Pets News

A new luxury pet-only resort has just opened its doors across from Walt Disney World's Port Orleans Resort. The Best Friends Pet Care Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., boasts 50,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space (17,000 feet of it air conditioned), 10,000 square feet of covered outdoor play space, and a dog park for the exclusive use of the pets staying there (and their owners when they come visit). This means you can drop off your cat or dog on the way to your hotel and know your pet is staying in comfort and luxury.

Now, while you're getting your thrills on Space Mountain, you can schedule exciting services for your furry friend, like cuddle time and ice cream. Or if you're really looking to pamper your pet, you can book one of the four VIP (very important pet) suites.

Overnight boarding rates for dogs begin at $37/day ($34 if you're a guest at one of the Disney properties) and go up to $76 ($69) for the VIP suite. Cats are a little less pricey, starting at $23/day ($21) for overnight boarding in a two-level condo and going up to $32 ($30) for a four-level condo. The à la carte items vary: 10 minutes of playtime for your pup will run you $8 (but if he can play in a group, you can get 30 minutes for $15), while your kitty can get tuna on Ritz, cookies and milk or an activity toy for $3.

There's a big, fat kiss waiting for someone at the Santa Cruz SPCA. Unfortunately, it will probably smell like canned cat food.

That's because the SPCA has a new, very affectionate feline guest. Marty the cat is making headlines with his incredible story, explains Mandi Heart of the Santa Cruz SPCA.

You see, Marty suffers from an autoimmune disorder called stomatits. It makes him allergic to his own teeth. Or perhaps we should say that he was allergic to his own teeth.

When he arrived at the SPCA, Marty's gums were constantly inflamed, so much so that he could barely eat or even close his mouth. Reaching out to the cat lovers in their community, the Santa Cruz SPCA asked for help to fund a costly surgery that would remove Marty's teeth. The outpouring of help and generosity was a testament to the incredible bond between mankind and feline kind. "It overwhelmed us," Heart tells Paw Nation. "We raised the money for his surgery in just a couple of weeks."

Now, without his annoying chompers, Marty is happy, healthy, and still spreading the love at the SPCA. "He'll just jump into your lap and start licking if you let him. He's that kind of cat, super affectionate like a dog," Heart says.

Marty's also waiting for that special someone who might want a highly affectionate cat who likes snuggling and an occasional kiss or two. And who doesn't want that?

According to Heart, Marty's only special need is that he needs soft food for the rest of his life. As an added bonus, any potential adopters can rest assured: no love bites

Kambiri, which translated from Nigerian means "allow me to join this family," is also the name of an adorable pygmy hippo calf, "the first to be reared by its own mother" at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia.

Over the course of the next few weeks, visitors will watch little Kambiri adapt to his surroundings under the careful watch of his mother, Petre. What makes the occasion especially heartwarming is knowing that as few as 3,000 Pygmy Hippos remain in the wild today, so at least zoo attendees will get to witness the 13-kilogram cutie as it sprouts quickly.

Have you heard of Mary Bale, the infamous cat-bin lady?

Bale, a 45-year-old bank worker in Coventry, England was strolling along last weekend when she came upon a tabby cat on the sidewalk. She stopped to pat the cat. For reasons even she can't quite explain, she suddenly decided to plop the unfamiliar cat into a nearby trash can and shut the lid, according to the (U.K.) Daily Mail.

Lola the cat was discovered 15 hours later by her owner, who heard her crying inside the bin, Salon reports.

The owner checked the footage from his security camera and saw exactly what happened. Soon enough, Bale's incriminating video was posted on YouTube, a Facebook page was created to tell the world about Bale's dastardly deed, and overnight she became public feline enemy number one.

Bale has become the target of worldwide hatred. According to Salon, hundreds of thousands of YouTube viewers have commented, death threats have been issued online, and police have even been stationed outside her home to protect her.

"She should be thrown in a bin for 15 hours," one angry YouTube viewer wrote. "I'd throw her off a cliff," said another. She's been called a psychopath and a nut case, among other, less printable epithets.

If anyone's ever mocked you for falling for an urban legend or a farfetched tale, today is the day you get to say, "I told you so."

A baby alligator (originally reported as a crocodile) mysteriously appeared in Astoria, Queens, N.Y. this past weekend, the N.Y. Daily News reports.

OK, no one actually saw the two-foot-long scaly creature emerging from the sewer, but it was hiding out under a Datsun on the street which is close enough. When novelist Joyce Hackett spotted the animal, she told the Daily News, "The poor little thing looked dazed and confused."

Fortunately, cops were able to snag the alligator and bring it to safety. "He's fine," said Michael Pastore of Animal Care & Control of New York City. Pastore tells the Daily News that the stray alligator will be donated to the Poconos Reptile Sanctuary in Pennsylvania.

Pastore believes the little alligator was abandoned, and probably a little scared. "He did let out a couple of little yelps," Pastore told the Daily News, "and if you've ever seen a nature show, a baby alligator would let out a little yelp to the mother when it is in trouble."

What's more disquieting is that the gator wasn't alone. According to the Daily News, officers corralled two more reptiles loose in the area within 24 hours. One was an Argentine tegu -- a large lizard that can grow up to four feet -- and the other was a "very large" iguana.

For more information on the story and to see a Daily News video, go here.