protects people across society from influences to end their life early data from Oregon shows that people seek a massive overdose of lethal drugs for a range of non-medical reasons, feeling a burden on family friends or carers is a contributory factor in over half of them.

"But the law of our land has a role to protect the vulnerable from harm this Bill does nothing to detect coercion, abuse, or financial pressures. What about suicide prevention? It cuts a hole in that. Suicide data suggests that the overall suicide rate goes up more when society views death as the way to deal with problems, rather than improve choices in care and give greater control to patients over their care.

"The evidence from other European countries shows that when such legislation passes, palliative and hospice services do not develop at the same rate as in non-assisted suicide/euthanasia states.

"If people who are distressed are not looked after early, they become demoralised. If you deal with problems early, they are more easily managed. Take pain - if pain is not managed, patients become more and more demoralised. It is the opposite of palliative care.

"Laws arent just regulations, they send strong social messages. An 'assisted dying' law, despite its comforting but misleading title, sends the message that, if you are seriously ill, taking your own life is something to consider. For the strong-willed and independent person, that may seem acceptable. But most terminally ill people aren't like that. They are fearful, often needlessly, of what the future may bring, worried about the impact of their illness on those around them and vulnerable to pressures, whether from within themselves or from others, to 'do the decent thing'. This is not a road we should go down.

She added: "As a society we rightly treat people who attempt to take their own lives with understanding and compassion. But we are also clear as a society that suicide is not something to be assisted.

"The current law protects people from influences to end their lives. We have 'suicide watches' where people are considered to be at risk of doing so and doctors have a duty of care to protect patients who show signs of suicidal intent.

"Yet here we have a bill proposing they should hand lethal drugs so certain categories of people. Is that the kind of society we really want?"

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Should people dying in pain be able to ask for help to end their own lives? - Wales Online

Supporters of anti-abortion organizations protest outside the Constitutional Court in Madrid Sept. 28, 2021. The banners read Justice for unborn babies and I want to live. CNS photo/Susana Vera, Reuters

The right to freedom of expression and protest must be recognized, said Auxiliary Bishop Luis Argello Garcia of Valladolid, secretary-general of the bishops conference.

People who pray around these clinics do so at their own initiative, remembering the sacred dignity of human life and offering information on alternatives to abortion. Its worrying that preventing life is considered a sign of progress, whereas opposing abortion is seen as ultra-conservative, he told a news conference Sept. 30, as the government pressed ahead with plans to tighten Spains abortion law by criminalizing actions outside clinics.

He added, If a right to abortion is legally recognized, the right to freedom of expression and to demonstrate must also be recognized, along with the possibility to impart information.

The bill would prescribe up to a years jail or community service for publicly deriding women. A Socialist Party sponsor, Laura Berja, told legislators that insulting women and calling them murderers was not freedom of expression, but criminal coercion.

Church leaders have also criticized plans by Equality Minister Irene Montero to create a register of doctors conscientiously objecting to carrying out abortions.

In a late-September statement, the director of Spains Family Forum, Javier Rodriguez, said the register would create new mechanisms to persecute and silence dissidents and force health professionals to act not only against their beliefs and values, but also against their code of ethics.

Meanwhile, the Madrid College of Physicians warned Sept. 26 the measure would muzzle those thinking differently and alter the entire system of liberties, adding that it risked violating the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.

Spains Catholic Alfa y Omega weekly said Oct. 1 pressure also was growing to bar conscientious objection so doctors could opt out of performing euthanasia. The paper said media attempts to create a climate of opinion against conscientious objection had already led to very unpleasant situations for objectors.

Speaking after a two-day meeting of the Spanish bishops conference Permanent Council, Bishop Argello urged medical organizations to oppose moves that would affect the right to freedom of conscience.

This is an age when there is so much talk of data protection, of respecting each persons conscience and freedom, he told the Madrid news conference.

If the argument for creating this register is to organize these provisions better, why are those willing to perform abortion or euthanasia not being registered?

The Catholic Church makes up 62% of Spains 47 million inhabitants, according to 2020 data, and has also criticized government-backed legislation facilitating same-sex marriage, secularized education and state-funded euthanasia.

A draft Trans Law, enabling people over age 16 to re-register their gender through a court declaration without medical or legal procedures was also approved for enactment in June, while a Statute of Secularism, enforcing strict separation between politics and religion, law and morality, crime and sin, is set for adoption in October.

Tags: Abortion, Criminalize prayers, Euthanasia protests, Spanish bishops, Statute of Secularism

Category: U.S. & World News

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Spanish bishops condemn tightening of rules on abortion, euthanasia protests - TheCatholicSpirit.com : TheCatholicSpirit.com - The Catholic Spirit

Date Published: 06/10/2021

A man suffering from an unspecified incurable disease has become the first patient to benefit from the Euthanasia Law in the Region of Murcia.

According to health sources, the patient died in September at his home, assisted by medical staff from the Murcia Health Service (SMS).

The Commission of Guarantees, responsible for ensuring the correct application of the rule, had previously authourised the dying mans request, but has not provided any further details, explaining that the information is confidential, and can only be disclosed by family members.

The Region of Murcia was one of the first five communities in Spain to set up this regulatory body once the law was approved, and has now become one of the first regions to perform voluntary euthanasia.

The process has been very smooth, all the steps set out in the law have been followed and everything has been carried out in accordance with the protocols and the law, explained health sources.

They added that the case was clearly in line with the established criteria as the patient was suffering from a serious and incurable illness or a serious, chronic and incapacitating illness that causes suffering that the person experiences as unacceptable and that has not been mitigated by other means.

The Regional Ministry was initially very critical of the deadlines of the new law, which it considered to be rushed, as it required the development of regulations and protocols, as well as setting up the Commission of Guarantees, in less than six months.

But the deadline was met, and Jos Manuel Allegue, head of the ICU service at Santa Luca General Hospital was placed at the head of this evaluation and guarantees body.

In an interview over the summer, Allegue said he was critical of the law, considering it inopportune, as it comes at a very bad time, with Covid, but said he was committed to its implementation, adding: We are in a position to apply the law.

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Man With Incurable Disease Becomes First Euthanasia Patient In The Region Of Murcia - Murcia Today

Its always unsettling when your kid does their best impression of you, but its significantly worse when you cant see the similarities at all. You can ask the rest of your family what specifically was dead-on, but uh, they havent stopped laughing yet. At least as parents, we only have to deal with this sort of humiliation in the comfort of our own homes. But for people as iconic as William Shatner, some good-humored mockery is part of the game.

In a video by Vanity Fair, William Shatner faces some of the many faces whove borrowed his unmistakable vocal inflections over the years. Its unclear why he agreed to something that sounds about as pleasant as one of those showing up at school naked nightmares, but he handled it like a champ. Mostly.

The whole ordeal went about as expected, with Shatner starting strong in full-on denial. I dont know what theyre doing, I dont talk like that, Shatner begins. The video cuts brilliantly to Jim Carrey, hamming up his take on Captain Kirk. Carreys impressions are known for being over-the-top, but even so, the uncanny similarity is undeniable. As you can tell, I dont talk like that, Shatner continues, talking exactly like that.

Throughout the video, we see the full scope of William Shatner impressions. There are those known for their ability to impersonate just about anyone, like Seth MacFarlane and John Belushi. And then, out of nowhere, boom. Bill Nye The Science Guy.

In addition to denying their accuracy, Shatner seems to question every personal relationship he has with the actors who impersonated him. I know Kevin, Shatner says, baffled by Kevin Pollaks impression. Kevin is a friend of mine. I, I directed him in a half-hour comedy.

Following Jason Alexanders impression, Shatner goes so far as to explain why he did it, like a parent grasping at straws trying to understand why their kid acted out in school. Shatners excuse? He stopped inviting Jason to Monday night football at his house, so thats probably why. Whatever helps you sleep at night, Shatner.

Bruce Campbell, Chris Pine, and John Belushis impressions were surprisingly well-received, but Shatner clarified that he wasnt a fan of how Belushi looked in the Captain Kirk uniform. Thats not even part of you know what, never mind. The video as a whole is well worth a watch, with an unapologetic Shatner sharing everything he felt was relevant to his reviews.

Watch the full video below, and maybe take a minute to appreciate just how few people have seen your kids impression of you.

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Detroit Shelter Saves Dogs Facing Euthanasia By Waiving Adoption Fees - The Dad

A Colombian woman suffering from a degenerative disease is set to become the first patient to be euthanised in Colombia without a terminal illness diagnosis.

Martha Sepulveda, 51, is suffering from Motor Neurone Disease (MND) which, despite severely shortening life expectancy, is not classified as a terminal illness.

Martha has been suffering from MND, a neurodegenerative disease that results in the loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscle movements, for the past three years.

Martha requested euthanasia on July 27, just four days after the Constitutional Court gave the green light to access the right to euthanasia to people who suffer intense physical or mental suffering, stemming from bodily injury or serious and incurable disease.

The news site La Fm reports that she was given an appointment for the procedure on Sunday, October 10.

MND has left Martha unable to walk unassisted and her ability to carry out basic tasks has become extremely difficult.

I am totally calm. I am a Catholic, I consider myself a strong believer in God, but, I repeat, God does not want to see me suffer and I believe that he doesnt want anyone to, Martha told Caracol Television.

No father wants to see his children suffer.

She said that everyone has supported her in making the decision apart from her mother.

My mother is 83 years old, she is very lucid, I think it is because of the religious issue that she thinks that way, Martha said.

The Catholic Church has often voiced its opposition to euthanasia on the basis that all human life is sacred and therefore acts such as euthanasia and abortion go against the will of God.

Martha said in the interview she had been enjoying the last few days of her life by spending time with her friends and family.

Fredrico, her son, also supports her decision, which Martha says means a huge amount to her as she understands what a difficult time it is for him and the rest of her family.

I saw it as the greatest act of love that I have ever done in my life because I need my mother, I want her with me, almost in any condition, but I know that she is no longer living but merely surviving, Frederico said.

Now I am focused on making her happy, on making her laugh, on recollecting a little and making sure that her stay on Earth, what she has left, is a little more enjoyable.

Colombias Constitutional Court decriminalised euthanasia for terminally ill patients in 1997 and in July this year it was expanded to non-terminal ill patients.

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Colombian woman to be euthanised despite not being terminally ill tells of final days - 7NEWS

Horses trained and entered to race in Britain must be signed out of the human food chain in their passports from 1 January 2022, in a significant change to the Rules of Racing. The change follows a controversial BBC investigation earlier this year which showed several horses being slaughtered in an abattoir near Swindon.

If a horse is excluded from the human food chain, it is automatically barred from use for animal feed too. As a result, the new rule will end the slaughter of British-trained thoroughbreds for their meat, and lead to more former racehorses being euthanised at home, in accordance with British Horseracing Authority (BHA) guidelines.

British racing has in place a euthanasia code to aid trainers and owners with end-of-life decisions, James Given, the BHAs director of equine health and welfare, said on Thursday. The guidance is clear that, whenever possible, euthanasia should be performed at home or in suitable surroundings.

The transport of horses to an abattoir to be sold for consumption should not, in my view, be classed as euthanasia and is not an approach that we should tolerate in our sport, which is why a rule preventing this practice is a positive step.

The initial decision to exclude thoroughbreds from the food chain was taken in January, but it was given extra impetus by a BBC Panorama investigation in July which claimed that more than 4,000 thoroughbreds had been slaughtered in abattoirs in Britain and Ireland since the start of 2019.

A point that the programme failed to acknowledge, however, was that at least 90% of that total had left training in Ireland, with many then being transported across the Irish Sea for slaughter.The rule change only affects horses trained and entered in Britain and cannot directly prevent this practice from happening in future.

The BHA said on Thursday that it is liaising with international jurisdictions and examining EU legislation regarding the practical implementation of this Rule to include all international runners.

Chepstow 1.00 Knappers Hill 1.35 Threeunderthrufive 2.10 Geordie Des Champs 2.45 First Street 3.20 Cabot Cliffs 3.55 Nina The Terrier 4.25 Huntsmans Jog

Newmarket 1.15 Saliteh 1.50 Twilight Jet 2.25 Pearl Glory 3.00 Chindit 3.35 Mise En Scene (nb) 4.10 Moshaawer 4.40 Lights On

York2.05 Catch Cunningham 2.40 Barbanera 3.15 Challet 3.50 Ziggy (nap) 4.20 Not On Your Nellie 4.55 Damaar 5.25 Abbye Heights

Newcastle4.50 Major Snugfit 5.20 Peripatetic 5.55 Bronze River 6.30 Maywake 7.00 Thrave 7.30 Freedom Flyer 8.00 Kilconquhar 8.30 Street Life

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New rule in Britain will end practice of sending former racehorses to abattoirs - The Guardian

Treasure Coast Newspapers

There are different types of pandemics in today's world. For instance, there is the pandemic at our local Sunrise Humane Society wherein the overworked staff face the daunting daily task of caring for a full house of dogs and cats, staving off euthanasia. I want to thank SHS staff for their dedication to saving the lives of these animals.

I also want to thank the following businesses for displaying a folder full of pictures of some of the dogs and cats up for adoption. Thank you to Archies Seabreeze, Big Apple Pizza, Crabbys, Cobb's Landing, Dave's Diner, Dunkin Donuts, The Hemp Store, Manatees, Mervis Caf, Pickled, Rescue Adoption, Sailfish Brewery, 2nd Street Bistro, Sunrise City Caf, Sweeties Diner, Taco Dive and all the other downtown merchants who have offered to help in other ways.

The Sunrise Humane Society is our local neighborhood backyard shelter serving all of the city of Fort Pierce and St. Lucie Countys homeless animals. The St. Lucie County Humane Society, which is better known, serves PSL residents and PSL animals. SHS wants you to get to know them better including, sadly, that they are underfunded, understaffed, very needy and always fighting a never-ending pandemic prevention battle to eradicate innocent animal euthanasia.

Please when you patronize one of these businesses, thank them for promoting adoptions and browse through the folders on display at these locations; and consider adopting. The pictures of animals with heart stickers have had their adoption fees paid by generous donors. The SHS is absolutely full approaching 200 animals at 100 Savannah Road. Masks wont save them, nor is there a homeless animal vaccination. Only forever homes can save them. Please visit and support your neighborhood backyard shelter in any way you can including being a voice for them.

Susan M. Parry, Fort Pierce

I grew up in Parsippany Troy Hills, New Jersey, and graduated from high school in 1966. The Vietnam War was raging, and the paper often had names of locals who had been killed there. I didnt know any of them but I still believed the war was real and that they had died fighting for our country.

In April 1968 I landed in Vietnam and was assigned to the 101st Airborne. I flew from the states with four other guys, one of whom also went to the 101st with me. I can still remember my platoon sergeant telling us its first names or nicknames only, because you may not be here long. The first day out two men were shot and killed. I didnt know either of them, but I still believed they died.

Now fast forward to 2020 and America is in another war, a deadly virus. The number of dead Americans soars and initially we have no defense. Then we have a breakthrough vaccine with emergency use approved on Dec. 11, 2020. Before the first shot is given, 300,000 Americans have died. I believed the virus was real and that those deaths were real

Now its September 2021 and we have lost 694,795 Americans to the virus. Yet we still have Americans who claim it's a government hoax, or COVID-19 isnt a threat, vaccines have side effects, we dont trust the vaccines or our institutions, and some people think its a hoax because they dont know anyone who got the virus.

COVID-19 will kill at least 700,000 Americans by the end of 2021 and I believe it, I got my shots in March 2021 for the security and health of America. Where do you stand?

Thomas Pine, Jensen Beach

Many of my friends are lifelong, dyed-in-the-wool-Democrats. What deeply concerns me is not that they may be wrong on their view of current, national politics, but that they may be right.

Many closely held, former beliefs may not simply be out of fashion these days but might they possibly be wrong? Concepts like that government is best which governs least, and founding principles like self-reliance and personal responsibility.

In my heart I do not believe these principles are now wrong. Yet those in our large cities who seemingly have little understanding or appreciation of such notions appear to be the true base of the present Democratic Party. Misguided or even corrupt politicians may do as they please with no significant restraint from the electorate, if only this constituency can somehow be led to the ballot box.

The unbridled mailing out of millions of ballots with very limited accountability last November was a clear and successful attempt by the Democratic National Committee to tap that base. In the past, such voters have seldom bothered to visit the polls. Yet their desire for a continued flow of free stuff, inclines them to very gladly endorse the political party they associate with such policy. Mailed ballots with no ID accountability made that possible.

I dont know what the answer is. Our public educational institutions are doing a progressively more dismal job of educating, so the ignorance situation continually worsens.

Our form of government can only survive if voters are intelligent and vote on the substance of issues and candidates.

The Biden-Harris administration presents a sharp contrast to Trump-Pence. And while Trump didnt know to stop with the tweets, I think he was/is a true patriot. I think we are off the rails at the moment.

Paul Vallier, Stuart

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Letters to the Editor: Oct. 3, 2021 - TCPalm

This event isnt the first time river otters have acted aggressively toward humans and their pets, but its not considered common. pixonaut via Getty Images

OTTER ALERT! reads a bright yellow sign posted at the University Lake Dog Park in Anchorage, Alaska. The posting, complete with a svelte black silhouette of the offending aquatic mammal, goes on to explain that on September 20 a group of river otters attacked dogs and bit a person near the lake, reports Zachariah Hughes of the Anchorage Daily News.

The injured party was a woman who quickly intervenedto save her dog from the onrush of aggressive otters. Later that same day, otters bit another dog at a different area of the same lake, according to a statement from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG), quoted by the Daily News.

This pattern of otters on the attack around Anchorage began in early September when a nine-year-old boy was bitten several times at an East Anchorage duck pond. As Samantha Davenport reported for the Daily News at the time, the boy was taking video of the otters when one peeled off from the group and came straight for the boy and his older brother. As the brothers fled, the nine-year-old stumbled and when he fell, the otter delivered bites that punctured his legs and foot, per the Daily News.

ADFG officials are asking locals to exercise caution if theyre near rivers, creeks and streams in light of the attacks, according to reporting from the Associated Press. This event isnt the first time river otters have acted aggressively toward humans and their pets, but its not considered common, per the AP. Officials are currently investigating whether the incidents all involve the same group of otters.

David Battle, a ADFG biologist, tells Ben Turner of Live Science that he thinks it could very well be just one ornery cadre of otters, which typically live in groups.

"There always seem to have been four or five otters involved in all the incidents," Battle tells Live Science. "Considering the rarity of this behavior in otters, and the fact that our first reported attack was in 2019 and its happened several times since then, this is very likely one group that has stayed together for a while or that come together frequently over a period of time."

In a statement quoted by the AP, ADFG says because of the risk to public safety, efforts will be made to locate this group of river otters and remove them. Care will be taken to only remove the animals exhibiting these unusual behaviors.

Battle tells Live Science that even if ADFG is able to determine whether one group of otters is the culprit, tracking the animals down will be no easy task. Thats because otters dont have defined territories and may periodically take to the land to trot from one body of water to the next.

In the event that officials find a group of otters exhibiting signs of aggression towards people and dogs, they intend to remove one individual at a time and to test it for rabies after euthanasia, per the Daily News. In this case, ADFG tells the Daily News, relocating the animals is not a viable option since it would just move the threat posed by the otters to a new locale.

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A Group of River Otters Is Attacking People and Dogs in Alaska - Smithsonian

All the lions and tigers at the Smithsonians National Zoo in Washington, DC, recently were infected with COVID-19, and for a time, one lion suffered life-threatening symptoms.

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One tiger, a recently arrived 5-year-old male named Metis, was asymptomatic, the Washingtonian reports, although testing indicated that he was infected along with the others. Beginning September 10, the other lions and tigers came to experience a range of symptoms similar to humans: coughing, sneezing, runny nose, and in several cases loss of appetite and extreme lethargy which is saying something for species that can already spend more time asleep than awake. Even getting up to drink enough water could be too taxing.

The term the zoo uses for its test results is presumptive positive, which is more definitive than it sounds; the official diagnosis comes from a national lab. Only two animals had samples sent for this official round. Both were positive, confirming the accuracy of initial testing.

By October 1, the zoo reports, two tigers and one lion tested negative for the coronavirus on a follow-up.

Treatment by zoo staff appears to have rescued even the most critically ill of the animals, an older female lion approaching her seventeenth birthday, named Shera. (Lions in captivity can live up to 30 years, but life expectancy in the wild is half that.) Dehydration, and, possibly, side effects of needed medication, brought her to the verge of renal failure. But intravenous fluids administered September 18 enabled her kidneys to keep functioning. Two adult male lions, Shaka and Jumbe, were also given IV rehydration the same day. All three were also given additional medication, and had blood drawn. The extra care required full anesthesia, which brings its own risk.

As the Washingtonian recounts, Shera required anesthetized treatment again two days later, and at that point things looked bad. Kidney function was not improving, and the outlet reports that euthanasia may have become necessary. But by September 23, Shera had turned the corner, returning to more typical behavior, including eating and drinking. The National Zoos chief veterinarian, Donald Neiffer, told Washingtonian that the elder cat will likely continue to have reduced kidney function, but nonetheless could have a relatively good life expectancy for her age.

To treat presumptive secondary bacterial pneumonia, the zoo said in a release September 24, all the lions and two of the tigers were given a course of antibiotics. In the same statement, the zoo shared perhaps the only pleasant aspect of the cats treatment, a special menu to stimulate eating, including goat milk, goat cheese, chicken broth, baby food and elk meat.

The specialized care appears to have gotten them through the disease: all the great cats are either recovering or no longer infected.

An investigation was not able to narrow down the exact source of transmission. But according to Neiffer, the animals likely contracted the virus from zoo staff visitors never come close to the animals although Neiffer emphasizes that this transmission happened despite rigorous safety protocols in place throughout the pandemic. Staff vaccination status is confidential, but Neiffer suggests that, particularly in the context of the delta variant, even vaccinated staff could unknowingly infect the cats with the virus.

Virus transmission, or jumping, from one species to another, is common among mammals. Neiffer points out that COVID-19 is thought to have been a disease in wild animals before it was a human pandemic.

But it remains a mystery why these great cats, and no other animals at the zoo, contracted the coronavirus. Cats, including house cats, do seem more susceptible to COVID-19 than, for example, dogs, Neiffer notes. The zoos cheetahs, which live at some distance from their larger feline relatives, escaped the outbreak, although they're still considered a high risk species.

According to Inside Nova, vulnerable species at the zoo and the associated Smithsonian Conservation Biology institute in Front Royal, Virginia, will receive a vaccine developed, and donated to zoos, by Pfizers veterinary pharmaceutical branch Zoetis, authorized for use in specific cases by the USDA. In addition to the felids, Neiffer says that the zoos primates are also at a heightened risk for coronavirus.

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