Dogs | featured news

Citing inhumane and unsanitary practices, lawmakers want to regulate online pet sales. The current law allows breeders who sell puppies online to escape all health and safety requirements.

A man walking his dog in the Bronx found a woman’s severed shoulder and two hands in a plastic bag, and the rest of the body turned out to be scattered in suitcases and another bag elsewhere in the neighborhood, authorities said.

"This second hypothesis says that when we settled down, and in conjunction with the development of agriculture, we produced waste dumps around our settlements; and suddenly there was this new food resource, a new niche, for wolves to make use of, and the wolf that was best able to make use of it became the ancestor of the dog," explained Erik Axelsson from Uppsala University.

600 in the area have joined the new City Dog Share pack, which matches up pet owners with others eager to help them out when needed. Other places are also sniffing out the idea.

Author Dennis Lehane is offering an unusual reward for the person who finds his family's beloved missing beagle. Lehane says he'll name a character in his next book after whoever finds Tessa, who disappeared from the family's home in Brookline, Mass., this week. He says on his Facebook page that Tessa jumped a fence at the home, and even though she has been micro-chipped, she was not wearing her tags. Lehane says Tessa is "smart, fast, and immeasurably sweet."

No sign of boy who drowned going after family dog... Howard Kuljian and his family were out for a walk on a damp, overcast morning at Big Lagoon beach, playing fetch with their dog Fran as 10-foot (3-meter) surf churned the water just feet away like a washing machine. Signs near the beach warned of "sneaker waves," the kind that suddenly roar ashore.

A group of African painted dogs killed a boy who fell into their exhibit today at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Barbara Baker, the zoo's president, said the child was around 3 years old. He "fell off an observation deck that's about 14 feet above the exhibit," she said, "and was killed by the dogs."

A drug-sniffing dog now is the only certified member of the police force in the small eastern New Mexico town of Vaughn. Police Chief Ernest "Chris" Armijo decided to step down Wednesday after news stories reported that he wasn't allowed to carry a gun because of his criminal background.

Dogs have long been recognized as man’s best friend, and we have no problem opening up our wallets to let our furry friends know just how much we love them. Americans spend $53 billion annually on our animal friends, lavishing them with the best squeaker toys money can buy, fashionable collars, comfy beds and even gourmet treats from bakeries catering solely to four-legged customers. And when our pets have departed this mortal coil, we're willing to dig deep one last time to pay for an appropriate sendoff.

A few weeks after a short stay at a dog kennel more than two years ago, Kathleen Drew’s 6-year-old golden retriever Cody stopped eating. The dog’s veterinarian suggested changing her diet and adding hamburgers into the mix to entice her.