Free Republic

A Chinese AI startup says it has cracked the code on what your dog is trying to tell you, and the internet is having a field day with it. The company behind PettiChat claims its wearable device can translate pet vocalizations and behavior into human language with up to 95 percent accuracy. That number went viral after Polymarket posted the claim to X. PettiChat describes itself as the “world’s first real-time pet translator” and is currently raising money on Kickstarter. The device is a small wearable that attaches to a pet’s collar and pairs with a smartphone app. According to...

A genetic study of the remains of four 2,000-year-old dogs recovered from two archaeological sites on the Korean Peninsula suggests that the canines belonged to a lineage separate from other dog populations in East Asia, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily. It had been previously thought that dog populations in East Asian shared a single lineage. Hyeongcheol Kim of the Gaya National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, Suyeon Kim and A-reum Yu of the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, and their colleagues determined that ancient Korean dogs resembled the Australian dingo and the New Guinea singing dog. Korean dogs...

A 50 year-old Florida woman was viciously mauled to death by a pair of bloodthirsty pit bulls, only to be found by her heartbroken husband who said he’ll “never get the image out of my mind.” Donnell Smith returned to his Brevard County home shortly after 1 p.m. on Tuesday — after helping neighbors across the street — and noticed his wife, Jodi Cowan, and their small dog had disappeared, according to WESH 2 News. Smith then suddenly heard Cowan’s cries for help in the distance, the outlet reported. “I saw the silhouette of the two dogs dragging my wife...

STATESBORO, Georgia; ANDERSON, South Carolina––The 2026 record pace of fatal dog attacks, especially pit bull attacks, remains ahead of the 2025 pace, when dogs killed 84 Americans, 64 of whom were killed by pit bulls. Pit bulls in the two weeks of May 2026 killed two babies in reported incidents. Other dogs are unknown to have killed anyone. The deaths of the two infants brought the total number of U.S. fatal dog attacks for the year to 32, 23 by pit bull. " . . .The first May 2026 pit bull victim, Lillian Drue Bradford Harris, of Statesville, Georgia, “was...

Has Ithaca gone to the dogs? A new memoir calls the Upstate New York city the “most depressing college town in America.” Isabel Klee, a New Jersey native, has risen to social media fame through documenting her work rehabilitating medically complex and severely neglected rescue dogs — and showing their transformation from timid, shut-down animals into happy, thriving pets. Klee’s new memoir, “Dogs, Boys and Other Things I’ve Cried About,” chronicles her coming-of-age years after high school and her early experiences living in New York City, but it also includes a blunt look back at her short-lived college experience in...

Bringing a dog into your life is a big commitment, especially when it comes to large dog breeds. While they can be loyal, loving companions, they also come with unique challenges that aren’t always obvious at first glance. Size, strength, temperament and health needs all play a major role in whether a big dog is the right fit for your lifestyle. That's why for new or even experienced pet parents, it's important to think beyond a pet's appearances and popularity. Just because a giant dog is well-known or beautiful doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for your home. * *...

A North Hollywood couple’s routine walk around their neighborhood quickly turned into a nightmare after they discovered their dog had accidentally ingested meth. Nikolas and Jenifer Dorhoutmees enjoy regular walks through their neighborhood with their 3-year-old Australian cattle mix named Uni. While visiting North Hollywood Park, Uni began sniffing around. Soon after, they noticed the dog’s condition had changed drastically. “Drooling, diarrhea, all of it,” Jenifer told KTLA’s Chris Wolfe. “We checked her gums, they were white.” Unsure what was happening, the couple rushed Uni to the veterinarian. Then, Jenifer said she remembered KTLA covering a similar story in November...

On April 18, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department was alerted to a family who was searching for a 49-year-old woman. The woman, who had a traumatic brain injury, was reported missing after she failed to return home from a walk. Authorities searched for hours but had no luck tracking the woman down. That’s when deputies decided to call in Keva and Naji, two bloodhounds they hoped could help lead them to the woman. Working off a scent from the woman’s pillow, Naji and Keva set off quickly, hot on the trail. “She’s on a 15-foot leash attached to her...

On April 26, 1986, Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near Pripyat, Ukraine, exploded—a combination of poor reactor design and serious mismanagement had caused the worst nuclear disaster in human history. Fast forward 40 years, and things have changed. While the horrific death, illness, and environmental degradation caused by the meltdown will never be completely forgotten, the area surrounding Chernobyl has come to provide a rare scientific opportunity. Today, it is a living laboratory for scientists exploring questions (many of them genetic) regarding long-term exposure to high levels of radiation. Frogs, for example, have adapted darker skin colors to protect against radiation....

According to a Phys.org report, Weronika Tomczyk of Dartmouth College and her colleagues examined more than 300 dog bones recovered from the site of El Castillo de Huarmey in northern Peru, where a royal tomb of the Wari Empire was uncovered. "Only some remains were found in undisturbed contexts, while most came from the fill disturbed by the looters' activity in the 1980s," Tomczyk said. She and her colleagues focused their study on mandibles or tibias in an effort to avoid sampling the same dog more than once, resulting in a group of at least 20 individuals of various ages,...

A new observational study of 197 cancer patients taking a combined ivermectin + mebendazole protocol is going viral on social media — and for understandable reasons. At six-month follow-up, 84.4% of respondents reported clinical benefit (no evidence of disease, regression, or stable disease), and nearly half (48.4%) reported either tumor regression or no current evidence of disease. The combination was well tolerated, with only mild, mostly gastrointestinal side effects. The paper, posted on Zenodo about a week and a half ago, is the largest structured real-world look at this specific repurposed-drug pairing published to date.This post is a summary. The...

As we told you last week, almost all of the 4,500 refugees who have come to America in the last several months are Afrikaners, or whites from South Africa. They're fleeing a nation that routinely discriminates, harasses, and kills Afrikaners, and have — unlike so many others — a legitimate claim to asylum and refugee status. The Left is supremely unhappy about this, of course, because they really only like certain kinds of refugees. The Afrikaners include women and children, show up waving American flags, and will assimilate into our culture instead of attacking, raping, and murdering us.

A 1950s novelty hit that’s endured, this fun, yet heartfelt ode to man’s best friend is still much-loved today.Critics argue that so-called “novelty” hits are soon forgotten by serious music fans, but a select few are very fondly remembered. Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett’s “Monster Mash,” for example, is now a Halloween perennial, while David Seville & The Chipmunks’ “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” went on to win three Grammy Awards. And who can forget Patti Page’s “(How Much Is) That Doggie In The Window”? The inimitable U.S. chart-topper that has seduced generations of canine lovers. Indeed, it’s fair...

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED: Some may find the video disturbing. Animal control officers in Seaside are looking for a husky involved in a vicious dog attack that was caught on camera. Animal control officers in Seaside are looking for a husky involved in a vicious dog attack that was caught on camera. In the video, a small Yorkie is seen being bitten and grabbed by a husky. Officials want to find the husky before it attacks again. Sophie, a 3-year-old Yorkie, is now missing after being snatched up by a large husky that was on the loose in a Seaside neighborhood....

A sickening discovery is under investigation after 20 dead “canines” — apparently skinned and with their front paws removed — washed ashore on a Washington State island in less than two weeks. The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to the disturbing sight on March 26 when beachgoers discovered six carcasses on Guemes Island, about 85 miles north of Seattle, according to officials. --- Cole said she believes the carcasses may have been dumped from a boat with cinder blocks attached, noting that “the way that they all landed here on our beaches was such that they kind of...

A northern New Mexico family is thanking their 12-year-old half-blind dog for fighting off a bear and protecting dozens of animals including 60 chickens. The Martinez family said their dog Honey got hurt on the night of March 3 while tracking something on their family land in Cordova, where they raise chickens, horses and dogs. “She was tracking something at the time. We didn’t know what, but we knew she was tracking something,” said Denise Martinez. The family said they found Honey in the driveway the next morning with major injuries. They said they saw scratches on fences and trees,...

A 42-page Department of Defense Inspector General’s (DOD IG) report published Feb. 17 evaluated the federal government’s management of canine warfare, finding that widespread neglect of military working dogs (MWDs) on U.S. bases has resulted in disease outbreaks, exposure to toxic mold, and multiple deaths linked to inadequate housing.Some findings reported by the DOD IG include the following:Open-air facilities lacking shelter from cold, heat and rain.Very high rates of disease, including up to 47% of dogs sick at one location, “likely because of the poor kennel conditions.”No protection from hazardous exposure to black mold and other “toxic debris.”Four pneumonia dog...

According to a statement released by the University of Oxford, domesticated dogs were spread across Europe and Anatolia and living with hunter-gatherers by 14,000 years ago. Researchers led by Lachie Scarsbrook and Greger Larson of the University of Oxford analyzed genomes taken from dog remains recovered at Upper Paleolithic sites, including Pınarbaşı in Turkey and Gough's Cave in England, and two Mesolithic sites in Serbia. These dog genomes were then compared with the genomes of more than 1,000 ancient and modern dogs and wolves from around the world. "Not only has this discovery pushed back the earliest direct evidence of...

A mother of three was found critically injured in a ditch after she was viciously mauled by a woman's dogs. LaKesha Newsom, 35, was airlifted to the Regional One Hospital in Memphis on March 3 after she was found partially-clothed in the shallow ditch, according to the Holly Springs Police Department. Officials said that Newsom was conscious and was able to inform them that she had been attacked by dogs. Harris, 54, has been charged with aggravated assault and manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life and was being held at the Marshall County Sheriff's Department. In an...

Seven stolen village dogs in northeastern China captured the hearts of millions online after breaking free from thieves working for a dog meat shop and embarking on a journey home together, igniting calls for stronger animal protection laws. On March 16, a netizen surnamed Lu recorded a video of seven dogs walking along a busy highway in Changchun, Jilin province. In the footage, a group of dogs carefully surrounded an injured German shepherd, while a Corgi at the front repeatedly looked back to ensure none were left behind. The group also included Golden Retrievers, Labradors and Pekinese dogs. Lu told...