| "Dot-Com" News - Guard dog gets titanium teeth | ||||
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A prison guard dog has been fitted with titanium teeth in Australia after losing his real ones. Axel, from Melbourne, is ready to sink his teeth into any would-be escapees after being fitted with the metal canine teeth. They were fitted by veterinary dentist David Clarke after Axel shattered his teeth while biting into his bed board. Dr Clarke said: "So much is spent on training working dogs that it ends up much cheaper to repair a dental problem than retire the dog. "Prison dogs, police dogs, hunting, quarantine and customs dogs often suffer injuries in the course of their job." While Axel's terrifying teeth are the result of an accident other dog owners are going to great lengths to ensure their pampered pooches have the perfect 'bite'. Cosmetic dentistry is growing in popularity amongst dog owners - whether it is to repair a broken tooth or to ensure their show dogs have the whitest, straightest teeth possible. • The world's coolest marathon As if running a marathon wasn't hard enough, 27 hardy souls recently braved sub zero temperatures and polar bears to run one at the North Pole. One of the world's toughest races, the North Pole Marathon sees competitors from across the world race 26.2 mile across the ice and snow in temperatures of -32C. The endurance feat, known as the world's coolest marathon, is organised by Irishman Richard Donovan, who won the first ever South Pole Marathon in Antarctica in 2002. A dedicated runner he has also completed the Everest Challenge Marathon, the Himalayan 100-Mile Stage and the gruelling Trans 333 across the Sahara Desert. Before launching the North Pole contest he ran a solo marathon there himself to see if it could be done - becoming the first person to complete marathons at both poles. To complete the full distance competitors in the race run around a 5km circuit, pounding across six to 12 feet of ice covering the Arctic Ocean. Uneven terrain makes it difficult to get up a rhythm, with the surface changing between soft, hard and loose snow. And the extreme cold makes it difficult to regulate body temperatures with runners too cold at the start, but too hot once they hit their stride. With a time of 4hrs 54mins 3secs Istvan Toth of Hungary proved the eventual winner, with Australian Richelle Turner the fastest woman in 6hrs 3mins and 6secs. British runners included married couple Peter and Aly Van Den Berg, who had never run a marathon before. Mr Van Den Berg was the fastest Brit with a time of 5:23:55 while his wife crossed the line in 8:52:04 • Man drove dodgems on busy road Police officers monitoring CCTV in a Chinese city were stunned to see a man trying to drive two bumper cars along a busy road. Officer Liu Yulin said he thought he was "seeing things" when he saw the man with the fairground cars in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province. "I was sweating," he said. "I saw the man sat in between the two cars with one feet on the accelerator of each." He radioed for a traffic patrol to stop the man and officers quickly rushed to the scene and ordered him to pull over to the side of the road. The man, Zhang, told them he owned the bumper cars and had rented a space at a nearby amusement park but business was slack. He had decided to take the battery-powered bumper cars to a busy pedestrianised area downtown in the hope of attracting brisker trade. Zhang told police that he and an assistant had been driving the cars but the assitant had been called away after receiving an urgent call. "I decided to try to drive them both because I didn't want to leave one blocking the road where it might be stolen," he added. Officer Xiao Hu told Zhang it was illegal to drive one bumper car, let alone two, as they were not roadworthy vehicles. However, as it was unclear what the correct punishment should be under Chinese law, he let Zhang off with a verbal caution. |
| අවසන් යාවත්කාලීන කිරීම ( 2011 මැයි 10 වෙනි අඟහරුවාදා, 16:45 ) |
