Dogs as Smart as 2-Year-Olds

Owner gets a butt full of birdshot

(NEWSER) - Good thing Fido's not a better shot. A Utah dog unloaded 27 pellets into his owner's butt as the "excited" hound discharged a 12-gauge shotgun in a boat during a duck-hunting trip. The man was hit as he bent down standing in a marshy area of the Great Salt Lake to reposition his decoys, say authorities. "The dog got excited, was jumping around inside the boat, and then it jumped on the gun. It went off, shooting the owner in the buttocks," says the local deputy sheriff. The dog "did something to make the gun discharge. I don't know if the safety device was on. It's not impossible the dog could have taken it off safety." More»

But home is crushed, family can't care for him

(NEWSER) - A still-happy pup blown away by an Alabama tornado last month managed to crawl on two broken legs back home, where his family found him this week wagging his tail on their front porch. Terrier-mix Mason completely snapped his two front legs, but managed painstaking travel on his doggie "elbows." Mason's injuries were deemed the "most dramatic" of any dog survivor seen so far in the devastating southern tornadoes. Sadly, his family couldn't take him back because their home was crushed by the storm. More»

Case sparks calls for tougher penalties for animal abuse

(NEWSER) - Man's best friend just found out how evil man can be. A female dog was found bound and whimpering with gunshot wounds to her head, and buried up to her muzzle in Malta. Incredibly, the dog rescuers nicknamed Star is recovering in an animal shelter while cops seek the animal abusers who attacked her, reports the the Times of Malta. The savagery of her treatment is sparking calls for harsher penalties for animal cruelty in a nation where the most serious punishment is a year in jail. Star's legs and muzzle were tied, and vets dug some 40 shotgun pellets from her head. More»

High-speed chase not an option

(USER SUBMITTED) - Edwin Fry loves his prized pooch. When his dog, Buddy Tough, found himself locked up in the town kennel, Fry decided to bust him out of jail. Fry could have paid the $100 fine to have his dog released, but instead, he decided to visit the pound with a pair of bolt cutters. It would have been the perfect crime, but Fry forgot to use a getaway vehicle capable of hitting 10mph. More»

(NEWSER) - A good-hearted pet lover paid $4,000 to outbid a Coney Island operator to save a five-legged puppy from life in a freak show, reports the New York Daily News. North Carolinian Allyson Siegel, 45, called the owner of the Chihuahua terrier mix when she learned the puppy would be cooped up to entertain gawkers. "She is beautiful. She's not a freak, she's a normal little puppy dog and she should be just like all the others," said Siegel. More»