Dog Gone Madness

A New Zealand man is recovering from surgery after being shot in the buttock by his dog.
Police believe the animal stood on the trigger of a .22 bolt-action rifle (pictured) in a freak accident.The dog's 40-year-old owner was getting into the rear seat of a four-wheel drive vehicle with the rifle next to him when the animal jumped in.
He was among a group of four people who had slaughtered a pig at Te Kopuru, 90 miles northwest of Auckland on New Zealand's North Island.
The group told police they had thought the gun, which in fact contained five shells, was unloaded.
Mark Going, a St John Ambulance manager, said paramedics who attended were told the rifle had been fired through the seat, lodging a bullet in the man's left buttock.
The victim, who was in extreme pain, was airlifted by rescue helicopter to Whangarei Hospital where surgeons removed the bullet.
He was in a stable condition in hospital on Tuesday.
The owner has not been named, neither has the breed of dog.
Senior Constable Ian Anderson, of nearby Dargaville, said the victim was lucky not to have been more seriously hurt.

Swallowing Money

A budget-conscious council in Austria has requested that swimmers stop swallowing water in a bid to save money.  
According to a survey carried out by managers at Vienna's 18 public swimming pools bathers are drinking 5,000 litres of chlorinated pool water a day.

Official Martin Kotinsky said: "A lot of water gets taken out in the material every time a swimmer uses the pool and it has to be replaced."

He pointed out that, as well as replacing water, authorities had to spend £20 on chlorine - £1.11 per pool.
The council is also targeting people who wear Bermuda shorts to go bathing.
Tests revealed that the average wearer takes 2.5 litres of water with them trapped in their swimwear every time they get out of the pool.
Mr Kotinsky said: "A lot of water gets taken out in the material every time a swimmer climbs in and out. That means that for every 1,000 visits to the pool we lose 2,500 litres of water."
Complaints about shrinking pools come amid heatwave in Austria that has boosted the number of swimmers.