Dog Reunited With Family After 5 Years

Now he's without his best friend and a place to live

(NEWSER) - A Virginia man accidentally set fire to his house while trying to cremate his dead dog, reports InsideNova . He reportedly set fire to wood that he placed next to the body of his 11-year-old Rottweiler, and added gasoline to encourage the backyard fire. The intensified flames caused $70,000 worth of damage and made the house temporarily uninhabitable. The man says he called area animal hospitals for help in disposing of the body, but decided on a Plan B after being told he would have to bring the heavy dog to them. “I couldn’t do it,” he says. “He was too big for me.” More»

Mutt saved 50 soldiers in Afghanistan

(NEWSER) - A dog credited with saving the lives of dozens of US soldiers in Afghanistan was euthanized in an Arizona shelter by mistake, reports the Arizona Republic . Target, a stray who hung around a US military base, became a hero when she and two other dogs attacked a suicide bomber who had snuck onto the base, keeping him away from the barracks. Though the bomber detonated his charge, only five soldiers were injured because the dogs had chased him far enough away. More»

Abandoned dogs hunt in packs, frightening people and pets

(NEWSER) - Residents of eastern Long Island must be asking what they could have done to deserve a plague of rogue Snoopys. Feral beagles, abandoned for poor performance by hunters who used them to seek rabbits, have become a serious problem this winter. The animals have grouped into packs to seek food and locals have reported terrifying encounters with crazed, hungry beagles. More»

7 of 8 dead at trailer park were related to Guy Heinze, 22

(AP) - A 22-year-old man was charged today with killing eight people whose deaths he had reported to police in a frantic phone call from his family's Georgia mobile home. Guy Heinze Jr. was arrested on eight counts of first-degree murder in the slayings last weekend near the coastal community of Brunswick. Among those killed were seven of Heinze's relatives. More»

(NEWSER) - A court has ordered the pack of wild dogs that killed a retired Georgia professor and his wife put to sleep, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. Authorities have already rounded up most of the 14 involved in the attack. The couple’s neighbor had fed the dogs before moving away for medical reasons, and nearby residents can’t believe they turned violent. “We’ve never had a problem with them,” said one. More»