Animals

Residents nearby the Haven Acres Cat Sanctuary, whose permit was revoked Tuesday, are questioning the health department’s inspections of the property. The sanctuary had nearly 700 cats taken away last month due to various health code violations. Nearby residents have sent emails to the county questioning if previous inspections were …

Earlier this week fish and wildlife officials found a dead panther near a southwest Florida road. They say the one year old male cat had apparently been hit by a vehicle. As Donna Green-Townsend reports, although the number of panthers killed in 2011 seems high, the state’s panther population is …

A 1-year-old male panther was found dead in the Immokalee area on Monday after being hit by a vehicle. Mark Lotz, a panther biologist from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, says this occurance is fairly common. Scientists estimate only 160 Florida panthers still remain in the wild [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/Lotz1.mp3]

A water rescue training exercise led to a horse’s death earlier this year. As Florida’s 89.1, WUFT-FM’s Jonathan Chandler reports, the accident resulted from the horse’s unexpected panic and a previously undetected flaw in the training equipment. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/horsedeathwrap.mp3]

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials say 17 alligators escaped from an alligator farm in Hernando in Citrus County. FWC Investigator, Jim Smith, received a call from the local nuisance-alligator trapper saying his agent had captured eighy 4-to-6-foot alligators over four days in a housing development with no nearby …

With the cat-hoarding case at the Haven Acres Cat Sanctuary in High Springs, hoarding is getting new attention as a disorder. WUFT-FM’s Chris Peralta has more. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/Hoarding Wrap.mp3]

More than 500 cats have been rescued from a cat sanctuary in High Springs… National organizations were called in to help with this operation and WUFT-FM’s Corey Bachman spoke with the Division Director for Alachua County Animal Services, David Flagler, who says the bulk of these cats were living in …

By Paula Cunniffe – WUFT-FM Santa Fe College’s teaching zoo will hold an open house for the people of Gainesville starting tomorrow morning. As Paula Cunniffe reports, zookeepers are particularly excited about the latest edition to the zoo – a baby gibbon. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/FPSFzoo.mp3]

Residents in Clay County are on the lookout for two black bears that are roaming the neighborhood. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission public information Coordinator Karen Parker says in order for the bears to go back to where they came from residents must stop making it easy for the …

With temperatures reaching the 90’s today pet owners need to be careful about leaving animals in cars. Alachua County Animal Services Director David Flagler says this is an area of concern in Florida in particular. “Being away for any length of time, still sets up the condition to where the …