Stories related to: pets

Paris Hilton went “ballistic” over the weekend when an LA pet store refused to sell her a Yorkie, telling the celebutante the purchase was clearly “an impulse buy,” the New York Post reports. Hilton was on her way to a photo shoot and "wanted a puppy in the picture with her so it would look cuter,” says a spy. More »

A group of Danish students were kicked off Facebook when they posted photos of themselves cooking and eating a cat, the Copenhagen Post reports. The students intended to point out the hypocrisy in designating some animals pets and others food, but have infuriated the almighty social-networking site and animal rights groups alike. “This is the worst way to draw people's attention,” said the director of a Danish rescue group. More »

Dogs are getting more suspicious as robots get more sophisticated, the Wall Street Journal reports. Dog owners find that jealous, territorial, or terrified pooches bark at the robots—and sometimes rip them apart. Some post videos of the battles on YouTube, while others are trying to find ways for canine and robot to live together peacefully. More »

A special bunny task force has been established in the German town of Witten to track down a mystery serial killer who's been beheading pet rabbits for a year, Der Speigel reports. At least 40 rabbits have been snatched from cages in the area. Their corpses are usually left behind. Townies speculate the killings are the work of satanists who may be using Google Earth to locate rabbit hutches. More »

For many couples today, dogs aren’t just pets, they’re the “first baby.” But that puppy love can cause problems when it comes to the second baby—the human one. Like any only child, dogs can react badly to new siblings, so a small industry has sprung up to make canines “baby ready,” the Wall Street Journal reports. More »

Joint custody, visitation rights, continued care, and financial support—custody negotiations are no longer restricted to the kids, USA Today reports, as more ex-partners wrangle over the pooch. In a recent survey, 25% of divorce lawyers reported an increase in pet-custody issues, with 90% of those cases involving dogs. It’s a “very hotly contested issue,” said one attorney. More »

A vet in Japan was stumped on how to reunite a lost parrot with its owners—until the brainy bird told him his address and his owner's name. The well-trained African gray has been safely reunited with his human family, the BBC reports. The bird kept mum in police custody but got chatty when it was sent to an animal clinic, calling out greetings and even belting out a few hit tunes. More »

There's no shortage of dating websites that use personality profiles to come up with "scores" and assess compatibility; now, the AP reports, animal shelters are using a similar program to help pair famously fickle felines with owners. Some 45 facilities use Feline-ality, which assigns cats colorful personality types: leader of the band, personal assistant, private investigator, and the like. More »

California legislators are pushing a bill banning pets from drivers' laps after a national study ranked pets, along with cell phones, among the leading causes of road distractions and a cause of thousands of accidents. A bill before the state legislature will impose a fine for driving while holding dogs, cats, or other live animals, reports the San Jose Mercury News . More »

The death this month of Martha Stewart's beloved canine Kublai Khan Paw Paw Chow Chow (just Paw Paw to his pals) got Nerve's Nicole Pasulka ruminating on her top celeb best friends. A sampling: Millie, First Dog for the first President Bush: "Pet lovers that we are, we’d much rather have Bush dog as prez than Bush son," Pasulka writes. More »

The family files into the chapel, signs the registry, and pays its respects before the coffin. It looks much like a normal funeral parlor, and it is—just not for humans. Instead Oak Rest Pet Gardens in Georgia buries beloved pets, charging $2,000 or more for the service. “Most people couldn't care less about the money when they come in,” says the funeral director. “They want what they want.” More »

A cop and several firemen struggled to rescue an Oregon pet shop owner after she stuck her hand in a python's cage, the Eugene Register-Guard reports. Teresa Rossiter was showing off 12-foot Darla to customers when the snake bit her, wrapped around her, and knocked her down. A policeman came to cut off the $850 python's head, but Rossiter begged him to find another way. More »

Martha Stewart's chow Paw Paw, a frequent gushed-over guest on her TV show, has died of renal failure, reports AP. The pooch got his name—Kublai Khan Paw Paw Chow Chow Chow—for his huge paws. "Paw Paw was a spectacular chow and an even more spectacular dog," the queen of domestic arts wrote in her blog. "He was always my loyal companion." More »

The economy might be slowing, but one man's poop-scooping business is, well, piling up. A sixth sense for sniffing out the goods is earning Ron Johnson's Poo-B-Gone $75,000 yearly, the Chicago Tribune reports. Pet owners who are too busy or grossed-out to handle their dogs' waste pay up to $25 a week to avoid doing the dirty deed. More »

As foreclosure rates skyrocket around the country, animal shelters are feeling a heartbreaking byproduct: an influx of pets being surrendered, USA Today reports. Across the country, areas with high foreclosures are seeing increased rates of pet abandonment, and shelters worry that even more could be coming as unemployment rates rise and affects renters. More »

While you're busy worrying about human rights in China, author and journalist Ted Kerasote argues, add animal rights to the list. After a trip to a ski camp in China where he was befriended by a "dead ringer for Lassie," he was appalled to find his canine pal served as the main dish at a feast in his honor. More »

With more pet owners working long days and leaving their furry and feathered friends alone at home, cases of animal depression are on the rise, writes the Daily Telegraph . A TV vet says the trend is hitting parrots especially hard, causing the talkative birds to pull out their feathers or peck at their own legs—until they're dosed with Prozac. More »

Americans own about 2 million ferrets, and some are asking why they remain illegal in several states and cities. “Martin Luther King said an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” one ferret advocate said. “And this is an injustice.” Opponents say that owners are imprisoning wild animals, but defenders maintain that a common breed has been domesticated for centuries. More »

A California woman has placed the first order for a cloned dog with South Korean biotech firm RNL Bio, pledging $150,000 for a genetic duplicate of her dead pitbull, Booger, who once saved her from a dog attack, reports the BBC. Seoul National University scientists, who produced the first cloned canine in 2005, will use tissue from Booger’s ear. More »

US authorities today charged an American company and two Chinese businesses with manufacturing and importing tainted ingredients in pet food that killed thousands of cats and dogs last year, the AP reports. Las Vegas-based ChemNutra and its owners face a felony conspiracy charge and 26 misdemeanor counts for selling adulterated and misbranded food. The Chinese businesses face 26 counts each. More »