Dogs are better than cats.

The purrfect crime fighter


Sturgeon have been poached to the brink of extinction

A new detective is on the beat in central Russia - Rusik the cat - the latest weapon in the battle against sturgeon smugglers.

Rusik has been recruited by police at a checkpoint in the Stavropol region, bordering the Caspian Sea, to hunt out illegal cargoes of the endangered fish.

In fact his ability to sniff out poached fish hidden in trucks and other vehicles is so good that he has replaced the local sniffer dog.

Areas bordering the Caspian Sea are plagued by poachers keen to cash in on stolen sturgeon, whose roe is the delicacy caviar, which sell for huge sums in Moscow and other cities.

An estimated 95% of the world's caviar comes from the Caspian Sea and this lucrative market has meant that the sturgeon has been hunted to the brink of extinction.

Adopted stray

The feline crime fighter walked into a police checkpoint a year ago as a stray kitten.

The staff quickly adopted it, feeding it on scraps of fish confiscated from smugglers.

Now Rusik has cut out the middle man, going direct to the source as he searches vehicles at the checkpoint for smuggled fish.

Rusik earns his regular rations as a member of the team, working alongside his less keen-scented human colleagues.

The little cat has proven a formidable weapon - indeed staff say no matter how ingenious the smugglers are in their attempts to hide the fish, Rusik is always able to point his nose in the right direction and find it.

It's a fact cats are dumber than dogs, have you ever seen a seeing-eye cat? How about a police cat?

.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Police aren't sure how else to explain it. But when an officer walked into an apartment Thursday night to answer a 911 call, an orange-and-tan striped cat was lying by a telephone on the living room floor. The cat's owner, Gary Rosheisen, was on the ground near his bed having fallen out of his wheelchair.

Rosheisen said his cat, Tommy, must have hit the right buttons to call 911.

"I know it sounds kind of weird," Officer Patrick Daugherty said, unsuccessfully searching for some other explanation.

Rosheisen said he couldn't get up because of pain from osteoporosis and ministrokes that disrupt his balance. He also wasn't wearing his medical-alert necklace and couldn't reach a cord above his pillow that alerts paramedics that he needs help.

Daugherty said police received a 911 call from Rosheisen's apartment, but there was no one on the phone. Police called back to make sure everything was OK, and when no one answered, they decided to check things out.

That's when Daugherty found Tommy next to the phone.

Rosheisen got the cat three years ago to help lower his blood pressure. He tried to train him to call 911, unsure if the training ever stuck.

The phone in the living room is always on the floor, and there are 12 small buttons - including a speed dial for 911 right above the button for the speaker phone.

"He's my hero," Rosheisen said.

My dog is dumb as shit.

My cat fetches stuff for my daughter.

cats++

dogs--

Yeah, and cats catch mice too. But dogs can be deputized and wear a badge, they can track down and apprehend criminals. Dogs are able to rescue people.

They say dogs are like their owners. joking..

Yeah, and cats catch mice too. But dogs can be deputized and wear a badge, they can track down and apprehend criminals. Dogs are able to rescue people.

Courageous Cat Helps D.A. Take Down Phony Veterinarian
Feb. 13, 2006 - In the end, Steven Vassall was nothing more than a ball of string in Fred's sights.

Kings County prosecutors are hailing the efforts of an adorable "undercover kitty" that helped them get their paws on a bogus veterinarian charged with endangering the lives of the animals under his care.

During a press conference Wednesday morning, Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes said it was Fred the cat's courage, dedication to the task at hand, and outright cuddliness that helped them nab Vassall, 28, who claimed to be a veterinarian, although he had no official training nor offices.

Vassall, officials said, was charged with posing as a licensed Doctor of Veterinary Medicine for conducting risky surgeries on people's pets.

The Flatbush resident is accused of operating a clinic where he would pick up sick animals and then perform life-threatening procedures. None of the victims' owners ever saw his offices.

What they did see was a list of reduced prices for the care he gave the animals, which ranged from performing a thyriodectomy to neutering to euthanasia. Advertisement

Police are still investigating where exactly Vassall performed these procedures and were trying to locate pet owners that Vassal may have fleeced in the more than seven years that he had claimed to be practicing.

Investigators allege that they were alerted to Vassal's shady practices after he nearly killed a five-year-old Boston Terrier named Burt.

Burt's owner, Raymond Reid, contacted Vassall for a simple diagnosis.

Instead, Vassal recommended surgery to remove a foreign object that the non-MD thought was lodged in the dog's intestines, prosecutors said.

Following difficulties in the operation, which was never needed to begin with, Vassall recommended to Reid that Burt should be put to sleep.

But Reid wanted his four-legged friend returned to him. When Burt was brought back home - with a $985 bill to boot - the dog's stomach was riddled with infected sutures.

Reid had to take Burt to a legitimate veterinarian to "fix the problems caused by Vassall's botched surgery," Hynes said.

With Vassall on their radar, prosecutors recruited Fred, an eight-month-old Tabby cat adopted by a prosecutor from New York City Animal Care and Control.

Prosecutors said that Fred played his part well as a young cat whose owner wanted to get neutered.

The Kings County D.A. wired an apartment and had an agent call Vassall to stop by and pick Fred up.

Vassall, officials allege, immediately brokered the deal, stating that he would neuter Fred for $135.

The undercover agent paid Vassall and handed Fred over in a cat carrier.

A whisker's breath away from danger with one of his lives on the line, Fred did not falter, said prosecutors, who said that investigators caught up with Vassall and placed him under arrest just moments after he left the apartment.

Vassall was charged with overdriving, torturing and injuring an animal as well as unauthorized use of a professional title. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

"Animal cruelty is among the most heinous crimes, because people's pets are the most innocent victims," said Hynes. "We will make sure that this so-called doctor faces the maximum penalty for what he did to these animals."

For performing above and beyond the duty of an ordinary house cat, Fred was officially deputized by Detective Investigators of the Kings County District Attorney's office and given a small badge as token of their appreciation.

As of Thursday, Fred the undercover kitty was awaiting his next assignment.

It's a fact cats are dumber than dogs, have you ever seen a seeing-eye cat? How about a police cat?

Prosecutors said that Fred played his part well as a young cat whose owner wanted to get neutered.

Dogs are man's best friend.

More pet dogs have killed their masters or their masters family than pet cats.

Birds are smarter than both combined.

More pet dogs have killed their masters or their masters family than pet cats.