Aid efforts hampered after Pakistan flooding
Aid agencies are warning of an impending catastrophe in Pakistan as the country suffers the worst flooding in nearly 40 years. More than 1,100 people have died but that number is expected to increase. Rising waters have ravaged huge swathes of the north west corner of the country. Oxfam has launched an emergency humanitarian aid effort as hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless. Save the Children are already operating in the region and are distributing plastic sheeting, household supplies and hygiene kits. Humanitarian Director Jane Cocking has said: "The more villages that are reached the grimmer the picture becomes. There is a desperate need for temporary shelter, clean drinking water and toilets to avert a public health catastrophe. People also need medical care and basic food items." Almost 700 people drowned in the Peshawar valley, which includes the districts of Nowshera and Charsada, and 115 others are still missing, Mr Khan said. The districts of Swat and Shangla were also hit hard and suffered more than 400 deaths, said Mujahid Khan, the head of rescue services for the Edhi Foundation, a private charity. In the Nowshera area, men, women and children were reduced to scrambling on to roofs as they waited to be rescued.(itn)
Charity Forced To Put Down Dangerous Dogs
Battersea Dogs and Cats Home says it has to put down one in three of the dogs it takes in, in most cases because they are too dangerous to rehome. The charity has said "enough is enough" after more than two-thirds of the dogs they destroyed last year were healthy but judged too much of a risk to be offered for rehoming. Scott Craddock, the home's director of operations, said the animal centre was "mopping up" society's problems. Of the 7,866 dogs taken in to the home, 1,931 were healthy but were put down simply because of their dangerous behaviour. A spokesperson for the home confirmed destroying a dog was a last resort, but said sometimes it was necessary. "We give every dog a behaviour assessment to see if we can work with them," she said. "If they cannot be rehomed as a pet, we find places for them with the police or the armed forces. "But if we have tried to work with an animal and it is still considered dangerous, it would be irreponsible to try to rehome it." Battersea Dog and Cats Home took in 3,600 Staffordshire bull terriers - a favourite for use as a "weapon" - last year, nine times the 396 handed over in 1996. Mr Craddock described the rise as a "huge problem", telling the BBC's Panorama programme that bull breeds and bull breed crosses accounted for more than half of the home's longer-term residents. The dogs often have to be kept in individual kennels which has a huge impact on the space available at the animal shelter. Abandoned Staffordshire bull terriers have become such a problem that the RSPCA has a website dedicated to rehoming the dogs. The Blue Cross animal charity said the number at its adoption centres increased by 42% between 2006 and 2009 and it was the most likely breed to be handed in. The charities have appealed for dog licensing to be brought back, with the funds raised used to educate and ensure the animals' wellbeing.(skynews)
News from Yahoo News
Aid agencies are warning of an impending catastrophe in Pakistan as the country suffers the worst flooding in nearly 40 years. More than 1,100 people have died but that number is expected to increase. Rising waters have ravaged huge swathes of the north west corner of the country. Oxfam has launched an emergency humanitarian aid effort as hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless. Save the Children are already operating in the region and are distributing plastic sheeting, household supplies and hygiene kits. Humanitarian Director Jane Cocking has said: "The more villages that are reached the grimmer the picture becomes. There is a desperate need for temporary shelter, clean drinking water and toilets to avert a public health catastrophe. People also need medical care and basic food items." Almost 700 people drowned in the Peshawar valley, which includes the districts of Nowshera and Charsada, and 115 others are still missing, Mr Khan said. The districts of Swat and Shangla were also hit hard and suffered more than 400 deaths, said Mujahid Khan, the head of rescue services for the Edhi Foundation, a private charity. In the Nowshera area, men, women and children were reduced to scrambling on to roofs as they waited to be rescued.(itn)
Charity Forced To Put Down Dangerous Dogs
Battersea Dogs and Cats Home says it has to put down one in three of the dogs it takes in, in most cases because they are too dangerous to rehome. The charity has said "enough is enough" after more than two-thirds of the dogs they destroyed last year were healthy but judged too much of a risk to be offered for rehoming. Scott Craddock, the home's director of operations, said the animal centre was "mopping up" society's problems. Of the 7,866 dogs taken in to the home, 1,931 were healthy but were put down simply because of their dangerous behaviour. A spokesperson for the home confirmed destroying a dog was a last resort, but said sometimes it was necessary. "We give every dog a behaviour assessment to see if we can work with them," she said. "If they cannot be rehomed as a pet, we find places for them with the police or the armed forces. "But if we have tried to work with an animal and it is still considered dangerous, it would be irreponsible to try to rehome it." Battersea Dog and Cats Home took in 3,600 Staffordshire bull terriers - a favourite for use as a "weapon" - last year, nine times the 396 handed over in 1996. Mr Craddock described the rise as a "huge problem", telling the BBC's Panorama programme that bull breeds and bull breed crosses accounted for more than half of the home's longer-term residents. The dogs often have to be kept in individual kennels which has a huge impact on the space available at the animal shelter. Abandoned Staffordshire bull terriers have become such a problem that the RSPCA has a website dedicated to rehoming the dogs. The Blue Cross animal charity said the number at its adoption centres increased by 42% between 2006 and 2009 and it was the most likely breed to be handed in. The charities have appealed for dog licensing to be brought back, with the funds raised used to educate and ensure the animals' wellbeing.(skynews)
News from Yahoo News