Animals

As Spring rolls around, pet adoptions tend to increase. There is always a growing demand for rabbits as Easter approaches. Marion County Animal Services Director Elaine Delorio says although spring is a great time to adopt a pet, she says people should be prepared for the long term commitment. Residents …

Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell and her Rural Services Unit will be awarded for the implementation of an animal protection unit this Saturday. Both were nominated by the Neighbor’s Equine Assistance Team founder, Adrienne Hudson. Alachua County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Todd Kelly says, Darnell is well deserving of the award. …

Lion Fish, Burmese Pythons and parakeets…Oh My! Exotic pets that are released into Florida’s environment are wreaking havoc on their surroundings and researchers at the University of Florida say this problem is avoidable. In a free brochure written by experts at UF’s Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Department, procedures for turning …

Marion County Animal Services is trying to gain legal custody of the 35 cats seized from a Silver Springs home earlier this week. Animal Services Program Coordinator Elaine DeIorio says the cats were taken from Nelly Vega, who was convicted of animal cruelty in 2006. “These types of people will …

Many people regard Ocala Florida as the horse capital of the world. Horses are raised there both domestically and for racing purposes. While many people are used to gathering around the TV to watch the big races, what goes on behind the scenes? Florida’s 89.1, WUFT-FM’s Jason Hackett went out …

Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park hosted a public meeting last night at the Doyle Conner Building in Gainesville. As WUFT’s Matthew Cretul reports, at the heart of the meeting was the proposed management plan of livestock currently living within the park. The full draft plan can be found on Florida’s …

Alachua County Animal Services is holding a “Spring Cleaning “ adoption event on Saturday (May 15th) from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at their headquarters on Northeast 53rd Avenue in Gainesville. The afternoon event will feature a variety of vendors and educational materials as well as food and a raffle. …

A recent outbreak of the distemper virus in several raccoons in the western section of Gainesville and Alachua County has a lot of pet owners worried. WUFT-FM’s Junior Skepple spoke to some experts about the importance of having animals immunized against the virus. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/distemper.mp3]

People are still talking about a bizarre shark attack that killed surfer Stephen Schafer. Details about the attack continue to surface as a team struggles to determine the kind of shark behind the attack, and if there was more than one. Jessica Gable has the story. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/shark.mp3]