Weight loss challenge for dogs

Every year, vet charity PDSA helps the UK’s fattest pets battle the bulge in a six-month diet and exercise challenge. This year, two hefty hounds have shared a pet slimmer of the year award after shedding a quarter of their body weight.

Borris, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, tipped the scales at a whopping 4st 6lb, but doggedly worked his way down to a svelte 3st 4lbs. He was top dog in the PDSA Fit Club competition with labrador Sadie, who had ballooned to 6st 9lb but now weighs 4st 13lb.

The tailored programme is overseen by its vets and nurses, and pets who lose the highest percentage of their body weight are declared the winners.

Borris’s owner Annmarie Formoy, from Kent, admitted the family fed him too many treats in the past and that his lovable nature meant even complete strangers would give him snacks.

Sadie’s owner, George Chaplin from Essex, said his dog’s unrelenting appetite and lots of leftovers led to her sumo size before her diet and exercise regime was overseen by Kerry Griffith at the PDSA pet hospital in Basildon.

“Before I would have to pull on her lead to get her on a walk but now she waits for me by the door, and she’s got so much more energy,” Chaplin said.

Pet obesity is a growing issue that affects millions of UK pets.

Poacher ordered to repeatedly watch Bambi

A Missouri poacher has been ordered to repeatedly watch the movie Bambi as part of his sentence in a scheme to illegally kill hundreds of deer.

David Berry Jr. was ordered to watch the Disney classic at least once a month during his year-long jail sentence.

“The deer were trophy bucks taken illegally, mostly at night, for their heads, leaving the bodies of the deer to waste,” said Don Trotter, the prosecuting attorney in Lawrence County.

Berry, his father, two brothers and another man who helped them had their hunting, fishing and trapping privileges revoked temporarily or permanently. The men have paid a combined $51,000 in fines and court costs — but the judge ordered a special addition to Berry’s sentence for illegally taking wildlife.

The investigation into the Berrys began in late 2015, when the conservation agency received an anonymous tip about deer poaching in Lawrence County.

Christmas display causes panic

A family’s attempt to win their neighbourhood Christmas lights competition ended up causing panic when a passer-by thought a man was stuck on their roof.

The Heerlein family in Austin, Texas, decided to recreate the decoration scene in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, complete with a mannequin hanging from the roof like Clark Griswold. In the scene, Clark, played by Chevy Chase, slides down the roof of his house while adding the lights and ends up dangling from the gutter.

The display caused a bit more of a stir than the family meant it to when veteran Alfred Norwood Jr walked past one day and thought someone was actually hanging from the roof! He moved a ladder, that was part of the decoration, to try to help, called the police and even tried to wave down passing cars.

Mr Norwood was caught on the family’s CCTV camera offering help to the apparent victim. He told ABC 13, “I was trying to get him down any way I can. Except when I started talking to him, he never said nothing! Then I thought, ‘Oh my God, I hope he’s not dead. Let’s call 911’.”

According to police officers, Mr Norwood’s call was not the first one police had received about the Heerlein house. The family tracked Mr Norwood down after the incident and gave him a gift card for his troubles.

Published in Dawn, Young World, November 29th, 2018