Chicago May Ban Pet Chickens

If vacation isn't vacation without Rover, consider one of these ten pet-friendly towns or your next trip

(NEWSER) - Man's best friend has become a member of the family, so why shouldn't he get a break, too? Make it fun and easy to travel with your pet by visiting one of these hound-hangout towns MSNBC recommends:

1. San Diego, CA
2. Long Beach, CA
3. Carmel, CA

Anti-cruelty society and locals rally behind itinerant owner

(NEWSER) - A Chicago panhandler has gone from begging for loose change to asking after a lost pal, the Chicago Tribune reports. Sixty-nine year-old Tom Finley says he last saw his canine "best friend" outside a McDonald's, and believes someone took her in the hope of giving the dog better care. Now locals and an animal cruelty society are rallying to support the itinerant pooch lover. More»

Study shows more convictions there than any other federal jurisdiction

(NEWSER) - Chicago really is the cesspit of corruption you think it is, according to a new study from the University of Illinois. It found that the Windy City and its environs had had more corruption convictions than any other federal jurisdiction in the last 36 years, with 1,531. Illinois had 1,828 overall, the third most of any state. More»

Over-the-top standards scare away would-be owners: Emily Yoffe

(NEWSER) - Animal rescue groups have come a long way over the years and done wondrous things in reducing the number of dogs and cats that get put down, writes Emily Yoffe at Slate . Here comes the "but": These groups need to loosen up their overly strict adoption standards, which often scare away perfectly good pet owners and thus leave animals without homes. "Applicants are sometimes subjected to an interrogation that would befit Michael Vick," she complains. More»

3 Chicago high school students busted for hate crime, assault

(NEWSER) - Three Chicago teenagers have been arrested after placing a noose around a black student's neck at knifepoint because of his relationship with a white girl, according to law enforcement authorities. “I feel they were serious, and that if I didn’t get out of the house when I did, I might not even be here. I might be dead,” Joshua Merritt, 17, told the Chicago Tribune . The three students, ages 16 to 18, have been hit with a variety of charges, including hate crimes, unlawful restraint, assault, and battery. The girl at the center of the confrontation is the cousin of one of the teens. The assault occurred at his house, and his mother is an administrative worker in the Cook County state attorney's office, said police. More»