Tag: pregnant

Dead pit bull helps solve a crime

DNA from a dead pit bull’s mouth led to the arrest of a suspect in an Ohio home invasion — but not until after the suspect allegedly went on to shoot and kill a pregnant 16-year-old Akron girl.

David Stoddard was indicted Thursday for aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary in connection with a home invasion in Barberton on Oct. 6.

Three masked men burst into a house, robbed the occupants and shot and killed the family’s pit bull mix after it bit one of the intruders on the arm, according to News Channel 5.

Police investigating the crime swabbed the inside of the deceased dog’s mouth in hopes of finding DNA evidence that would lead to the bitten suspect.

On Dec. 5, Barberton police learned the sample had led to a potential match to Stoddard and began trying to find him — both at his home and through his attorney, who said Stoddard would turn himself in.

That didn’t happen, and police did not issue a warrant for Stoddard’s arrest, in part because they were hoping to confirm the DNA results first with a second test.

On Jan. 6, Stoddard allegedly broke into an Akron home and shot and killed 16-year-old Anna Karam, who was 4-months pregnant.

Stoddard is being held in the Summit County Jail. He’s facing multiple  charges, including aggravated murder in connection with the Akron killing.

Problems postpone Kabang’s surgery

Heartworm and a cancerous tumor have delayed snout surgery for Kabang, the Philippine dog that lost half her face when she stepped between two children and an oncoming motorcycle.

A veterinarian at the University of California, Davis, says both could be potentially fatal if not treated.

“Fortunately for Kabang, her disease is not very advanced,” Dr. Jane Sykes, a UC Davis infectious disease specialist, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “She has a good prognosis.”

Sykes said veterinarians will have to treat the two ailments — including chemotherapy for the tumor — and that it could be as long as six months before her snout problems can be addressed.

Donations from 20 countries financed Kabang’s trip to the U.S. Vets at the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital plan at least two surgeries, one focusing on dental work and the other to close the gaping wound on her face, which, left open, could lead to infection.

But before that can happen they need to treat the heartworm and the cancerous tumor, which vets say was sexually transmitted.

Sykes said more than 90 percent of such cases are cured with chemotherapy.

Both the tumor and the heartworm are common ailments in tropical  regions where dogs run loose, as in the Philippines.

Kabang was originally found in a swamp near Zamboanga by a man who planned on feeding her to his family. But the dog bonded with Rudy Bunggal’s 11-year-old daughter and his 3-year-old niece and last year stepped between them and a motorcycle, shearing off her snout.

Kabang disappeared for two weeks after the motorcycle accident, but was greeted as a hero when she returned to Bunggal’s home.

She delivered six puppies at a local dog pound in April of this year, apparently having become pregnant during her two week disappearance.

Sykes said Kabang is “a pleasure to work with … It is wonderful that people have seen how wonderful dogs can be to human lives. … I think we owe her a service in return.”

While missing the top of her snout, Kabang is able to lap up food and water with her tongue, Sykes said, and may still be able to smell some things.

Vets are also seeking permission from her owner to spay Kabang.

Pregnant teen’s dog saves day, and the baby

If being 15 years old and seven months pregnant weren’t trouble enough, Codi Robertson woke up on the family sofa earlier this month shaking uncontrollably.

Codi, before she blacked out, called for her mother, but her mother didn’t hear her.

Her dog Mickey did.

The 8-year-old Alaskan Eskimo dog woke up Codi’s mother, Debbie Denning, who found her daughter in the middle of what doctors would later say was a pregnancy-related seizure.

“She was not responsive, limp, sweaty,” Denning, of Idaho Falls, told Local News 8.

Denning called 911, and Roberston was rushed to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, where her baby boy was delivered two months premature via C-section.

Doctors told the pair that both Codi and the baby could have died had Denning not reached her daughter when she did.

Codi said the baby, named Wyatt — 10 days old today — will be in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit until November.

As for Mickey: “She’s one amazing dog,” she said.

5 days in jail for abandoning pregnant dog

An Ohio man will spend five days in jail for abadoning a pregnant dog at a farm in February.

Darryl Lawson, 45, of Hamilton, pleaded guilty yesterday to misdemeanor charges of cruelty to animals and abandoning animals. A judge sentenced him to 90 days in jail, but suspended 85 of the days, the Dayton Daily News reported.

He was also was ordered to pay a $750 fine and serve 40 hours of community service at an animal shelter — even though the judge barred him from having pets in his own household during an additional two years probation.

Lawson’s lawyer said his client  is “very remorseful” for abandoning the beagle mix, who later gave birth to puppies while huddled in some in hay.

Lawson immediately regretted his decision and even went back to the farm in an attempt to find the dog. He then called the sheriff’s office and Animal Friends Humane Society, where the dog and pups were taken by a farmer who found them. He turned himself in to animal shelter authorities.

The mother dog and her five puppies were cared for and are thriving in a foster home.

Happy Mother’s Day, no matter your species

Rescued dogs expected to rapidly multiply

Three puppy mill raids in two Washington counties in recent weeks resulted in about 600 dogs being seized — but those 600 are expected to soon become 1,500.

Four of every five dogs rescued are pregnant, authorities say.

“We’ve already had two litters born,” said Bud Wessman, director of Everett Animal Services, which is caring for 155 dogs seized from a Snohomish County property on Jan. 16. “We have six that will give birth over the weekend and probably another 10 litters coming up in the next week.”

The Snohomish County kennel is linked to another in Skagit County, where authorities seized 135 dogs on Wednesday and returned Friday to seize the remaining 308. The owner of the Skagit County property, near Mount Vernon, is the mother of the woman who owns the Snohomish County property near Gold Bar, the Seattle Times reported.

Animal control officials are struggling to care for the crush of animals, most of which are Chihuahuas, shih tzus, poodles, and Yorkshire terriers.

Read more »