animal news.

These odd-looking but cute fellas (pictured below) have an interesting story. A Londoner found the furry wee ones abandoned in a plastic bag. Alarmed, the kind-hearted, animal-loving passerby brought the adorable creatures immediately to the Royal Society For The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Had she not discovered them and delivered them so quickly to professional care, they surely would have died. At first, the rescued creatures were thought to be dog puppies. But further inspection revealed that they are, in fact, adorable fox cubs! The babies-- Bobby, Buddy, Elliot, Lulu, and Tony -- have been receiving care from the Fox Project Charity, specifically, from their experienced ...

Ben Gray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution / AP 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 ...

Photo: Bauer-Griffin 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? ...

Photo: Newspix / Rex Features 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 ...

A wolf-dog hybrid (not Dakota). Photo: Katie Brady, flickr 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 ...

Photo: Mary Lane / Reader's Digest 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 ...