Animals and pets

Found the car at Stockton, but not the canine

Stockton can be a mean town. Just ask Poway resident Cynthia Niswonger. Niswonger’s family vacation return trip from Oregon took a detour of the worst sort about 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11 outside the McDonalds at 611 West Charter Way, Stockton. That is when a thief broke the lock on her green 2000 Ford Focus hatchback and stole the car. Complicating the theft was the…


Meet Safari Park’s Southern White Rhino calf

Edward, a 13-day-old southern white rhino calf at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, got his first chance to experience a true mud wallow this morning today, under the watchful eye of his mom, Victoria. Rhino keepers decided to create a wallow for the youngster to provide him the opportunity to experience an instinctive behavior for rhinos. Keepers scooped up mud from the area around…



Milk, cow manure, and beer trucks

Lessons from the Last Surviving San Diego Dairy “My family has always been in the dairy business. It’s a…different sort of business,” laughs Frank Konyn of Frank Konyn Dairy. Established in 1962 by his father, Konyn’s 250-acre dairy farm is nestled on the San Pasqual Valley floor 35 miles northeast of downtown San Diego. With over 800 cows, he estimates his monthly feed bill to…


Painted lady butterflies swarm North County

Painted lady butterflies have found North County San Diego to their liking as they pass through from Mexico to Oregon. It’s the largest such pass-by since 2005, according to butterfly experts. You can easily identify a painted lady butterfly by looking at its orange, brown and white wings, they say. Wet winter fueled vegetation growth in the Sonoran Desert in Mexico, giving caterpillars a lot…


Hey Deer Springs Equestrian, Feed & Supply

Deer Springs Equestrian, along with Deer Springs Feed & Supply, at 2333 N. Twin Oaks Rd., San Marcos (760-744-9600), is a horse boarding and training facility unlike any other in Southern California. Situated on 21 acres in the historic Discovery Valley, San Marcos, Deer Springs gives the horse and rider the freedom to pursue their riding goals in a relaxed and spacious environment. With a…


Foreign honey bees invade area changing life

Hike around the natural habitats of San Diego County and it becomes abundantly clear that honey bees, foreign to the area, are everywhere. A new study by Keng-Lou James Hung, Jennifer Kingston, Adrienne Lee, David Holway and Joshua Kohn of UC San Diego’s Division of Biological Sciences, published on Feb. 20 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, found that honey bees focus their foraging on…


HiCaliber Horse Rescue bites the dust

HiCaliber Horse Rescue, which has faced animal cruelty and fraud allegations for months, is being evicted from its Valley Center ranch and sued for more than $4 million. Brenda Markstein filed the lawsuit in Vista Superior Court on Nov. 26, alleging damage to the property, breach of contract and negligence. The suit names HiCaliber and its founders, Michelle Knuttila and Romney Snyder. The Brenda Markstein…


VC horse rescue wracked by fraud, abuse

Attorney General’s Office halts HiCaliber’s fundraising, spending for failing to file tax docs HiCaliber Horse Rescue, a Valley Center nonprofit embroiled in allegations of fraud and animal abuse, can no longer raise or spend money until it submits proper financial disclosures to the state. The California Attorney General’s Office sent HiCaliber a letter Friday stating the nonprofit is considered “delinquent” for failing to submit federal…