Mutilated dolphin dumped on lawn in in Bremer Bay, Western Australia

WILDLIFE officers have appealed to the public for information about a dolphin that was slashed across the throat and left on the lawn of a house in Bremer Bay, on Western Australia’s south coast.

The dolphin was dumped under a tree of a Bremer Bay property about 500 metres from the beach.

A wildlife officer from the Department of Environment and Conservation’s Nature Protection Branch in Albany will travel to Bremer Bay today to investigate the incident, question locals and examine the carcass.

Acting chief wildlife officer Kevin Morrison said it was not clear whether the dolphin had been slashed before or after its death.

“The photos provided to us indicate that someone inflicted quite deep serious wounds to the throat of the dolphin, but it’s not possible to say conclusively if it was while the animal was still alive, or post mortem,” Mr Morrison said.

“It could have been determined only if we’d been able to access the carcass of the animal while it was still fresh and a proper forensic done.

“Unfortunately now, the only way we’d be able to determine whether the animal was killed or the injury inflicted post-mortem is if we get information from members of the public.

“We’re relying heavily on information from the public in order to get a result.”

Mr Morrison said it was believed the animal was a striped dolphin, but more would be known when the wildlife officer examined the carcass tomorrow.

The officer would be liaising with police from Ongerup investigating the disturbing incident.

Source  :  www.heraldsun.com.au

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Spread the news, Vegemite’s new name is…

After the original name coined by a Perth man was universally condemned and then dumped, Kraft has announced its new product will now be called Vegemite Cheesybite.

After a vote by 30,000 Australians and New Zealanders at the weekend, Vegemite Cheesybite emerged with 36 per cent support to replace the much-maligned moniker iSnack2.0.

WA web designer Dean Robbins, 27, briefly hit the spotlight when it was revealed his suggestion of iSnack2.0 would brand the new product.

His concept was dumped just four days after it was revealed by Kraft when it became obvious consumers hated it.

Quantum Market Research conducted online polling and a telephone survey to gauge support for a number of names for the cream cheese version of the iconic brand.

Vegemite Cheesybite was the most popular, followed by Vegemite Smooth with 23 per cent of the vote.

“We have been overwhelmed by the response of the Australian public; it has been an insightful debate,” Kraft Foods Australia New Zealand head of corporate affairs, Simon Talbot, said in a statement.

“Australians have now selected a popular name for a successful product.”

The Vegemite Cheesybite-named stock will appear on shelves in the coming months.

In the mean time, Vegemite iSnack2.0 jars are still being distributed and sold around the country.

Source  :  www.thewest.com.au

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Grocery Choice website scrapped

THE Rudd Government has dumped one of its key election promises, the Grocery Choice price monitoring website, after supermarkets failed to provide enough information to make the site reliable.

After a meeting today with major supermarkets, Competition Minister Craig Emerson announced that the measure – an election promise that was aimed at keeping grocery prices low – would not proceed, The Australian reported.

“Upon close examination of the data requirements for reliable price information, I have formed the view that it is not feasible to generate that information in a timely manner, “ Dr Emerson said.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

The scheme had been due to be up and running next week.

The dumping of Grocery Choice comes after the Government last year abandoned FuelWatch after it was defeated in the Senate.

Mr Rudd campaigned heavily prior to the election on easing the cost-of-living pressures on working families and increasing competition in the petrol and grocery sectors.

Both FuelWatch and Grocery Choice were criticised for not putting downward pressure on prices.

Earlier this month it emerged that the consumer advocate Choice would be forced to go it alone on the website as the major supermarket chains continued to drag their feet over supplying price data.

Choice took over the running of the website from the Rudd Government, which launched it after campaigning on easing cost-of-living pressures before the election.

The $13 million site, which originally launched last August, was heavily criticised for displaying information that was too general and outdated to be useful.

Source  :  www.news.com.au

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