shocking!!!

This has shocked me to the bones! It could happen anywhere! And the blame is on the dogs, whereas it should always be the owner/s and in this case the authorities too!!!

A 10-year-old boy has been killed and a German tourist badly injured after an attack by stray dogs in Sicily.

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Boy Killed By Rampaging Savage Dogs In Sicily

The boy, Giuseppe Brafa from the town of Modica, was attacked and killed two days ago while playing in a field. A nine-year-old boy was also injured.

The 24-year-old tourist later came under attack from eight dogs while out walking on a beach near Marina di Modica, some 12 miles away from the city of Ragusa.

Doctors say her face was badly damaged and she suffered severe injuries elsewhere on her body - her condition has been described as "desperate".

"Her face was particularly disfigured," said Christian Ilardi, a rescue official who was on the helicopter that rushed the woman to Catania.

"Her life is in serious danger due to the wounds, which are very deep."

Officials said the pack actually belonged to a resident who kept dozens of dogs of different breeds in filthy conditions and with little food.

Local authorities had already ordered the dogs to be kept in a fenced area because there were no proper kennelling facilities - the owner of the make-shift pound is now under arrest on a manslaughter charge.

The case has sparked outrage in Italy, particularly after reports that the authorities had entrusted the dogs - originally strays - to the man, believing he could take care of them.

Around 40 of the stray dogs have been captured and two were reportedly shot dead when they attacked a police patrol.

More attacks by the remaining eight strays have since been reported.

Stray dogs are common in southern Italy.

New blog ...

Thought I finally start a new blog as I am so past treatment now. You can find it here:

http://fishwhiskers.blogspot.com/

On a very wet & windy night ....

Despite there being an air of spring about during the day, when it drew to a close yesterday, the evening and night turned into very wet and even more windy. But I had arranged to meet the ex-husband and his girlfriend and I wasn't going to pull out. I was so determined to go out and have a good time LOL. When I mentioned meeting them earlier in the day to P, he decided to come with me. Not unwelcome on my side either, as I said, it was the ex AND g/f I was meeting, so 2 is company, 3 is a crowd and 4 is just a nice number :) We were just about leaving the house when the ex's g/f texted that they were running late. 8.45pm instead of 8.30pm. Not a problem I texted back. So P and I took the bus into town (I had a day ticket anyway after having been shopping twice yesterday already) and went to meet them at the Watershed Media Centre, a nice place at the Waterfront, with cinema, good food and a good selection of drinks. We got there exactly at 8.45pm. Bought a drink (nice organic lager yumm yumm) and sat down. The minutes started ticking past, no sign of them. At about 21.15 h I was just about to text them sarcastically "Oh, I didnt know you meant 9.45pm", when they walked in. As from then the evening went quite well, animated conversation - between me and g/f of ex. You see, that's the problem. She involves me in chatting so I don't chat to the ex. But I can't help liking her, she is kind of sweet. She also has the habit of asking a question, and me being me go into a lengthy answer and am just about finished with it, when she turns round and says: "sorry, what was that you said?" So I end up having to tell her everything twice, first time in full and then a second shortened version, just in case she can't follow me again. But as I said, she is kind of sweet. Blonde ... but sweet :D Well I guess I am just glad there was no animosity. Oh yes, and I got a lovely kiss and big hug from the ex at the end *blush*

I am also glad, that despite the fact that P had some alcohol, he remained pleasant all evening. That is not always the case and I did worry a bit. But all was fine, so I am a happy little camper today. Oh yes, and because it was organic lager I drank (only 3 little glasses mind) I am happy to say: NO HANGOVER!

Had planned on a walk to Ashton Court with the dog and my new friend K, but it is pissing down so much that we decided not to. She has also been partying until 8am, so isn't quite fit to go anywhere. I might pop down to hers for coffee later, but it hasn't been decided yet. So I am going to start spring-cleaning the kitchen now. Got too much penned up energy to just sit around LOL. Or is it just that I have drunk too much coffee haha.

Emails

Funny that, my daughter has started emailing me again. At first it was just the pictures of the kids, and every time I wrote back saying thank you and how much I love them. Then she started saying 'thank you for the reply' back and with every email there were a few more words. We are now in a state of gently approaching eachother again and I get the feeling that both of us will have learned from the events and will probably respect eachother somewhat more and don't take eachother for granted. I still do not want to have contact with her husband, he has deliberately hurt me and criticised me for things which do not concern him. If he ever comes round to apologising and acknowledging that this is not the way to treat people, then maybe I will forgive. I am not the only one he has been doing this to over the past couple of months, so it is obviously a problem HE has got. Until he faces that, there is nothing there for me. But I am happy about being in contact with my daughter ... very happy!!! After seeing Kittie and her daughter together last weekend, I realised how much different a mother-daughter relationship can be when treated with love and respect. Let's hope it's not too late for J and me.

Excess, success & scabbiness

Not sure, but I think I still suffer from the excesses of last weekend. Feeling particularly rotten today, everything hurts, closed sinuses, rough throat and generally listless. Mind you, I think I would be feeling a lot more energetic if I was in London with Kittie right now. There is reason to celebrate! I won't give the game away by explaining why though hehe. Oh gosh ... I miss her so much!!!

I have been very busy the last couple of days. I am emailing all the UK and some of the European summer festivals offering Amigurumi workshops. This is a wonderful way to make money AND attend as much live music as I can cram in from May until September :) I have got 2 bookings already, so SUCCESS!!! Thank you Kittie, for the wonderful idea. Why am I not that clever??

My beautiful biohazard tattoo is skanky and scabby. Yuck! Part of the crust has started to drop off, where the lines are thin and I can see how deep it is. And deep it is :/ Just hoping it will still heal up alright without losing too much colour and needing a re-needling. It is also still very sore and now very itchy (that means it's healing though). And although it is oozing in places, I can't see any infection, so that should be ok. Still, I am keeping an eye on it!!!