U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection confiscates package containing dead birds posing as cat food

- Virginia, USA -

U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection (CBP) have recently released a statement regarding an incident that happened on January 27.

At Washington Dulles International Airport, during a baggage examination, CBP agriculture specialists seized a package from a traveler that had arrived from Beijing, China.

The package had pictures of a cat and dog and the passenger said it was cat food.

In the package there was a bunch of tiny dead birds.

Casey Durst, Director of Field Operations for CBP’s Baltimore Field Office said: “These dead birds are prohibited from importation to the United States as unprocessed birds pose a potentially significant disease threat to our nation’s poultry industries and more alarmingly to our citizens as potential vectors of avian influenza.”

The CBP quickly confiscated the package, and its contents was incinerated with approval from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture).

The traveler was destined to an address in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

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PETA does not like the terms “PET”, “IT”, and “OWNER” and suggests alternatives

The animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) thinks the term ‘pet’ is derogatory and is calling out to the public to use words like ‘companion’ when they refer to their animals, and the word ‘guardian’ instead of owner.

On Tuesday, February 4, Senior Media Officer at PETA Ms. Jennifer White (pictured below), appeared as a guest on the daytime TV Show Good Morning Britain.

I did not watch the whole show, just an extract on You Tube (link below).

Ms. White struggled to explain the reasons why the word ‘pet’ should not be used.

She was constantly rudely interrupted by the Show’s presenters, especially Piers Morgan who even said to her at some point: “This is our show we ask the questions.”

Ms. White simply said: “A lot of people at home who have dogs or cats will call them pets and refer to themselves as owners and this implies that the animals are a possession, like a car for example.”

She added: “When you refer to animals not as the living beings as they are but as an inanimate object, it can reflect our treatment on these animals.”

Ms. Ingrid Newkirk, PETA founder and president, further explained the organization’s stance in a statement to Fox News.

The statement read: “Referring to an animal as a ‘pet’ or as ‘it’ reduces a sentient being with a personality and emotions to an inanimate object—a possession to be used in any way the ‘owner’ wishes. Contrary to some reports, we are not seeking to ban these words; we’re simply suggesting that it would be more respectful to refer to the animals in our homes as ‘animal companions’ and ourselves as their ‘guardians’ in the same way that all social movements concerned with cultivating respect have made appeals to stop using terms that are racist or sexist or that otherwise imply that the subject is less important than the speaker.”

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Retired Accelerant Detection K-9 Phoenix has passed away

- North Carolina, USA -

Many agencies in North Carolina are remembering former SBI Accelerant Detection K-9 Phoenix who was sadly laid to rest on Thursday, February 6, due to health complications.

Officer Phoenix was born in 2007 and worked with North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation from 2008 until 2011 alongside former Special Agent David Bridges.

After serving with the SBI, Phoenix then worked for the Rockingham County Fire Marshal’s Office.

They wrote in their Facebook post: “Through an agreement with the N.C. State Property Office, Phoenix was purchased by Rockingham County. Past Assistant Fire Marshal John Cruise was assigned as her handler. Phoenix was certified as an Accelerant K-9 through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive (ATF)

Throughout her career, Phoenix was instrumental in many arson arrests throughout North Carolina as an SBI K-9. As part of the Fire Marshal’s Office, K-9 Phoenix served Rockingham County and the surrounding counties of Alamance, Guilford, Forsyth, Stokes, Caswell, Henry (VA) and Pittsylvania (VA). Phoenix was influential in the successful prosecution of many arson cases during her career with Rockingham County.

Phoenix retired in 2015 and lived out her remaining days with John Cruise, his wife J.J. and daughter Jamie where she had became one of the members of their family. Phoenix would have been 13 years old this coming July.

Robert Cardwell, Rockingham County Fire Marshal (Retired).”

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Madison, NC Fire Department