Blog Profile / L.A. Unleashed

Happy Take Your Dog To Work Day!

It's that time of year again: Take Your Dog To Work Day, an annual event founded by the group Pet Sitters International in 1999. Take Your Dog To Work Day was created to celebrate the human-animal bond and promote pet...

Days-old beluga whale calf rescued in Alaska

A baby beluga whale was rescued in Alaska after being separated from his mother. He's being cared for by the Alaska SeaLife Center.

murray vid

Starving Malaysian cats spark call for animal-cruelty crackdown

Animal welfare advocates in Malaysia are calling for harsher penalties on animal abusers after nearly 300 cats were found starving at a care center.

Happy Feet, wayward emperor penguin found in New Zealand, is released

An emperor penguin named Happy Feet has been released after mysteriously washing up on shore in New Zealand. Happy Feet required extensive veterinary care before he could be returned to the ocean.

A note about our commenting system

Hi, readers! You'll notice that, beginning Wednesday, our commenting system is a bit different than you may be used to if you're a regular Unleashed reader. Along with most of our sibling blogs here at The Times, we've made the...

Stan Lee, simians' superhero?

Since my column on comics wunder mensch Stan Lee appeared, I've heard from loads of his fans –- and now, I've heard just what he’s a fan of. The Primate Rescue Center in Nicholasville, Ky., is the beneficiary of Lee's...

Fat cats up for adoption -- at a discount -- at Ohio shelter

A central Ohio animal shelter with an abundance of chubby cats is having a sale on its fattest felines, hoping a discount entices potential owners to take one home. The Capital Area Humane Society says the fat cats are on...

Patrick the pit bull: Judge decides abused dog should stay at animal hospital for now

NEWARK, N.J. -- Accusations of greedy motives and arguments over visitation rights made it easy to forget that a recent court hearing centered not on the child of warring parents but on a four-legged animal, albeit one with his own....

Nesari, among the few northern white rhinos left, dies at Czech zoo

PRAGUE — A 39-year-old northern white rhinoceros has died at a Czech zoo, further reducing the world's dwindling population of the endangered animal, an official said Friday. Nesari died in her sleep of old age on May 26, Dvur Kralove...

Madagascar's wildlife -- including some newly discovered species -- imperiled by unrest, WWF says

JOHANNESBURG — From giant palm trees to mouse-sized lemurs, unique plants and animals are threatened on Madagascar as political deadlock drags on after a 2009 coup. The World Wildlife Fund conservation group drew attention to the Indian Ocean island's natural...

Bronx Zoo peahen is found in garage after escape

Bronx Zoo peacock -- or, more properly, peahen -- has been returned to its home after a brief escape during which she was seen wandering the Bronx. The incident is reminiscent of another recent animal escape at the Bronx Zoo, in which a venomous cobra went missing but was later found in the zoo's reptile house.

Patrick the pit bull: New Jersey woman pleads not guilty to charges relating to animal cruelty

NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey woman pleaded not guilty in court Friday to charges of starving and abandoning a 1-year-old pit bull that has since become an Internet celebrity. The judge in the case judge warned animal advocates that.....

Missouri governor signs compromise on voter-approved Prop. B, 'Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act'

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri officials pushed through new regulations for the state's dog breeders in a flurry of legislative activity Wednesday that started with Gov. Jay Nixon signing one bill repealing sections of a voter-approved dog-breeding law and ended...

Judge denies U.S. motion to dismiss lawsuit from wild-horse advocates

RENO — Horse protection advocates have claimed a rare legal victory as part of a larger effort to end federal roundups of free-roaming mustangs on public lands in the western United States. A federal judge in Sacramento ruled Wednesday that...

Greyhound racing in steep decline in the U.S.

For years, fans of greyhound races have faced off against animal welfare activists who say the dogs are kept muzzled in small cages, fed inferior food, injected with steroids and frequently injured at the track. Dog breeders, owners and racing...

Patrick, 'miracle' pit bull who survived fall down garbage chute, is on the road to recovery

A New Jersey pit bull named Patrick, starved and subjected to horrific abuse before his rescue last month, is being called a "miracle dog" after he survived being placed in a trash bag and thrown down the garbage chute of...

Ohio man, charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly barking at a police dog, claims 'the dog started it'

MASON, Ohio — Police say an Ohio man has been charged with a misdemeanor for barking at a police dog. A police report says 25-year-old Ryan James Stephens was charged with teasing a police dog in the Cincinnati suburb of...

Deal is reportedly reached to let Yellowstone bison roam in Gardiner Basin conservation area

BILLINGS, Mont. — Under a breakthrough agreement expected to be adopted this week, bison from Yellowstone National Park will roam freely across 75,000 acres in southern Montana where for years the animals were shipped to slaughter by the hundreds The...

African wild dogs make themselves at home at England's Chester Zoo

A pack of seven African wild dogs who recently moved from a zoo in Sweden are already settling into their new habitat -- a specially designed enclosure intended to mimic the conditions in their native sub-Saharan African plains -- a...