B.C. Views Scenes from the farm trenches. p6
Paper dolls on display at museum. p18
THE NEWS
Arts&life Music mixed with politics. p27
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Bears about, be aware One hit by car, another raids freezer, third chases jogger by M o n i s h a M a r t i n s staff reporter
Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS
Taking a peek Cliff Harris and his son Grant check out a 1932 Ford Roadster, owned by Steve and Andrea Stockall, during the Maple Ridge Secondary School Dry Grad Show and Shine on Sunday. The photo is shot through the window of a 1933 Ford Sedan Delivery, owned by Kiefer Murphy. See story, p11
A bear searching for food after waking up from a winter slumber was hit by a car on Sunday in Maple Ridge. Although the bruin was not fatally injured in the collision, sightings are on the rise throughout the municipality as bears head down from the mountains to seek an easy meal. Virginia Friend is urging her neighbours to remove their bird feeders and secure their garbage after a bear broke into an outdoor freezer and feasted on frozen goodies last week. “Twice in the past two days, my neighbour has had occasion to chase a bear from our yards,” she said. On Monday, Mark Mellish was jogging in Whonnock when a passing motorist stopped to telling him a bear was running alongside him and gave him a lift. It wasn’t the first time Mellish has encountered a bear while hiking or running in east Maple Ridge, but recently he’s been spotting bears more frequently. See Bears, p9
Seven more cats found dead 22 in total now, latest between 217th and 230th by M o n i s h a M a r t i n s staff reporter
Contributed
Buttercup was found five blocks from her owner’s home on Selkirk Street.
Seven more cats have been found mutilated in Maple Ridge in the past two weeks, three months after the SPCA appealed for information about the disturbing killings. In the past year, a total of 22 dismembered cats have been found in the municipality.
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thing,” said Chortyk. Eric Wernicke’s cat Buttercup disappeared Wednesday and was found after someone noticed a posting for a lost cat on Craigslist. Buttercup’s head was discovered on the front lawn of a house five blocks away from Wernicke’s home on Selkirk Street. “It was definitely her,” said Wernicke, who identified the year-old Calico from her distinct markings. Wernicke found Buttercup’s tail and tufts of fur later at a street corner. “We try to keep her in because,
Their deaths prompted the SPCA to issue a public warning in March, urging cat owners to keep their pets inside. Lorie Chortyk, with the B.C. SPCA, said all the cats have been killed in the same manner, either cut in half with a saw or sharp knife. The latest killings happened in an area between 217th and 230th Streets. “We are doing necropsies on the bodies, but unfortunately we still have no leads – we are still pleading to the public for information if anyone has seen or knows any-
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from what I hear, this has been happening for a year,” said Wernicke. But like most adventurous felines, Buttercup often slipped out when the front door opened. Wernicke hopes the person responsible for the cat mutilations is caught soon. “I hope they get him,” he said. The first cat mutilation was reported to RCMP and the Maple Ridge SPCA last July, but the owner was initially told her kitten was killed by a coyote. See Cats, p5
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