His bite’s far far worse

Eating was 12-stone labrador’s only pleasure Last Updated: 1:59am GMT 30/11/2006 

A dog owner told a court yesterday that his labrador ended up weighing nearly 12 stone because eating was his “only pleasure in life”. David Benton, 53, a crane driver, said he tried in vain to make Rusty lose weight, but was unable to make his 10-year-old pet stick to a diet. Benton and his brother Derek, 62, a saddler, both deny charges of causing unnecessary suffering to Rusty by allowing him to become “morbidly obese”. They claimed Rusty had suffered hip problems at 18 months. This led to arthritis, leaving the dog unable to exercise properly and prone to putting on weight. David Benton told Ely magistrates that Rusty ate only a small bowl of dried food in the morning and a larger one in the evening with a bone as a treat on a Saturday night. He said: “We tried to cut his food down, but he would get hungry and irritated.” He denied the RSPCA’s claims that Rusty could walk only four or five paces without having to sit down.The trial was adjourned until Jan 12.

Daily Telegraph

Checkup mate

Chess players to be drug-tested

29-Nov-06 00:37 GMT
CHESS’S world governing body is to introduce dope testing at the Asian Games, which open in Qatar on Friday, although Yousuf Ahmad Ali, the competition manager, admitted: “I would not know which drug could possibly help a chess player to improve his game.”

New Scotsman

Several for the road…

Grapes of wrath for French vineyards as millions of bottles are destroyed

JENNY BARCHFIELD IN BELLEVILLE-SUR-SAONE
MORE than eight million litres of this season’s production of Beaujolais wine is being turned into near-pure alcohol for use in disinfectants, cleaning products or fuel additives, as French vineyards face up to a massive overproduction crisis.
A chronic wine glut, falling domestic consumption and fierce overseas competition have converged to create a wine crisis on an unprecedented scale. With “lakes” of unsold wine threatening to undermine prices, the European Union has resorted to paying vintners to destroy some of their stock each year, distilling billions of bottles of perfectly drinkable wine into pure alcohol.

New Scotsman

Monday, Monday…

Forget Friday the 13th – today is the day for real bad luck

KARIN GOODWIN
THIS could be your unlucky day. Monday the 27th has, it seems, overtaken Friday the 13th as the date on which the more suspicious among us should avoid the likes of job interviews, weddings and driving tests. The date has been identified as the most ill-starred on the calendar, with more mishaps recorded than at any other.
The trend emerged from a study of more than one million insurance claims, showing more people are likely to have accidents on Monday the 27th than on any other day.
Domestic disasters, including burst water pipes and DIY problems, feature heavily on the lists. One man put his foot through the ceiling on a 27th while collecting Christmas decorations from the loft, while a woman left a tap running, causing her bath to overflow and flood the house. In another case, a cat knocked over a candle, setting the house ablaze.
Road accidents were also common on that date. The mishaps of unlucky British drivers included crashes in car parks, branches falling on cars and accidents caused by people trying to avoid animals.
Kevin Sinclair, the managing director of AA Insurance, which carried out the study, said: “Friday the 13th is associated with bad luck, but our records show you’re statistically more likely to have an accident or break something on Monday the 27th.”
New Scotsman

Yee-Ha!

Rustlers target British paddocks as
US demands trophy horses
By Jasper Copping, Sunday TelegraphLast Updated: 11:54pm GMT 25/11/2006 

Horses and ponies are being stolen and shipped to the United States to meet soaring demand for “coloured” mounts, experts warn. Gangs are targeting piebald and skewbald horses and the growth in thefts has led to predictions of the worst year on record for rustling. Once considered deeply unfashionable, piebald (black and white) and skewbald (any other colour and white) horses have enjoyed an amazing surge in popularity both in Europe and America. A traditional coloured cob – a well-built, weight-carrying mount – can now command up to £60,000 in America, offering huge profits on the £3,500 cost of transport. According to the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH), a charity with officers in Britain and America, thieves are using loopholes to secure “passports” for stolen animals, transporting them to Europe or Ireland with legally obtained horses, and then flying them to the US. Paul Teasdale, the league’s chief investigator, said: “There are huge amounts of money involved and people are stealing them for America because that is where the money is.”

Daily Telegraph

Old tearaway

Woman, 92 opens fire at police in drugs raid
By Catherine Elsworth in
Los AngelesLast Updated: 2:13am GMT 24/11/2006 

A 92-year-old woman opened fire on three police officers before she was shot and killed by them after they stormed her home in a drugs raid. Kathryn Johnston wounded three plainclothes officers wearing bullet-proof vests and carrying riot shields.Armed with a “no knock” search warrant, police approached her house in Atlanta Georgia, after receiving a tip that a man had sold drugs to an undercover agent from her home that day. After calling out and receiving no answer, the officers decided to force down the door, said Alan Dreher, assistant chief of Atlanta police, who said there were “special circumstances that do not require a knock”. “There was no time to see who was inside the house, they were fired upon,” Mr Dreher said. “We know she was elderly, we know also she hurt three police officers. There were shots fired at the officers, fire was returned.” The officers, who were hit in the leg, arm and shoulder and are expected to recover fully. Investigators said they found drugs after she was killed.

Daily Telegraph

 

Revenge is not sweet but smelly and noisy

For rent: delightful home, only rowdy spongers need apply
By David SapstedLast Updated: 2:13am GMT 24/11/2006 

A car mechanic banned from working at home is advertising his bungalow at a peppercorn rent to the people he considers will most annoy his neighbours. Nick Massingham, who lives in the north Norfolk village of Hunworth, has placed a local newspaper advertisement offering his home to “travelling families, large extended families, multiple occupancy, DSS and East Europeans, with all pets most welcome”. Mr Massingham, 46, says he is seeking “revenge” on second-home owners in the village he blames for blocking his planning application to repair cars at his home. The advertisement in the Eastern Daily Press is offering the three-bedroom, £180,000 detached bungalow, with double garage and “space for a caravan”, for just £100 a month. Normally, the rent for such a property would be £600. “This is a last resort to show the village what bad neighbours really are,” he said. “It’s just to get my revenge, to prove a point. It’s people who have moved in from London or wherever and wander about in green wellingtons and tweed. They think more about the appearance of the village than what a Norfolk person can do for work.”

Daily Telegraph

Causing a stir

Robin Hood sparks cash stampede
By PALast Updated: 1:41am GMT 20/11/2006 

Three mysterious Britons dressed as Robin Hood and his merry men reportedly caused a stampede in Manhattan when they threw a thousand dollars (£530) into the air. The group – who said they were from Sheffield – apparently hoped their stunt would encourage people to be more polite to one another and “give something back”. But according to the New York Post it actually caused a “mini-riot” in Washington Square Park as passers-by pushed and punched each other to get to the free cash.

Daily Telegraph

Fowl play ?

Roundabout chickens ’stolen and poisoned’
By David SapstedLast Updated: 1:40am GMT 20/11/2006 

Poisoners and thieves have driven a flock of feral chickens, which live on a roundabout, close to extinction. The wild chickens of Ditchingham have survived in the midst of the A143 on the Norfolk-Suffolk borders for 50 years but, in recent weeks, their numbers have been plunged and now there are only about six hens left. Locals fear that the flock — which numbered 200 at the height of the bird flu scare when owners started dumping chickens — will soon no longer be viable. Gordon Knowles, 75, from Bungay, Suffolk, has fed the chickens for 17 years and believes that, aside from predation and road kills, poisoners are to blame.

Daily Telegraph

Pie-eyed

Pie-eating contest goes veggie
By Nigel BunyanLast Updated: 1:56am GMT 23/11/2006 

Vegetarians are to be allowed to compete in the World Pie Eating Championships for the first time. In previous years the only filling available to contestants was one of meat and potato. But next month, following “relentless pressure” from the Vegetarian Society, a cheese and onion version will also be on the menu. Tony Callaghan, the event’s organiser, has also changed the rule on the number of pies to be eaten. First prize has traditionally gone to the contestant who could eat the highest number of pies in three minutes. The current record stands at seven. On December 13, however, the winner will be the man or woman who can devour a single pie the quickest.

Daily Telegraph