A dog whose rejection by his owner caused an Internet uproar has been adopted into a new, and presumably more tolerant, home.
The male pit bull mix, whose name no one seems to know, was left at the Madison County, Tennessee, Rabies Control animal shelter, CNN affiliate WBBJ reported.
According to the irreverent website Gawker, Facebook users had a hissy fit Wednesday when they found out the dog's owner got rid of the animal after he (the dog, not the owner) humped another male dog.
"His owner threw him away (because) he refuses to have a 'gay' dog!" a Facebook user named TN Euthanasia wrote.
The post went semi-viral, with 861 likes, 1,869 comments and 5,048 shares. After Gawker told the rest of the digital world about it, noting that the dog was in imminent danger of being put down, the shelter was swamped with calls offering to adopt the uncloseted canine.
By Thursday morning, shelter workers confirmed to WBBJ that the amorous animal had been adopted by a person associated with a rescue/shelter group.
What would you name this dog if you adopted him? Share your ideas in the comments below.
A Secret Service dog fell to its death Saturday night while doing a sweep of a multi-story parking deck near a hotel where Vice President Joe Biden was speaking.
The Belgian Malanois fell from the roof of the six-story deck adjacent to The Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans where Biden was speaking at a fundraiser for U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, reported CNN affiliate WWLTV.
Secret Service spokesman Max Milien told CNN the death was a "tragic accident."
FULL STORYIt happened in seconds. A 2-year-old boy slipped over a railing, bounced into a safety net, bounced again, and tumbled into an exhibit of African painted dogs, which mauled him to death.
The heartbreaking scenario came to light Monday as the Pittsburgh Zoo released details of the child's death Sunday.
There's no shortage of puppycams on the Internet these days. Thousands of people spend hours watching Shiba Inus romp around and then fall asleep.
This is perhaps why a few groups are teaming up to try to turn the guilty pleasure of watching pups all day into a way to help disabled veterans.
Explore.org, in conjunction with DogBlessYou.org, has put up its own puppycam and says that for every 1,000 likes of the DogBlessYou Facebook, Pinterest and/or Tumblr pages, the group will donate a therapy dog to a disabled war veteran.
Watch the puppycam here or on Explore.org
"The mission of explore.org is to champion the selfless acts of others, to create a portal into the soul of humanity and to inspire life long learning. What is the easiest way to do this? Through dogs – they see our souls like no other," founder Charlie Annenberg says on the the DogBlessYou Facebook page. "That is why as we build Dog Bless You, I believe that its mission should be to champion the selfless acts of animals."
It's no secret that a big push for veterans has included enlisting man's best friend in hopes of helping heal some of the wounds of war. Like guide dogs for the blind, psychiatric service dogs aid people with mental illnesses, from anxiety disorder to bipolar disorder to PTSD. The dogs are trained to know when their owners are depressed or having a panic attack, for example, and the animals might calm them down by curling up in their lap or giving a nudge.
Check out the pups playing around and visit the links above if you want to like the group's efforts to help veterans. Do you know of a similar effort? Let us know in the comments.
A horse, a deer and a dog don’t belong in the water but, in these unusual cases, they were spotted miles from land. The people who helped them had to figure out some tricky logistics to save them. You’ve gotta watch these animal rescues.
A 7-year-old horse got spooked at a photo shoot in Southern California and ran into the ocean. The Santa Barbara Harbor Patrol spotted it two miles offshore. Watch how they towed it back in.
It started out as a normal father and son fishing trip, but it had an unusual ending. They spotted a drowning fawn two miles from shore. See how the ordeal changed the dad’s outlook.
A kayaker went fishing in the gulf and ended up catching a dog named Barney. Sadly, this mystery has an unhappy ending. Learn why the dog was in the ocean in the first place.
Few bonds are stronger than the one between a dog and its master. In fact, the second most popular video last week was a piece by CNN's Jeanne Moos that shows just that. It got us thinking about some of our other favorite videos showing just how devoted man's best friend can be. You've Gotta Watch these loyal pets.
Caught on camera: A loyal dog stays by dead companion amid traffic. CNN's Jeanne Moos reports.
While family and friends and a dog mourn the death of Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson.
A dog mourns his owner's death months after he died.
In 2011, CNN.com went on a never-before-seen journey through Alaska during the Iditarod. A rookie Iditarod racer, 36-year-old teacher Angie Taggart, agreed to strap Go-Pro cameras to her sled and forehead and record her two weeks on the trail.
After training herself and her dogs for years, Angie had a jittery start, filled with anxiety and tears for the 1,150 miles that lay ahead of her.
Angie had to quickly get get her bearings, because she soon faced the biggest challenge of the race, the infamous Dalzell Gorge, where the trail drops hundreds of feet in only two miles.
The weather was always a concern for Angie, so when she and her dogs faced thick sheets of ice from one side of the trail to the other, she was unsure if she could get them across.
Nearing the finish, Angie and her dogs got bad directions and ended up going the wrong way.
Taggart is not racing in this year’s Iditarod, but she’s spent the past year raising and training her dogs to race on Jan Steve’s team. Taggart will be helping out on the trail, at checkpoints Nikolai and Nome. She said that nine of her 12 dogs will be in the race this year. And next year? "Who knows," she told CNN. "Maybe next year I will mush under that arch once again." You can see more videos from the 2012 race on CNN.com/Video
A Denver news anchor is speaking out for the first time after being severely injured when a dog bit her on the face during a TV interview. Earlier this month, Kyle Dyer was interviewing the owner of an 85-pound Argentine Mastiff who was rescued from icy waters. While petting the dog’s face, Dyer leaned in to kiss his nose when the dog lurched forward and bit her face.
The second time was the charm for Malachy the Pekingese at Westminster.
Malachy, a Best in Show finalist at last year’s Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, won the top prize Tuesday night at this year’s installment at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
The squat and hairy 4-year-old from Pennsylvania became the fourth Pekingese - and only the 10th dog from the toy group - to win Best in Show in the 105-year history of the award.
“I’m still in shock,” Malachy’s handler and co-owner, David Fitzpatrick, told USA Network seconds after the prize was given. “It’s such a thrill, and I’m just so proud to have a dog that’s of this quality that could win a show like this and have an opportunity to exhibit him here. It’s the thrill of a lifetime.”
Malachy won the toy group - for the second straight year - a day earlier, and vied for Best in Show with the winners of six other groups. The last toy to win Best in Show was a papillon, in 1999.
Judges are instructed to evaluate dogs on how well they fit the written standards - the ideal appearance, movement, temperament and other traits - of their breed. Judge Cindy Vogels of Colorado made her decision after inspecting the seven group winners in front of a crowd that cheered its favorites.
Besides Malachy, the other group winners - and Best in Show finalists - were:
To many of us, completing a running race is tough enough. But for others, just running the race isn't enough. Sometimes you've got to add something fun into the mix. In today's Gotta Watch, we look at three races that won't be featured in this summer's London Olympics.
Five miles, 12 donuts – We did the math on this charity event involving Krispy Kreme donuts and a five-mile run. Participants run 2.5 miles, then have to eat a dozen donuts before resuming their run. Think you could complete this race?
[cnn-video url=http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2012/02/06/krispy-kreme-challenge.wncn]
If CNN affiliate WJW showed us anything, it’s that animals can easily captivate any audience. After a day of hard news from around the globe or in the political arena, sometimes you just want a cow on a waterbed, right? But luckily for their reporter, these farm animals didn’t turn on him and ruin his live shot. The same can’t be said for some journalists who found out the hard way that animals love to steal the spotlight. Laugh all you want at these videos but heed their warning: humans aren’t the only ones who crave attention.
Friendly dog overwhelms reporter — Poor Randene Neill. All she wanted to do was help out a few shelter dogs in need of a good home. Of course, she didn’t realize her friendly gesture would be taken too enthusiastically. While Neill tries to speak with the shelter owner, Ginger the dog ignores modern conventions of restraint and lavishes her love on the reporter the only way she knows how: licking.
We've posted a lot of videos on CNN.com this year, but the ones that seem to be the most popular are the viral videos. From the hilarious barking cat to the incredibly talented mini-Nicki Minaj, 2011 has been jam-packed with some incredibly amusing videos. In the spirit of the end of the year, we at Gotta Watch put together the four most-watched viral videos on CNN.com in 2011. Enjoy!
Rejection is funny - This video out of Missouri proves that laughing truly is contagious. A letter that would make most of us mad seems to have a very different effect on a little boy.
Move over Lassie, you’ve got some competition. These real-life dogs went to great lengths to save the lives of their owners and other animals alike. Maybe this is why they’ve earned the title of “man’s best friend.” You’ve Gotta Watch these heartwarming videos.
Cats and dogs – Cats and dogs might traditionally be enemies, but one pooch in Iowa rescued two kittens. Several cats were sealed into a “Meow Mix” bag, abandoned on a road, and hit by a car. A dog dragged the bag back to his owner’s house and whined until the owner discovered what was inside. See what became of the felines.
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2011/12/07/dnt-dog-rescues-kittens.who"%5DA Utah hunter was on the mend Wednesday after surviving a gunshot wound from man’s best friend - yes, a dog.
While authorities don't know all the particulars, this much is certain, hospital crews had to extract 27 pellets of birdshot from the man, according to news reports.
The incident happened over the weekend when two men and a canine set up to go duck-hunting in the Great Salt Lake near a bird refuge outside Brigham City, according to CNN affiliate KSL.
Before the hunting could commence, one of the men, a 46-year-old from Brigham City, got out of his boat and laid his 12-gauge shotgun across the bow of the vessel, KSL reported.
From there, it gets weird.
"The dog got excited, was jumping around inside the boat and then it jumped on the gun. It went off, shooting the (man) in the buttocks," Box Elder County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Kevin Potter told the Salt Lake City Tribune. The man was apparently setting up decoys when the gun went off, said Potter.
But how – exactly – did this happen?
The dog "did something to make the gun discharge," Potter told KSL. "I don't know if the safety device was on. It's not impossible the dog could have taken it off safety," he was quoted as saying.
Sunday's accident wasn't the only strange occurrence over the Thanksgiving weekend involving outdoorsmen. In North Carolina, fishermen encountered a great white shark - but it didn't shoot them.
What do hockey, pumpkin carving, and bone-fetching have in common?
Surprisingly, they can all be done underwater. Add a little liquid to these every day activities and see how different they become. Take a minute and dive into today's Gotta Watch videos.
Deep Diving Dog– Many dogs love water but this pooch is taking that love to a new depth. Check out this rescue pet's impressive spiral as he retrieves a toy from the bottom of the deep end.
Animals can be pets, but sometimes it's hard to remember that animals are, well, animals. Take this video of a turkey for instance. It may look sweet and harmless, until it starts chasing a TV producer, leaving her screaming for help. In the spirit of this hilarious video of a wild turkey, we at Gotta Watch put together a few of our favorite videos featuring animals chasing people. Check out what happens when animals attack.
Turkey's fowl play - This is possibly one of the funniest videos between a television news producer and a turkey. You've gotta watch how this seemingly docile turkey chases her....and how it all ends.
Fishermen may sometimes tell tall tales about the enormous fish that got away, but you've never seen anything like this. These people really did get the catch of a lifetime - and got it all on tape. From animals that shouldn't even be in the water to 40-ton "catches," you've got to watch these unbelievable fishing videos.
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Their talents are weird, crazy and in some cases simply unbelievable. And they can all be found in one book. We're talking about the Guinness Book of World Records. The 2012 edition launches this week, so today's Gotta Watch features videos of some of our all-time favorite record holders.
This year's new talent – From jumping dogs to long tongues and huge afros, here's your chance to meet some of this year's newest additions to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Money Magazine has released its 2011 list of America's 100 best places to live. In today's Gotta Watch, we're checking the map and looking at a few other cities you may - or may not - want to consider.
Buford, Wyoming's party of one - Whether it's about winning debates at town meetings, the length of his commute or how long it would take to meet the entire population, Don Sammons knows all the jokes. And he should. He's the sole resident of Wyoming's oldest town.
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2010/12/23/dnt.wyoming.town.of.one.kusa"%5DLynwood, Washington's men in tights - If safety is at the top of your list, you may want to consider Lynwood, Washington. The city's police force gets a little extra help from a merry band of crime fighters.
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/01/04/seattle.phoenix.superhero.KIRO"%5DJacksonville, Florida's pet peeve - If you want a city that supports all forms of creative expression, even when it involves the family pet, you may want to drive on past Jacksonville, Florida. Just ask this woman, who was busted for painting her pooch.
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/11/16/bauer.fl.woman.dyes.poodle.pink.wjxt"%5D
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