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Snowboarding opossum clip goes viral
Image - YouTube.com
Marsupial takes to the slopes

A short video clip of a jumper-wearing opossum named Ratatouille taking to the slopes of Emmitsburg, Pennsylvania on a small Burton Riglet Snowboard has, perhaps inevitably, attracted great interest on the internet. The marsupial, with a Season Pass for the slopes at the US Liberty Ski Resort around his neck, can be seen hitting the slopes from both an external perspective and from a miniature 'board-cam'. His striped blue and lime-green jumper may not constitute normal snowboarding apparel, but Ratatouille does not appear to register any objections.

At the time of writing, the brief clip had won in excess of 600,000 hits on YouTube and had even more on other sites. It has also thus far been featured on The Today Show, Sportcenter Top 10, Good Morning America, Buzzfeed, Red Bull, Yahoo.com, AOL.com and HuffingtonPost.com, and is likely to spread even further as momentum gathers.

The clip, which is 56 seconds long, may be found here.

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Birmingham Dogs Home makes urgent appeal

News Story 1
 Birmingham Dogs Home has issued an urgent winter appeal as it faces more challenges over the Christmas period.

The rescue centre has seen a dramatic increase in dogs coming into its care, and is currently caring for over 200 dogs. With rising costs and dropping temperatures, the charity is calling for urgent support.

It costs the charity £6,000 per day to continue its work.

Fi Harrison, head of fundraising and communications, said: "It's heart-breaking for our team to see the conditions some dogs arrive in. We really are their last chance and hope of survival."

More information about the appeal can be found here. 

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News Shorts
Avian flu confirmed at premises in Cornwall

A case of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 has been detected in commercial poultry at a premises near Rosudgeon, Cornwall.

All poultry on the infected site will be humanely culled, and a 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone have been put in place. Poultry and other captive birds in the 3km protection zone must be housed.

The case is the second avian flu case confirmed in commercial poultry this month. The H5N5 strain was detected in a premises near Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, in early November. Before then, the disease had not been confirmed in captive birds in England since February.

The UK chief veterinary officer has urged bird keepers to remain alert and practise robust biosecurity.

A map of the disease control zones can be found here.