A 12-year-old zebra named Lima ran away from the circus on Thursday afternoon and straight into rush hour traffic on a busy expressway in Atlanta, Ga. "All of a sudden, a freaking zebra comes running down the street like a car," one witness, Daniel Nance, told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. "Five or six police cars were in hot pursuit."

What the heck happened?

"Our zebras were being exercised in an outdoor pen as usual that day when something startled him," Crystal Drake, spokesperson for the Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus, tells Paw Nation. "Some noise or something in a far parking lot startled him and he came out of the exercise pattern."

Lima bumped up against the fence holding him in. "At that particular joint in the fence and at the speed he was going, it created an opening and he was out and he kept running," says Drake. The zebra galloped through the streets of downtown Atlanta, leaving shocked gasps and double takes in his wake.

"It was about five o'clock on Thursday afternoon when we got reports that a zebra was loose," Officer Eric Schwartz of the Atlanta Police Department tells Paw Nation. "Officers were out there holding up traffic to get the zebra re-routed and contain an area for the zebra."

It wasn't easy. According to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Lima dashed through the streets, eluding police officers and his zoo handlers. The striking black-and-white creature apparently even contemplated taking public transit when he ended up near a metro train station, but veered away, ran down a street, across railroad tracks, through a tunnel and down more local streets before sprinting onto an on-ramp and ending up on Interstate 75.

Oh my, who to believe -- the movie star or an aging New York City couple?

Scottish actor Gerard Butler, filming The Bounty on location in New York City with Jennifer Aniston, was walking his pug Lolita -- unleashed -- when he clashed with an elderly couple walking their greyhound, reports the New York Post.

Alan Siegel, Butler's manager, told the New York Post that Butler, 39, was walking his "teeny" pug when all of a sudden, the "huge, menacing" greyhound bit Lolita -- twice! Butler rushed Lolita to a vet hospital where he apparently met a family tending to their ailing dog and insisted on paying their $3,000 vet bill. (True story or public relations spin? You decide.)

Siegel accused the greyhound's owners of trying to "milk" the situation, but Fred and Maria Vareckas say that's not true. They were walking their greyhound on a leash, when they encountered Butler and his unleashed dog. Greyhound and pug "touched noses," the Vareckas told the New York Post, whereupon Butler began shouting, "That dog should be put down!" Not to be cowed by a macho film actor, Maria Vareckas, 61, shot back, "Your dog should be put on a leash!" (New York City law requires dogs to be on a leash no more than six feet in length when in public.)

Continuing to "rant and rave," Butler walked away, then returned, pointed at Mayfly the greyhound and yelled, "You know what? This dog should be put down!"

"And he smacked the dog in the head," Maria Vareckas told the New York Post. "The dog's head went into the fence. I was shaking. The dog yelped." The Vareckas called the police, but no citations were given, reports the New York Post.

We don't know which side to believe in this doggy melodrama, but one thing's for certain: Jennifer Aniston, noted dog lover, would never approve of hitting an animal!

Source

Since making worldwide news when he jumped into a bay to rescue a drowning dog blown into the water by gale force winds, Raden Soemawinata of Melbourne, Australia has been deluged with hundreds of messages on his Facebook page. From Sweden to Korea, strangers have been reaching out to congratulate him.

Still, some people have had a hard time believing the story, convinced it was some sort of set up. Well skeptics, believe it!

Speaking to Paw Nation by phone from his home in Melbourne, 20 year-old Raden laughed good-naturedly when we quizzed him about the incident. "No, it's not at all a setup," said Raden. "I did what I did, not knowing what was happening."

A chef who works at Coda Restaurant and models on the side, Raden was walking on Brighton pier with his sister and other family members last Sunday. As they looked for the perfect place to spread their grandmother's ashes a man approached them and asked if they had any rope. They didn't.

"Then we figured out what the rope was for and that the gentleman was a photographer for [Australia's] Herald Sun covering another story down along the pier," Raden said. "I asked my sister to hold my suit, and she said, 'Are you sure?' And I said, 'Yeah, why not.'"

Source

Last month, the country was horrified when a three-day old baby in Kentucky was snatched from his crib by the family's pet dog -- a four year-old wolf-dog hybrid named Dakota. The canine was seen in the family's backyard holding baby A.J. in her mouth "like a loaf of bread," reported WLKY News.

Though he suffered a skull fracture, collapsed lungs, broken ribs, contusions and cuts, A.J. is recovering fully at his parents' house. Shortly after the incident, the baby's father, Michael Smith, told Good Morning America that while he harbored no ill feelings toward Dakota, who is staying at the Jessamine County SAVE Center, he said "there's no way she can come back in the house."

This week, though, it seems Smith has had a change of heart (and possibly, sanity). The Lexington-Herald reports that Smith now wants Dakota back at home with the family. It is a move opposed by both local authorities and the Jessamine County SAVE Center, which want Dakota to go to an animal sanctuary.

"I cannot imagine what the father is thinking," Sarah Wilson, a dog expert and trainer with 23 years of experience, told Paw Nation. "You do not bring an animal into your home who -- for whatever reason – almost killed your child."

Source

As a puppy, ChiChi was rescued from abusive owners. Years later, at the ripe old age of 13, the Chihuahua-mix returned the favor by saving the lives of two elderly women in danger of drowning at a beach. This month, ChiChi was voted Reader's Digest Hero Pet of the Year.

Before he became a hero, ChiChi had been living with cruel owners who thought it entertaining to beat, kick, and throw the little dog out of a moving car. Mary and Rick Lane's niece Heather saved the pup and soon moved in with her aunt and uncle in Greensboro, North Carolina, while attending a nearby college. Aunt Mary wasn't looking to bring a dog into her home, but when ChiChi came into the picture, something all too common happened.

"I fell head over heels in love with him," Mary told Paw Nation. "He's so smart and expressive," she said. "His ears perk up and do one of about 50 different things. He has so many ways of telling me what he wants to do, exactly how he wants to do it, and when he wants to do it." She fell so hard for the guy that when Heather eventually moved out, her niece graciously allowed ChiChi to stay with the Lanes.

And now, Mary and Rick have even more reason to love little ChiChi: he is a literal life saver.

Last October, Mary, Rick, and ChiChi were enjoying a day at Indian Beach on North Carolina's Outer Banks. The Lanes set up a blanket and umbrella for their dog, tying his leash to the beach chair they brought for him because, "He doesn't like to lie on the sand," explains Mary. The three sat in a row on their beach chairs, the Lanes reading and ChiChi dozing.

It was late morning when the Lanes heard a little boy in the water shouting, "Help! Help!" Alarmed, the Lanes looked up, but the boy was only joking. The boy played this frightening trick several more times, and each time, the Lanes looked up worriedly. But ChiChi didn't stir.

As the day turned to dusk, the beach emptied. Deeply engrossed in their books, they didn't notice two women in the water.

Source

Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London, has announced that his wedding to longtime partner Emma Beal will take place at the London Zoo next month. The ex-mayor is well known as an environmentalist and an animal lover -- particularly of newts, which he breeds as a hobby. In fact, Livingstone is such a celebrated newt-lover, a political rival nicknamed him King Newt. According to the Daily Telegraph, King Newt's wedding ceremony is to take place at the London Zoo's Mappin Pavilion, which is located next to -- wait for it -- the reptile house. Natch.

King Newt's love of animals isn't just skin deep; he has a track record of involvement with zoos. Before his stint as mayor, he was vice president of the Zoological Society of London, and before that, he even tried to become a zookeeper. So make no mistake: getting married at the London Zoo isn't meant to be just some publicity stunt. "It's not a media event," King Newt told the Telegraph. "If you try and get in I will set the gorillas on you."

Frankly, we think King Newt's choice of venue for his wedding is inspired, even brilliant. Aside from being a logical and fun choice for an animal lover, King Newt argues convincingly for its practicality as well. "Given you have lots of young kids running around, a wedding can be quite boring for young kids," King Newt explained to the Telegraph. "But they can go and look at the animals." Smart thinking. Plus, the wedding attendees will be allowed to roam the zoo free of charge after the ceremony, which is a nice touch.

Surely, King Newt isn't the very first person to have this idea, but we're excited that a zoo wedding is getting some A-list love! Let us know in the comments if you or anyone you know has ever been to a wedding at a zoo!

Source

The ever-expanding Pitt-Jolie clan must have missed the memo that Guinea pigs are all the rage. While shopping at a pet and garden shop near their chateau in the south of France this weekend, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie let sons Maddox, 8, and Pax, 5, pick out gerbils and goldfish, Us magazine reports.

According to Us magazine, Jolie, decked out in a black maxi dress, reached into the cage to pet the gerbils while Pitt strolled the aisles for rodent gear.

With Brangelina throwing their celebrity weight behind gerbils, will a new pet craze sweep the nation?

Source

Our canine friends in Europe need to promise to start being more careful around cliffs!

According to BBC News, a 3-year-old pooch named Scrappy from Blackpool, Lancashire was having a stroll with his owners, who were vacationing at Moelfre on Anglesey in Wales, when he got too close to the edge of a cliff and tumbled over. He fell 40 feet where -- amazingly -- he landed on a ledge instead of in the sea 20 feet further below.

Scrappy's owners quickly called in the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, which dispatched a lifeboat to the cliff face where Scrappy was stranded. According to the RNLI's news release, volunteer Martin Jones scaled the 20 feet up the cliff to find the patiently waiting pup. After gaining Scrappy's trust and finding no injuries, Jones rappelled back down to the lifeboat with Scrappy and reunited him with his thankful owners. According to the RNLI, the aptly-named dog was "none the worse for his ordeal."

But the story doesn't quite end there.

Yesterday, the RNLI in Moelfre was called into action once again. The BBC reports that two people in an inflatable boat were spotted drifting out to sea, swept away by strong winds. The RNLI launched a lifeboat out to rescue the drifting pair and -- if you haven't already guessed where this is going -- the stranded couple was the same pair whose dog the RNLI had just rescued from a cliff three days earlier! The couple was rescued from their boat unharmed, reports the RNLI news release.

In any event, at least Scrappy and his owners will never have trouble coming up with an answer for the question, "What's the worst vacation you've ever had?" We hope they send the lifeboat crew a thank-you note.

Source

Here's one dog you probably won't find begging grill-side any time soon.

Smokey, a 12-week-old chihuahua puppy, ended up with a large barbecue fork in his brain after the utensil snapped in half on the grill, flew through the air, and impaled the poor puppy's head, reports the Telegraph. The terrified pup then ran off into the woods, where he hid for two days.

When his owner Hughie Wagers finally found him, Smokey was taken straight to the Cumberland Valley Animal Hospital, in London, Kentucky, where Michelle Duncum was on duty. Duncum said, "[W]hen he brought him in we couldn't believe our eyes."

X-rays showed that the fork was actually in the dog's brain, so the vet, Dr. Keaton Smith, only gave Smokey a 50/50 chance of surviving its removal. The operation itself only took about 30 seconds -- they just shaved Smokey's head and pulled the fork out. Thankfully the pint-sized pup is recovering wonderfully.

"His nerve endings around the eye still seem to be a little slow but I think that will heal over time," said Smith. "He really is a little miracle."

Get the update on this story here.

Warning: Graphic photo after the jump.

Source

Your cat might mistakenly whizz on the carpet, or have herself an accident on a couch cushion (the one on which you always lay your head, of course). And when these things happen, it's understandable that you might become a little purr-turbed. But bear in mind that while there may be a smelly stain left behind for you to clean up, at least your house isn't on fire.

The owners of a gated-community home in Gold Coast, Queensland were not so lucky last week.

According to the Sindh Today, the blaze broke out on the second floor of the lavish house at around 9 a.m. on July 5th, gutting a decent portion of the house before firefighters managed to extinguish the flames. Luckily, damage was limited to the second floor where the fire originated. Two teenage boys were able to escape with their family cats. One of the boys suffered significant smoke inhalation, but is fine after treatment. Neither of the boys' parents were home at the time of the fire, and there were no other injuries.

Nothing so unusual about this particular house fire yet, right?

House fires might start due to a frayed wire, an unattended candle, a sleepy smoker, an errant hotplate. In this case, firefighters traced the fire to a laptop computer in the home. Spontaneous laptop combustion? Not so, say the teenage residents of the home. Though their cats normally are outdoor cats, one of them apparently took exception to being let out that day. According to the boys, the cat found a way back into the house and expressed its displeasure by relieving itself on the laptop -- and as we already know, liquids and electronics don't mix. A smoke alarm engaged shortly after and chased the boys out of the house... with the firebug feline in tow.

How many other house-fire victims do you know about who took the time to rescue the arsonist while escaping their flame-engulfed home?

Source

After passing Prop. 2, which offers greater protection for farm animals, the state of California is working to give better protection to dogs and cats. California Assembly member Pedro Nava introduced three pet-focused bills that have already passed in the Assembly and are being put to a vote in the Senate today. We break down what they mean for the state's millions of cats and dogs and thousands of breeders.

AB 241
Assembly Bill 241, the Responsible Breeder Act, seeks to limit each seller to 50 adult intact dogs or cats. This will help law enforcement crack down on overpopulated puppy mills (currently, only 70 inspectors are expected to license and inspect these large-scale commercial breeders). Seeing as there are 8,300 facilities in California alone, inspecting kennels becomes a very low priority.

Due to many breeding mills' unsanitary conditions and the poor treatment animals receive during transport, only about half of puppies born in puppy mills actually survive to find a home. Many who do live are sold to impulse buyers and often end up in shelters. When puppy mills are raided and the animals are rescued, it's the state (i.e. taxpayers) who end up footing the bill. AB 241 hopes to not only save animals' lives but save state spending as well.

Kelly Osbourne, daughter of rock legend Ozzy Osbourne, broke the sad news about the death of her famous father's dog on her Twitter account. Tweeting on July 8, Kelly wrote, "my dad's dog little bit was eaten by a coyete [sic] last night in l.a and he is devastated she was his other women [sic]!

The Osbournes -- father Ozzy, mom Sharon, daughter Kelly and son Jack --- documented their lives in a hit reality television show and famously shared their sprawling mansion with their numerous dogs. "I've got 18 dogs now," Ozzy once said, revealing to reporters his wife's habit of collecting stray dogs. "We get them from the pound now. When I get home it's like I've got four new dogs."

Though he may grumble about them, Ozzy has a soft spot for the pooches. In 2003, he saved one of their tiny pups, a black teacup Pomeranian named Pippy, from a coyote attack in their backyard. Describing the incident on her website at the time, Sharon wrote that Pippy was "viciously attacked by a Coyote and wrenched from it's [sic] serrated jaw by a terrified, but brave Ozzy." Sadly, their black Chihuahua Lulu wasn't so lucky and was killed by a coyote, prompting the Osbournes to throw poisoned chicken over their backyard fence in an attempt to exterminate the coyotes. It didn't work.

The Osbournes were reportedly watching the televised public memorial service for Michael Jackson when a coyote got Little Bit, which is why they didn't hear the dog yelping for help.

"Sharon and Ozzy love their dogs to bits," the Sun reports a source as saying. "It's like losing a family member. They are both devastated."

How common are coyote attacks on small dogs? It's rare, but (obviously) not unheard of. In Washington state, where a man's five-pound dog was killed by a coyote last month, Fish and Wildlife experts caution pet owners to "limit potential food sources, [and] keep pet food dishes inside and keep your pets on a short leash."

Sharon adopted Little Bit from Last Chance for Animals after falling in love with the Yorkshire Terrier. Watch video of Sharon and Little Bit (at 2:20) below.

Last year was a rough year -- pet-wise -- for former Baywatch and Melrose Place star David Charvet and fiancé Brooke Burke (winner of Dancing With the Stars, Season 7). The couple lost two of their three dogs to cancer and old age, and then their chocolate Labrador Retriever puppy Jake went missing.

"We searched for him high and low for months, hospitals, local vets, and animal rescues," writes Burke on her blog Modern Mom. "After a long while, we lost hope, and determined that he left home and must have died of a broken heart."

Charvet and Burke were heartbroken too. Their two-year old daughter Rain hadn't stopped talking about Jake since he disappeared. (You can see a picture of the entire family in their adorable "Nothing Compares to Family" ad for Skechers Footwear.) "We were just about to get a new dog, a puppy for the kids," says Burke, when fate stepped in.

On June 15th, nine months after he disappeared, the family received the phone call they'd been dreaming of. "It was a vet 20 miles away. They said they had Jake!" Burke gleefully blogged. "Someone found Jake in our town, had no idea who his owner was (Jake had no collar) and gave him to a neighbor who took him in and cared for him."

Luckily, Charvet -- currently appearing on The Superstars -- had Jake microchipped as a puppy. When Jake's new owner took him to the vet for a checkup, the man relayed the story of the dog's adoption. The vet decided to scan Jake and "Immediately, David's info and phone number showed up and the vet was obligated to contact us," explains Burke.

As overjoyed as they were to have Jake back, Burke describes the experience as "bittersweet." The man who had taken Jake in and cared for him for nine months (he apologized for not thinking to have Jake scanned) was losing a friend.

"Thank God for honest people who are selfless enough to do the right thing," Burke writes. "I hope something wonderful happens to Audy in the Valley, for caring for Jake and letting him go..."

Today, Charvet remains grateful to "Audy in the Valley" for keeping Jake safe and bringing him back home. "Getting Jake back is almost a miracle," Charvet says. "After ten months of being missing, he's back where he belongs. I feel like our family is complete again."

Source

As the owner of a three-legged pup we know how tough it can be seeing your four-legged friend turn into a tripod. Balancing on three legs can be transitionally tough for newly amputated dogs, but we can't begin to imagine how hard it is when you weigh in at 180 lbs.

Gibson, a seven-year-old Harlequin Great Dane and five year Guinness World Record holder for tallest dog (he stands 7-feet tall on his hind legs) was diagnosed earlier this year with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer that affects between 6,000 and 8,000 dogs annually. Seven weeks post-surgery he's doing great, though he's still adjusting to balancing on just one front leg. We wish Gibson many more years defending his record title!

Source

When Dopey, an orange tomcat, suddenly went missing, Donna Lane-Mills of Sacramento, California searched frantically for the family cat. She posted fliers and called local veterinarians and shelters --- all to no avail. Her six year-old daughter cried herself to sleep at night. Prior to disappearing, the droopy-eyed feline had been born at their home in 2000 and lived with them for three years. As weeks and months slipped by, the family feared the worst. "We thought he had been hit by a car," says Lane-Mills.

Six years after Dopey's mysterious disappearance, Lane-Mills received an astonishing message on her work voice mail. A representative from the American Kennel Club Companion Animal Recovery program (AKC CAR) informed Lane-Mills that Dopey had been found -- alive and well -- at an animal shelter not 20 miles from her home.

"I was totally shocked," Lane-Mills told us. "I didn't believe it at first. We kind of assumed something tragic had happened to him."

Luckily, Dopey's six years away from home were quite the opposite. Somehow the orange tabby found himself in a neighboring town, 40 miles from home. An elderly woman took in the lost cat and doted on him (she outfitted Dopey with the snazzy moon and stars collar in the photo, above) over the years until she passed away. After her death Dopey was taken to a shelter where he was scanned for a microchip. The tag the Lane-Mills family had embedded in Dopey when they originally had him was IDed, leading to the happy, albeit overdue, reunion.

So, how's Dopey doing back at home?

"He's doing great," says Lane-Mills. "It's almost as if he's never left."

Asked if Dopey remembered his original family, Lane-Mills says, "I don't know. It's kind of hard to tell with cats. But he sat up, purred, and loved being petted." Dopey, now nine, hasn't changed much though. "He still has the same personality; he's still stubborn," laughs Lane-Mills. "In the mornings, he'll stick his face in our cereal bowls, even though we're not done eating yet."