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Saturday, May 5, 2007

A small, “nicely trained” Jack Russell Terrier gave his life to help save a group of five children from two aggressive pitbulls last Sunday in Manaia, Taranaki, New Zealand.

The dog named George is being described as a hero, gathering a huge amount of international media interest in the process.

The dog suffered massive injuries that the vet had never seen to that extent before, which resulted in 69-year-old Alan Gay, the dog’s owner, allowing George to be put down. He now regrets this decision.

The two pitbulls rushed at the group of children that George was following to the dairy, including a four-year-old. George then started barking loudly at the pair of dogs, and put himself between the dogs and the children. Mr Gay told Fox News, “If it wasn’t for George, those kids would have copped it.”

Despite having received offers of new dogs, Mr Gay has said that he will wait a while before getting another Jack Russell Terrier, as he is afraid it could happen again.

It is also believed that the two attacking dogs, which have been destroyed, were bred to be aggressive, including being fed the drug methamphetamine, commonly referred to as “P” in New Zealand.

Mr Gay has said that Manaia has had a problem with stray dogs before, but he never expected that George would become a victim.

One story ran in USA Today, which prompted over 120 comments, and one reader to personally call Alan Gay expressing their condolences.

Responding to the huge amount of media interest, Mr Gay said, “This really surprises me, and it’s marvellous. I never expected this … I’m surprised it got around the world as it did.” He says he has been getting a huge amount of phone calls from the media and the public. “The phone has been going since about half past seven this morning. Every time I hang up it rings again. It’s worn out; I might have to get a new one.”

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Italian chocolatemaker Ferrero has ruled out making a bid to purchase United Kingdom confectioners Cadbury. The move comes after Cadbury’s board recommended accepting a takeover bid by United States firm Kraft that valued the company at £11.9 billion sterling.

Ferrero is best known for its Rocher branded chocolates and the advertisements that accompany them. It had been rumoured that the Italians would team up with another US firm, Hershey, to submit a joint bid for Cadbury. However, on Friday Hershey decided not to attempt to purchase Cadbury, who are most famous for Dairy Milk chocolates.

Both companies had been given yesterday as their deadline to declare their intentions regarding their British rival. Kraft now seem likely to achieve their aim of buying up the confectioner, after four months of negotiations and an offer that was increased twice. Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 said Ferrero had backed out because of the amount of debt they would need to take on and a perceived requirement for job cuts.

Kraft are offering 500p cash per Cadbury share, plus Kraft stock. However, if some investors accept extra Kraft shares then up to 799p. The deal gives Cadbury a total value of 837p, down from the 850p orignally offered due to fluctuations in the exchange rate between the United States dollar and the pound sterling. “The final offer’s value will change as the Kraft Foods share price and the USD/GBP exchange rate change,” explained Kraft.

Jeremy Batstone-Carr, an analyst with Charles Stanley, said British stock investors were likely to not want Kraft shares. “UK-based investors are unlikely to want to hold Kraft stock… We believe that as many as half these holders… will be looking for alternative investment destinations here in the UK.” Shareholders have until February 2 to consider the offer. If they accept, Cadbury will cease to be an independant company, which it has been since it was founded in 1824.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

An Amtrak passenger train de-railed after hitting a pickup truck in Plant City, Florida, in the United States. The driver of the pickup truck was killed on impact. The crash occurred at a marked railroad crossing inside of an industrial area, according to an Amtrak spokesperson.

None of the 133 passengers were seriously hurt, however, the train’s engineer and five passengers were taken to a local hospital after suffering minor injuries. The remaining passengers were taken to a local bowling alley. Although the train’s two locomotives and nine cars de-railed, they remained upright.

Witnesses report the train sounded its horns at the appropriate times. It was reported the pickup truck simply drove in front of the train.

The crash is the second to occur this week with a train; on Monday, a driver in a Pontiac Grand Am deliberately ignored the lights and crossing arms at another railroad crossing in the area, and drove around them, into the path of a different Amtrak train on the same route. The impact caused the car to go airborne. All four people in the car were killed; no one on the train was injured.