Latest news with #Barryland
News.com.au
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Funny old world: the week's offbeat news
From a hero lapdog Lassie to why tennis stars can't stop pinching Wimbledon towels. Your weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world. - Chihuahua to the rescue - A chihuahua saved a hiker who fell eight metres (26 feet) into a glacier crevasse high in the Swiss Alps. The lapdog's "extraordinary" heroics surely saved his master, the Air Zermatt rescue service said, refusing to leave the spot where the man disappeared into the crevasse, leading rescuers straight to him. While the man was able to call for help with a walkie-talkie, rescuers struggled to locate him. "The glacier surface was wide and the hole was barely visible," they said. But then they spotted the tiny shivering Chihuahua perched on a rock, refusing to budge. "Thanks to the dog's behaviour, the crew was able to abseil down to the casualty and save him." - Doggone luxury - In the past, stricken alpinists could count on a sup of warming brandy from a St. Bernard dog. But these days, the gentle giants are more likely to be getting a massage, a manicure or a spot of hydrotherapy at the new Barryland theme park over the mountains at Martigny, where Switzerland's national dog is a major tourist attraction. Helicopters have now taken over their mountain rescue role, allowing the St. Bernards to enjoy their retirement as pampered pensioners or care dogs. - Leaping mad - Life can get a little dull on the flat Friesian polders, which may explain why the Dutch came up with one of the world's maddest sports, "fierljeppen". This involves crossing canals by clambering up a 12-metre (40-foot) pole -- roughly the height of a four-storey building -- so you can land (or be catapulted) to the other side. The uniquely Dutch sport combines pole-vaulting, long jump and, when misjudged, some unplanned swimming in the soup. Farmer and fierljeppen world record holder Jacob de Groot told AFP that the sport may not have caught on elsewhere because "in the rest of the world there are not so many canals and also maybe the people are not so crazy". - Centre Court steal - Polish tennis ace Iga Swiatek powered through the women's singles at Wimbledon, bagging as many of the tournament's trademark towels as she could carry. "No one talks about it, but we love your towels," she admitted after dispatching Russian Polina Kudermetova on Monday. "Every time I come back 10 members of my family want the towels. Sorry Wimbledon, I am not sure if I'm allowed." But the 24-year-old makes sure to keep some for herself. "I have lots at home. If I play on the circuit for another 15 years, I will have to build another room to keep them in," she laughed.
Malay Mail
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Say woof! A unique Swiss theme park reopens — and its St Bernards are ready for their close-up
MARTIGNY (Switzerland), June 28 — Syrah walks slowly and deliberately on a treadmill submerged in a large water tank, as two therapists help keep her steady, and a crowd looks on in awe. The eight-year-old St. Bernard is receiving her regular hydrotherapy session, while visitors to the newly reopened Barryland theme park in the Swiss Alpine valley town of Martigny follow every move. 'We give hydrotherapy to older dogs or dogs that have undergone surgery,' Barryland director Melanie Glassey-Roth told AFP. 'Everything here is conceived for the wellbeing of our dogs.' Revamped from a smaller, 'living museum' focused on St. Bernards, after two years of work Barryland has morphed into a large, interactive theme park fully dedicated to Switzerland's national dog. Built in the shape of a paw print, the main building offers interactive experiences and virtual reality tours of the history and myths surround the St. Bernard, as well as the chance to interact with the big dogs themselves. The park is hoping to see its visitor numbers soar to potentially 200,000 a year, up from 83,000 before the renovation. A St. Bernard dog receives care during a press visit ahead of the inauguration of the Barryland museum and park in Martigny, in the Swiss Alps, June 26, 2025. The Barry Foundation is opening a unique venue dedicated to the rescue dog, Switzerland's national emblem. — AFP pic 'Emblematic' The St. Bernard breed, which reached a new level of stardom when it figured in the 1992 blockbuster Hollywood comedy film Beethoven, was cross-bred into existence centuries ago in the Swiss Alps, not too far from where today's theme park lies. It was originally bred from farm dogs indigenous to the region by a hospice monastery, perched 2,500 metres (8,200 feet) above sea level, to use for rescue work in the perilous Great St. Bernard Pass between Switzerland and Italy. 'This is an emblematic dog that represents the entire region,' said Jean-Maurice Tornay, head of the Barry Foundation, which runs Barryland. Barryland got its name from the most famous and heroic St. Bernard of all. An old picture of a St. Bernard dog and a priest taken at the Great Saint Bernard pass is displayed at the Barryland museum and park in Martigny, in the Swiss Alps, June 26, 2025. — AFP pic Local lore holds that Barry, who lived from 1800 to 1814 and was credited with more than 40 rescues in his lifetime, carried a little barrel of alcohol around his collar, a welcome drink for weary travellers. In his honour, the monastery always had one dog named Barry — a tradition that continues at Barryland today. The park's current Barry, a towering 7.5-year-old male weighing around 80 kilograms (176 pounds), is the largest and most decorated of its dogs. The Barry Foundation has 36 St. Bernards in all who live at a nearby kennel in Martigny. Some dogs spend whole summers up at the Great St. Bernard Pass. But with the reopening of Barryland, 16 dogs from the Martigny kennel will crowd into a large van each morning and be driven across to the theme park, ready to play stars. Visitors watch with virtual reality headsets next to a display featuring a model of a St Bernard dog at the Barryland museum and park in Martigny, in the Swiss Alps, June 26, 2025. — AFP pic New mission At Barryland, the giant dogs, with their dark-ringed eyes and fur covered in reddish-brown patches, run around in spacious, grassy parks, lounge in large indoor enclosures and submit to grooming, massages and treatments. For Thursday's reopening, the park presented two new puppies, Xcell and Xaver, who tumbled enthusiastically around their mother Lio, nudging her until she sat down to let them nurse. Nearby, dog handler Sahel Robette encouraged Tosca, an eight-year-old female, to climb onto a large weighing scale. 'Sixty-five kilos (143 pounds)!' he exclaimed, as he began brushing her down, searching her fur for tics and inspecting her ears and nails. A woman takes a picture of a St. Bernard dog during a press visit ahead of the inauguration of the Barryland museum and park in Martigny, in the Swiss Alps, June 26, 2025. — AFP pic Once the heroes of the Swiss Alps, St. Bernards today are doing heroic work in other settings, Tornay said. With helicopters having taken over their rescue role, the St. Bernard has 'found a new social mission', he told AFP. The foundation's dogs make hundreds of visits each year to hospitals, nursing homes and prisons, where they are used for therapy and social training, 'sharing a little bit of kindness', he said. The St. Bernard is perfect for these missions, Glassey-Roth said, as one of the dogs laid its giant head on her lap. 'It has a quiet force; it is calm and very social.' — AFP
