{"id":1743,"date":"2008-12-12T08:24:07","date_gmt":"2008-12-12T12:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/?p=1743"},"modified":"2008-12-12T09:07:02","modified_gmt":"2008-12-12T13:07:02","slug":"the-cat-that-almost-stole-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/12\/the-cat-that-almost-stole-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cat that almost stole Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my never ending quest to ferret out interesting tidbits about Local Search, I receive a number of Google alerts. Their news algo is pretty good and turns up a number of things that I would otherwise miss and my life would be the poorer for. Occasionally it will turn up news stories that are outside my specific query but have some interest none the less.\u00a0Here is one recent example:\u00a0
\n****
\nGoogle News Alert for:\u00a0<\/span>free 411<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Owner: Bobcat that clawed Santa Claus rabies-<\/span>free<\/span><\/strong><\/a>
\nNewsday – Long Island,NY,USA<\/span>
\nAP An exotic cat that drew blood after biting a volunteer Santa Claus at a charity event in
Atlantic County has been vaccinated.…<\/strong>
\nSee all stories on this topic<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

****<\/p>\n

It noted in the story that “the man playing the jolly elf said the cat named “Benny” appeared terrified because dogs were nearby at the Santa Paws photo event for an animal-rescue group in Hamilton Township<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

I am happy to report that Santa Claus IS NOT going to die due to Rabies and he will be making his appointed rounds albeit with a bandage on his arm and he may need some extra help. <\/p>\n

Now what was that bobcat doing at a charity event? And why are rescued dogs being used in a publicity stunt? Weird times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In my never ending quest to ferret out interesting tidbits about Local Search, I receive a number of Google alerts. Their news algo is pretty good and turns up a number of things that I would otherwise miss and my life would be the poorer for. Occasionally it will turn up news stories that are …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-google-maps-google-local"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t