Peacocks Ruffle Feathers in Harford County, Maryland

In Abingdon, Maryland an unusual neighborhood dispute over what's allowed in one's back yard is ruffling feathers in a Harford County community as the County Council considers expanding a law regulating animals.

Feathers of a peacock blowing in the breeze are easily mistaken for blades of grass. But when dusk falls, there's no mistaking the noise when the peacock ascends to the roof and fans out his feathers.

Lisa McNair and her family own Petey, a male peacock, and other peacocks. They are a permanent fixture in the Bynum Overlook Community in Abingdon, a compact residential neighborhood.

"Harford County law says I can put anything I want in my yard but a chicken," McNair said.

Of course, some neighbors aren't too pleased, mostly because Petey is noisy, especially now since it's breeding season.

One neighbor, who chose not to be identified, said the noise interrupts sleep.

"They squawk all night long," the neighbor said. "At first, it was pretty unique. I took pictures. But I get up at 5 a.m., so it's not pretty anymore."

"When evening comes, he starts calling to let everybody know that this is his territory," McNair said. "There (are) other animals in the neighborhood."

Harford County inspectors have responded to complaints about the peacocks, which county law limits to five per property.

WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team lead investigative reporter Jayne Miller counted eight birds altogether, but any under 6 months old aren't affected by the limit.

"How do you keep a peacock on your roof and not everybody else's?" Miller asked.

"That's why the kids are chasing him," McNair said.

The county prevents the McNairs from caging the peacocks because the houses in the neighborhood are so close.

"If people would stay out of my business, my birds would be penned, but they didn't. So, zoning came and said, release the birds," McNair said.

The county considers the peacocks domestic animals, albeit noisy ones.

When asked whether she's keeping her peacocks at her home, McNair said, "Yes, they're my pets."

Harford County officials told the 11 News I-Team that the County Council is considering a proposal at a meeting Tuesday night that could increase the number of animals property owners can have...peacocks included.

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Hero Dog Saves Puppy From Drowning

A Golden Retriever mother rescues a puppy from potentially drowning in the swimming pool.

Seeing her helpless pup in distress, the dog jumps into the pool and, using her nose, tries to lift the puppy out of the pool. When that fails, however, she runs out of the pool, ultimately lifting up and dragging her pup to safety.

While many are praising the Golden Retriever as a hero, there are also people condemning those filming the video for failing to take action to save the puppy, which may have been much quicker than having the mother dog save her pup.

Comments on the video raise the question of whether the puppy was in fact thrown into the water at the start of the video in order to set up footage of our hero dog. Such an act could severely traumatize the puppy, not to mention, place a damper on the seemingly heartwarming nature of the video.

The divide amongst viewers is clearly illustrated through the top comments on Youtube as the top ranked comment notes how the video borders on animal cruelty, while the next highly rater comment deems any calls of animal cruelty unwarranted.

Regardless of the motives behind the video, however, it is clear that this Golden Retriever exhibited fierce courage and natural retriever intelligence in her quick actions to save the pup. The fact that she is a hero is not even debatable.

What do you think about the video? Do you find it adorable or does the filming of the video disturb you? Is there any doubt that the Golden Retriever is a hero? Share your thoughts in a comment.

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Man, Distracted by Texting, Almost Walks into Bear Attack (video)

A man was texting and walking, when he looked up to see a 400-pound black bear right in front of him. The crazy scene was captured on video by California-based station KTLA 5.

The clip below shows the man, apparently shocked and scared, running as fast as he could away from the bear.

Authorities were able to subdue the bear with tranquilizers.

The animal was taken to a nearby forest and released into the wild.




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Texas Man Claims Police Killed His Dog When Responding to Wrong Address

A Texas man claims that his beloved dog Cisco was shot point blank by a police officer who responded to a call at the wrong address.

Michael Paxton, 40, said he and his Australian Cattle Dog, Cisco were relaxing and playing Frisbee in his Austin backyard on Saturday afternoon when he decided to go get something from his truck in the driveway.

As he approached his truck, he said he saw something from the corner of his eye and looked up to see a police officer who immediately drew his weapon, and told Paxton to put his hands up.

"He had a Taser. He had pepper spray. I don't understand why, in broad daylight, he pulled a gun on me. I wasn't running. I wasn't hiding," Paxton told ABCNews.com today. "I was just saying, 'I live here.' I was panicking. I was afraid for my life."

Paxton said he heard Cisco, who weighed about 50 pounds, barking and coming towards him from the backyard.

"I said, 'Don't shoot him. Don't shoot my dog. He won't bite you.' But he shot him, just like that. It all happened in under 30 seconds," Paxton said. "There was no attack on the officer other than barking and challenging him."

Austin Police Cpl. Anthony Hipolito told ABCNews. com that the officer did respond to the wrong address, but it was the address provided by the 911 call. The call came from the house next to Paxton's.

Hipolito said that dashcam footage shows the dog barking and attacking the officer.

"The officer was basically in retreat and asked the owner to grab the dog," Hipolito said. "He was unable to and the dog continued to attack and that's when the officer discharged his firearm."


An apology was issued at the scene, according to Hipolito, but Paxton said no one apologized to him.

"Officers have to do everything they can to protect themselves, up to and including the use of deadly force," Hipolito said. "It's something that we don't ever want to do. To shoot and kill an animal is very unfortunate and tragic. The officer is distraught and did not want to do it, but at the same time, he had to protect himself."

As a shocked and horrified Paxton stared down at his dog's lifeless body, he said he was confused when the officer started asking him if he had a girlfriend.

"I was saying, 'You just killed my dog. I can't believe you just killed my dog. What is going on?'" Paxton recalled.

Paxton said the officer said he was responding to a domestic issue report of a man choking a woman. Paxton does not have a girlfriend and believes the report came from his neighbor's house.

Paxton said the officer did not apologize and when his sergeant arrived, he was unsympathetic and told Paxton the officer was within his right to shoot the dog. He said he has not heard from the police since the incident.

"I was in shock for probably almost 24 hours," Paxton said, choking up. "I wasn't crying at that point, but when I picked my dog up out of the driveway, I lost it."

Paxton's friends started a Facebook page called "Justice for Cisco" that has nearly 14,000 supporters. Hundreds of people have left messages of support, outrage and anger.

"How heartbreaking and so uncalled for. Tears just fall for the fallen. So very sorry for your lost over a mistaken address," one supporter wrote.

Another wrote: "How dare any officer make a mistake & not apologize? If that were a citizen they would be made to apologize immediately. A life was taken & even though some might look at it only being a dog; it was somebody's pet that they loved dearly."

"The only thing that has brought me comfort is the response and outpouring of emotion for him," Paxton said. "I'm sure he heard the yelling. He's a dog. This is his territory. He's going to be territorial to some extent. To me, it's pretty typical dog behavior. He's not a viscous dog. He was a good boy. He was a real good boy."

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Pet Experts Caution about Parasite Problems - Mild Winter to Blame

Veterinarians and other pet experts are worried the mild winter will present serious problems for dogs and cats this spring and summer.

"This spring came very early, back in February people started sending me ticks, and I was a little surprised, quite surprised," says University of Georgia veterinary entomologist Dr. Nancy Hinkle.

She isn't the only one.

Vets nationwide are worried the early arrival of ticks and mosquitoes will cause outbreaks of pet diseases like heartworms.

Chris Carpenter and Byron Blagburn are with the Companion Animal Parasite Council, and both say the exceptionally warm winter is to blame.

"We anticipate that we'll have more mosquitoes and, of course, since heartworm is moved from an infected dog to a non-infected dog by the mosquito, the mosquito plays a pivotal role," Blagburn says.

The council has set up a free website, Pets and Parasites.org, where you can look at county-by-county monthly updates on frequency of pet diseases.

"For you to see just how prevalent it is and it's not just limited to heartworm, we'll give you updates on tick diseases and other parasitic diseases that are prevalent throughout the country," Carpenter explains.

The council's forecast calls for extremely high levels of heartworm population in the South, with high to moderate levels elsewhere.

They advise that pets get parasite prevention medication year-round.

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Wausau City, Wisconsin - Leaders Consider Changing Animal Ordinance

Wausau City, Wisconsin leaders are taking a look at the city's animal laws after finding out many people aren't following the rules. The discussion was sparked when a Wausau family found out they have two more dogs than the city allows.

Public Health and Safety Committee Chair, Lisa Rasmussen said according to some estimates, there could be a lot of other households in the same boat. "There may be as many as 3,000 households that are currently in excess of the ordained limit."

That includes Melissa and James Lecker. In February, a public service officer noticed the couple has four dogs. That's two more than the city allows. The Leckers told Newsline 9 they'd rather move than lose any of their pets.

"I didn't want to be breaking any laws or hiding anything," Melissa Lecker said during an interview earlier this year.

Since that story came out, city officials decided to take another look. Now, they're moving forward with plans to try and change the rules. Under a proposal, people could apply for a permit to house more than two dogs as long as the pets are already living there.

"If it goes to the permit where we have to let our dogs die and then we can't replace them, no we will not stay in the city," Lecker said over the phone Monday night. She was out of state on vacation, but spoke to us over the phone.

Other people weren't afraid to speak out in front of the Public Health and Safety Committee and ask them to change the law.

"You want me to take two of my dogs that have a good home and put them in a shelter until they...they can sit there for months until they find a good home when they're taken out of one," one animal owner said.

But some people said the limit is in place for a reason. "I'm not naive to think that there aren't good pet owners out there, we've definitely heard some here tonight, but there are also those that aren't."

Even if city leaders change the law and adopt a permit process, they'll need to figure out how to enforce it. Right now, the police department handles animal complaints, but officials propose working with the Marathon County Humane Society http://www.catsndogs.org/ to handle animal issues. "If folks who are currently out of compliance adopt this compromise solution, come forward and get those things done it will help us at least partially fund an animal control program without doing it purely off tax levy dollars," Rasmussen said.

But this is just the beginning. City leaders said coming up with a solid proposal could take months. Police said they know people are violating the law, but they say they'll only respond to animal complaints as they're called in, at least while city leaders work on developing a new process.


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Love of Dogs May Cause Wisconsin Couple to Lose Their House

Melissa Lecker is walking outside her three-bedroom home in downtown Wausau, Wisconsin, and talking about her dogs.

“These dogs are our family,” she says as she looks down at two 13-year-old Golden Retrievers, Abbie and Jesse.


Right behind her are her 1-year-old Yorkie, Archie, and Chester, her 3-year-old Shih Tzu.
“They are just like our children,” she says.

In fact, she says emphatically her four dogs are more important to her than her money or even her home.

“This house doesn't mean as much to us as they do.”
Ironic because it’s the house she and her husband are set to lose because of their love for their pups.

James and Melissa moved to Wausau in early January, buying a new home and what they thought was the beginning of a great life in Wausau.

What they didn’t know is Wausau has an ordinance limiting the number of pets.
In Wausau, for instance, you can’t have more than three cats, three gerbils or three rabbits. And, unfortunately for the Leckers, you can’t have more than two dogs.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she said when a police officer told her she was over the dog limit and subject to a fine of more than $100 per day. “I had never heard of anything like that.”
She says town officials have given her an unbearable choice.

“They told us that the ordinance clearly states they cannot work with us… that it's either two dogs or that you have to move, as you can't have four dogs here.”

No one from Wausau would return repeated calls from Fox News for comment. Not Mayor James Tipple. No one from the Wausau City Council. Not even Lisa Rasmussen, chair of the Public Health and Safety Committee, which oversees the pet ordinance.
But in local articles town officials have said their hands are tied.

"Our current ordinance doesn't allow for a variance," Wausau city attorney Anne Jacobson told WAOW.com.

Other city officials say the ordinance was passed in 1989 to curb animal “nuisance” complaints like dog bites.

And one municipal attorney from New Jersey says he understands the purpose of the ordinance, particularly when it comes to dogs.

“They smell. They bark. They have excrement,” explained attorney Jeff Gold, who fully supports laws limiting pets.

“You’re not punishing [the Leckers], he explains. “You're regulating society.” He says animal regulations are some of the oldest regulations on the books. “Animals used to be in houses,” he explains. “They used to be in front yards. Society gets to regulate it.”

“Well," counters Melissa while holding Chester in her arms, “I believe there are other ways to handle the nuisance complaints.”

“They should punish the nuisances, not responsible pet owners.” Melissa says she has put her house on the market and is willing to take a $15,000 loss in order to keep her dogs.

“I hope we can work something out,” she said. “But they are just being so mean. My dogs didn’t bother anyone.”

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Doggy Identity Theft

It’s a face most dog people would love. So when a Facebook post sounded the alarm that Scion, a lovable, active seven-year-old lab was starving, in poor health, and needed money to be rescued from a kill shelter, animal lovers responded.

“Honestly, it makes me sick and makes me sad,” says Wendy Messenga, the top volunteer at Virginia Beach Animal Care and Adoption Center.
She’s not sick and sad because the story is true; she’s miffed because it is no more than a scam.

“He’s fat, he’s happy. I mean, he wants a home, but he’s not going anywhere and he’s certainly not in danger of being put down,” says Wendy.

The adoption center wants to let the cat out of the bag.  There’s no doggy danger.  It’s the work of scam artists who are trying to part good people from their money.

The center was forced to post a warning on its own page telling people do not donate.
“There is a woman who is not using her name, that is posting that Scion is in a kill facility and that she needs to raise money to get him out,” says Wendy.

The fact is, you can’t rescue a dog at the adoption center with money; they only take adoption fees and the center is run and funded by the city of Virginia Beach.

Volunteers say this isn’t the first time the scammer has stolen the identities of real-life shelter dogs only to pocket the cash. Wendy says the scammer did it in Norfolk with the picture of a dog who had been adopted two years ago.

“Rescue people, sometimes they will donate prior to going to dinner buying themselves something they will definitely donate,” says Wendy.

The Facebook post has since disappeared along with mystery scammer, but shelter volunteers fear the canine crooks will do damage to legitimate fundraisers.
“People who scam the animal business like this end up making people not want to donate,” says Wendy.

The city-run shelter does not accept money donations, but they`ll take food and pet toys.

And if you see another posting like the one the scam artist posted, do not donate.  But if you want to be sure your local shelter is getting help, call the shelter directly or go in person and make a donation.

Don`t fall victim to the canine crooks.


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