News of the Weird: Week of March 10, 2022

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This Gig Stinks

Omni, a plant-based pet food company in Britain, is offering a lucky(?) few dog owners more than $6,000 to "record their experience of introducing their dog to a plant-based diet, monitoring their bowel movements, stool odor, health, energy levels, behavior, sleep pattern and physical attributes, such as weight, skin and fur condition" over a period of two months, according to the company's website. Omni will provide a free supply of its pet food for the gig and will cover the cost of visits to a pet nutritionist, who will oversee the pets' transition to plant-based food. Those dog owners who successfully complete the poop-monitoring period will earn the aforementioned cash for their work, while their dogs will receive a supply of dog toys and vegan treats. Applications will be accepted on Omni's website through March 31.

Check, Please!

Michael Spressler, 58, of Brick, New Jersey, thought he had broken a tooth when he bit into a raw clam and felt something hard in his mouth during a Presidents Day weekend visit to his favorite Jersey Shore seafood restaurant, The Lobster House. "I thought one of my molars cracked," Spressler told NJ Advance Media. But instead of one of his own pearly whites, Spressler found a perfectly round white pearl. "I've been eating clams all my life. This is the first time this ever happened to me," Spressler said. Indeed, the odds of finding a pearl in a clam are said to be roughly 1 in 10,000, and The Pearl Source website says the little gem, which Spressler's wife, Maria, would like to have set in a piece of jewelry, could be worth anywhere from $50 to $100,000.

Golden Ticket

On Oct. 26, 1984, Northwestern student Michael Cole attended a basketball game alone, having been unable to find a friend to use the extra ticket he had purchased for $8.50. Thirty-eight years later, on Feb. 27, Cole, now 55, watched that spare ticket, which he had held onto as a keepsake, sell for $468,000 at auction. What was so special about the ticket? It just happens to be the only known intact ticket from Michael Jordan's debut game with the Chicago Bulls. Cole, whose 2012 Kia Sorento died just one week before the auction ended, said he plans to use some of his earnings to replace it with "a sensible used car."

A Little Faith in Humanity

Perhaps it's a sad critique of the world we live in when a story like the following is classified as "weird" -- but greed abounds in this modern age, so when an act of kindness rises above the usual dreck, it is weird news indeed. Eduardo Martinez of Honduras, who works near Broadway in New York, probably expected a more typical ending to his story: On March 2, as he rushed to get to work through jam-packed Times Square, Martinez dropped his wallet. Losing his IDs and personal effects would have been devastating enough, but Martinez also had $4,000 in cash inside his billfold. As he waded through the crowd of tourists and searched the ground, two police officers approached and informed him that the wallet had been picked up by a fellow commuter and turned over safe and sound -- with all $4,000 intact. Here's to happy endings!

Animal Adventures

• The Lang family of Whidbey Island Station in Washington owns five horses, but on the morning of March 2, only four could be found. The family began a search and discovered that Blaze, the missing horse, was in deep trouble -- 15 feet deep, to be precise. The horse had broken through a barrier around 10 a.m. and fallen down a concrete well. Rescue workers from the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station dropped in and sedated the horse, and North Whidbey and Central Whidbey Fire & Rescue crews were able to get a harness around Blaze and lift all 2,000 pounds of equine out of the hole using an excavator from a neighbor's farm. Blaze received an IV and was treated for a few minor cuts, but otherwise was unhurt in the incident. "If he had gone down any other way, he wouldn't be alive," owner Karl Lang told KING-TV 5. "Luckily he went down heinie first."
• A 15-year-old poodle named Snowball has been reunited with his owner, Kathy, of Norfolk, Virginia. What kept the two apart? Only about five years and more than 900 miles. Snowball, who arrived recently at the Cape Coral Animal Shelter in Florida with matted fur, infected eyes and ears and severe dehydration, had gone missing from Kathy's home in Norfolk some five years ago. But thanks to the microchip Kathy had implanted in her bestie, the poodle was quickly identified, and Kathy booked a flight shortly after receiving a call from the shelter. Fox 4 Southwest Florida reports that Snowball's eyes have been treated, his vaccinations have been updated, and his new health certificate will allow him to fly home with Kathy.

Did Somebody Say "Shot"?

On Feb. 27, the Smoking Gun reported, Christina Blair, 33, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, began honking her horn and yelling obscenities at Gabriel Chavez while the two drove their cars on an Albuquerque road. Blair told police she had become enraged upon seeing Chavez's "Vaccinated" bumper sticker. After Blair hit Chavez's car with an object (later revealed to be a water bottle) at a red light, Chavez accidentally backed into Blair's car. The two pulled into a Walgreen's parking lot, where Chavez expected to exchange insurance information; instead, Blair pulled a handgun from her car and racked the weapon. Chavez called 911, and police were able to use Chavez's cellphone video to acquire Blair's license plate info and track it to her residence. Blair was taken into custody and booked on a count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Two-Drink Minimum

The buggy-drifting skills of Ray Byler, 20, of Sigel, Pennsylvania, sound impressive; his alcohol tolerance, not so much. Byler was charged with a misdemeanor for driving under the influence and also was cited for careless and reckless driving. Police began following the Amish buggy he was driving and watched as Byler sped up at a turn and locked the brakes, sending sparks flying. According to Trib Live, when Byler pulled over to let the officers pass and they asked if he was OK, Byler's response was slurred, and he smelled of alcohol. When asked if he'd been drinking, Byler told the officers he'd had "a couple of beers." Byler was allowed to stand by his agitated horse's side after the field sobriety test; police said he refused to take the blood draw test at the hospital.

Hanging Tough

Looking to add some intensity to your workout routine? You could always take your inspiration from Roman Sahradyan's latest Guinness World Record. All you need is excellent pull-up technique, 60 seconds ... and a helicopter. As reported by India Today, Sahradyan posted a video last October that went viral: In it, the Armenian performed 23 pull-ups in one minute, all while hanging from the landing skid of a helicopter floating several feet off the ground. The achievement earned Sahradyan an official Guinness World Record for the "most pull-ups from a helicopter in one minute," and the Instagram video posted by Guinness World Records has tallied more than 125,000 likes. One commentor gave a shout-out to the unsung hero of the video: "The real record is for the pilot for not crashing the helicopter."

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