That's an Ugly Little Rascal

An African sand dog named Rascal has won the Del Mar Fairgrounds Ugly Dog Contest at its first attempt.
The toothless 7-year-old with a mohawk has received similar gongs at other shows before its winning turn at the 15th annual San Diego event.
Owner Dane Andrew said: "I think he's the most handsome dog I've ever seen
"People just say, 'Your dog is ugly'. So we just go with it and have fun with it. He's the best at what he does, I guess. He's ugly."








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Rabbit walking on hind legs

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Frosty the cat survives

A lucky cat has survived after being trapped for four weeks in a chilled food warehouse - by eating frozen peas.
The feline managed to survive temperatures of -2C (-28F) for a month in the warehouse before it was finally rescued by the RSPCA.
The 12-month-old black and white tabby cat, who has been nicknamed 'Frosty' by RSPCA staff, is believed to have survived by eating frozen peas and licking moisture off icy food packets.
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Dog's birthday

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The Odd Couple

Wildlife Safari in Winston, Ore has rare animals from across the globe - like rhinos, lions and even an Anatolian Shepherd.
And the rare thing about the Anatolian Shepherd female at Wildlife Safari is not her breed, but her roommate - who just happens to be the fastest predator on earth.
"It's a very popular question of why we have a dog and a cheetah out there and it's a common practice that a lot of institutions across the United States are doing right now in an effort to tell this very conservation story," said Dan Brands, Curator at Wildlife Safari.
As a single birth cheetah cub, Sanurra was abandoned by her mother, which opened the door for these two to be brought together.
"Rather than let Sanurra grow up alone we were able to bring in a dog as a sibling, basically like her sister, and they have been together ever since," said Sarah Roy, cheetah supervisor at Wildlife Safari.
This odd pairing was no accident, as an Anatolian Shepherd is very protective and that natural instinct could be the key to saving the wild cheetah population.
"Anatolians will be like that no matter how they are raised, whether it's with goats or whether it's cattle. So the farmers get these dogs as puppies and a big barking dog is plenty to keep a cheetah away from their livestock. And in turn, farmers are shooting less cheetahs because right now they are a shoot-on-sight animal," said Roy.
While these roommates may be considered the odd couple at Wildlife Safari, caretakers says it's like nothing they've ever seen.
"When we take the dog for her daily walk, the cheetah sits on her house and waits for the dog to come back and if we take Sanurra down to the village for the day, Ellie cries and whines for her cheetah to come back, so they do miss each other," said Roy.
That type of bond could change the road ahead for cheetahs in Africa.
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Man drives car while 'walking' dog

A County Durham man Paul Railton, 23, of Annfield Plain caught walking his lurcher through the window of his moving car has lost his license.
Railton, admitted breaching two counts of the Road Traffic Act, at Consett Magistrates Court on Monday.
In mitigation, his solicitor, Paul Donoghue, said: "He accepts it was a silly thing to do, just out of pure laziness."
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Catching Some Z’s

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Baby Orangutan

Elmo, the 4 day-old Borneo Orangutan.

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Smart or is it Lazy - Pigeon Rides Subway

He has places to go, pigeons to see....

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The 30 most important cats of 2009

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Help Me

When a mixed breed pit bull terrier walked into a busy supermarket, animal welfare officers, called in by staff, were shocked to find it had a stillborn puppy trapped inside.
The staff at Scotts Supermarket, in Naxxar called the Animal Welfare Department on Saturday afternoon to report that a stray dog had walked into the supermarket, welfare officer Godric Marston said.
The dog, named Mel after the girl who called for help, lay down on a carpet in the supermarket and remained still.
"On arriving at the supermarket, I realized there was something unusual about the dog. On closer look, I could see a part of the puppy. It was dead but still inside her. It was clear this dog needed to be operated upon immediately or she would die," Mr. Marston said.
He rushed the dog to Happy Paws, a veterinary clinic, where it was immediately operated on. Recovering after undergoing operation.
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Heterochromia

The term means variation in coloration.

Perhaps most striking when it involves coloration of the iris

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Determined Dog

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Dog Flies Down Stairs - His feet barely touch.

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Is this the place I go to get this thing off my head?

A cat walked into the Scottish SPCA's Wildlife Rescue Center by her self

with her head wedged in an empty pet food tin.

After the can was carefully removed she was checked over.

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I'm All Ears

Desert Fennec Fox

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Blood buddies'

Puppy's life saved by blood transfusion

A purebred six-week-old puppy in Australia owes her life to a blood transfusion from a gentle greyhound more than 15 times her size.
Cairns resident Sami Knoblock had a tearful reunion with her English Staffordshire terrier after their scary ordeal. Ms Knoblock said her dog, Buddy, was vomiting and could hardly lift her 1.6kg body to stand on.
She rushed her sick dog to Brinsmead Veterinary Surgery where Greencross principal surgeon Max Fargher found a hookworm infestation that had caused a massive hemorrhage.
With Buddy at death's door, Dr Fargher raced home to get his trusty pooch Hurley, a male, six-year-old 34kg greyhound.
Dr Fargher then performed a transfusion by transferring a "drop" of Hurley's blood - 120ml - to Buddy.
He said a young dog's first blood transfusion could be from any donor dog, but if it needed a second, it would have been a far trickier situation.

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Tiny Chihuahua Blown Away By 70mph winds

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Walking the pets

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Do elephants walk or run?

Elephants can walk and run both at the same time

With their awkward, lumbering gait, elephants moving at high speed are not the most graceful of animals - but are they walking or running?
Now scientists believe they have an answer: new research confirms that they do both - at the same time.
By observing elephants moving across a hi-tech track, the team found the hefty creatures run with their front legs but walk with their back legs.
VIDEO