11 pelicans found with wings broken at Bolsa Chica beach

Eleven pelicans have been found on Bolsa Chica State Beach in Huntington Beach this week with their wings intentionally broken, prompting an investigation by federal wildlife authorities and the offer of a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

The sole pelican to survive is being cared for at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach, which put up the reward.

Ten of the birds were less than 1 year old and were probably feeding in the water; residents have reported seeing fishing boats close to shore in recent days, said Lisa Birkle, the center's assistant wildlife director.

"The birds targeted are new birds arriving from the Channel Islands," she said. "They are young and inexperienced and don't have a fear of humans. . . . Because they're so hungry, they'll go right up to people."

With ocean temperatures around 70 degrees, small fish that would normally provide food for the birds near the water's surface have submerged deeper in search of cooler water.

Nine pelicans were found Monday by a Bolsa Chica lifeguard. The two others were found near the same lifeguard tower in subsequent days. Birkle said the injuries were consistent.

"Someone is snapping the wings backward," she said.

Because the pelicans were found wet with sand packed into their exposed wounds, it is suspected that they were injured in the water and dragged themselves up on shore.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the incidents, Birkle said.

-- Mike Anton

Photo: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

Dead bear's gallbladder removed in possible Tahoe poaching case

State wildlife officials are investigating a possible poaching case in which someone removed the gallbladder of a black bear -- which can sell for thousands of dollars in Asia -- after the animal was struck and killed this week by a car in the Lake Tahoe area. The Times' Jia-Rui Chong reports:

The animal was found with its groin area shaved and gallbladder missing early Tuesday, less than 10 hours after a motorist reported striking the bear and California Highway Patrol officers moved it off the roadway. A surgical glove was discovered next to the bear's mutilated carcass.

"It appears that someone knew what they were doing," said Capt. Mark Lucero of the Department of Fish and Game's Northern Enforcement District.

It is illegal to take parts of dead wildlife left on the side of the road, Lucero said.

"A second violation would be if the gall was marketed on the black market," he added.

The penalty for trafficking in bear parts, a felony, is a $10,000 fine and a minimum six months to one year in prison.

The discovery of the missing organ was at least the third instance since May involving bear parts in the state, Chong reports.

On July 28, Fish and Game officials found a bear paw with some claws removed in an illegal marijuana grove in Tulare County. In May, a bag of severed black bear paws turned up on the doorstep of a home in Riverside.

Officials were not sure if they were intended to be sold, eaten or kept as trophies. An investigation determined the bears had been hunted legally, and there was no proof that anyone had tried to sell the parts.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: BEAR League

Man pleads guilty in another cow cruelty case in Chino

A cattleman accused of housing cows in unsafe living conditions pleaded guilty today to a felony animal abuse charge, the San Bernardino Sun reports:

Albert Buitenhuis, 28, accepted a plea deal in Superior Court in Chino that included a sentence of fines and three years' probation.

Prosecutors say he failed to remove dead cows from a barn at his Chino dairy.

There were six cow carcasses in the barn, including several in a water trough, said Beth Les, humane investigator for the Inland Valley Humane Society.

"I'm glad with what we got" for the sentence, Les said.

It's not the only Chino-based cow case still in the courts.

This year, the largest recall in U.S. history of beef was prompted by an animal rights group investigation of another Chino slaughterhouse where sick cows were being abused.

One of the workers accused of animal cruelty, Daniel Ugarte Navarro, pleaded no contest this summer in San Bernardino County Superior Court in Chino to two felony counts of animal cruelty and two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to downed animals.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Monday and could get up to a year in jail.

Another worker, Rafael Sanchez Herrera, pleaded guilty in March to three misdemeanor counts of illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal and was sentenced to six months in jail.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

L.A. man gets two years in prison for killing girlfriend's cat

A Los Angeles man who killed his girlfriend's cat, telling her to "follow the blood trail to find Tweety," has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Blood was found in the girlfriend's apartment but Tweety was never found.

Scott Allen Atkinson pleaded no contest to two felony charges of animal cruelty and threatening the woman's life. He was sentenced Wednesday.

Prosecutors say that Atkinson, 46, killed the black-and-white cat after an argument in October, then he told the woman's daughter he was going to kill her mother.

-- Associated Press

Condors in danger, animal researchers resilient despite bombings, find a dog park, and celebrities and their pets -- The Times' weekend animal coverage

This weekend in The Times, animal news abounds:

Margot Roosevelt reports: The California condor, a beloved but beleaguered bird, will be unable to survive on its own without a ban on lead ammunition across its vast western habitat, a scientific study has concluded.

Richard C. Paddock reports: Two firebomb attacks last week on UC Santa Cruz scientists who conduct animal research have angered and worried academics throughout the UC system, but the scientists say they will not be intimidated.

*Associated Press reports: Police don't apologize for shooting the two dogs of the mayor of Berwyn Heights in Maryland, described as an innocent victim in a marijuana smuggling scheme.*

On The Times' Outposts blog, Pete Thomas tells the fascinating tale of a woman who was attacked by a grizzly as she jogged on a trail Friday evening in Far North Bicentennial Park in Anchorage, Alaska.

Washington Post reports: Whole Foods Market has pulled fresh ground beef from all of its stores in the second E. coli outbreak linked to Nebraska Beef in as many months.

Home decor retailers face legal risks with animal artifacts such as feathers and bones from endangered species. Jeff Spurrier offers some tips on avoiding legal woes, including keeping proper documentation and being careful about online purchases.

In the Guide, Elina Shatkin compiles a list of off-leash dog parks in such places as the San Fernando Valley, Orange County, Palm Springs and Santa Monica (with a handy-dandy map to boot).

Want an encounter with a leopard shark? In Sunday's Travel section, Christopher J. Bahnsen advises you to head down the 405 Freeway to La Jolla.

And finally, The Times' Dish Rag maven Elizabeth Snead tries to answer a very important question: "Do Hollywood stars look cuter with puppies?" Judge for yourself after viewing Snead's photo gallery packed with more than 35 celebrities.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Chad Olson / Associated Press

*the first version of this post omitted the word "don't"

Litter of puppies cloned from a pitbull

An American woman received five puppies Tuesday that were cloned from her beloved late pit bull, becoming the inaugural customer of a South Korean company that says it is the world's first successful commercial canine cloning service. The Associated Press reports:

Seoul-based RNL Bio said the clones of Bernann McKinney's dog Booger were born last week after being cloned in cooperation with a team of Seoul National University scientists who created the world's first cloned dog in 2005.

"It's a miracle!" McKinney repeatedly shouted Tuesday when she saw the cloned Boogers at a Seoul National University laboratory.

"Yes, I know you! You know me too!" McKinney said joyfully, hugging the puppies, which were sleeping with one of their two surrogate mothers, both Korean mixed-breed dogs.

The team of scientists working for RNL Bio is headed by Lee Byeong-chun, a former colleague of disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk, who scandalized the international scientific community when his purported breakthroughs in cloned stem cells were revealed as fake in 2005.

Independent tests confirmed the 2005 dog cloning was genuine, and Lee's team has since cloned more than 20 canines.

But RNL Bio said that its cloning was the first successful commercial cloning of a canine.

Photo: Associated Press

When a pit bull attacks, a boy bites back

An 11-year-old boy is in the limelight in Brazil after biting a pit bull that attacked him while he was playing, Reuters reports:

Gabriel Almeida, who lives on the outskirts of Belo Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais, broke a canine tooth when he bit into the dog's neck to fend off an attack. Since then, he has been pampered in the studios of several TV stations, where he has been recounting his ordeal.

"I grabbed him by the neck and bit," he told O Globo newspaper. "It's no big deal. It's better to lose a tooth than to lose your life."

He was freed when bystanders pulled the dog off him and needed four stitches in his arm.

A Sao Paolo newspaper said the dog "was taken to a pound and may be sacrificed."

--Tony Barboza

Toll of suspicious cat deaths reaches 6 in La Quinta

Riverside County sheriff's officials are investigating the suspicious deaths of three cats recently reported in the La Quinta area, bringing the total to six felines found gutted, mutilated or shot in recent weeks.

Lt. Raymond Gregory, a Sheriff's Department spokesman, said investigators believe the first three cat slayings, which took place within a one-mile radius in the northern part of La Quinta, are linked. He said in those cases the cats had not been attacked by an animal.

Gregory said it was less clear whether animals could have killed the cats found more recently.

The first cat's carcass was found with gunshot wounds on May 29 in the gated community of Starlight Dunes. The next day, a second cat was found gutted on Desert Stream Drive near La Quinta Park. The third incident occurred June 18, when a resident told police his cat was found with its stomach slit open in front of his home in the 44000 block of Foxtail Circle.

Gregory said the owners discarded the animals before the Sheriff's Department could examine the carcasses.

"We didn't have any physical evidence on the cats," Gregory said. "And a few weeks went by, and it looked like isolated incidents until the third killing."

Gregory said the initial news reports about the killings generated more calls from cat owners about additional incidents, raising concerns by law enforcement officials that a cat killer -- whether human or not -- is on the loose.

The fourth suspicious cat death was reported Saturday, he said. The cat's body was found torn apart in Bermuda Dunes, an unincorporated area north of La Quinta.

"Animals may have had access to the body in that case," Gregory said.

A fifth cat's carcass was found Sunday at the Renaissance Housing Development, at Avenue 50 and Jefferson Street in La Quinta. Its location, in the heart of the small town, and the way the carcass was placed suggest that a human may have caused the death, Gregory said.

The sixth cat death was reported Monday when a mutilated cat was found near a housing development in La Quinta at Washington Street and Miles Avenue.

"That one is the most suspicious," Gregory said. "There were numerous cuts to the body and the skin was partially removed. And its location is more urban."

Unlike the first three cat deaths, in which the animals' carcasses were discarded by the owners, authorities have the bodies of the three most recently killed. As in human homicide investigations, officials photographed the scene of each death.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Cases of three cats gutted or shot in La Quinta now linked

Riverside County sheriff’s officials are investigating a trio of cat slayings in La Quinta over the last few weeks in which owners found their felines disemboweled, gutted, or shot.

"We only get about half a dozen animal cruelty calls a month but nothing like this," said Lt. Raymond Gregory, a sheriff’s spokesman. "So this is too unusual and too weird."

Investigators believe the cat slayings are linked, Gregory said.

The latest incident occurred June 18, when a resident told police his cat was found with its stomach slit open in front of his home in the 44000 block of Foxtail Circle.

A gutted cat was found May 30 on Desert Stream Drive near La Quinta Park, the day after a feline was found shot in the gated community of Starlight Dunes. Gregory said the owners discarded the cats before the Sheriff’s Department could examine the carcasses.

"We didn’t have any physical evidence on the cats," Gregory said. "And a few weeks went by and it looked like isolated incidents until last week’s killing."

Gregory said it was clear that the gutted cats had not been attacked by an animal.

All three killings took place within a one-mile radius in the northern part of La Quinta, he said.

"This is a residential area so we are certainly urging the public to contact us if they see anything suspicious," said Gregory, who also serves as assistant chief for La Quinta Police, which is also investigating the cases. "The public should also keep an eye on their cats."

Gregory said if anyone saw violence against an animal in progress they should call 911. Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to call the sheriff’s station in Indio at (760) 863-8990.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

* An earlier headline on this post incorrectly said the incidents took place in La Corona.

Adelanto man accused of throwing puppy against doghouse

An Adelanto dog owner has been arrested, accused of repeatedly throwing a puppy against a doghouse while drunk, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department officials said.

On Sunday night, after hearing yelps from the 12-pound pit bull-Labrador mix, neighbors confronted the puppy's owner, Donald Brown, said sheriff's spokeswoman Staci Johnson.

When Brown, who appeared intoxicated, didn't stop throwing the puppy, his neighbors called police, Johnson said.

"Brown was throwing the puppy in the doghouse with enough force to move the house," Johnson said. "He did this numerous times, and between each throw, hit the dog on the head causing it to yelp."

Brown, 55, was arrested Sunday night and booked for investigation of animal cruelty and being drunk in public. He is being held at West Valley Detention Center with his bail set at $30,000.

Johnson said authorities don't know why Brown was angry at the 3-month-old puppy, which is now in the care of the Adelanto Animal Control Division.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Iceland authorities fatally shoot bear

Police in Iceland say they fatally shot the first polar bear seen in the country in 20 years after the animal threatened people, the Associated Press reports.

Authorities say police in northern Iceland shot the bear Tuesday after determining that drugs that could be used to sedate the animal were unavailable and that a gun to fire them was elsewhere in the country.

It's not known how the polar bear reached Iceland; it may have come on an iceberg or swam. Scientists blame global warming for the disappearance of sea ice — vital for the bear's survival.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Was the camel-punching man imitating Schwarzenegger?

News yesterday that a man assaulted a camel at a Bay Area Six Flags theme park reminded us of another well-known camel puncher: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In the 1982 film "Conan the Barbarian," Arnold walks through a dusty little town, knocking a camel over with a forceful punch to the head:

As if that wasn't enough, two years later in the sequel, "Conan the Destroyer," Arnold's animosity for camels continues unabated. He socks it to one again, this time because it spit on him:

I wonder if the governor has any advice for Christopher Allen, the alleged Vallejo camel-puncher, who was arrested for his offscreen punch. [An earlier version of this post described Arnold as walking through a dark dungeon, instead of a dusty little down. But then again, it was dark.]

-- Tony Barboza