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Pastimes : THE SLIGHTLY MODERATED BOXING RING -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J. C. Dithers who wrote (11529)	5/1/2002 4:45:09 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21057

Girl missing a year without anyone reporting it cnn.com May 1, 2002 Posted: 12:32 PM EDT (1632 GMT) MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Miami-Dade police grappled Wednesday with the strange tale of a 5-year-old girl who has been unaccounted for since January 2001 but who was reported missing only last week by the Florida agency that was supposed to be tracking her. Halfway across the country, Kansas City, Missouri, investigators are trying to determine if the fingerprints and palm prints of the missing Florida girl, Rilya Wilson, match the decapitated remains of a girl found there a year ago. "Everybody else thinks it's her," said Miami-Dade Police Department spokesman Lupo Jimenez. "We're not saying that. We provided fingerprints. It's certainly something we're looking at, but n ow it's up to them to see whether there is a match." Kansas City Police Department spokesman Sgt. Tony Sanders said officials expected results of the palm print comparison between Rilya and the child they dubbed "Precious Doe" later Wednesday. "There are some interesting coincidences -- her age, her race, her size and the fact that no one reported [Precious Doe] missing," Sanders said. "I wouldn't consider it any different than the hundreds of other leads we have received, but it's still a very good lead which we are following up on feverishly." Jimenez said police in Miami have found "no positive linkage" in the two cases. The Florida Department of Children and Families revealed Tuesday it had lost track of Rilya, who had been placed in the custody of her grandmother in 1999 after the parental rights of her mother and father were terminated. Agency records indicate the required monthly meetings with the grandmother did not take place. The case came to light last week when an agency caseworker contacted the grandmother to set up an appointment to check on the child. The grandmother told the caseworker that she had turned the child over to people she believed to be caseworkers in January 2001. The grandmother told authorities those people said they were taking the child for evaluation. They returned about a week later for the girl's clothing, saying the tests were taking longer than expected. The girl was not seen again. The grandmother said she repeatedly called the state to check on the child, but the agency said they have no records to confirm the calls. Miami-Dade police said the grandmother, who was not identified, is not under suspicion. "The department and I take full responsibility for what happened," said Charles Auslander, the agency's district director in Miami. Florida agency officials said Rilya's original caseworker resigned recently after being accused of falsifying documents in another case. Auslander said she was permitted to resign rather than be fired and said she had told investigators she knows nothing about what happened to Rilya. Rilya's mother had drug problems, authorities said, and was last known to be in Cleveland, Ohio. The girl's father reportedly remains in the Miami area. Jimenez said Kansas City authorities contacted Miami-Dade police after information was entered into a nationwide computer database of missing children.

To: J. C. Dithers who wrote (11529)	5/1/2002 4:54:58 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Respond to of 21057

Cats, dogs and budgies to get ‘bill of rights’ Jonathan Leake, Environment Editor BRITAIN’S pets are set to get their own “bill of rights”. Ministers are planning legislation that would guarantee cats, dogs and other pets a minimum quality of life. Under the rules owners could be prosecuted if they failed to give pets what they needed — ranging from adequate food and water to enough space and companionship. The legislation would be the biggest change in Britain’s animal welfare rules for almost a century. It could include codes of conduct for owners of cats, dogs, horses, rabbits and birds. The RSPCA, which is working with the government on the changes, has already drawn up provisional standards. Elliot Morley, an environment minister who is drawing up the proposals, will make a speech on Tuesday outlining possible recommendations. He will say that animal welfare legislation, which dates back to 1911, is out of date. “We need to modernise the law by setting minimum standards for the animals in our care. We have an obligation to treat animals in the way that a civilised society expects,” he said. The most important change is expected to be the creation of a new offence of treating animals in a way “likely to cause suffering”. At present animal owners can be prosecuted only once an animal is clearly suffering. Under the proposed law, police and the RSPCA could prosecute owners if it were believed they had broken the accepted standards for that species. Cat owners could be prosecuted for cooping up pets and not giving them the chance to roam in a garden. Budgie owners who confine birds in small cages or keep them on their own might be prosecuted, too. The debate will centre on how far the government is prepared to go to protect pets. The RSPCA wants “five freedoms” to be adopted for all pets and circus animals. It believes they should be entitled to: Freedom from hunger and thirst — enough good food and water to keep them healthy. Freedom from discomfort — comfortable cages or resting areas. Freedom from pain, injury and disease — and rapid veterinary treatment if they are ill. Freedom to express normal behaviour — so they have enough space and company. Freedom from fear and distress — treatment that avoids mental suffering. Frank Widdowson, the RSPCA’s director of legal services, said: “There should be a ‘duty of care’ so that anyone in charge of an animal has a legal responsibility to meet these standards.” Morley said he accepted the basic principles but the final form of the bill was yet to be decided: “These criteria have been discussed by government advisers. They are widely accepted and easily understood.” This siucker's free , but you gotta register: sunday-times.co.uk I wonder.... is there any code of conduct for the pets?