Free Republic

A grandfather and his 3-month-old granddaughter were found dead in their Tennessee home — apparently mauled to death by the family’s pack of pit bulls that were known to terrorize the neighborhood. The lifeless body of James Alexander Smith, 50, was found inside the Tullahoma home Wednesday afternoon while the tiny tot was still being attacked by their 7 dogs, all of which police had to gun down to reach the bloodied victims, according to the 14th Judicial District Attorney General. The infant had tragically died by the time cops fought their way to her. Authorities are now investigating whether...

An Orange County man is facing felony charges after he allegedly broke probation by tying a pregnant dog to an SUV and driving until it died, according to prosecutors. Eric Lyn Holliday, 58 of Buena Park, was charged with one count of animal cruelty and one count of possession of a hard drug with two or more prior convictions, as well as violating probation. In a news release, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said there's a "special place in hell for people who abuse animals."

CLINTON, North Carolina; DUFUR, Oregon–– "Pit bull rescuer and longtime Village Dental Clinic dental assistant Barbara Hunter Brewington, 38, of Bonnetville, North Carolina, on November 23, 2025 became simultaneously the 75th person killed by dogs in the U.S. during 2025, tying the record 2024 toll, and the 58th U.S. pit bull fatality, breaking the 2023 U.S. record for deaths by pit bull..." " . . .As Kabir also mentioned, Brewington’s death was “the second fatal dog attack reported over five days in North Carolina,” following the unwitnessed November 18, 2025 pack attack death of Michael Bodenheimer outside his home in...

A Wyoming woman who suffered a massive heart attack while in bed said she would not have survived if it weren't for her toy poodle coming to her rescue. Susan Denker from Cheyenne was found unconscious at her home in July by a friend who could tell something was wrong when her seven-pound poodle began acting strange, according to the Cowboy State Daily. Karen, a friend of Susanne's, rang the doorbell several times and was about to leave when she saw the poodle, Lily, barking and running to the bedroom. The dog was trying to tell her something, and Karen...

The dog may have protected its owners from bears. Exploring new caves during the Upper Palaeolithic was fraught with danger, which is why one group of ancient humans in Italy made sure to take their trusted four-legged companion with them when they stepped into the darkness. Analyzing the fossilized foot and paw prints left behind during this subterranean excursion, researchers say that these 14,400-year-old tracks represent the world’s oldest direct evidence of humans living alongside a domesticated dog. A total of 25 preserved canid prints were discovered in various chambers of the Grotta della Bàsura in northwest Italy. In some...

2025 headed toward both record dog attack fatalities & record pit bull-inflicted fatalities BAXLEY, Georgia; DAYTONA BEACH, Florida; NASHUA, New Hampshire; BACLIFF, TEXAS––Nine pit bulls killed four people in five days between October 8, 2025 and October 12, 2025. That brought the 2025 U.S. dog attack death toll to 70, just five behind the record toll of 75 reached in 2024, with 52 confirmed deaths by pit bull, five behind the record toll of 57, reached in 2023. The four most recent victims included three people who were killed by their own or their own family’s pit bulls, plus 86-year-old...

A recently released video captured the moment a dog belonging to a North Carolina assistant fire chief ironically sparked a small house fire by chewing on a lithium-ion battery. The Chapel Hill Fire Department released the video last Monday showing Assistant Fire Chief David Sasser's dog, Colton, as the cause of the incident. According to the department, the battery was fully charged, unplugged and not subject to any recalls, but it had not been stored safely., "Colton is a good boy, but he counter-surfed while his humans were away and got hold of a device with a lithium-ion battery," the...

Florida authorities released body cam footage on Monday that appears to show a dog leading a deputy sheriff to a woman reported missing by her husband that night. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office posted footage of the September 25 incident on Facebook on Oct. 6. The video begins by showing a man at the door of a home in Destin, Florida, a town about 50 miles east of Pensacola. The man tells Deputy Devon Miller that his wife has been missing for an hour that evening. A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said in an email that the woman is...

A financial breakdown of what goes into each puppy that comes out of a reputable breeding program. Once you choose to get a dog from a breeder, it’s helpful to arm yourself with facts, so you understand the cost of raising a litter of responsibly bred puppies. Costs vary widely across different breeds and specific litters. This article outlines the general costs and how much effort, work, and sacrifice goes into a litter. The price varies from program to program, but paying more money for a puppy that comes from a thorough and ethical breeding program can help save costs...

Sept. 15 (UPI) -- A Florida woman taking her dog for a walk near a creek ended up punching an alligator in the face to rescue the canine from the predator's jaws. Land O' Lakes resident Danie Wright said she and her 4-month-old shih tzu, Dax, were walking along a stagnant creek behind her house when the 5-foot gator struck. "I turned and looked, and an alligator had him," Wright told The New York Times. "The alligator's front teeth were through the collar of my dog." The alligator started dragging Dax into the water, leading Wright to fight back. "I...

Scribble & Clue can solve math by barking! Image credit: Gutmann & Neuhaus 2025, CC BY 4.0/A. Carpineti, IFLScience/Valentin Drull/Shutterstock.com In one of the most hilarious papers we have read this year, two scientists challenged some famous quantum factorization records, pointing out how these approaches are only possible using very specific numbers or by changing the problem into an altogether easier-to-solve one. The team calls it sleight of hand, and are calling it out using old computers, an abacus, and even a dog! You most likely learned factorization in elementary school. You take a number and, using some known rules...

A stray dog massacred 23 newly hatched sea turtles on a North Florida beach just hours after the babies emerged from their nests, sparking calls for locals to leash their pets. The tiny carcasses were discovered during a routine survey by the Beaches Sea Turtle Patrol in Atlantic Beach, officials announced in an August 21 Facebook post. The slaughter occurred near Second Street as the vulnerable hatchlings made their first desperate crawl toward the ocean, investigators say. Evidence at the gruesome scene pointed to an unleashed pet as the culprit behind the carnage. ... The suspected canine remains at large,...

Aug. 21 (UPI) -- A dog seen wandering for days in Pennsylvania with its head stuck in a large plastic jar has now been freed of the snack container and is being treated by a veterinarian. Canine Rescue of Central Pennsylvania said on social media that volunteers were able to locate the canine around 3 a.m. Wednesday after she was spotted in a corn field by a Nighthawk Drone Services pilot.

Her sacrifice paved the way for future human spaceflight, leaving her a lasting legacy as one of the early pioneers of space exploration.Who was Laika? The stray dog who sacrificed her life for space mission The Soviet Union made history by sending the first living creature into space, a stray dog named Laika, on November 3, 1957. The mission was intended to find out if space travel would be safe for humans. Unfortunately, it was a one-way trip, as there was no technology to bring her back to Earth. Found wandering the streets of Moscow a few days before...

Aug. 8 (UPI) -- A British Columbia woman's home security camera recorded the moment a bear that broke into her house was chased back out by her 6-pound Pomeranian. Kayla Kleine shared security camera footage from her West Vancouver home showing the moment a bear wandered into the house Monday while she had the door propped open for circulation amid high heat The footage shows the bear investigating the home's TV before raiding the breakfast Kleine had put out for her small dog, Scout. Seconds later, Scout comes running out from a side room and chases the bear while barking....

Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Thousands of frozen hot dogs spilled across Interstate-83 in Pennsylvania, closing the busy highway in both directions after a multi-vehicle collision. State police and four separate fire departments responded to the crash this week at an exit in Shrewsbury, Pa., the Shrewsbury Volunteer Fire Company confirmed on Facebook.

(WLOS) — In downtown Spartanburg’s Morgan Square in South Carolina, you’ll see the "I Love You” statue created by students from The South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind, and a statue commemorating Revolutionary War hero Daniel Morgan. But the most talked-about piece of public art on the square may be the one that honors border collie Chaser, known as “the smartest dog in the world.” “She knows a thousand words,” said Spartanburg philanthropist Monty Mullen. “She had 1,000 toys and they were all named, and she could identify them.” Chaser was owned and trained by Dr. John...

CORNELIUS, N.C. (WBTV/Gray News) – A woman in North Carolina said she helped a dog who was trapped inside a hot car on a 90-degree day, but a responding police officer told her she had “no right” to do so. Suzanne Vella said on June 7, she saw a dog panting inside a hot car that was parked in a shopping center parking lot. She immediately knew she had to do something. Vella said she called 911 and looked in the area for the dog’s owner, but after not finding them, she opened the car door – which was unlocked...

There’s more trouble brewing for an embattled Queens public defender office, as a lawyer there was busted for passing drugs to an incarcerated client just days after group’s founder was charged with fraud. One of the staff lawyers at Queens Defenders was arrested for allegedly attempting to sneak more than 130 pages of paper laced with THC to an inmate during a scheduled attorney visit at Rikers Island. Bernardo Caceres was charged with promoting prison contraband, a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison in New York. During a visit to inmate Luis DeJesus Wednesday afternoon – who’s...

When metal detectorists searching a field on northern Norway's Senja Island discovered two ancient metal brooches and human rib bones, they notified the authorities. Science Norway reports that an archaeological team from the Arctic University Museum of Norway was sent to investigate the site and learned that the two small pieces of jewelry belonged to an elaborate Viking Age burial dating to between a.d. 900 and 950. Given the presence of the oval brooches and other items such as spindle whorls and weaving tools that are typically only associated with women, experts believe the grave belongs to a high-ranking Viking...