Recently in Atchison, Kansas a wild animal problem was brought to the attention of the authorities. Nearly one dozen dangerous wild animals had been abandoned in their enclosures without access to food or clean water. The animal's owner has been charged for 10 violations, including cruelty to animals and violations of the Dangerous Regulated Animals Act.

Once the abandoned animals were discovered, the sheriff’s office worked with the Kansas City Zoo and The HSUS to provide food for the animals on an emergency basis. Zoo Veterinarians and Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association personnel were also on hand during the animal seizure.

The Atchison County Sheriff’s Office seized all of the animals. The animals, included a tiger, two cougars, three bobcats, two lynx, a serval, and two skunks. They were all living in enclosures that were inadequate in size and security. Sadly,the enclosures were also full of mud and feces and there was no appropriate enrichment for the animals.

Although Kansas law currently prohibits the keeping of dangerous regulated animals, including big cats, as pets, there are several provisions that render the law virtually ineffective. Specifically, the law allows people who have a U.S. Department of Agriculture license to maintain an inventory of dangerous animals.

According to Atchison County Undersheriff Joe Butner, “This case exemplifies the inherent problems with the existing law and the need for it to be strengthened. Most private individuals cannot provide humane and safe care for captive wild animals, which leaves law enforcement, taxpayers, and sanctuaries to shoulder the financial burden. We are thankful for the assistance and expertise of the organizations that helped rescue these animals.” 

The Humane Society of the United States, Big Cat Rescue, In-Sync Exotics, Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association and the Kansas City Zoo were all involved in placing the animals from the property and transported them to sanctuaries around the country.


The tiger was transported to The Fund for Animals’ Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in Murchison, Texas, an affiliate of The HSUS; the two cougars were taken to In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Education Center in Wylie, Texas; the bobcats, lynx and serval will be provided homes at Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Fla.; and the skunks will go to Operation Wildlife in Linwood, Kan.


All the animals will be thoroughly examined by a team of veterinarians and will receive any necessary immediate medical treatment. They will be held at the sanctuaries pending final disposition in this case.

Joe Galati, principal at Chief Joseph School in North Portland, used money the school had received from the Portland Public Schools Equity Fund, to hire Toma Villa, 35, a Native American artist from the Yakama tribe, to paint a large mural of Chief Joseph on the side of one of the school buildings.

Villa, who has traveled all over the country and the world teaching and doing art work started this mural last week. He has worked long days all through the weekend to finish this mural which is done totally in spray paint.

About the artist in his own words -

"My name is Toma Villa. Born in Oklahoma, but raised in Portland Or. and registered member of Yakama Nation.

I am currently attending PSU working towards a BFA in painting and printmaking. My abilities in art range from graffiti art, iron casting, painting, airbrushing, printmaking, sculpture and design.

The roots of my art have always been graffiti art. I get a lot of my inspiration from all kinds of places, from cities I have visited and paintings I’ve seen such as Salvador Dali or Saber.

The world is so big yet so small and I wish to see it all.

I feel that you can never dream too big and always look forward to the future. Something’s may seem impossible but if you make a plan in life you will succeed."

Two endangered sea turtles that are shells of their former selves after getting stranded on Cape Cod during a cold spell are getting some help easing back into the wild — from an acupuncturist.

Dexter and Fletcher Moon, juvenile Kemp's Ridley sea turtles, remained calm as acupuncturist Claire McManus gently tapped more than a dozen needles into their grayish-green, leathery skin during a therapy session intended to decrease inflammation and swelling on their front flippers, restore a full range of motion on those limbs and help the animals regain their appetites.

"There aren't a lot of people doing sea turtle acupuncture," said McManus, who works alongside a vet to find parts of the marine mammals' bodies corresponding to locations where acupuncturists put needles to treat front limbs. "There is not a whole lot of literature out there on turtle acupuncture, so I'm basing it on how we treat other animals and humans."

McManus uses particularly thin needles for sea turtle acupuncture.

"The needles, they are tiny, no bigger, like having a mosquito bite. You notice there's no blood," McManus said. "You can probably fit four or five of these inside the type of a needle you'd use to draw blood, so they didn't really feel it."

Dexter and Fletcher Moon were among a record number of more than 400 turtles of various species that got stranded on Cape Cod and the southern Massachusetts shore over the winter.


The victims included juvenile Kemp's Ridley sea turtles that were there to feast on crabs, fish and jellyfish as cold weather settled over New England, causing hypothermia to set in and render the cold-blooded animals immobile and unable to eat for days. As their stunned bodies floated on the sea surface, their limbs were exposed to extremely cold winds that ultimately blew them to the beach. Only 242 of the stranded sea turtles lived, and they were taken to the New England Aquarium's offsite animal care center for treatment.


The turtles arrived because of hypothermia but also had secondary problems, such as pneumonia, and were malnourished.

"They haven't been eating in a couple of weeks, so they don't have the energy that it takes to be able to fight off some of these things," said Connie Merigo, head of the aquarium's marine rescue team.


Vets used laser therapy, antibiotics, enriched meals and other treatments to help turtles recover their health and strength before being returned to the wild.

Still, the sophisticated treatments could not help 14 sea turtles. That includes Dexter and Fletcher Moon, who are unable to use their front flippers — making it impossible for them to forage for food in the wild or escape from sharp-toothed predators prowling off the coast.


"We reach a point, sometimes, in the therapy for these turtles that the traditional methods aren't working the way we want them to, and so we've reached out to a licensed acupuncturist," Merigo said.

One other turtle, a loggerhead, is also getting acupuncture treatment; the other 11 not yet back in the wild are continuing on traditional treatments for lingering infections and orthopedic ailments.


The acupuncture is intended to reduce stress, increase blood flow and boost the immune system — just as in humans.

Dexter and Fletcher Moon have already had three acupuncture sessions, scheduled once a week, said Merigo, who broke into a broad smile as she described their improvements over the past three weeks.


"These two turtles really had very limited limb use and they weren't eating. We are seeing improved limb use and improved appetite," Merigo said. "They are eating on their own, which is fantastic."

McManus, the acupuncturist, was restrained when describing her reaction to the results.


"It makes me feel very happy," McManus said. "Acupuncture is not alternative to conventional medicine — they are also receiving Western treatments as well, but the fact that it can work in conjunction with the other treatments they are getting makes me very happy."
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Yesterday's tornado in Oklahoma took the lives of a lot of pets and other animals. Sadly, many people lost their cattle and horses when the tornadoes tore through their pastures and farms. Human lives were also taken by the tornado including those of children.

But even in the worst times there are always some miraculous stories of survival that offer us hope and the reason to carry on. One of those stories is that of a horse named Fiona along with Moonstruck and Catori who survived a similar tornado in Oklahoma in 2011. Hopefully there will be more stories like this that will surface from yesterday's tornado.

Catori had actually escaped death twice before. Once when she was being sent to slaughter, the trailer she was in crashed on the highway last May. Several horses died in the crash, but Catori survived and was pregnant at the time with her colt, Moonstruck who was born two months ago.

Both mother and colt were also out in a field in Calumet when that tornado blew through yesterday. According to Natalee Cross of Blaze's Tribute Equine Rescue, "She found the best possible place to lay low and keep her baby as protected as possible." Her colt, Moonstruck has several deep cuts and is limping but miraculously Catori, although being skittish from the experience, has come through it unscathed.

Fiona on the other hand was also out in the field in Calumet when the tornado went through. She somehow managed to get inside a barn that was closed off, but then that barn collapsed on her and she was trapped inside of a mangled mess of metal and debris.

"Basically it just formed a nice little cocoon for her to survive under. She was trapped in there for probably 16 to 18 hours. No food or water and when we did find her we had to get a dozer," said Natalee Cross of Blaze's Tribute Equine Rescue. "She never overreacted about the situation or anything."


Fiona ended up having to get several stitches on her side and underneath and is truly lucky to be alive. What is even more amazing is that Fiona is blind and how she found shelter in the tornado is unknown. "She can't see, she's totally blind, so how she know what to do or where she was going I don't know. She definitely had an angel watching over her that day too," Cross said.

In fact all three horses seemed to have angels watching over them that day. All three horses were nursed back to health by volunteers and fosters with Blaze's Tribute Equine Rescue. Seems like they continued to have angels all around them.
We offer prayers that there will be more miracles discovered like this from yesterday's tornado.

News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

 Native American actress Misty Upham never dreamt she would be walking the red carpet at Cannes to showcase a film shot on her reservation.

Upham features in "Jimmy P. Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian", focused on the relationship between World War Two veteran Jimmy Picard, a Native American Blackfoot, and Georges Devereux, his psychoanalyst.

Upham said like Picard, played by Puerto Rican actor Benicio Del Toro, she is Blackfeet, the largest tribe in Montana state. She said she was a direct descendant of the last chief and grew up on the reservation where much of the movie was filmed.

"I had no dreams and no way to make a dream. I had to leave the reservation," Upham, 30, told a news conference on Saturday ahead of the premiere of the film's premiere by French director Arnaud Desplechin.

"So 18 years later ... (I am) coming a full circle to the reservation I left to fulfil my dream."

Upham says and another "Jimmy P." actress, Michelle Thrush, a Cree from Canada, are the first Native American women in the official selection at Cannes, although organizers of the festival, now in its 66th year, were unable to confirm it.


One of 20 films competing for the main prize at the 12-day event on the French Riviera, the movie was inspired by a true story in Devereux's 1951 book "Reality And Dream".

Set in 1948, the film follows Jimmy as he checks into a military hospital in Topeka, Kansas, that specializes in mental illness for war veterans to be treated for numerous symptoms, including temporary blindness, hearing loss and dizzy spells.

The doctors are baffled by his psychological problems and decide to call in anthropologist and psychoanalyst Devereux (Mathieu Amalric) a specialist in Native American culture who spent two years living with the Mojave Native Americans.


Del Toro, who won the best actor award at Cannes in 2008 for "Che", said it was important for him to understand the history of Native Americans to get to grips with his character.

The oppression of Native Americans remains a stain on the history of the United States following the seizure of land, removal of children from families, and violation of treaties.

The 2010 census found 5.2 million people in the United States identified themselves as American Indians and Alaska Natives, while government figures this year showed they had the highest poverty rate in the country, at 27 percent, from 2007 through 2011.


Upham, who plays the mother of Jimmy's daughter, said the film recognized the different approach needed to treat psychological illness among Native Americans.

"We believe in spirits. We believe in ghosts. We believe in shape shifting. We believe in medicine and curses. We are very spiritual people," said the actress, best known for the 2008 film "Frozen River".

"What somebody else would call delusional, to us it is normal. That is why they had to create a new way to see what is going on in our minds without confusing the spirituality."

"Jimmy P." is Desplechin's fourth film selected for the main competition at Cannes, with the prestigious Palme D'Or for best picture to be awarded on the festival's final day, May 26.
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