By ,
Published January 13, 2015
A tiny girl in east Africa owes her life to a cunning canine.
Residents of a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, told the Daily Nation newspaper that the stray dog found the newborn tot abandoned in a nearby forest and carried her home.
The plucky pooch apparently took the girl out of the plastic bag in which she'd been left, carried her across a busy road and through a barbed-wire fence.
Two children alerted elders that they heard the sound of a baby crying near their wooden shack. Residents found the baby lying next to the mixed-breed dog and her own pup.
The seven-pound, four-ounce infant was taken to the hospital for treatment on Saturday.
"She is doing well, responding to treatment, she is stable. ... She is on antibiotics," Kenyatta National Hospital (search) spokeswoman Hanna Gakuo told The Associated Press from the hospital, where health workers called the infant Angel.
Kenya's media often report the abandonment of newborns by mothers. Poverty and the inability to care for the child are seen as the root cause of the problem. Most people who abandon babies are never caught.
"The publicity on the way the baby was rescued has sparked a lot of public interest in helping her," Gakuo said. "People have been calling the hospital, asking about the possibility of adopting her."
The stray dog also was being cared for Tuesday, a day after its last surviving puppy died for unknown reasons, said Jean Gilchrist of the Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (search).
Animal welfare officials named the dog "Mkombozi," or "Savior," and gave the dog its first bath and de-worming.
"She looks a bit depressed, so we'd like to examine her to see if she has a temperature or any other problem," Gilchrist said.
Click in the photo box above to see pictures.
— Thanks to Out There reader Tracy M. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Chickens Cross Road, Get Traffic Tickets
RIDGECREST, Calif. (AP) — Linc and Helena Moore may have finally learned the answer to that age-old question: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Because the chicken doesn't know jaywalking is illegal.
Kern County (search) Sheriff's Deputy J. Nicholson does know, however. The deputy issued a ticket on March 26 to one of the couple's chickens for impeding traffic on a road in Johannesburg, a rural mining community southeast of Ridgecrest.
The Moores arrived in Superior Court on Friday to plead not guilty to their chicken's alleged transgression. A trial was scheduled for May 16.
Nicholson has declined to discuss the matter, but sheriff's Sgt. Francis Moore said chickens on the roadway have been a problem in the community of 50 residents. Officials didn't believe it could be resolved by simply issuing the couple a warning.
"Sometimes you have to let people talk to the judge," Moore said.
The chicken's owners say they believe they were cited because they were among several people who complained that sheriff's deputies haven't done enough to control off-road vehicle riders who damage roads and create dust and noise in their neighborhood.
Sheriff's officials say that isn't so, adding they are doing what they can to keep off-roaders away from the area's homes.
"The chicken thing has nothing to do with the motorcycle thing," Moore said.
— Thanks to Out There readers Chris E. and Greg B.
Flour-Covered Dough Forces Bank Evacuation
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — They were working with dough, but flour was the last thing a group of bank workers expected to kick up.
Six employees of a Wachovia (search) branch evacuated the building Thursday when a cloud of white powder puffed out of a bill-counting machine.
A call to 911 brought out emergency crews to respond to a "weapon of mass destruction" incident.
But when the dust settled, bank officials discovered that a customer who brought in a $2,000 deposit that morning was in fact a restaurant owner, and the cash apparently had been dusted with flour from the kitchen.
"They've ruled out any kind of [hazardous material]," fire Battalion Chief David Linday said. "We don't have a test that can say, 'Yes, this is flour,' but [the owner's] story has stayed consistent, so that's what it appears to be."
The evacuation lasted about two hours, Wachovia spokesman Scott Silvestri said. Although it might have seemed like an overreaction, it was better to be safe than sorry, he said.
"We're operating in a different time since 9/11, and that's changed the thinking of a lot of companies in how they should approach safety," Silvestri said.
— Thanks to Out There reader Polly S.
Thai Boys Turn Out to Be Very Pretty Girls
PATTAYA, Thailand (AP) — At the Miss Tiffany Universe pageant (search) — which boasts dozens of gorgeous, lithe, smooth-skinned contestants — one thing is undeniable: Thailand turns out some of the most beautiful transvestites and transsexuals in the world.
As contestants glided across the stage in glittering ball gowns Saturday night, one might never have guessed they were all born boys. Only when they open their mouths do their vocal cords reveal the truth.
"Most people can't tell because I'm very petite, but when I talk, they know," said 21-year-old Wararat Saengchai, who started taking female hormones at 14 and underwent sex change and breast implant operations a year ago.
If she keeps quiet, her delicate features could fool anyone. Others must rely on foam-padded bras and girdles to create womanly curves.
Miss Tiffany's, one of the most famous all-male cabaret theaters, has held the annual beauty pageant since 1998 in a gaudy Roman-pillared white building in Pattaya.
"Western countries may not give their people the opportunity to change because they can't accept it, whereas here, we do," said Punyapat Daengnoi, 24, who underwent a sex change two years ago. "We become beautiful because we are accepted and can be happy that we can be ourselves."
Many contestants came from rural provinces across Thailand and describe being accepted by their families only after proving that they would be academically and professionally successful, and not a financial burden.
Tiptantree Rujiranon, 20, won the grand prize: $2,500 and a new pink car. The pageant was broadcast live on national television.
Click in the photo box above to see a picture.
Man Struck by Lightning — Again
SPRING HILL, Fla. (AP) — Emory Johnson can now talk about surviving a lightning strike not once, but twice. The second jolt was much worse for the Tarpon Springs construction worker.
Johnson was working on an air-conditioning system when rain started and he moved his tools inside at a four-unit villa being built near Spring Hill.
He stepped off a fiberglass ladder and onto the floor last Wednesday as lightning hit a 50-foot pine tree outside. The bolt tore a swath of bark off the tree, moved across a pile of duct work and shot in a window.
"There was a loud bang, and it felt like I was burning inside, and I passed out," Johnson recalled. "When I woke up, I was shaking so bad I couldn't quit."
Hours after the jolt, his shoulders were sore, and "my whole body really feels like somebody beat me up."
Still shaking, the 54-year-old joked, "If you want a milkshake, I can give you one. But it will only be half full."
His first lightning strike in 1986 happened as he sat in his truck at a Holiday intersection. The bolt burned the seats, fried the electrical system and left him tingling.
"I don't know if it's trying to follow me still or what," he said.
Polite Stickup Siblings Plead Guilty to Robberies
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Two sisters pleaded guilty last Tuesday to a series of armed, but polite, convenience-store robberies.
Carrie Huchel, 33, and her sister, Heather Huchel, 30, robbed seven stores in Allegheny and Washington counties between March 31 and April 7 last year, netting about $1,250.
In five robberies, Carrie Huchel wielded a BB gun while her sister drove the getaway car; in two other robberies, they reversed roles, police said.
The sisters were dubbed the "polite" robbers because they always said "please" and "thank you" when demanding the money.
The sisters have told police they were addicted to OxyContin (search) and heroin and robbed to feed their drug habit. The women were arrested after police found them living in their car on May 14 and found clothing, the BB gun and other items tying them to the robberies.
Allegheny County Judge David Cashman told the women they face a maximum of 200 years in prison each when they return for sentencing Aug. 3.
Compiled by FOX News' Paul Wagenseil.
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