A terrified tomcat roamed the streets for several days - with an arrow pierced through his torso.
The ginger moggy, now dubbed Cupid, was speared by a bolt that tore right through his muscles and one shoulder blade.
Miraculously the stray survived because it did not hit any of his vital organs.
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Injured: Cupid the ginger cat was shot with a crossbow but miraculously survived after it did not hit any of his vital organs Painful: Cupid was treated at the Brittmore Animal Hospital and will now be put up for adoption
Residents in east Houston, Texas, took him to Brittmore Animal Hospital so the weapon could be removed.
He is now recuperating at animal rescue group Purr Paws, who has said he will be put up for adoption once he is fully fit.
The group's Trudy Bennett told KHOU-TV: 'It was just a shock to see the arrow – it went totally through his body.
'My worst fear is some parent gave their kids bow and arrows for Christmas, and they’re out there not knowing what they’re doing without any training, and this is the result.
Terrified: Cupid roamed the streets for several days until he was taken to a vets to be treated
'He was terrified. The fact that he’s still trusting people – because, you know, cats usually take a little bit of time to trust people.
'And he went through a whole lot, and he’s still trusting and loving. He just wants to be loved on.'
-Caravans park on site next to illegal Essex settlement -Travellers to be issued with eviction at end of month -Total bill and legal costs for original clearance last year cost taxpayer £18m -Aerial views of Dale Farm show how caravans have descended on other half of site, putting it over capacity -HALF of pitches on legal side breach planning conditions
By Chris Parsons
Taken over: The Dale Farm site, three months after its eviction, shows that while the illegal half on the right has been cleared, the number of caravans on the legal half next door has now swollen The council which cleared the UK's largest illegal travellers settlement was today bracing itself for a fresh eviction battle after caravans moved to a neighbouring site.
Just weeks after Basildon Council cleared travellers from green belt land on Dale Farm following a decade-long row, caravans have parked up on a settlement immediately next to the now-empty Essex site.
Although the illegal part of the site is now clear, at least 50 caravans are thought to be on the neighbouring legal site, exceeding its authorised capacity.
Basildon Council revealed today that of the 34 caravan pitches on the legal side of Dale Farm, half are in breach of planning permission and are set to be served with eviction notices.
Taken over: The Dale Farm site, three months after its eviction, shows that while the illegal half on the right has been cleared, the number of caravans on the legal half next door has now swollen
Eyesore: A picture taken on November 8, around three weeks after the original eviction shows how relatively quiet the legal half of the site was before travellers descended on it in recent weeks
The authority today confirmed it was drafting new enforcement notices to remove travellers from the site by the end of next month.
The notices are expected to be served by the end of January and would give travellers 28 days to vacate the land.
Aerial pictures today showed the extent of the remaining traveller issue at Dale Farm, as caravans filled the settlements and surrounding streets.
By comparison, in the immediate aftermath of last October's eviction, the side roads on the legal side of Dale Farm had been almost entirely clear.
The latest council battle against illegal traveller sites could be a protracted one - as the authority has had to start the legal process from scratch.
The council is now assessing how many people living on the legal half of the site are not entitled to be there.
Many of those who are illegally living near Oak Lane on the legal part of the Dale Farm site are travellers who were moved from the illegal settlement yards away just three months ago.
Basildon Council completed the clearance of Dale Farm in November after Essex Police removed protesters amid violent clashes on the green belt site.
Fire fight: The Dale Farm site erupted into violent clashes when police and bailiffs moved to evict travellers late last year
Battle: Police rise up on a cherry picker during the peak of the eviction fight at Dale Farm last October
Council leader Tony Ball revealed that a large number of travellers still on the Dale Farm site are families who were not on the site previously, which he said was 'frustrating'.
An estimated 80 families were removed from the six-acre site following a decade-long row over the settlement on green belt land.
But within weeks at least 10 families had moved back on to roads inside the site.
Mr Ball said that to leave Dale Farm as it was last year was 'not an option', and that those now illegally on the site will be told to leave by the end of February.
Mr Ball told MailOnline: 'Each plot on Oak Lane has conditions for what you can have on that plot and how many caravans are allowed there.
'At the moment around 50 per cent of the plots on the legal side are in breach of planning conditions.
Legal fight: The Dale Farm camp near Basildon in September, as Basildon Council attempted to end their ten-year battle with travellers on the illegal site
'It's frustrating because this could have been done before the operation was carried out in October, and could've saved a lot of money.
'It's also frustrating to see travellers there now who have not been to Dale Farm before.
'The fact the law is now being broken there means we will move in to enforce it.'
Asked how confident he is that the travellers living illegally at Dale Farm will be evicted by the end of next month, Mr Ball added: 'It will take as long as it takes.
'The travellers do have the right of appeal on enforcement notices, and if that's the case we will be in the hands of the courts.'
Reports locally today suggested the bill for the original clearance came to £4.2 million.
The council said it had not yet calculated the total cost of the original operation as it awaits invoices from contractors.
But a spokesman said the authority was 'confident' the cost would come in under the £8 million budget.
Top cat: The Houston Fire Department received several calls Wednesday about a tiger on the roof of an abandoned hotel, though it turned out to be a stuffed toy
When the calls came in saying an escaped tiger was on the loose, everyone knew it was serious.
Dozens of people dialled 911 after seeing the eight-foot long animal perched on top of an abandoned hotel, apparently pausing in the middle of its hunt.
But when fire-fighters went in for a closer look, they discovered that it was actually rather more tame - because it was a life-sized stuffed toy.
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Cat on a hot tin roof: The tiger was on the roof of an abandoned hotel in Houston, Texas
Rather than snarling and leaping at them, the vicious predator merely fell from its ledge to the floor with a gentle tug.
At least one fire truck and six firemen were involved in the ‘rescue’ in Houston, Texas, including two men on a cherry picker who were sent up to try and talk the tiger down.
A video posted on YouTube shows them carefully inching towards the beast, which had one paw dangling over the side and its head tilted so it appeared to have just been startled.
When they realised it posed no threat, they then pulled it off with a large hooked stick so it fell to the floor where their colleagues picked it up and held it by the neck as if it were a trophy.
One fire-fighter even played with it as if he was being attacked.
Dramatic rescue: Two men on a cherry-picker helped 'rescue' the tiger
It isn't real? A Houston firefighter looks confused as he realises the tiger belongs at a toy store, not a zoo
Perks of the job: Onlooking fire-fighters record the rescue on their phones. They had to remove the big cat because it posed a risk to drivers, who would rubberneck when they saw a tiger on the roof
It is not clear how the tiger ended up on the ledge of the abandoned hotel, but fire crews said it had to be removed as drivers were slowing down to look at it, potentially causing an accident.
Real life animal escapes are rare - but deadly when they happen.
Last year dozens of pack animals were shot dead after their owner opened their cages before killing himself in Zanesville, Ohio.
I've got him: A fire-fighter looks amused as he holds the toy tiger after his co-worker knocked it from the roof
Job well done: The firefighters take the tiger away after one pretended to be attacked by the creature
Tigers, wolves, mountain lions, cheetahs and bears up to 300lbs in size were all hunted down by police as they roamed the rural town.
Some of the animals were thought to have eaten each other as families stayed in their homes for fear of being attacked.
Real life tigers are among the most deadly predators on Earth and can grow to 11ft long and weigh 700lbs.
In 2007 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. was killed and two others injured when two 350lbs Siberian tigers escaped their cage at San Francisco zoo and rampaged through the crowd.
Real animals on the loose: Police killed dozens of animals, including this lion, last October after they escaped from the wild-animal preserve in Ohio
Shot in the head: The collie puppy was rushed to the vets after being found by a walker, but had to be put down
Police were today hunting for a gunman who blasted a puppy in the face with a shotgun and left it to die.
The border collie was found by a walker after being shot in the head at point blank range and dumped on a mountainside.
Still alive, the puppy was taken to the vets, but later had to be put down after 60 pellets were found to be lodged in its skull.
X-ray: Vets found the dog had 60 pellets lodged in its skull after being shot in the head at close range
Now the RSPCA is trying to track down the gunman responsible for the barbaric act, which took place at the Fochriw mountain at Rhymney, South Wales.
Inspector Gary Lucas said: 'The dog did not die instantly from the shot, and was therefore left to suffer until he was found the same day by a dog walker.
'This was a horrific incident. Shooting the dog in the face in the first place is bad enough, but to then walk away and let it suffer until death is abominable.
'Dogs are our companions and should be treated with the care they deserve.
'Even if you are finding it hard to cope with caring for your animal due to changing personal circumstances etc, it is your duty to seek advice from an animal welfare organisation.'
The puppy was less than a year old and had been microchipped - but the RSPCA have not been able to trace its owner.
Inspector Lucas urged anyone with information on the possible owner to contact the RSPCA’s 24-hour national cruelty and advice line on 0300 1234 999.
He said: 'We need to find out what has happened to this poor dog and are relying heavily on the public’s knowledge.
'Any information could potentially prevent the person or persons responsible from mistreating another poor animal.'
-Brother and sister aged 10 and 12 found phone with the pictures in a ditch -David Amor named as embalmer holding aloft head of man believed to have been hit by a train
By Rick Dewsbury
Disturbing: David Amor laughs as he holds aloft the severed head in an image stored on a mobile phone found by two children
A gruesome image found on a mobile phone showing an embalmer laughing as he holds aloft a severed head was today at the centre of a police investigation.
The sickening picture, which features a man named as David Amor smirking at the camera, was on a phone found in a ditch in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, by two young children over the weekend.
It is one of three images on the phone that show the decapitated body, believed to have been hit by a train.
The disturbing shot is understood to have been taken as 26-year-old Mr Amor worked in a mortuary to preserve the body of the dead man until his funeral could take place.
Police yesterday launched an investigation into the shocking images.
Chief Inspector Olly Wright, of Aylesbury Vale police, said: 'The incident is being treated seriously and while we carry out our initial investigation we feel it would be inappropriate to speculate as to the circumstances in which this photo was taken.'
Officers were in the process of seizing the mobile phone so that they could examine the pictures further.
A spokesman added: 'We are looking into this to establish whether any offence has taken place.'
The phone was found by a brother and sister, aged 12 and 10, who gave it to their father.
He, in an attempt to identify the owner, removed the SIM card and put it in his own computer.
He said: 'It's like when you find a wallet, you look inside to see if there's anything to say who it belongs to.
'However, after finding that, I don't want to get in touch with this guy. It's a total lack of respect for the dead.
'That was probably someone's father, someone's son and someone's brother, it's unbelievable to think they could do that to someone.'
The father-of-two, who asked not to be named, described how his children screamed and ran out of the room when the images appeared on his computer.
Also on the phone were lists of Mr Amor's appointments and an electronic business card for his embalming business.
Idyllic: The Vale of Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire, close to where the phone containing pictures of the decapitated head was found
He advertises his services at £50 pounds for 'straight cases', and £60 pounds for 'PM' cases.
Embalming is the process by which bodies are preserved so they can be displayed at the funeral.
'At first I wasn't sure if it was real, until I started clicking through the rest of them,' said the father.
'It's really upset my daughter, she doesn't want to talk about it or go near the phone, she's really traumatised.'
Mr Amor states on a social networking site that his place of work is Amor Embalming.
He is understood to live with a cross-dresser, David Hill, in Aylesbury.
When questioned at his home, Mr Hill refused to comment about the pictures.
Wearing what looked like a blond wig and accompanied by another person who also looked like a man dressed as a woman, he shouted: 'We don't want to make a comment. No comment. Go away or we are calling the police.'
Neighbours last night described Mr Amor's actions with the severed head as 'vile.'
'Its disgusting,' said one man. 'They live here now and I hope it will be ''lived here'' soon.'
A spokesman for the British Institute of Embalmers, who have no record of Mr Amor, described his behaviour as a 'shocking' and said the relatives of the dead man would be 'appalled'.
Members of the BIE abide by a strict code of ethics that included treating every body with respect, they added.
'If it was one of our members, they'd be on a disciplinary, and thrown out of the institute'' said the spokesman.
'There's no legal requirement to register as an embalmer, and once somebody has done some sort of training they can work as an embalmer.'
Cruel: The dogs which were being taken to a chain of restaurants in south-west China
Crammed into tiny cages, unable to stand and deprived of food and water, these dogs endured terrible suffering on a truck bound for a chain of restaurants.
The harrowing pictures show the cruel conditions in which 1,500 of the animals were found when the truck was stopped at a toll gate by highway police and animal rescue volunteers in Chongqing, south-west China.
The truck was stacked high with cages, each containing several dogs in pitiful condition.
Rescue workers lift the cages from the truck which was stopped at a toll by highway police
The animals were moved to a nearby farm by volunteers from the Chongqing Animal Protection Association who gave them food, water and emergency treatment.
Sadly some of the dogs were already dead and rescue workers were unable to save other who were dying.
Pitiful: More than 1,500 dogs were crammed together in cages so tiny they couldn't even stand
Suffering: Many of the dogs were dead or dying, having been deprived of food and water
Volunteer Xiao Lu said: 'When they [the dogs] saw us they were groaning, but some were so exhausted and dying that they didn't even have the strength to make a sound.'
He said: 'The dog peddler said his truck was only loaded with 700 dogs, but there are at least 1500.'
Dog continues to be a popular meal in the Far East, with many in China favouring the meat, particularly during the winter.
The incident comes just months after police in Thailand rescued more than 1,000 dogs that were being transported to Vietnam.
The dogs were being taken across the Mekong river in Laos as prices for stray dogs and pets in rural Thai villages can reach as much as $33 an animal.
-Italian Coastguard took footage of passengers waiting in the freezing cold -Men pushed past children who were screaming 'I don't want to die' -French survivor says young and elderly were 'abandoned by crew'
By Ian Sparks
One by one: Infra-red footage shows passengers of the Costa Concordia queuing up (on the right) and then slipping down one-by-one (on the left) the belly of the ship via a rope
Incredible infrared footage has emerged showing survivors slipping down the belly of the stricken Costa Concordia one-by-one using a rope.
The black-and-white video, taken by the Italian Coastguard, shows passengers queueing up to get into lifeboats.
Release of the film comes as a French survivor today claimed that panicking crew were already 'fleeing in their life jackets' before passengers were warned the cruise liner was sinking.
Pensioner Daniele Perruchon also said men shoved past children screaming 'I don't want to die' as they raced to save themselves aboard the sinking ship.
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Escape: The black-and-white video, taken by the Italian Coastguard, show some passengers calmly queueing up to get into lifeboats
Search: The scale of the drop passengers endured on a safety rope can clearly be seen in this picture of the Costa Concordia, taken on Sunday
The 68-year-old was travelling with an elderly friend celebrating her 80th birthday when the chaos erupted on Friday night.
But she said they were abandoned in the darkness as the giant ship listed after striking rocks off Italian island of Giglio.
She and her friend were having dinner when the lights went out and crockery began crashing around them, she told French newspaper Nice-Matin.
She said: 'At that point a loud speaker announcement in Italian said 'The electrical circuit of the stabilizers has cut out. This is not a problem'.
Panic stations: The infrared cameras caught the chaotic scenes as hundred of passengers tried to leave the ship
Detained: Captain Francseco Schettino, pictured left in 2010, will appear in a Grosseto courthouse (right)
Chaos: Panicking crew aboard the stricken Costa Concordia were already 'fleeing in their life jackets' before passengers were warned the cruise liner was sinking, a French survivor claimed today
'Then as we were waiting in the gloom we saw terrified staff dashing past us in their life jackets. People were shouting and pushing each other.
'I was with an elderly person and determined not to panic. We made it back to our cabin and got our life jackets, then managed to reach one of the decks.
'Then we felt the ship begin tipping over. There was mass panic. The ship was at a steep angle and people were trying to reach the life boats by clinging to the walls.
'A woman fell on me and we went crashing into a telephone cabin. We managed to get into a life boat but it was unable to launch, and we were eventually taken off it by the Italian coastguard.'
But she added: 'At no time did anyone come and help us. We felt abandoned. So much for women and children first.
Abandoned: The Costa Concordia leans on its side just outside Giglio harbour last night
'I heard children crying out 'I don't want to die' as men pushed past trying to get themselves off the boat.'
Mrs Perruchon, from the French Riviera resort of Menton, said the cruise had been meant as a 'dream holiday' for her and her elderly friend.
She said: 'We have decided the first thing we are going to do is get straight back on another cruise liner to beat the fear.'
Rescuers have found six people dead inside the ship and are still searching for 29 people who remain missing from the 4,200 aboard.
They include five-year-old Italian girl Dyana Arlotti and her father William, 34, who are feared drowned after the vessel ran aground.
Grounded: Oil removal ships patrolled near the cruise ship Costa Concordia last night
Mr Arlotti, 34, from Rimini, who is divorced from Dyana’s mother, had taken his daughter on the cruise with his current partner as a treat.
Yesterday Dyana's distraught mother Susy Albertini told of her frantic search for news of her daughter. She said: 'I’ve made hundreds of calls to my ex-husband’s mobile phone but there is no answer.
‘I called all the authorities, the police, the town hall and the fire brigade but no one knows anything .
‘The last time I saw Dyana was on Thursday morning. I took her to nursery. Her father picked her up in the evening. It’s not the first time that she’s gone with her dad on a cruise – they both enjoy it. Dyana was happy when she left.
Missing: Barbara (left) and Gerald Heil (right), of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, are still unaccounted for after the disaster
‘They boarded the ship on Friday in Civitavecchia. I heard from William’s parents on Saturday morning that there were problems with the boat.’
Mr Arlotti and his daughter became separated from his partner Michela Maroncelli in the confusion to reach the lifeboats.
Miss Maroncelli, 32, said: ‘I climbed into a lifeboat but in the chaos I lost contact with William. I heard someone screaming, “Throw him a rope” and I was petrified that they were talking about him. I didn’t see William or Dyana again.’
Last night as darkness fell, Miss Albertini, 28, was anxiously waiting on the mainland for the search for her daughter to resume.
Meanwhile a survivor described how her husband gave his life to save her.
Unable to get into a lifeboat Frenchman Francis Servel, 71, insisted his wife Nicole take his lifejacket before they leapt off the sinking cruise ship into the sea.
‘For an hour we had waited in line to get into a lifeboat – my husband let everyone else go first,’ said Mrs Servel, a 60-year-old grandmother, back at home in Toulouse. ‘I can’t swim so he gave me his lifejacket. ‘He shouted “Jump, jump, jump”.
'I froze and couldn’t jump, but he jumped off the ship and shouted upwards, “Come on, don’t worry”.
‘I jumped off and the last thing I heard him say was that I would be fine. I never saw him again.’
She managed to swim ashore while her husband was swept under water and drowned. During her time in the cold water, she said, ‘I thought of my children and grandchildren.
'The thought of them kept me afloat, kept me living. I don’t know how I did it. ‘I swam for several minutes and then I found myself on a rock.
‘Villagers came to pick us up. They led us to a church. I was very cold, frozen. In the sacristy we found a cassock. I put it on.’
Unaccounted: Erika Soria (left) a Peruvian crew member, has not been heard from since Friday evening. Pictured right, Dyana Arlotti (front left) and her father, William, celebrate her fifth birthday
The couple’s cruise had been paid for by their children as a present for their mother’s 60th birthday.
Mrs Servel added: ‘I am angry because there was no boat for us and there was no one to save my husband. I owe my life to him – it’s obvious he saved me.’
Others still missing include Barbara and Gerald Heil, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, and Peruvian crew member Erika Soria.
On a mission: Members of the Guardia di Finanza of Livorno make their way out to the ship in the search for survivors. The rescue mission was suspended at nightfall
Popular spot: A general view of Giglio's harbour, near the location where tragedy struck
Tania and husband Michael Sullivan, 38, will appear on the Channel 4 series 15 Kids And Counting tomorrow. They have had to buy a minibus to cope with the demands of their horde of children and regularly get through 20 loaves and 50 pints of milk a week
A mother who has just given birth to twins - bringing her number of children to 11 - refuses to claim benefits despite the size of her family.
Tania Sullivan, from Hoo, Kent, gave birth to twins Elizabeth and Anna in October.
Amazingly, the 37-year-old only gave up work as a recruitment consultant after the birth of her sixth child and home schools seven of her offspring.
She said: 'Our household can be chaotic at times but we wouldn't change it for the world.
Military operation: Michael and Tania have 11 children, but refuse to claim benefits. From left, Joseph, one; Ben, 18; Caitlin, 12; Stephanie, 17; Patrick, 4; Harry, 8; Eddie, 7; Sid, 6, and Oliver, two
'Some people use having lots of kids as an excuse not to work, but we manage. It annoys me when people assume we must be on benefits as that's simply not the case.'
Tania and husband Michel, 38, will appear on the Channel 4 series 15 Kids And Counting on Tuesday.
They have had to buy a minibus to cope with the demands of their horde of children and regularly get through 20 loaves and 50 pints of milk a week.
Mrs Sullivan said: 'Running our household is like a military operation,
'Luckily the babies are very placid and don't keep me up all night but it's still non-stop. I get up by 5 o'clock every morning - anything after that is considered a lie-in - and start the chores.
'By the time the kids get up, I've put on the first wash of the day, vacuumed and dusted the house and made them breakfast.
'We've even bought a minibus to drive everyone around as we outgrew our old people carrier.'
The couple met at school when they were just 13 and 15 and dated, before splitting up and reuniting in their 20s.
They never planned on having such a large family though.
Mrs Sullivan added: 'There wasn't some kind of "light bulb" moment when Mike and I decided we were going to have loads of kids, it was a gradual thing.
'I'd thought we would have a couple of children but having several miscarriages changed my perspective.
'I was utterly heartbroken every time - it never got easier. It made me realise how precious children are and how they truly are a blessing.'
Mr Sullivan has two children, Ben, 18, and 17-year-old Stephanie, from a previous relationship.
The family is completed by Caitlin, 12; Harry, 8; Eddie, 7; Sid, 6; Patrick, 4; Oliver, 2 and Joseph, one, as well as two three-month-old twins Anna and Libby.
Something to quack about: A female duck falls over on a frozen lake at Marden Quarry Nature reserve, North Tyneside, this afternoon
It's nice weather for ducks, or so the saying goes.
But from the looks of these feathered creatures, they'd rather be tucked up in the warm that enduring the elements.
These amusing images show ducks struggling to stay on their (webbed) feet on a frozen lake at Marden Quarry Nature Reserve in North Tyneside this afternoon. Winging it: A male duck tries to steady himself on the slippy surface as temperatures across the UK plummeted this weekend
Temperatures across the country plummeted this weekend and the first snow of 2012 is expected to fall this week as wintry showers sweep the UK in a 'three day cold snap'.
After a mild start, temperatures could dip below freezing and there will be rain, snow showers and winds of up to 40mph from Thursday onwards.
Northern and western parts of the UK will be hit hardest but things will settle again by the beginning of next week, according to the Met Office.
Forecaster Byron Chalcraft said: 'The start of the week will be dry and settled with temperatures of up to 11 degrees, which is a few degrees above average for this time of year and it will feel quite mild.
'But by Thursday it will turn colder again. Temperatures will dip to freezing, maybe even a couple of degrees over, and we'll see rain and snow showers around.
Good thing we're wearing coats: Sheep graze in a frozen field near East Witton, in the Yokshire Dales
Slippery customer: These two ducks struggle to find food on the frozen lake
Northern grit: A longboard surfer enjoys the waves at Longsands, Tynemouth, despite the freezing temperatures
'They will mostly affect northern and western parts of the country. Manchester, in particular, is more likely to be affected.
'It could be enough snow to settle in some parts, which would be the first snow of this year.'
He said that winds could reach speeds of up to 40mph, and added: 'It will be nothing like the gale force winds we've seen up in Scotland lately which got up to more than 100mph. It will be breezy at most.'
Similar weather will continue into the weekend but things will turn milder again after a 'brief three day cold snap', Mr Chalcraft said.
'The weather is very changeable at the moment but as we go into the beginning of next week it will warm up again with temperatures of around eight or nine degrees, still chilly but mild for this time of year.
'It is unlikely we will see a repeat of the heavy snow we've seen in recent winters but it is too early to say yet.'
Chiller: The River Trent at Gunthorpe, Nottinghamshire, as a hard frost hit overnight
On the rocks: This female loses her footing as forecasters predicted the first snowfall on 2012 later this week
Jack frost: The clear skies on a beautiful morning in Gunthorpe, but temperatures will hit freezing again later this week
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Painful: Cupid was treated at the Brittmore Animal Hospital and will now be put up for adoption
Painful: Cupid was treated at the Brittmore Animal Hospital and will now be put up for adoption
