Animal Control

Susan Melcher recalls that there was a time, not too many years ago, that she was moved by the sight of Canada geese. "I used to think they were stunningly beautiful," Melcher said of the graceful, long-necked birds. But that was before scores of geese began taking up residence along a pond next to her law office, fouling her yard and just about every other patch of greenery in the area. Now she has a different view of the geese: "They're rats with webbed feet," she said.

A new chief veterinarian was appointed by the county Wednesday to help clean up the county-run shelter and end a feline distemper outbreak that has killed dozens of cats at the aging facility. Even as Dr. Todd Kopit was accepting the interim post in the wake of his predecessor's resignation the day before, county officials began talking about revamping the shelter, which has been under fire from residents and veterinarians for outdated practices and a resistance to change.

An outbreak of feline distemper has prompted Orange County's largest animal shelter to impose a moratorium on adoptions of most of its cats. The infectious disease--which spreads readily from cat to cat but is not a threat to humans or other domestic animals--can be fatal unless treated aggressively.

Joseph Cleary was on beach cleanup patrol Wednesday when he was startled by the sight of a rattlesnake sunning itself on a pile of storm debris just south of the Newport Pier. "It was quite feisty," Cleary said of the viper, which he and a group of helpers prodded into a large trash barrel until professional backup arrived.

Just a week ago, the future looked bleak for Honey, an affectionate, older Welsh corgi dog who was found wandering aimlessly at Stonehill Drive and Del Obispo Street. But after sitting unclaimed in the Orange County Animal Shelter for about seven days, the dog was not put to death as would normally have been the case. It was returned to the Animal Rescue Foundation of Dana Point, a group of animal lovers who are dedicated to saving local stray dogs and cats from being destroyed.

A national animal rights group is blaming Boeing Co. in Seal Beach for the disappearance--and possibly the deaths--of a colony of stray cats that company employees had been caring for. "My question to Boeing and the world is, 'Where are the cats?' " said Bill Dyer, spokesman for In Defense of Animals, an animal protection organization based in Northern California. "I'm trying to get to the truth of it.

Amid a chorus of barking at a city animal shelter in North Hollywood, animal activist Nina Culver went straight for the cages with red-plastic signs that read: "FOR ADOPTION." She waved her hand past a caged row of bobbing black noses and said, "We want them all." The 21 dogs, 15 cats and one rabbit put up for adoption Tuesday morning at the East Valley Animal Shelter included some that were released by medical research facilities.

Interfering in mosquitoes' sex lives could help halt the spread of malaria, British scientists said this week. A study on the species of mosquito mainly responsible for malaria transmission in Africa, Anopheles gambiae , showed that because these mosquitoes mate only once in their lives, meddling with that process could dramatically cut their numbers. Researchers from Imperial College London found that a "mating plug" -- used by male mosquitoes to ensure their sperm stays in the right place after mating -- is essential for the fertilization of eggs during the female's lifetime.

Eager to reduce the neighborhood pigeon population and the mess that comes with it, Hollywood residents appear ready to try a new birth control method on their wild birds. Beginning within the next couple of months, a substance called OvoControl P will be placed in kibble in new rooftop feeders, say residents and state and local officials.

In the sometimes mundane world of zoning code enforcement there is nothing like a little chicken law to lighten moods and inspire a few cheap puns. So when Los Angeles County officials announced this month that they intend not only to ban "adult male chickens" (read it as roosters) from many neighborhoods, but also to limit to six the number of hens per household, the bromides began to fly. Someone suggested that neighbors had cried fowl over noisy chickens.