STRAY CAT SURVIVES FLIGHT FROM MANILA TO LA

ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted at 07/31/2013 8:24 PM | Updated as of 08/01/2013 10:50 AM

MANILA - A stray cat from Manila survived an 11,000-kilometer journey inside a freight container and has been found in Los Angeles, California, according to US officials.

The 4-year-old female cat, nicknamed "Pinay"by staff at the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control (DACC), was discovered on July 16 by employees of a private company that owned the shipment where the cat hid.

"The container arrived in Los Angeles aboard a ship en-route from Manila, Philippines to Los Angeles," the animal care office said in a statement.

"The cat was very weak and frail," DACC director Marcia Mayeda said.

The animal care agency described the cat as belonging to the orange-and-white Domestic Short Haired variety.
It has been brought to the Baldwin Park Animal Care Center's medical unit in LA.

"It is amazing that this cat could survive the almost 6,400-nautical mile journey by sea without food or water," Mayeda said. "She has been closely monitored and cared for by our medical team and is getting stronger and putting on weight."

The cat made full recovery and cleared quarantine, according to the DACC.

Dr. Maria Sabio-Solacito, DACC senior veterinarian and a native of the Philippines, explained the cat's nickname.

"We wanted to give her a name which kept her close to her roots," Sabio-Solacito said.

The animal care office has placed the cat for adoption.

"We will continue to provide the best care for Pinay until we can send her off to her new home,” Mayeda said. “It is important that potential adopters or foster families have considerable experience dealing with skittish cats. Pinay has been through a lot and needs a calm, loving family to help her transition."

200 YEAR OLD FISH, CAUGHT

In 1813, President James Madison occupied the White House, Americans occupied Fort George in Canada (a result of the War of 1812) and a rockfish was born somewhere in the North Pacific.

Two hundred years later, that same rockfish was caught off the coast of Alaska by Seattle resident Henry Liebman — possibly setting a record for the oldest rockfish ever landed.

Troy Tydingco of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game told the Daily Sitka Sentinel that the longevity record for the shortraker rockfish (Sebastes borealis) is 175 years, but that fish "was quite a bit smaller than the one Henry caught."

"That fish was 32-and-a-half inches [83 centimeters] long, where Henry's was almost 41 inches [104 cm] — so his could be substantially older," Tydingco said.

Samples of the rockfish have been sent to a lab in Juneau, where the actual age of Liebman's fish will be determined, according to the Sentinel.

Scientists can estimate the age of a fish by examining an ear bone known as the otolith, which contains growth rings similar to the annual age rings found in a tree trunk.

Animal longevity remains a puzzle to biologists. Some researchers have found that smaller individuals within a species tend to live longer than their bigger brethren. This may be due to the abnormal cell growth that accompanies both larger body size and the risk of cancer.

The longest-lived animal ever found was a quahog clam scooped from the waters off Iceland. The tiny mollusk was estimated to be 400 years old.

At 39.08 pounds (17.73 kilograms), Liebman's fish may also set a record for the largest rockfish ever caught.

"I knew it was abnormally big, [but I] didn't know it was a record until on the way back — we looked in the Alaska guidebook that was on the boat," Liebman told the Sentinel.

He plans to have the fish mounted,  so he can continue to tell the fish story that he's already been "getting a lot of mileage" out of, according to the Sentinel.





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