Watercooler Stories

Labrador may be Australia's fattest

COLDSTREAM, Australia, June 23 (UPI) -- An Australian veterinarian says a 187-pound Labrador may be the country's most overweight dog and needs to lose at least half its weight before being adopted.

Amber Lavery, the veterinarian taking care of Sampson until the animal reaches its target weight, said the dog is too heavy to exercise and has bulging, blood-shot eyes due to high blood pressure and the fatty tissue around its head, the Melbourne Herald Sun reported Wednesday.

Lavery is taking care of the dog for the Animal Aid shelter in Coldstream, where she is employed. She said the dog has to be transported between her home and the shelter in a van because it does not fit into her family car.

Staff at the shelter said it will likely take until Christmas for Sampson to shed the excess pounds.

"He's the size of a small heifer," Lavery said. "It's obvious to get a case of such extreme obesity, Sampson has been fed excessive quantities of the wrong types of food over a very extended period of time.

"His former owners obviously couldn't resist his big brown eyes that follow you around saying 'Feed me,'" she said.

Pilot suspended for disparaging co-workers

HOUSTON, June 23 (UPI) -- A Southwest Airlines pilot based in Houston was suspended after filling the airwaves with a profanity-laced rant about the flight attendants on board.

The pilot, whose name was not released, was recorded March 25 by the Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center disparaging his crew's sexual orientation, weight and age, the Houston Chronicle reported.

"Eleven (expletive) over-the-top (expletive) (expletive) homosexuals and a granny," the pilot was heard saying, complaining about his inability to find a date on a recent flight. "It was just a continuous stream of gays and grannies."

"An air-traffic controller in the Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center alerted all of the airplanes on the frequency to check for a stuck microphone and indicated that the conversation being broadcast was inappropriate over the air," the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

The pilot was suspended and ordered to issue an apology, the newspaper said.

$113 ticket for bus stop drop-off

HARTLEPOOL, England, June 23 (UPI) -- A British man said he received a $113 parking ticket when a camera car snapped a picture of his vehicle while he was dropping a friend off at a bus stop.

Paul Robinson, 50, of Hartlepool, said he received a fixed penalty notice for parking at a bus stop "from 12:41 p.m. to 12:41 p.m." when he in fact had only stopped "for seconds" to drop a friend off at the stop, The Sun reported Wednesday.

"They're not getting a penny out of me. I'd rather go to court," Robinson said.

The pictures were taken by a camera car, which began touring the streets of the city last month in a bid to catch traffic violators. The car distributed 438 tickets in its first four weeks, Hartlepool Council said.

Boston mayor wants Nike display gone

BOSTON, June 23 (UPI) -- Boston Mayor Tom Menino said he wants a window display at Niketown taken down because expressions, including "Get High," can be seen to promote drug use.

Menino said Tuesday on Boston's WBZ NewsRadio he believes the T-shirts displayed in the window promote drug use with expressions including "Get High," "Dope" and "F**k Gravity," WBZ-TV, Boston, reported Wednesday.

"Why would a national organization do that? Except to try to stoop to the lowest common denominator to get people to buy their t-shirts," Menino said. "They should be out educating our young people about the damage drugs do to you. But in their windows on Newbury Street, they're promoting the issue of drugs."

The mayor said he wrote a letter to the general manager of the store asking for the display to be removed.

Nike released a statement defending the T-shirts and the display.

"These T-shirts are part of an action sports campaign, featuring marquee athletes using commonly used and accepted expressions for performance at the highest level of their sport, be it surfing, skateboarding or BMX. Nike does not condone the use of banned or illegal substances," the statement read.