Subject: Drop the Chihuahua
Date: Dec 23 09:18:22 1999
From: Bridget Jennings - bridjen at microsoft.com


Just had to share this...



>Yo quiero my dog! Owner fights hawk to free a pet Chihuahua
>
>Thursday, December 23, 1999
>
>THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
>
>NICEVILLE, Fla. -- Forget the chalupa, just "Drop the Chihuahua."
>
>That's what Sandy Parks shrieked when an injured red-tailed hawk dug its
>talons into Bandita, a 6-pound spitting image of the talking Chihuahua on
>the Taco Bell commercials.
>
>The hawk burst from a neighbor's bushes Monday and grabbed little Bandita,
>only to find itself in a tug-of-war with Parks, who was hanging onto the
>other end of a 5-foot leash.
>
>"Here I am, yelling 'Drop the Chihuahua! Drop the Chihuahua!" said Parks,
61.
>
>Parks said she yanked on the leash and slammed the 2.6-pound bird into a
>wall. The hawk dropped, but kept its talons in Bandita, so Parks said she
>stomped on the bird, then slammed a door on its legs before it finally let
>go.
>
>She left the hawk and rushed Bandita to the Niceville Animal Clinic where
>the dog's puncture wounds were treated.
>
>Audubon Society members later brought in the hawk.
>
>A veterinarian said the hawk suffered a broken feather in its battle with
>Parks, but it also had a previously broken wing that was still healing,
>clinic receptionist Laura Lassiter said yesterday. The hawk weighed about
>half of what a bird with a 5-foot wingspan should, and its injury was
>probably why it attacked a pet.
>
>The hawk will remain at the clinic while it recuperates.
>
>Bandita's owner was given a lecture about the illegality of battering
>birds protected by federal migratory bird laws.
>
>? 1999 The Associated Press