Expatica news

Dutch news in brief, 14 February 2006

Police dog stabbed

A ‘confused’ man stabbed a police dog in Krimpen aan den IJssel on Monday, the police said. The animal, Biko, was treated by a vet for its injuries. The 34-year-old man became violent when he was visited by health workers and the police. He threw a gas bottle and threatened them with a knife. The police dog was brought in when he threatened to start a fire.

Row over feeding animals in nature reserve

Animal rights group ‘Dierenbescherming’ is taking the Parks Service to court to demand the animals in the Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve in Flevoland Province be given extra food to survive the harsh winter. Dierenbescherming says red deer, cattle and wild ponies face “unacceptable suffering” if they are not given the additional food. Oostvaardersplassen is run with minimal intervention from humans in order that the animals can live as naturally as possible. Last year several hundred grazing animals died of hunger due to the lack of food in the area during the winter. Talks between the animal rights group and the authorities have come to nothing. The case will be heard in The Hague on 3 March.

TomTom posts higher profit

TomTom, the Amsterdam-based producer of car navigation systems, posted higher-than-expected results on Tuesday. The company booked EUR 48 million net profit for the fourth quarter last year, compared with the EUR 35 million anticipated by market watchers.

Heart attacks ‘often not recognised’

Almost half the people who suffer a heart attack don’t realise what has happened, according to research carried out by the Erasmus Medisch Centrum in Rotterdam. Family doctors often don’t recognise the condition either, particularly when the patient is not suffering from pain in the chest. This can lead to the symptoms going untreated, increasing the risk of another heart attack. Women are less prone to heart attacks but are slower to realise when they have one, the researchers said.

Murder-suicide suspected in Amsterdam

Police discovered the bodies of a couple in a house at Pierre Cuypershof in Amsterdam-West on Monday evening. Officers broke the door in after seeing the woman, 68, lying on the ground lifeless. It is suspected she was killed by her husband who then committed suicide. The body of the man, 70, was lying nearby. 

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2006]

Subject: Dutch news