Animal Cruelty

Animal Cruelty

The SPCA in Bloemfontein, South Africa reported that an abused and emaciated pitbull suffering from distemper and severe injuries was thrown over the wall into their property, most likely as it was no longer considered 'fit' to fight.

The animal was visibly emaciated and starving, with numerous wounds all over its body.

The dog's head was swollen to twice the size of its body and staff at the SPCA suspect it had either been bitten by another dog or had suffered a severe beating.

The abrasions found on the dog were typical of those that occur when dogs fight, and the aggressor or stronger dog holds the other in a grip on the ground.

To make matters worse, both of the pitbull's ears had been cut off - another sign that he was used in dog fights.

The dog was also found to be suffering from distemper.

He had also suffered injuries to his testicles, which point to a possible botched attempt to castrate him.

They believe the dog was no longer fit for dog fighting, which made its owner abuse and neglect the animal.

Reinet Meyer, spokesperson for the Bloemfontein SPCA, said that sadly the pitbull had to be euthanised because of the distemper and its extensive injuries.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

No magnitude 5+ quakes to report for a second day.

China using dogs to predict earthquakes

A Chinese city is using dogs to predict earthquakes, an official said, after state-run media reported that neighbours were complaining of nightly false alarms - in the form of barking.

China is regularly hit by seismic tremors. Around 200 people were left dead or missing by a quake in Sichuan province last month, and hundreds of thousands have been killed in major disasters in the past. The earthquake authority of Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province in the east, keeps dogs since they will "act abnormally when an earthquake is coming", sometimes up to 10 days in advance.

The bureau used the dogs at the request of the provincial government, and chickens and ducks could be effective as well. But neighbours are complaining on social media about the animals' nightly howling. "The compound of the Nanchang earthquake authority has I don't know how many dogs, every night at 11pm they start barking over and over." The dogs have now been sent to a lower-level earthquake bureau in the city but they denied they had been barking.