Latest news with #AustinPetsAlive!
Newsweek
4 days ago
- Health
- Newsweek
Anger As 4-Week-Old Husky Puppy Found in Trash Can 'Barely Hanging On'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. When a kind stranger heard faint cries coming from a trash can in Austin, Texas, they stopped to investigate. Inside, they found a tiny, four-week-old husky puppy—"cold, weak", and "barely hanging on". Without hesitation, the good Samaritan rushed the puppy to a local emergency veterinary clinic where the dog, now named Kiss, was in a critical condition. His blood sugar was too low to read and he was too weak to eat, but veterinary staff worked through the night to stabilize him, warming his tiny body, administering fluids, and doing everything they could to give him a fighting chance. Despite being so fragile he could barely lift his head, staff could tell Kiss wanted to hold on, and by the next morning he was transferred to Austin Animal Center to finish his treatment, but when he still needed more help, Austin Pets Alive! (APA) stepped in. Pictures of husky puppy Kiss who is now in the care of Austin Pets Alive! (APA!). Pictures of husky puppy Kiss who is now in the care of Austin Pets Alive! (APA!). Austin Pets Alive! APA! At APA!, Kiss received more urgent medical intervention. The team worked quickly to regulate his blood glucose, rehydrate him, and start him on antibiotics—just in time. "Care like this would cost over $1,000 at a private clinic," APA! told Newsweek. "We do everything we can to keep that cost lower for pets like Kiss—but it's still a heavy lift." In 2024, approximately 7 million animals entered U.S. shelters and rescues, according to Shelter Animals Count—an increase of nearly 3 percent from 2023. By the end of the year, 103,000 more pets had entered shelters than had exited. Stray dog and cat intakes decreased slightly in 2024 compared to 2023, but strays still made up 60 percent of all community intakes. Now he is on the mend, Kiss's story was shared on APA!'s Instagram account, @austinpetsalive, last week, where his little face has captured hearts, racking up nearly 2,000 likes. "Precious baby! Thank you to all who helped save this pup!" said one viewer on Instagram. While another wrote: "Prayers for this sweet puppy." "That tiny baby," said @modernalchemytx. "Who is throwing an angel like that out like garbage." Now, Kiss is searching for a foster home where he can continue to heal and grow. Anyone interested in Kiss should contact Austin Pets Alive! directly for more information. "This little pup would be lucky to have you and you would be lucky to have him," APA! said. Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@ with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Take our survey: Help KXAN understand how journalists should disclose use of AI
AUSTIN (KXAN) — KXAN is experimenting with artificial intelligence tools to understand if they help make our journalism processes more efficient, so we can better tell more stories that matter to you. We want your feedback on how to be transparent with you and disclose if we use these tools. KXAN is one of 10 newsrooms selected to test AI disclosures as part of a partnership with Trusting News, an organization that works to 'inspire and empower journalists to evolve their practices in order to actively earn trust,' according to its website. We want to be transparent with our audience and disclose any time we use a generative artificial intelligence tool that contributes to work our audience sees or reads (Read more about what GenAI is here). This is the disclosure we will use: All facts from this article were gathered by KXAN journalists. This article was converted into this format with assistance from artificial intelligence. It has been edited and approved by KXAN staff. Read about our approach to using AI tools. Please give us feedback about this disclosure in the survey below: Right now, we're experimenting with a generative AI tool that allows us to take a script for a broadcast news report and reformat it to create a first draft of a story for our website. KXAN journalists gather and verify all facts used for these stories, carefully edit the AI-generated draft to ensure accuracy, and add details and context to the draft before publishing it. We want to understand how well this tool allows us to create different versions of stories to reach you where you are consuming information: TV, our website and social media. And, we want to know whether it will streamline our process in a way that allows us to put more focus on adding extra context to the digital version. We are testing this through mid-May with a small subset of stories, all of which include the above AI disclosure. Below are examples of those stories: 'Incredibly rewarding.' Austin Pets Alive! needs volunteers to care for sick animals Central Texas Food Bank's culinary program empowers job seekers, helps fight hunger Austin ranks on list of challenging places to live with allergies Previously, KXAN was part of another research project with Trusting News related to newsrooms' use of AI tools. That research helped shape KXAN's approach to experimenting with AI, which you can read more about on our AI page. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Yahoo
Cedar Park woman sentenced for multi-million-dollar scheme that defrauded cat owners
The Brief A Cedar Park woman pleaded guilty to a federal charge and was sentenced to 1 year probation The woman carried out a multi-million-dollar scheme that defrauded cat owners nationwide over several years A person who knew the woman spoke out CEDAR PARK, Texas - A Cedar Park woman pleaded guilty to a federal charge and was sentenced on Monday. She must serve one year of probation and forfeit roughly $4 million in assets. The multi-million-dollar scheme defrauded cat owners nationwide over several years. Nicole Randall, 37, of Cedar Park carried out the online operation. The backstory The person FOX 7 Austin spoke with asked to stay anonymous, but they knew Randall through volunteering at Austin Pets Alive!. "Nicole Randall was my friend. To understand who she is, how she got involved with the black market FIP, and what happened, you have to understand her story. I met Nicole in 2018. She was looking to adopt. She found the perfect kitten, whose name was Baconator. She took him home, and after two months, he got sick." The source said a veterinarian diagnosed the new kitten with Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP). It is a deadly disease in cats that has long been considered incurable. "Nicole went to the Internet, and she came across a drug called GS-441524." GS can be used to treat the deadly disease, but it was not legal in the United States at the time. Within a few weeks, Baconator died from FIP. "Nicole and several others started the group FIP Warriors, a group of pet owners who were sourcing GS through the Chinese black market." The Facebook group currently has 82.9K members, including a former Austinite, who has had two cats diagnosed with the disease. "Admins of the FIP Warriors group sought to figure out which products being offered in this space were actually safe and effective." The page is a space that people turn to in a time of desperation. They are cat owners seeking answers, support, and a lifeline for their dying animal. "Nicole saw an opportunity to make money because pet owners will spend thousands of dollars to save the life of their cat." Randall used fake names on the Chinese black market to purchase and smuggle illegal medication into the country, disguising it as pet shampoo, cosmetics, face masks, and other beauty products. She collected the money through various mobile payment apps, including Venmo, CashApp, and PayPal. "We were shocked to learn how high the profits were. Especially because so many families would refinance their houses or even sell their plasma to afford treatment." The backstory An undercover investigation was launched in the summer of 2021. A year later, agents executed a search warrant at her Cedar Park home, where they found around 30 boxes containing the illegal drug. According to the DOJ, they believe she distributed 58,460 liquid vials and 236,836 pills of GS-441524 over two years. Click to open this PDF in a new window. "We did not learn how much Nicole made until the raid." As part of the plea deal Randall took, she had to give up four properties, a Tesla, and 10 financial accounts totaling roughly $4 million. Randall was charged with criminal information with introducing an adulterated drug into interstate commerce. What they're saying As for the legality of GS, it has since changed. "Treatment is more accessible, it's more affordable, it's safer. And veterinarians can actually be the ones in the driver's seat prescribing and treating their patients." Technically, the treatment option is still not legally available in the U.S. However, a veterinarian can now prescribe and compound it in certain circumstances. The Source Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Katie Pratt
