“Their Pee Could Kill Your Dog”

As in “their pee could kill your dog”:

Here’s another reason to hate rats: Their pee could kill your dog.

Health officials and pet owners in North Brooklyn are on the alert after a report last week that two dogs may have died from leptospirosis, a disease that can be passed on to canines through water tainted by rat or mice urine.

The city’s Department of Health said this week that the cases in Brooklyn are only suspicious for leptospirosis, and are still under investigation.

The Daily News said a six-year-old rat terrier called Parker died within days after romping at one of the dog runs in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, particularly muddy and wet after June’s heavy rains. The dog’s owner, Aaron Goodman, said the his sweet pup stopped eating, turned yellow and ultimately suffered severe kidney failure, according to the report.

Staten Islanders Urged To Revisit Religion 101 Textbooks After Evidence Surfaces Of Possible Santeria Ritual

And proving once again that it’s always good to keep some holy water handy:

For the past two days, visitors to a park in Staten Island’s Fort Wadsworth section have stumbled upon a gory mystery — a mutilated animal, possibly a dog or a goat, wrapped in a white sheet.

Parkgoers found two such animals in Von Briesen Park yesterday and this morning, city Parks Department officials confirmed.

The discovery has sparked speculation of ritual sacrifice and cult activity, and has led one Port Richmond woman to douse part of the ground where one animal was found with holy water, in an attempt to ward off what she believes is an evil presence.

Several alluded to Santeria, which blends elements of Yoruba, an African religion, with Catholicism and involves animal sacrifice in some of its rituals.

. . .

“This is not good, doing this,” said Nancy Kelcho of Port Richmond, who was walking her Scottie, Tara Lynn, this morning when a friend pointed out the mutilated animal. “This is evil. I just pray to God to take away the evil spirits.”

Ms. Kelcho, a firm believer in the supernatural, chanted prayers this afternoon as she sprayed holy water on the ground, and at one point gasped, “Evil! Evil! Evil!”

Though Ms. Kelcho said she was certain the animal she saw was a dog, Parks spokesman Phil Abramson said both animals are believed to be goats.

Location Scout: Arthur von Briesen Park.

Leading Economic Indicators: Yoinking Cardboard

I have no idea how heavy 37 bundles of cardboard is — but $5,000 isn’t bad:

Cops arrested Toure Mahamadou, 25, Sadabe Sekou, 39, and Latil Serge, 21, all of Newark, whose truck allegedly continued 37 bundles worth $5,550 when sold to recycling centers.

“I wasn’t scared when they pulled the knife,” [Milton Williams Supermarket manager Milton] Rivera said.

In Case You Happen To Be Factchecking A Car Chase Scene . . .

Apparently you can escape a five-story fall in a vehicle with only minor cuts and scrapes:

Shortly after 3 p.m. today a silver Mercedes fell out of the fifth floor window of the Hertz parking garage (12 E. 13th St.) behind NYU’s Fairchild building at 7 E. 12 St., landing on the courtyard behind the NYU building. The driver, a parking attendant at the garage, was transported to St. Vincent’s Hospital in stable condition, suffering from minor scrapes and cuts. The accident was reportedly due to brake failure, according to the NYU Office of Emergency Management.

. . .

Ninette Gironella, who works in the Registrar’s office on the third floor, was sitting in her office when she saw the car back out and fall. Recalling the response of emergency operators when she called 911, Gironella said, “They didn’t grasp the fact that a car had gone out the window.”

Another Answer To The Eternal Mystery Of How Young Hipsters Afford To Live The Lifestyle They Live In New York City

They grift! Or as Kari Ferrell might explain it had you run into her, “I want you to throw a hot dog down my hall”:

It’s likely that when Kari Ferrell walked into the Vice magazine offices in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, last month to interview for an administrative assistant job, they thought they’d hit the jackpot. Ms. Ferrell — petite, 22 years old, of Korean heritage — had a huge tattoo of a dragon across her chest and a cute pixie haircut. She was talkative, funny, charming, adorable. She had a tattoo on her back that read “I Love Beards.” She told them she’d been working for the New York office of the concert promotion company GoldenVoice, which puts on huge rock festivals like Coachella near Palm Springs, Calif., and that she’d moved to New York from Utah just a few months earlier. They hired her on the spot.

A few days later, one of Ms. Ferrell’s new colleagues came by her desk. “I said, ‘Excuse me, miss, is [her boss] downstairs?'” the 29-year-old told The Observer. “She thought that was very polite that I said, ‘Excuse me, miss,’ and after that she started talking to me, instant-messaging me. She asked if I was from the South. I told her no. It escalated from there.”

Within the space of a half-hour, Ms. Ferrell was peppering him with questions about his sexual history — how many women he’d slept with and so on. “She was coming on to me, and I was super into it for the first part of it,” he said. “I realized I could have fun after work — but then I was like, ‘Let me check this girl out.'” He Googled her. Up popped a photo of his flirtatious new co-worker on the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Most Wanted list, wanted on five different warrants, including passing $60,000 in bad checks, forgery and retail theft.