WebClawer: Horse racing board releases fatalities report, goat steals cake, cat detects cancer

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

From a marauding goat to a cancer-detecting cat, the Web is full of animal news today:

• 306 racehorse fatalities were reported from July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2008, in California, according to the California Horse Racing Board’s annual report. That total included 137 related to racing injuries, 94 to training injuries, and 75 others. The total racing fatalities were down from the previous year’s report (147 racing fatalities were reported from Nov. 10, 2006, to Nov. 16, 2007), although the total number of fatalities (including those classified as ‘other’) was slightly up. ‘The question is whether it’s going to show an improvement in the next year, and I’m not convinced it will,’ said Dr. Rick Arthur, Equine Medical Director for the CHRB. L.A. Times

• Westford, Wisc., resident Sherry Shirley, was in for a surprise when she opened her front door to let her dog inside last weekend. What entered her house, instead of the dog, was a full-grown goat that jumped onto her kitchen counter and ate a freshly baked chocolate cake. The goat’s owners won’t be charged for their animal’s misconduct (in addition to the eaten cake, it broke a few dishes), said patrol Capt. Molly Soblewski. ‘It was just an unfortunate circumstance,’ she said. ‘I feel sorry for the lady, but it is kind of funny.’ Madison Capital Times

• A Canadian cat named Tiger is being credited with saving the life of his owner, Lionel Adams, after his unusual behavior led Adams to visit his family doctor. The doctor detected a a mass in Adams’ lung; Adams is now recovering from surgery to remove the cancer. ‘He would climb into bed and take his paw and drag it down my left side -- he was adamant there was something there,’ Adams said. ‘And it was right where the cancer was.’ The cancer was caught in Stage 1; doctors removed a piece of the lung the size of a soda can. ‘I feel like it could have been a lot worse if the cat hadn’t had tuned in to something there, to something he felt was wrong.... I would say he’s my hero,’ Adams said. Calgary Sun

• Eight-year-old Colorado resident Riley Mers calls a Portuguese water dog named Rock’O her ‘guardian angel.’ Mers has a peanut allergy so severe that her foot is still scarred from the time a peanut shell slipped into her sandal in the park; it burned her skin like acid. Rock’O learned to detect even the faintest scent of peanuts during six months of training at the Florida Canine Academy; the academy’s master trainer, Bill Whitstine, says Rock’O ‘really is a bomb dog for this child, because the peanut is a bomb for her.’ Colorado Springs Gazette

-- Lindsay Barnett