Dog, owner detained for election campaigning in India

MUMBAI, India - A pet pooch was detained for flouting India's election rules after it was spotted parading slogans supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi outside polling stations -- but "let off with a warning," authorities said Tuesday.

Police seized the dog and its owner in the western state of Maharashtra on Monday just as voting was under way on the fourth voting day of India's mammoth election that runs to May 19. 

"We detained the dog and its owner as it was a polling day and they were walking around promoting Modi and violating election campaigning rules," police official Ganpat Phil told AFP.

Campaigning is banned on voting days in areas that are casting ballots.

A complaint was filed under India's penal code against owner Eknath Chaudhary for the sticker and placards stating "Modi Lao, Desh Bachchao" ("Bring Modi back, save the country"), Phil said.

The dog and the owner were released in the town of Nandurbar on Monday evening and "let off with a warning," the official added.

Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party are favorites to retain power following the election, results of which are due May 23.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Puppies rescued from uninhabited Canadian island

OTTAWA - Puppies discovered on an uninhabited island in the Canadian wilds are looking for a new home.

The litter -- four males and three females -- has been dubbed the "Gilligan's Island crew" after the 1960s American television sitcom about castaways on an uncharted tropical island.

Two boaters recently heard their cries in the night, Deb Vandekerkhove, director of the rescue, told AFP.

"The fellas could see some dark figures on the island across the water and thought it might be wolves fighting," she said in a telephone interview. "The next morning they took a boat over and found these seven puppies."

"They gave them what food they had and contacted local rescue volunteers."

Arrangements were made to get the pups food and supplies, and the two men brought an old dog house to the island and set it up as a temporary shelter.

Vandekerkhove is scheduled to travel to the Cross Lake area, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of Winnipeg, Manitoba on Friday and return with the puppies, which are believed to be a mix of Labrador and Husky and about four months old.

After a few weeks of rehabilitation, the dogs will be put up for adoption through Winnipeg Pet Rescue.

"It appears they'd been on the island all alone for several weeks," Vandekerkhove said. "They're very cute with spikey hair on their heads but they were starving, just skin and bones, and they were terrified of people at first."

The dogs are now eating and drinking water, playing with toys and appear to be warming up to their saviors.

amc/ia

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Cats rule this Japanese island

AOSHIMA, JAPAN - An army of feral cats rules a remote island in southern Japan, curling up in abandoned houses or strutting about in a fishing village that is overrun with felines outnumbering humans six to one.

Originally introduced to the mile-long island of Aoshima to deal with mice that plagued fishermen's boats, the cats stayed on - and multiplied.

More than 120 cats swarm the island with only a handful of humans for company, mostly pensioners who didn't join the waves of migrants seeking work in the cities after World War Two.

Aoshima, a 30-minute ferry ride off the coast of Ehime prefecture, had been home to 900 people in 1945. The only sign of human activity now is the boatload of day-trippers from the mainland, visiting what is locally known as Cat Island.

With no restaurants, cars, shops or kiosks selling snacks, Aoshima is no tourist haven. But cat lovers are not complaining.

"There is a ton of cats here, then there was this sort of cat witch who came out to feed the cats which was quite fun," said 27-year-old Makiko Yamasaki. "So I'd want to come again."

The allure of cats is not surprising in a country that gave the world Hello Kitty, a cartoon character considered the epitome of cuteness. Cat cafes have long been popular in Tokyo, catering to fans who can't keep the animals at home because of strict housing regulations that often forbid pets.

The cats of Aoshima are not too picky, surviving on the rice balls, energy bars or potatoes they cadge off tourists. In the absence of natural predators, they roam the island without fear.

Not all the residents are admirers, though. One elderly woman shooed the animals away with a stick when they dug up her back garden. Locals are trying to keep the feline population in check - at least 10 cats have been neutered.

Residents haven't taken too kindly to the tourists either. They don't mind them coming, but want to be left in peace.

"If people coming to the island find the cats healing, then I think it's a good thing," said 65-year-old Hidenori Kamimoto, who ekes out a living as a fisherman.

"I just hope that it's done in a way that doesn't become a burden on the people who live here."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Dogs bred for meat start new life in US

WASHINGTON - A dozen dogs originally destined for dinner tables in South Korea arrived in the Washington area Monday to be adopted as pets.

They were the first of a total of 23 dogs being imported into the United States this week as part of a campaign to combat the eating of dog meat in East Asia.

Washington-based Humane Society International (HSI) located the dogs at a farm in Ilsan, northwest of Seoul, where they were being bred specifically for human consumption.

The farmer -- who acknowledged a personal fondness for dogs -- agreed to give up the animals, accept an offer of compensation and grow blueberries instead, HSI director of companion animals Kelly O'Meara told AFP, as the mongrels settled into kennels at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, Virginia after a long flight from Seoul.

HSI has been working with local groups in China, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to raise public awareness of the dog meat trade.

"But South Korea is unusual because it actually farms dogs to supply demand," O'Meara said, while other countries target feral dogs as food.

Every year, between 1.2 million and two million dogs are consumed in South Korea, she said, supplied by farms that number "at least in the hundreds."

O'Meara said it was the first time that dogs from South Korea intended for human consumption had been rescued and brought into the United States, where a brisk demand for adopted dogs and cats is met by a thriving network of animal rescue groups and shelters.

All 23 South Korean dogs -- the second batch is due to arrive Tuesday -- will undergo veterinarian checks in Alexandria, before being distributed among five other shelters in the Mid-Atlantic states for adoption.

"By helping these 23 dogs, we'll be helping a lot of other dogs in South Korea" by raising public awareness of the dog meat trade, said Megan Webb, executive director of the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, which finds homes for about 1,000 dogs a year.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com