Warning: Contains reference to animal cruelty some readers may find upsetting

A Michigan man has been described as a ‘hero’ after he was allegedly ‘beaten’ to death by a neighbor when he tried to stop them from hitting a dog.

Robert ‘Bobby’ Cavanaugh had been out riding his bike through his mobile home community in Madison Heights, Michigan on Christmas Eve when he saw the animal allegedly being beaten.

Bobby’s sister, Jane Thompson, has claimed he attempted to intervene, but when he did he was attacked with an object.

Bobby was knocked unconscious and police and fire crews responded to the scene, where Madison Heights Police Lt. David Koehler said they found him ‘unresponsive and bleeding’.

Bobby was riding his bike when he saw the alleged attack (Click On Detroit)

“The fire department tried life-saving measures,” Koehler said, however after being taken to hospital Bobby was pronounced dead.

Officers are now looking into the incident and the claim that Bobby was trying to save a dog when he was attacked. The suspect in the case is known to law enforcement and was taken into police custody.

Per Fox 2 Detroit, Koehler said: “There was an altercation of some sort, but we don’t know what led to it. Our investigation has led to the arrest of someone, but it appeared Cavanaugh had some blunt force trauma which could have potentially caused his death.”

In the wake of Bobby’s death, his loved ones have paid tribute and demanded justice for the ‘animal lover’.

“He’s kind of a hero to me,” Thompson said. “He was always reaching out to others, helping them.”

A neighbor, Rebecca Spencer, added: “He would not let anybody kill an animal or hurt one. He has been in this community for so long, and he has helped everybody.”

Bobby’s sister Jane described him as a ‘hero’ (GoFundMe)

Thompson has since set up a GoFundMe page in which she said her youngest brother had a ‘heart of gold’.

“[He] would do whatever he could to help the community in any way that he could and would never ask for a penny,” she wrote. “He did everything from his heart. He was a man that loved the Lord and always gave back whenever he could especially all animals.”

Thompson said her family wants to ‘honor’ Bobby by giving him a ‘proper burial as the hero he was’.

“His wishes were to be buried and not to be cremated. Thank you so much for your consideration as we continue to pray for peace, humanity for all of our world,” she wrote.

Thompson set the target for the GoFundMe at $4,000, but the fundraiser has since exceeded the goal and raised almost $19,000 at the time of writing (December 29).

Video shows the moment a trainer at SeaWorld was seized by an orca and dragged to her death.

The trainer was Dawn Brancheau, who had worked at SeaWorld for some 16 years, including with bull orca Tilikum who was the subject of 2013 Netflix documentary Blackfish.

Tilikum was a large orca who had been captured when he was just two years old.

The enormous whale weighed around 12,500lbs, and had fathered multiple calves at SeaWorld.

At the time of his attack on Dawn he had already been involved in the deaths of two other people.

The first was Keltie Lee Byrne, 20, who was killed at Sealand off the Pacific in 1991 after slipping and falling into a tank containing three orcas, including Tilikum.

In 1999 27-year-old Daniel P. Dukes became the second death attributed to Tilikum.

Daniel had stayed in the park after it closed, and his body was found in the whale enclosure having been mutilated by Tilikum.

After Daniel’s death Tilikum was ruled to be too dangerous to swim with, even for trainers.

Tilikum the orca, with the floppy dorsal fin characteristic of captive orcas (Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)

In 2010 Dawn had been working with Tilikum from the side of the pool when some of her hair had floated into the water.

In a police report Jan Topoleski told investigators: “Dawn was lying on her stomach… Tilikum was interacting with her nose to nose. Dawn’s long hair floated on the water in to Tilikum’s mouth.”

Topoleski recalled how Dawn had begun struggling to free her hair from Tilikum’s mouth, which had prompted him to push the alarm button.

When he turned back after hitting the alarm Dawn had disappeared.

CCTV from the park shows Dawn entering the water at 13:38.

Five horrible minutes later at 13:43 and Tilikum could be seen swimming around with her lifeless body in his jaws.

Her body could not be retrieved from the pool for 20 minutes.

Below the water’s surface visitors and staff witnessed Dawn’s final moments as the orca dragged her around the tank.

Tilikum was involved in the deaths of three people (Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)

Staffer Lynne Schaber had been waiting for the signal for Tilikum to descend so visitors could get photos.

Instead she witnessed Tilikum killing Dawn in the pool, saying that he never let her go up for air despite her frantic efforts to surface and breathe.

One witness claimed that as they saw Dawn trying to get out of the water they saw Tilikum ‘impact her squarely in the chest’.

They added that he had ‘looped around and came back towards Dawn Brancheau with his mouth open.’

Even after Dawn’s body had been recovered witnesses reported that Tilikum had tried to retrieve it.

The precise reason for Tilikum’s attack has never been established.

Orcas rely on sonar to communicate, and one theory has suggested that the concrete tanks in which they are held echo their own voice back at them as it bounces off the walls.

It has been noted that no fatal attacks on humans by wild orcas have ever been recorded, only by captive orcas.

Seagulls can certainly be annoying pests at times, but one father’s overreaction has put him into serious hot water after an incident in New Jersey.

What should have been a nice day out turned into quite a dramatic spectacle.

On 22 July, the North Wildwood Police Department confirmed a father was involved in an incident that saw him arrested and face multiple charges.

New Jersey Man Franklin Zeigler, 29, of Cape May, was at Surfside Pier in Morey’s Piers & Beachfront Water Parks on the Wildwood boardwalk on July 6 when he decided to harshly deal with a seagull.

The seagull had tried to make off with his daughter’s fries and, in a fit of rage, Zeigler took things into his own hands.

Seagulls are known to be annoying pests, but animal cruelty is never acceptable. (Getty Stock Image)

In a shocking act of animal cruelty, he allegedly grabbed the bird and ripped its head off from its body.

According to a Newark Star-Ledger report, after allegedly pulling the head off the seagull, he asked multiple Morey’s Pier employees for a trash bag while holding the dead bird in his hands.

Writing in a press release on Facebook, police said: “During the investigation, Zeigler was irate and uncooperative with officers on an unrelated investigation, which resulted in his arrest for Disorderly Conduct & Resisting Arrest, both Disorderly Persons offenses.”

Police gathered pictures of the deceased animal and Zeigler admitted on police body cams that he killed the seagull after it attempted to take his child’s fries.

Following the conclusion of the investigation, authorities hit the father with more charges.

Police confirmed the father was charged with animal cruelty. (Getty Stock Image)

“As a result of the investigation, Zeigler was additionally charged with 3rd degree Animal Cruelty,” the statement continued. “Zeigler was placed on a summons on the above charges as per bail reform and released pending a future court date.”

Police are still calling on the public for more information about the incident, and in the statement said: “If you have any information related to this case or any other criminal activities, please contact the North Wildwood Police Department Detective Division at (609) 522-2411.

“The public can also provide tips anonymously by using our TEXT-A-TIP by texting TIP NWPD, followed by your message, to 888777.”

If you see an animal in distress and/or in need of help, call 911 if a crime is in progress. You can also visit a directory of animal abuse investigation agencies by state here.

The horrifying moment an orca swam past the viewing window with its dead trainer in its mouth was spotted by a visitor at SeaWorld.

Dawn Brancheau worked with orcas at the Orlando resort for over 15 years, becoming SeaWorld’s poster girl.

However, February 2010, would mark her last encounter with the animals, with the 40-year-old ending up being grabbed and pulled underwater while working with 12,000lb killer whale Tilikum – also known as ‘Tilly’ or by the stage name of ‘Shamu’.

Susanne De Wit was visiting the resort at the time of the incident and spotted the moment the orca swam towards the viewing window with Brancheau in its mouth.

An investigation into Brancheau’s death was launched by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration – who later imposed a ban on trainers entering the water with whales during shows – and De Wit subsequently came forward to speak about what she saw.

In a statement to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, De Wit said: “They told us he was playing with the trainer. Suddenly, I saw Shamu grabbing the trainer by the shoulder and pulling her down in the water near the window. It did not look normal.

Dawn Brancheau worked as a trainer for 15 years (CNN)

“It was scary. He was very wild with the trainer still in the whale’s mouth. The whale’s tail was very wild in the water.

“The tour guide pulled us out and there was a full alarm. We then saw them throw a net into the water.”

A report into the incident also referred to an interview with De Wit, who had been visiting from the Netherlands, saying how she recalled seeing Brancheau’s legs as she moved ‘extremely fast’ while the whale ‘was shaking’.

Speaking to The Sun in 2021, Brancheau’s sister, Debbie Frogameni, said the family was still trying to understand what had happened.

Brancheau was killed by killer whale Tilikum (Getty Images/ Gerardo Mora)

“Some days, I think we are still processing her loss,” she said.

“Dawn was just so special to so many people and I’m not sure you ever get past losing someone like her.

“I think we do find some comfort knowing that she accomplished and experienced more in her short 40 years than most people who live long lives.