CATS and dogs as fat as hogs are getting a chance to be South Africa's biggest loser - in a pet-slimming competition.

THIS IS ONE detective story where cheese is definitely encouraged.

As a lifelong animal lover, Janel Greenland owns six dogs, five of whom were rescued from shelters. Through her volunteer work with local animal rescue organizations, she has helped many more animals find a new lease on life.

The Monon Center is collaborating with the Low Cost Spay & Neuter Clinic to offer low cost vaccines for both dogs and cats. If your family pet(s) are due for their shots and you would like to save money, do not miss this opportunity!

NEW YORK - An animal shelter's mascot -- a rare two-headed turtle -- was the star of a newspaper article on Monday, but it was stolen from its tank before the article ran.

Did you catch the editorial titled "The slaughter of the innocent" in the Sunday Sun Herald? If the pictures alone weren't graphic enough to capture your attention, perhaps some of the bottom-line statistics did.

PINELLAS COUNTY - Friends of Strays, a pet rescue shelter that was created in St. Petersburg by four caring women, will celebrate its 30th anniversary this week.

In the fallout from rising fuel prices, job losses, and foreclosures in the United States, many people are facing hard choices about what to sacrifice to stay afloat.

Meanwhile, United Animal Nations, a disaster response and welfare organization in Sacramento, California, is seeing a surge in applications for its financial assistance grants.

Barack Obama is supposed to have something like, what, 300 economic advisors. But as yet his family doesn't have one single pet.

On a recent radio show (www.wgnradio.com), a listener called in, his voice cracking with emotion, to say his indoor-only cat got out and couldn't be found. This was the fourth caller to report a similar story this year. Unfortunately, none of the lost

Topeka - Is your pet looking a little chubby these days?

Maybe it's those table scraps.

DOG ALLEY: MYLIE, the German shepherd/rott mix from last week's column, is still awaiting her discovery. She is a black and gold, spayed female German shepherd/rottweiler mix with experience as a pet in a family that needed to surrender her because of

The relationship with a pet varies according to the human expectations and the animal's breed and condition. Thus, it is wise to match pets to owners to ensure a comfortable coexistence. For instance, a dog in need of lots of exercise deserves a human<

Debra Gwathney spent her $600 stimulus check on her three cats.

The company has about 450,000 clients, double what it had six years ago. It charges about $25 a month for dogs and $20 a month for cats.

As is so often the case with idioms, it's difficult to say with absolute certainty from whence that favorite pet saying, "Cat got your tongue?" came. Although the earliest written example listed in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1911, there are

Pet owners are increasingly feeding their animals a dangerously unhealthy diet of junk food, including curry, pizza and ice-cream, a charity has warned.

When it was time for Kiley Roshto, 4, to say goodbye to the surprise visitors that stopped by her hospital room, she took Patches' paw and held it tight.

American pet owners are turning to animal funeral parlours to send off their four-legged loved ones with the same dignity and ceremony usually afforded only to humans.