UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News




Textbook: Meat eaters ‘commit sex crimes’

NEW DELHI, Nov. 16 (UPI) — An Indian publisher is drawing criticism for a school textbook that says meat eaters "easily cheat, tell lies, forget promises … and commit sex crimes."




"New Healthway," a health and hygiene textbook published by S Chand for 11- and 12-year-olds, includes a chapter titled "Do We Need Flesh Food?" the BBC reported Friday.




"The strongest argument that meat is not essential food is the fact that the Creator of this Universe did not include meat in the original diet for Adam and Eve. He gave them fruits, nuts and vegetables," the chapter reads.




The book says "some of the characteristics" of non-vegetarians are that "they easily cheat, tell lies, forget promises, they are dishonest and tell bad words, steal, fight and turn to violence and commit sex crimes."




Janaki Rajan of the Faculty of Education at Jamia Millia University in Delhi said the claims in the textbook are "poisonous for children."




"The government has the power to take action, but they are washing their hands of it," she said.




The publisher declined to comment.








Family ordered to get rid of pet pig

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla., Nov. 16 (UPI) — A Florida mother says a small pig is a therapy pet for her 8-year-old son, who has Down syndrome, and she wants officials to let her family keep the animal.




Heather Ray of Coral Springs said Twinkie the 6-week-old pig is the family’s "dog" and should not be subject to the city’s code restrictions banning pigs because she is a therapy pet for her son, Kason, 8, and not a farm animal raised for meat, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Friday.




Ray said the pig is the right pet for her son because the child’s allergies are severe around dogs, cats and rabbits. She said his allergies have previously led to sinus infections.




"It’s important for people with special needs to be accepted," she said. "Animals don’t look at you like you’re different. They love you no matter what. It’s important for us to have him accepted."




Ray said she is hoping to convince officials to allow the family to keep the pig. Otherwise, they said, she could face fines of up to $500 per day.




City Attorney John Hearn said officials are reviewing the case.








Swedish pools ban shaving in shower

VAXJO, Sweden, Nov. 16 (UPI) — A Swedish swimming pool operator said women will no longer be allowed to shave in the showers at the company’s facilities.




Medley, which runs pools across the country, has placed signs in women’s shower rooms at all of the company’s facilities asking women to refrain from shaving in the showers, The Local.se reported Friday.




The company said the ban came after complaints from patrons about the public shaving.




"They felt uncomfortable watching other women shave in public and think that they should be doing that at home — and the company agrees," said Josefin Kejder, who manages a Medley pool in Vaxjo.




Kejder said signs have not been posted in the men’s showers because there have not been complaints about men shaving.




"I think women shave more than men in general. And it is also a question of hygiene with hair getting stuck in the drains," she said.








Man faces trial for feeding police horse

GLASGOW, Scotland, Nov. 16 (UPI) — Scottish authorities are being criticized for allegedly wasting money by pressing charges against a man who fed a sausage roll to a police horse.




Francis Kelly, 41, was charged with causing a breach of the peace when he fed the sausage roll to the horse Sept. 26 in Glasgow, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.




Kelly, who said he fed the horse because it "looked hungry," is accused by prosecutors of behaving in a "threatening or abusive manner" when he fed the horse and taking "an aggressive stance" when police officers told him to put the food away.




Critics have called the case, which is due to be heard in court in February, a waste of money and resources.




"Seriously, is a man to stand trial for feeling a police horse a sausage roll … the world has gone mad," Michelle McLaughlin posted on Twitter.







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