via blues.nhl.com

David Backes to the rescue.

As we reported yesterday, Phineas the Dog, who lives in Salem, could be put to sleep -- after a long, bizarre battle in the south-central Missouri city. In response to a biting incident a year ago, Salem officials ruled that the three-and-a-half-year-old labrador retriever must be euthanized, sparking outrage from the family and now supporters from around the globe.

The parents of a little girl who was bitten have even urged the city not to put dog to sleep. And now, the dog has a high-profile fan that is bringing even more attention to this small-town saga: David Backes, captain of the St. Louis Blues.

Backes and his wife, Kelly, have offered to fly down to Salem, rescue Phineas and bring him to a no-kill animal shelter in St. Charles.

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Lexi, age seven, saying goodbye to Phineas.

Phineas, a three-and-a-half-year-old labrador retriever in Salem, may not have much longer to live.

That's because officials in the south-central Missouri city deemed him "vicious" after a biting incident involving a seven-year-old girl last year. But in response to the city's plan to put the dog to sleep, the family who owned the dog and a vocal group of supporters have launched a legal battle and social media campaign to save Phineas, who, they say, is a completely harmless dog that the city is stubbornly and aggressively targeting.

Even the family of the biting victim supports the effort to save Phineas from euthanasia.

"Everybody that meets this dog says he's a sweet dog...and everybody in the city of Salem knows this dog is not vicious," says Joe Simon, an attorney who has been working pro bono in this legal fight. "This is an injustice."

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Mike Bizelli via

Missouri puppy mill.

Missouri has the worst puppy mills in the nation -- and lawmakers in the state are working hard to make sure it stays that way! So says the Humane Society, which announced this week that Missouri ranks No. 1 for terrible puppy farms in the United States and is now going after a piece of legislation that passed yesterday which critics say is designed to block all anti-cruelty efforts.

"It's a pro-puppy mill bill," Amanda Good, Missouri state director for the U.S. Humane Society, tells Daily RFT. "We're going to start an education campaign and make sure the public knows exactly what this resolution is."

She is referring to House Joint Resolution 11, a so-called "right-to-farm" bill, which, she says, is just a puppy mill industry effort to avoid all regulation.

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humanesociety.org

Three years after Missourians voted to crack down on disreputable dog breeding operations, the Show-Me State continues to lead the nation in the number of dangerous and unsanitary puppy mills.

So says the Humane Society of the United States, which last week issued a report highlighting the nation's 100 worst dog breeders. Twenty-four Missouri dog breeders made the "Horrrible Hundred" list, besting the runner-up -- Ohio -- by nine puppy mills.

"It's definitely disappointing for Missouri considering that voters passed a law only for lawmakers to overturn many of the key provisions of the measure," says Kathleen Summers, director of outreach and research for HSUS's puppy mill campaign.

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via PETA

Undercover video.

Last month, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released an "undercover video" inside one of Washington University's labs, which the group says reveals the school's mistreatment of live cats in one of its courses. Soon after, PETA made more of a splash with an announcement that The Price Is Right's Bob Barker supported the cause and would even donate tens of thousands to rescue the cats from these labs.

But Wash. U. has continued to defend the practice, saying it is not cruel and is an important training tool, prompting PETA to try a different approach: a complaint with the Missouri attorney general's office.

"The course is indefensible," Justin Goodman, director of laboratory investigations with PETA, tells Daily RFT. "This is an opportunity for the attorney general to evaluate these misleading claims."

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Brett Nash, 46.

Brett Nash, a 46-year-old Granite City, Illinois, resident, developed a plot to abduct an attorney, strap a fake bomb to him, electrocute him in a bathtub and try to frame the victim's cat -- whom he also was going to kill.

So says Stephen Wigginton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, who announced yesterday afternoon that the Illinois man has been sentenced in federal court to serve twenty years in prison, the maximum statutory sentence, after pleading guilty to "solicitation of a crime of violence" in December of last year.

Nash had been accused of trying to get his wife to help him "abduct, seize and confine" a Granite City lawyer "in order to obtain money from him."

And how exactly did the plot involve the murder of a cat?

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Katie Pilgram/Saint Louis Zoo

Saint Louis Zoo's new baby girl.

It's a girl! A 251-pound baby girl.

The Saint Louis Zoo announced this weekend that Ellie, the zoo's 42-year-old Asian elephant, has successfully given birth to a baby. The calf is 38 inches tall, weighs 251 pounds -- and is healthy and adorable.

"Mother and baby are both doing very well," Martha Fischer, curator of mammals at the zoo, says in a statement. "The baby appears healthy and is already walking around well."

This is the fourth baby for the father named Raja -- who was the first elephant ever born at the Saint Louis Zoo. More photos below.

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via

Bob Barker says Wash. U.'s cats pay a high price.

Bob Barker -- yes, Bob Barker -- is pressuring Washington University in St. Louis to end its controversial practice of using live cats in medical-school training classes.

"I love cats. I love all animals," the television host tells Daily RFT in a phone interview. "It's upsetting to me.... There's no reason for them to be doing this."

As part of his plea to Wash. U., he's offering $75,000 to fund an alternative method that uses simulation mannequins instead of cats, which animal rights activists say are tortured during the procedure.

Will that price be right?

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via

Inside a Wash. U. training program.

Is it necessary for Washington University to use live cats as part of a medical training program? That question was raised again last week when People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released an "undercover video" that gives viewers a look inside the medical school's practice of intubating anesthetized cats. Full footage is below.

"It's incredibly painful," Justin Goodman, director of laboratory investigations with PETA, tells Daily RFT. "Unskilled trainees [shove] hard, plastic tubes down a cat's very delicate throat."

The video evidence, PETA says, reveals that some cats were not even properly anesthetized and began to wake up during the procedure. And the group says that's just one more reason that this practice must end at Wash. U., which may be the only institution that still uses cats for this training.

Wash. U., however, defends the procedure -- arguing that it is proven to be safe for the cats and is a very valuable training method.

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Chris Reimer

Who says downtown St. Louis doesn't get much foot traffic?

Spied this morning in downtown St. Louis: a wild turkey. And no, we're not talking about an empty bottle of bourbon. That sight is commonplace. We're talking today about a genuine meleagris gallopavo.

Chris Reimer (perhaps better known for his Twitter handle @rizzotees) e-mailed Daily RFT the following photos he snapped near the St. Louis Language Immersion School at 19th and Pine streets. Says Reimer:

"I was there dropping my kids off at school. This guy says to me, 'Excuse me, sir?' I said, 'What's up?' He pointed down the street and said, 'TURKEY!' I was like wtf is this guy talking about? I peered around the corner and saw a turkey walking down the sidewalk. I told my kids, 'Oh, I gotta get a picture of this!'"

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