What the Flock Is Going On Around Here?

What the Flock Is Going On? Birds Crashing Planes Over the Hudson, Dogs Getting Electric Shocks on The Sidewalks of Battery Park, Major Animal Shelter in Queens Shutting It's Doors, Dog Fashion Police...Oh My!

There I was, minding my own, trying to get some work done last Thursday and then the next 72 hours turned into newsroom chaos. Except in this case the newsroom is little o’Chilli. Luckily I can jump pretty fast, because that’s exactly what I was doing from one event to the next.

A flock of geese (allegedly Canadian Geese) decided to fly into the engines of a airplane taking off from LaGuardia Airport (right near Astoria and Jackson Heights, Queens), blowing at least one of the engines and causing the plane to pancake into the Hudson River. Now, whether the geese flew into the engines or got sucked into it is a matter of opinion, but I’m going to guess any halfway intelligent sentient being seeing and hearing a huge grinding engine in front of them is gong to want to fly the other way if they can. Latest reports say the airplane had just taken off and suddenly a formation of geese was splattered on the windshield of the cockpit and the smell of cooked goose wafted through the air.

Thankfully, everyone escaped from the airplane crash with very few major injuries. (If you have a chance, take a look at some of the photos—it’s pretty amazing. The passengers standing on the submerged wings of the plane looks like Jesus and his apostles walking across the river Jordan.) But the geese, presumably, were turned into duck soup. In true New York Post style, the perpetually hyperbolic paper were calling for all geese to be immediately separated from their heads:

Pluck ‘Em!
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01172009/postopinion/editorials/geese_be_gone_150533.htm

Now I am the world’s biggest chicken when it comes to flying. I absolutely, positively hate flying, which means I probably won’t see a lot of people, places and things before I die. So yes, next time I’m about to (reluctantly) board a plane and I see even one goose in the vicinity I’m going to freak out. But kill them all? Eh…not so much. There are other alternatives, and while some of the ideas may need a little work, it’s a start. I spoke with Patrick Kwan, head of the mid-atlantic region of the Humane Society of the United States about it and while I didn’t agree with everything he said, like I said, it’s a start.

Oh, but I’m just getting started. You know it’s really winter in New York when you hear about the first sidewalk shock of the season—and that’s exactly what happened last week. Guy walking his dog down in Battery Park suddenly got a jolt of electricity that shook them both up pretty badly.

Yes, you read that right. It’s not safe in the skies above New York, and it’s not safe on the street below you, either! Sadly, while this has all the makings of an urban legend, it is not. It happens every year. Blair Sorrel, who for seven years has been waging a one-woman war against stray voltage from the street, has an excellent website called Street Zaps which maps all confirmed incidents everywhere. She’s working really hard to get this bizzaro, deadly problem addressed in an meaningful way, so drop by her website and see how you can help. (It’s not just New York City, either—Miami is also a hot spot.)

Oh, but’s that’s not all. I’m just about to update my blog with these two items when I get this piece of news—Animal Haven in Flushing is closing. This is pretty significant around here because Animal Haven, perhaps right behind the ASPCA and North Shore Animal League, is a very popular and well-known animal shelter and adoption agency. Just a little over two years ago they opened a swanky outpost in downtown SoHo (aptly named “Animal Haven SoHo”) which is part fancy store, part shelter, and part groomer/training facility. But the Flushing spot was where the majority of the animals lived. With the shuttering of the Flushing location, some 150 or so dogs and cats are scrambling for a home. I’m still trying to find out what exactly happened here; in the meantime, some of the preliminaries are answered on AH’s Frequently Asked Questions page.

And, finally, of perhaps importance to both our readers to dress up their dogs as well as those sponsors who create and sell often very high-end clothing—the RSPCA of the U.K. is proposing disiplinary action against people who dress up their dogs. Now, okay, I think they have some validity in their objections. If a piece of clothing doesn’t fit right, or obstructs the dog’s view (like several ‘hoodies’ I saw on the street during the cold snap recently—poor dogs had no idea where they were going) or had little accessories on it that they can chew off and swallow, or fabric that can get caught in a gate, or a very hot dress on a very hot day (you see where I’m going with this) you might want to rethink that ‘cute’ outfit. But in the bitter cold of recent weeks, especially for small, short-haired dogs, well-fitted coats are certainly in order. I sent an email to the RSPCA (I’m not calling England) for a response and got back an automated ‘we’ll get back to you’ message.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4227567/RSPCA-says-people-who-dress-up-their-dogs-could-be-prosecuted.html

There’s a whole bunch of other stuff going on, of course, but these three doozies happened within a 24-hour period in the last couple of weeks. As more info trickles in about each of these I’ll let you know, and, of course, when new stuff comes in as well. If you have any info please feel free to post.

Whew! Now back to my regularly scheduled work. Of course, if one of the Obama girls shows up with a puppy on her arm during Inaugeration Day tomorrow I might just have a nervous breakdown. By the way, Mistress Chilli adds to her prediction: the ‘shelter’ puppy, a Labradoodle or a Portugese Water Dog, will likely come from Chicago or Washington, D.C. rescue group. Again, just an educated guess.