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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS
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MONTH: January/February 2007
Animal obituaries
Roadie, 14, a double-amputee
Walker coonhound recalled by Greg Kocher of the Lexington Herald-Leader
as "a symbol of perseverance to people with disabilities," was
euthanized on November 30, 2006 due to incurable painful conditions of
age. "In 1992," Kocher wrote, "at only nine months old,
he spent spent two or three days and nights lying between the rails of
railroad track," near Nicholsville, Kentucky, "after a freight
train mangled his right rear leg and left front leg. A railroad employee
stopped to put him out of his misery. The gun jammed. So he went to a
nearby farmhouse and asked if the dog belonged to anyone there. He didn't,
but the woman who lived there began making calls, including one to the
Nicholasville Police. The police called Mike Griffitt, DVM. Griffitt checked
the dog's tags and contacted the owner. After he realized Roadie would
never hunt again, the owner said he would take the dog home and dispose
of him. When the pup was gingerly loaded into the truck, he wagged his
tail. Griffitt asked whether he could have him." Roadie's rescue
and recovery was subsequently featured by radio broadcaster Paul Harvey,
CNN television, Reader's Digest, and Dog World. He spent the rest of his
life at Griffitt's Bluegrass Veterinary Clinic.
Desert Orchid, 27, ridden
to victory in 34 steeplechase races between 1983 and 1991, including four
King George VI championships, died quietly in his stable near London,
England, on November 13, 2006. Readers of The Racing Post voted his 1989
charge up Cheltenham Hill to beat rival Yahoo the greatest racing performance
of all time.
Moose, a 5-month-old
kitten adopted at six weeks of age by Amber Kelly and family, of Elbridge,
New York, was allegedly tied up, doused with gasoline, and burned alive
on December 20, 2006 by Dustin M. Gauger, 20, and Kyle D. Custer, 16.
Both men were charged by state police with felony aggravated cruelty to
animals and petty larceny. Custer was further charged with unlawful possession
of marijuana--and both were later charged with raping two 14-year-olds.
Porky, 5, a 300-pound
pet pig who lived with farm manager Aaron O'Brien and his girlfriend Camilla
Skold on a 130-acre farm in Mililani, Hawaii, was chased into their carport
by five hunting dogs and allegedly stabbed to death on October 22, 2006
by Joseph B. Calarruda V, 28, as two farm tenants screamed for him to
stop. Calarudda was on probation after serving a year in prison for kidnapping
his former girlfriend in the parking lot of the Wai'anae police station,
and is facing a jury trial for illegal possession of firearms, reported
Peter Boylan of the Honolulu Advertiser.
Qin Qin, 17, the world's
only panda bear who was brown-and-white instead of black-and-white, died
unexpectedly on November 22, 2006 at the Qinling Safari Park in Xi'an,
capital of Shaaxi province, China.
Osama Bin Laden, 45-50, a rogue tuskless Indian elephant, was reportedly shot on December 15, 2006 by hunter Dipen Ram Phukan and a team of forest rangers at the Behali tea plantation in Sonitpur district, Assam--but a post mortem indicated that they killed an innocent elephant. This was the second time an innocent elephant was mistaken for "Osama" and killed, said Assam journalist Azam Siddique. The real "Osama" elephant was declared a rogue in June 2003, after killing five people, had killed 13 through 2005 while eluding pursuit, is believed to have killed four members of one family on the night of November 19, and killed a woman in a forest reserve several nights later. The Assam Assembly on December 14 passed a resolution ordering his death by the end of 2006. Elephants have killed 248 Assamese since 2001, while Assamese have killed 268 elephants.