texas.

Shelley Bueche Roxie, Coco, Carley, Mocha, Skeem, Moby and Pearl are all pit bull terrier rescues and crucial members of the Pit Crew, an all-pit-bull therapy group associated with Love-A-Bull, a non-profit pit-bull-advocacy group based in Austin, Texas. These spunky dogs belong to a breed believed by many to be misunderstood and misrepresented, a breed with as many detractors as defenders. Love-A-Bull was formed as a spin-off from the Austin American Pit Bull Terrier Meet-Up Group that started in 2003. Lydia Zaidman, an attorney and pit-bull rescuer in Austin, began Love-A-Bull to educate the public about the breed, dispel rumors about pit bulls, advocate against Breed Specific ...

TheGiantVermin, Flickr While analyzing archaeological remains from Southwest Texas, a University of Maine graduate student has discovered evidence of the oldest-known dog in the Americas. Samuel Belknap was studying ancient human waste to determine what residents of the Lower Pecos region of Texas ate between 1,000 and 10,000 years ago when he found a fingernail-size bit of bone. DNA analysis confirmed it belongs to a domestic dog that lived approximately 9,400 years ago, the Associated Press reports. According to UCLA professor Robert Wayne, North America's first mutts are thought to have arrived with early settlers who crossed the Bering land bridge from Asia 10,000 years ago or more. ...

Earl Nottingham, AP Thanks to the efforts of wildlife officials, volunteers and conservationists, 46 desert bighorn sheep will be ringing in 2011 on their reclaimed historic range. As part of an ongoing effort to repopulate the bighorn's historic habitat, Texas wildlife workers released 34 ewes and a dozen rams into the mountains of Big Bend Ranch State Park (adjacent to the similarly named national park) just days before Christmas. According to the AP, 80 onlookers cheered as the majestic sheep made their way up the cactus-covered slopes of their new home. The release, which marked the first reintroduction of the bighorn into a Texas state park, came as an early Christmas present to the ...

While the rest of us were celebrating Independence Day fireworks over the weekend, Judy, a female Great Dane and Minnelli, a male goat, were experiencing a different kind of spark, one of the romantic variety. The unlikely lovebirds were found wandering the grounds of a Dallas-area wedding venue last week, KTVT reports. As the pet blog Dogster noted, Judy and Minnelli absolutely adore each other. The unusual couple is currently in the care of the East Lake Pet Orphanage, where Judy paces and whines and Minnelli bleats sadly every time the two are separated from one another. They spend so much time together, East Lake Pet Orphanage veterinarian Karen Fling told KTVT that Minnelli acts more ...

Melanie Typaldos His name is Caplin Rous (pronounced "rose") and he's a capybara, a species with the distinction of being the largest rodent in the world. Capybaras are native to South America, but Caplin was born and raised in Texas, where he lives with his owner, software engineer Melanie Typaldos, and her husband. At 2-and-a-half years old, Caplin weighs 100 pounds and is often mistaken for a giant hamster. He has his own website, a Facebook page with over 3,600 friends (not bad for a rodent); he's the star of dozens of videos on his popular YouTube channel; and his owner has even written a children's book about him. "He's kind of like the world's most spoiled capybara," Typaldos ...