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Adopted Wild Boar Threatened with Euthanasia in France

French horse breeder Elodie Cappe walks with "Rillette", a wild boar she rescued as a piglet in 2023 that is now at the center of a legal dispute over the keeping of wild animals in France, at her farm in Chaource, France, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
French horse breeder Elodie Cappe walks with "Rillette", a wild boar she rescued as a piglet in 2023 that is now at the center of a legal dispute over the keeping of wild animals in France, at her farm in Chaource, France, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
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Adopted Wild Boar Threatened with Euthanasia in France

French horse breeder Elodie Cappe walks with "Rillette", a wild boar she rescued as a piglet in 2023 that is now at the center of a legal dispute over the keeping of wild animals in France, at her farm in Chaource, France, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
French horse breeder Elodie Cappe walks with "Rillette", a wild boar she rescued as a piglet in 2023 that is now at the center of a legal dispute over the keeping of wild animals in France, at her farm in Chaource, France, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq

Animal rights campaigners in France are fighting to save a wild boar adopted as a piglet by a horse breeder but now threatened with being put down if her owner does not send her to a specialized sanctuary, Reuters reported.
A French court is set to rule in coming days on the fate of "Rillette", who was found as a tiny piglet outside the horse farm of Elodie Cappe in Chaource, central France, in April 2023.
Now a big sow with a bristly brown coat, Rillette strolls around between the horses and dogs on the farm and enthusiastically kicks around a big plastic ball with her snout.
"I do not know how she sees me. Maybe I am her mother, maybe her best friend, or just her protector, but as you can see there is a link of love between us," Cappe said as she hugged Rillette in the hay and kissed her on the snout.
Cappe says Rillette no longer is a wild animal and that two attempts to set her free have failed miserably as the boar immediately ran back towards her owners.
"Rillette has no link whatsoever with her own species. If we release her in the woods, she will sit in middle of the road and run to the first human she sees," she said.
Authorities' attempts to remove the boar on health and safety grounds have whipped up a storm of protest in France.
Last weekend hundreds of people in the area marched behind a "Free Rillette" banner, while animal rights campaigner and movie icon Brigitte Bardot posted on X: "I ask that Rillette be saved...who are the monsters who want to euthanize her?".
Rillette's owner says she will fight to save her. "All will depend on the magistrate's decision, but it could come down to euthanasia, and I will not let that happen," said Cappe, who risks three years in jail for failing to comply.
Cappe said that Rillette - jokingly named after a regional dish of shredded pork - is sterilized and vaccinated and poses no danger to the public as she is confined to the farm.
"Why would they take her away, since she is happy here and does not bother anyone?" she asked.

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Coffee Lovers Find Grounds for Complaint at Australian Open

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 15, 2025 General view of people buying coffee outside the courts. (Reuters)
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 15, 2025 General view of people buying coffee outside the courts. (Reuters)
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Coffee Lovers Find Grounds for Complaint at Australian Open

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 15, 2025 General view of people buying coffee outside the courts. (Reuters)
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 15, 2025 General view of people buying coffee outside the courts. (Reuters)

Melbourne prides itself on serving up the world's best coffee, but finding a hot brew at the Australian Open has proved a challenge for some of the tens of thousands of fans attending this year's Grand Slam tennis tournament.

Organizers have worked hard over the last decade to improve options for refreshment and an array of outlets at the Melbourne Park precinct.

Yet long queues face fans looking to indulge their passion for the city's favorite beverage at the 15 coffee stores Tennis Australia says dot the 40-hectare (99-acre) site.

"We need more coffee places open," said Katherine Wright, who has been coming to the tournament for the five years as she lined up for a hot drink near the Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday.

"We are big coffee drinkers, especially Melburnians."

The Australian Open attracts more than 90,000 fans a day early on in the tournament, when ground passes are relatively cheap, offering the chance to watch main draw action on the outer courts.

Liz, another Melburnian, said she stood in line for half an hour for a cup of coffee on Sunday, when rain halted play for six hours on the outer courts.

"This is a well-established global event," she added. "You actually need to be providing better service to the consumer."

Melbourne imports about 30 tons of coffee beans a day, the Australian Science Education Research Association says, representing a surge of nearly eightfold over the past decade that is sufficient to brew 3 million cups of coffee.

For Malgorzata Halaba, a fan who came from Poland on Sunday for her second Australian Open, finding one of those 3 million cups was a must.

"It seems it took me a day and a half, and several kilometers of walking around the grounds, to find coffee," she said. "And jet-lagged as I am, coffee is a lifesaver."