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Cats are useful wherever they are, and they don’t always live in private homes. Here are a few who serve as mousers, greeters, public relations agents, and stress relievers under various titles. None of them let the burdens of employment interfere with nap time.

Staff and volunteers at Helen Woodward Animal Center (HWAC) in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. saw first hand just how strong a mother’s love can be – even when the baby is from another species! Beignet, a young long-haired Chihuahua, and Gumbo, a tiny grey kitten, were found abandoned in a backyard in Barstow, Calif. Neighbors found Beignet, whose own puppies were nowhere to be found, nursing the small grey kitten and surely keeping him alive as nighttime temps dropped to the 20s. The pair was transported to the HWAC and thrived under their care. Marcie Grube of HWAC says Gumbo...

Abu Dhabi policewoman calms girl and assures her that there was nothing to fearA chameleon in a house garden scared a girl in Abu Dhabi, after she mistook it for a “crocodile”. She contacted Abu Dhabi Police via the Operations Room, and reported that a “crocodile” was found in the garden of her family’s house “sticking out its tongue”, and preparing to attack her, she told the police on the phone The police mobilised its force and made its way to the reported site, accompanied by the specialised authorities, where they discovered that the animal that was “sticking out its...

A 60-year-old British man was cleared of an assault charge in the case of a fight between neighbors that began with an argument about throwing cat feces. Chippenham Magistrates' Court in Wiltshire, England, heard Matthew Lucas, 38, confronted neighbor Douglas Pidgeon, 60, after finding cat droppings that appeared to have been thrown into his yard, the Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday. Lucas said he was concerned his 5-year-old daughter could have touched the cat droppings and suffered ill effects. Pidgeon told the court he threw the feces over the fence because he was tired of the Lucas' cat using his "garden...

PORTLAND, Ore. — A crazed cat is behind bars after it attacked a baby and held an Oregon family hostage in a bedroom, forcing them to call 911. According to KPTV, the ferocious feline — a 22-pound Himalayan named Lux — “went over the edge” Sunday evening after it was punished for scratching a couple’s 7-month-old baby. The baby was not injured. When the peeved pet began charging at its owners, the family and their dog hid in a bedroom, where they called 911. "He's got kind of a history of violence," the caller said, adding that the cat continued...

A SUNY Brockport student from West Seneca and a Genesee County man have been arrested for allegedly forcing a dog to be held upside down and drink beer. Brockport Police report that Robert Yates, 20, took a photo of the dog being held over the beer keg and posted it to Twitter at a Saturday night house party. Officers also arrested Shane Oliver, 20, of Bergen. Both are facing charges of torturing/injuring animals. The dog’s owner was apparently not involved. The college issued a statement saying, “We were alarmed to learn of this disturbing photo. The College is investigating this...

Happy St. Catrick's Day! E-Card

Crown Prince is swim-fan of 64-year-old elephantDisplaying an array of his many talents and passions, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, has released a picture of him practising diving – his latest hobby. In the picture on Instagram, Sheikh Hamdan is seen diving with an elephant - Rajan. In a report in Al Bayan, sharing his feelings at diving with the elephant, a rare breed, Sheikh Hamdan said he felt happiness and wonder at swimming beside this huge animal. He was surprised to see the elephant diving and swimming. Sheikh Hamdan said he was...

When Porter the dog tries to figure out why his owner has placed a toy bone under a bucket, his response might provide some insight about human development, autism and other learning disabilities. That's the hope of Laurie Santos, who runs the Canine Cognition Center at Yale, which opened in December. She pointed to the 4-year-old chocolate lab mix, brought in by psychology grad student Kristi Leimgruber. Porter is growing up in the same kind of environment as human children, Santos said, so comparing how he learns with the way people learn can tell us a lot about human development.

For many people, arriving at A&E at death’s door and being told the only way for you to survive was to get blind drunk would count as a result. That’s the situation Maltese terrier Charlie found himself in after being left with hours to live after licking coolant from his owner Jacinta Rosewarne’s garage. Quick-thinking vets deduced that the little dog had ethylene glycol poisoning, which can lead to kidney failure – and the only treatment was to get him as drunk as possible. Because pure alcohol can alter antifreeze chemicals and allow them to be flushed out of an...

The coywolf, a mixture of western coyote and eastern wolf, is a remarkable new hybrid carnivore that is taking over territories once roamed by wolves and slipping unnoticed into our cities. Its appearance is very recent — within the last 90 years — in evolutionary terms, a blip in time. Beginning in Canada but by no means ending there, the story of how it came to be is an extraordinary tale of how quickly adaptation and evolution can occur, especially when humans interfere. Tag along as scientists study this new top predator, tracking it from the wilderness of Ontario’s Algonquin...

RIVERSIDE (CBSLA.com) — Riverside County Animal Services Officers had been receiving “frantic” calls for several days about a black cat perched along a center divider on the 91 Freeway. Animal Services Spokesperson John Welsh said any time officers went to investigate, the cat was no where to be found. Officers Tiffany Fuller and Jenny Selter, along with an additional colleague doing an educational ride along, managed to locate the feline just before noon Saturday. Officer Selter found the cat relaxing underneath the Van Buren Boulevard Bridge. “Part of the trouble was, we had been getting calls in the morning during...

Not sure where this comes from but nice on an old dogs thoughts. One by One, they pass by my cage, Too old, too worn, too broken, no way. Way past his time, he can't run and play. Then they shake their heads slowly and go on their way. A little old man, arthritic and sore, It seems I am not wanted anymore. I once had a home, I once had a bed, A place that was warm, and where I was fed. Now my muzzle is gray, and my eyes slowly fail. Who wants a dog so old and...

Maine Coon kitten safety isn't usually the first thing we think about before getting a new kitten, but we should! We all know about child-proofing, but what about kitten-proofing? Your kitten can get into all sorts of trouble! Reviewing this Maine Coon Kitten safety page, and following its advice will go a long way toward keeping your kitten safe and healthy. We'll have minimal photos on this page, so you can print it out. Keep it handy and show it to other members of your household. It is amazing the places kittens will go to hide.

A 71-year-old woman and three firefighters Friday were recovering at a Riverside County hospital after they were attacked by thousands of killer bees. The incident happened around 4:40 p.m. Thursday in a gated community on Lucerne Drive in Palm Desert, CalFire said. The woman suffered 1,000 stings and looked like she was wearing a “suit of bees” when firefighters found her, Battalion Chief Mark Williams said. She was quickly put into an ambulance and taken to a local hospital with major injuries. The woman went into shock, but is expected to recover. Five firefighters suffered stings to their faces and...

With the rise in popularity and drop in price of high speed cameras, more and more incredible footage is getting captured of events our human brain would otherwise be unable to see in such detail.

HOUSTON - A woman is in in the hospital with very serious injuries after being viciously attacked by two dogs in southeast Houston. The victim, Monica Garza, is at Memorial Hermann Hospital Southeast. Her brother says she is stable and responding well to treatment and alive because of what he says is one man's selfless act. Charles Jordan has some injuries to show for his heroics. But they are nothing compared to what Garza endured. "They told us, 'I think she has 56 bites,'" ... One had her by the arm and the other had her by the leg and...

His Arrogance, President Obama called President Putin and discussed the Ukraine crisis for more than a hour today. His Arrogance pleaded with Putin to draw the crisis out until the November elections were over. If Putin can maintain the crisis, His Arrogance and his lackeys in the MSM can throw up a smokescreen over the numerous scandals plaguing the Administration until after the November elections which will give him more flexibility to accede to Putin's demands without a lot of political flack. If successful, His Arrogance will consider throwing in Georgia as a bonus. His Arrogance will be sending his...

WJLA) - A Baltimore city police officer, assigned to the 8th District, is on unpaid suspension amidst allegations he beat and strangled his seven-month-old puppy to death. On Feb. 26, Alec Taylor, 27, a five-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department, returned to his apartment along the 13000 block of Castle Boulevard in Silver Spring. Upon entering the unit, Taylor noticed his Jack Russell Terrier, named Rocko, had defecated on the carpet. According to police, Taylor became enraged, beating the untrained dog with a mop, then using his bare hands to suffocate the puppy.

<p>You're a 16th century German prince plotting to crush a peasant rebellion, or perhaps you're leading an army against the Ottoman Empire or looking to settle the score with a rival nobleman. What's a guy looking for a tactical edge to do?</p> <p>Bring on the rocket cats!</p>

GRAND PORTAGE, Minn. — For moose, this year’s winter-long deep freeze across the Upper Midwest is truly ideal weather. The large, gangly creatures are adapted to deep snow: Their hollow fur insulates them like fiberglass does in a house. And the prolonged cold helps eradicate pests that prey on moose, like ticks and meningeal worm, or brain worm. Yet moose in Minnesota are dying at an alarming rate, and biologists are perplexed as to why. Continue reading the main story Related Coverage Mark Keech, right, a research biologist, and Tiffany Wolf, a veterinarian, fitted a moose with a radio collar...

South Bay man has SUV stolen with dog inside. Dog found dead.A South Bay man suffered a double-tragedy after his SUV was stolen with his dog inside. The car was recovered with the dog inside -- dead. George Kiriyama reports. Car thieves apparently abandoned a stolen SUV with a dog inside, leaving the animal "to die." Michael McVey had his Nissan Pathfinder stolen from the parking lot at the Walmart in Gilroy. Inside the vehicle was his beloved dog, Keiko. "I could care less about the car," McVey said. "The dog, we've been friends for a long time." For 15...

Toddler gets allergic reaction to new Chocolate Lab puppy. The child loves the dog and the dog is a great dog.

'More beautiful than women, horses and all other animals': Welcome to the Arab beauty contest where million-dollar CAMELS with false eyelashes and lip filler compete for huge prizes • Visitors trek across desert for lavish event in Liwa, United Arab Emirates • Men happily declare they prefer camels to their wives - and all other women • Prize camels can change hands for as much as £1.8million at all-male event • Festival also features camel races and milking competitions Thousands of men leer on, playboys skid around outside in expensive cars, and top models command fees reaching into the millions...

Kenneth Clodo Santillan (pictured with his dad), 13, was attacked and mauled to death last Friday by a bullmastif while walking in Paterson, N.J., with a friend. The unidentified friend was also attacked, as was the dog’s owner, Paul Clarke (pictured with Trigger), according to The Record. Police records state that Santillan and his friend were walking along a street at about 4:30 p.m. when the 115-pound dog, whose name was Trigger, lunged at them. As to what provoked the animal, the details, per investigators, remain sketchy. The canine initially bit the unidentified child on his hand, yet he was...

If Charlie had not been in the line of fire, bullets may have struck one of the family's children, the dog's owner saysA dog who faced intruders and took two bullets for her family is recovering from surgery at home thanks to a shelter's crowdfunding campaign. Charlie, the now-three-legged dog, had to have a leg amputated after stepping in to save her family last weekend. Charlie was at her Los Angeles home with her two pup siblings and family when two people broke into the home. The three dogs chased the intruders into the street. One of the intruders fired...

An infant was airlifted to the hospital on Tuesday afternoon after being attacked by a dog. ... no word yet on the baby's condition.. The 70-pound American Bulldog has been captured by Animal Control

This small cat wanted to steal this dog’s dinner, but the large hound was having none of it. The cheeky feline was brave to take on the much larger animal but inevitably came out second best. A YouTube video showed the cat desperately hanging on to a piece of meat that was in the dog’s mouth. After sitting still for a moment (presumably because it was shocked) the hound got tired and swung the small animal around as it attempted to wrestle the food away. The dog finally managed to pull his lunch from the cat, which was left by...

To protect endangered rodents, a Florida sanctuary will trap cats found on its land. Pets can be retrieved, but feral cats will likely be euthanized. While woodrats and cotton mice fall prey to native predators like snake and owls, Cove says the cats present a unique challenge.

A snake has won a lengthy battle with a crocodile in northern Queensland, wrestling it, constricting it and then finally eating it. The incident at Lake Moondarra, near Mount Isa, was captured on camera by local residents on Sunday. The 10-ft snake, thought to be a python, coiled itself around the crocodile and the two struggled in the water. The snake later brought the dead crocodile onto land and ate it.

Like Pavlov's dog, Kodi the cat gets excited when he HEARS the laser before he sees it.

Like in horror movies, swarms of bats attacked a Saudi village and caused panic among its residents, who said they were even more frightened by the birds’ screams. Residents of the village in the southern Saudi province of Jazan near the border with Yemen said some of the birds attacked children and other people outside their homes. “The residents said they are frightened to leave their homes after the bats attacked some of them,” Sabq Arabic language daily said. “They said they were even more frightened by the bats’ screams, which they described as horrifying. They called on authorities to...

Crocodiles have a fairly fearsome reputation in the wild, including via videos of them eating unsuspecting buffalo, fighting with sharks and even grappling with sharks. But this weekend it was time for another representative of the animal kingdom to fight back. Onlookers in Australia’s Outback were shocked to witness a 10ft snake, believed to be a python, strangle a crocodile for five hours and then devour it in one piece. ‘It was amazing,’ Tiffany Corlis told the BBC. ‘We saw the snake fighting with the crocodile – it would roll the crocodile around to get a better grip, and coil...

A Good Samaritan stopped and helped an injured dog that somehow ended up in the HOV lane of the Eastex Freeway early Friday. The dog was spotted in the outbound HOV lane near Tidwell shortly before 8:30 a.m. Animal Control officers were called to the scene, however it was a Good Samaritan who was able to get there first. Rickey Young, a father and contractor, said he heard about the problem on the radio and wanted to do something to help. “I’m just kind of a softy on that stuff,” he said. “I have a dog and would hate to...

BRUCE Wallder the great dane may well be the first dog in history to receive a cheque in the mail as consolation for having his testicles removed. That is exactly what Darwin council did last week, much to the amusement of Bruce's owner Tom Wallder. De-sexed dog owners receive a registration reimbursement of $60 from the council for having their pets de-sexed, however the last thing Mr Wallder - the human - was expecting was for the cheque to be sent out in the name of his beloved and recently castrated eight-month-old canine. "I said to my wife, 'that's funny,...

CHINA — The screams of delight from a male pig placed with five receptive sows led to an erroneous report of an assault last week. A Hanson Road woman called police Jan. 27 after hearing what she believed to be a fight coming from a home separated by woods just a short distance away. The caller feared she had overheard domestic violence at the home. “The caller reported she heard screaming,” according to an activity log provided by Maine State Police. Trooper Thomas Bureau, accompanied by three other troopers, went to the house. Bureau spoke to the neighbor, who raises...

The Tampa Bay area seems to be a fertile breeding ground for an exotic lizard that wildlife officials want to keep from becoming the state's next invasive species problem. More than 100 black-and-white tegu lizards have been spotted in Hillsborough County, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The area is now considered home to one of three tegu breeding populations in the state. Wildlife officials have spotted more than 100 of them between Riverview and Gibsonton. The animals, which are native to Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina, do not belong in the habitat in southwest Florida, and...

All 186 wasp species recently discovered in Costa Rica are lethal killers—parasites that kill their caterpillar hosts in a macabre manner.Earier this year, a study came out describing a new plant species in the Andes that is the sole home of an estimated 40 or 50 kinds of insects. I thought that had a certain “wow” factor. It also seemed like a chance to write about “keystone species”—the ones on which whole ecosystems depend—and the ripple effects when such a species goes extinct. So I asked for a comment from evolutionary ecologist Dan Janzen at the University of Pennsylvania, and...

The Ohrt family in Victoria, Texas, gunned down an unidentified beast in their backyard over the weekend. The mangy beast looks like a Coyote with big teeth and long legs. Although the Chupacabra's existence has yet to be confirmed, that hasn’t stopped rumors of possible sightings.A south Texas family claims that they killed the mythical Chupacabra in their backyard. Doug and Lucy Ohrt of Victoria proudly displayed the slain beast that their grandson gunned down on their property last weekend. “My grandson ran and got the gun and shot it at 240 yards, and my grandkids said, ‘Oh that's a...

Blind woman suing nudist community that told her to get rid of service dog In 2011, a medical condition caused Lutz, Florida woman Sharon Fowler to lose her vision. Legally blind, she had to acquire a service dog, named Laura. Ms. Fowler and her husband, Craig, moved into the Paradise Lakes Condominiums complex in 2012 with Laura. However, after they had settled in, Sharongot a letter from the property’s management that was very upsetting, as WTSP 10 News reports. She was told that because Laura, a black Labrador, was over the 25-pound weight limit, she needed to go. This, despite...

Wooly Mammoth Mystery Finally Solved? by Jake Hebert, Ph.D. * Researchers claim to potentially have solved the mystery of the wooly mammoth’s mass extinction.1 After drilling permafrost cores in Alaska, Canada, and northern Russia, a team led by Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen analyzed DNA remnants of Arctic vegetation within those cores. Based upon their analysis of the cores, they concluded that edible plants called forbs (which include sagebrush, yarrow, and mums) were once much more abundant upon the Arctic steppes. Furthermore, the stomach contents within mammoth and other animal carcasses seem to indicate that the mammoths preferred...

PITTSBURGH —A female bald eagle defended her nest and the three eggs inside it from an intruding raccoon late Wednesday night. PixController, which is providing a live-stream camera of the nest, captured the close call near the Monongahela River in Hays. (Mobile users: Click here to watch the video) The video showed the eagle being startled by the raccoon before she sprung up and spread her wings. After only a few seconds, the raccoon fled the nest and the mother settled back down. It's not believed any of the three eggs inside were harmed. The 5 1/2-year-old female laid the...

Footage of a family of beavers filmed in a Devon river is believed to be the first sighting of its kind in up to 500 years A family of wild beavers has been seen in the England countryside in what is believed to be the first sighting of its kind in up to 500 years. Three European beavers (Castor fiber), believed to be adults, have been filmed together on the River Otter in east Devon and can be seen gnawing at the base of trees, grooming themselves and playing together. Experts said the sighting was "highly significant" as it strongly...

Old Man Doug did not go quietly into some random night. Instead, he waited until the whole family was gathered for the holidays, and then, with much less ado than I would have chosen, he took his final bow at age 18. That he chose Dec. 25 confirms my belief that he wanted to assure his place in family history, and make sure it was timed so he didn't have to be anywhere near the post-holiday decoration take-down he so despised. His exit was dignified and sad beyond all words. And yet, the old fellow was always happiest when we...

Brushing the Bobo Cat (good way to get rid of fleas)

A remote camera snapped more than 350 high-quality images of mountain lion P-13 and her kittens as they fed on a mule deer over two nights in Malibu Creek State Park last week. The cameras were set up to check on the male and female kittens, P-30 and P-28, who biologists haven't seen since they were tagged when they were about three weeks old, said biologist Jeff Sikich with the National Park Service. The kittens are now 10 months old, and though they have trackers that pinpoint their locations, Sikich said he was interested in how healthy they look. The...

This purebreed is pure hero. A Doberman pinscher competing in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City next week is being credited with saving his Staten Island owner’s life nearly three years ago by detecting her breast cancer. Troy, then a 4-month-old puppy, alerted Diane Papazian, 56, to a dangerous lump in her breast while they were cuddling in bed, said her husband, Harry. Diane thought it was peculiar how persistent the pooch was in his nuzzling, leading her to conduct a self-examination and to discover the lump. She underwent a double mastectomy and chemotherapy to beat...

We often read stories about the amazing adaptability of animals. They endure pain, but they do not wallow in self-pity. A disabled animal will do what it must do to get on with life using what it has. A four-legged animal can get around pretty well on three legs, as I learned when our border collie lost one. In these stories, four cats learned to get around pretty well with even less than three. I should say fewer than three, but you know what less than three means: <3.

DENVER (CBS4) – An animal hospital in Denver is seeing an increasing number of dogs who have eaten edible marijuana and is finding that the diagnosis isn’t good. VCA Animal Hospital is open 24 hours a day and they see hundreds of dogs every week from checkups to emergencies. Since Jan. 1 the clinic says dogs have been getting into their owner’s supply of marijuana, specifically edibles. “What we are seeing is dogs getting into the baked products,” said Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald. The concern is that edibles have a concentration of marijuana meant for controlled human consumption and dogs weigh...

In case you haven’t heard, an Alaskan Malamute killed a 6 day old baby in Wales this week. The dad had brought the dog home from the pub several months earlier because someone said they were going to get rid of it. This news makes me incredibly sad. It also makes me painfully aware that the breed may soon be as demonized as the Pit Bull. But humans also carry some responsibility for this tragedy. What with your fanciful ideas about dogs and such. So at the risk of upsetting some of my readers, let me state what should be...