Animals

10:17 AM PT -- A spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service tells TMZ ... the incident was "unfortunate," but there was no malice involved, and the marshal reacted appropriately.

We're told ... the dog in question was being aggressive with a working K-9, and the owner of the dog was told repeatedly to control their dog. The agent finally reacted to keep the dog away from the K-9 ... the spokesperson adding, "An uncontrolled, aggressive animal can hinder official duties and threaten safety."

A U.S. Marshal has sparked outrage after he apparently kicked a small dog hard -- twice --while his counterparts made an arrest ... allegedly breaking one of the pup's ribs with the punts.

WREG-TV -- a local outlet in Memphis, Tennessee -- shared the sickening clip ... the vid shows the marshal, clad in tactical gear and blue jeans, turning toward the yapping dog rushing at officers.

Watch the video ... the little dog appears to be nipping at a leashed law enforcement K-9 at the scene ... the marshal boots the dog back toward the parking lot ... the same marshal delivers another swift kick in the courtyard as other officers wrestle with an individual in the foreground ... and the pooch yelps and rushes away before the clip ends.

Talk about a jungle joyride -- two gorillas went completely bananas for each other, tossing modesty into the bushes, and getting busy in broad daylight ... giving stunned onlookers a surprise mating call they definitely didn’t sign up for!

The clip was filmed Monday and it’s pretty NSFW -- don’t say we didn’t warn you -- capturing a much larger gorilla mounting a female inside an enclosure at Belgium's Zoo Antwerpen ... and yes, the background audio makes it painfully clear there were kids watching the whole thing go down😳.

It’s a jaw-dropping clip, we get it ... but being there must’ve been next-level unhinged, with the pair going at it as adults nervously laughed, cringed, and clearly had no idea where to look.

A Twitch streamer has been suspended from the platform after a video allegedly showing her beating a puppy went viral ... but she’s denying the allegations.

Rapper Aspen Kartier was streaming this week when her dog entered her room. She asked the dog how it got out of its cage ... before she appeared to grab and strike the dog, which yelped several times.

Kartier was later seen holding the dog by what appeared to be the nape of its neck -- which can cause dogs severe pain and result in possible injuries -- while she carried it out of the room.

Kartier subsequently shared a video regarding the incident in which she denied hitting the dog and claimed it was an exaggeration ... while the dog whimpered and tried to get out of her grasp.

The thing is, Kartier’s Twitch account was suspended for a violation of Twitch’s Community Guidelines or Terms of Service, and she apparently won’t be able to stream on the platform until March 19th. She’s floated the idea of streaming on YouTube or Kick until then.

Kartier also shared a video where she claimed the dog was for sale, with the rapper throwing dollar bills on her dog’s head in another clip.

Kartier’s received plenty of online backlash for the alleged animal abuse ... and PETA issued a comment on Instagram calling for authorities to investigate the incident.

Chaos in small town India ... a killer elephant is still on the loose following a terrifying rampage, leaving 22 people dead in just 10 days -- including an expert who was called in to stop it.

The elephant went rogue in Chaibasa, a district in India’s Jharkhand state ... began attacking villages on New Year’s Day. A couple and their two children were trampled to death as they slept in Babaria village in the following days, and the number of victims has steadily risen. Check out the video above ... the animal is terrifying as it overtakes people trying to flee on foot.

More deaths were confirmed across Hatgamharia, Bada Pasiya, and Lampaisai -- with terrified residents now being told to stay indoors and steer clear of forested areas.

Three shark attacks have rocked Sydney, Australia, in a 24-hour period ... leaving one boy fighting for his life after losing both his legs to the jaws of one of the ocean predators, and a man in critical condition after his leg was bitten in the water.

The boy was attacked after jumping off a rock ledge into the ocean near Sydney Sunday ... after the 12-year-old boy was bitten, some of his friends jumped in after him and swam him back to shore.

Then on Monday, an 11-year-old surfer narrowly missed serious injury when a shark took a giant bite out of his surfboard.

But later Monday, a surfer in his 20s was critically injured when a shark bit one of his legs, News Corp Australia reports. Rescuers performed first-aid on the beach before he was hospitalized.

As we all impatiently wait for the next batch of the Epstein files to drop, a mystery has surfaced from the old batch ... a very puzzling, four-legged (we think) mystery.

Check out this bizarre photo of what appears to be a shaggy pooch stuffed, or sitting, in a garbage bag ... which was placed inside a cardboard box.

The pic was buried inside a mountain of documents and visual footage released last month by the Department of Justice as part of the now-stalled rollout of the Epstein files.

The snapshot was overshadowed by all the attention on pics of famous people like Bill Clinton, Chris Tucker and Mick Jagger, but we dug it up for you now.

Brazilian lawyer Tayane Dalazen found herself in a situation she couldn't argue her way out of ... when a shark attacked her while snorkeling last week -- and the terrifying encounter was caught on camera.

Watch the video ... Tayane is seen floating upside down underwater, freediving with a group of people around several fish and a few sharks. Things escalate quickly when a nurse shark gets way too curious, latching onto Tayane's right thigh.

According to local outlets, Tayane was snorkeling in the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, on Friday. Tayane said the shark held onto her for several moments before finally letting her go.

Bob Weir -- the guitarist and founding member of the Grateful Dead -- has died ... according to a statement posted to his official Instagram account.

According to the post ... Weir passed away while surrounded by loved ones due to an underlying lung issue after he beat cancer.

Weir was apparently diagnosed with cancer over the summer shortly before performing at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco for three shows celebrating the Grateful Dead's 60th anniversary.

A Minnesota woman died after her arm was ripped clean off in a suspected shark attack off the coast of St. Croix in the Caribbean Sea.

According to the Virgin Islands Police Department, officers responded to a call about a woman who had presumably been bitten by a shark around 4:30 PM Thursday near Dorsch Beach on St. Croix.

Fire, marine units and EMS arrived on scene ...where they found the woman, already missing an arm. They searched for an additional reported victim but found no one.

Kelsea Ballerini is grieving a major loss -- saying goodbye to her "soul dog," Dibs -- and marking the moment with a gut-wrenching IG tribute filled with sweet, happy memories of the pup she adored.

The country singer shared the post Thursday, revealing Dibs died the day before -- adding she wouldn’t have survived the last decade of her life without him by her side, and that she truly believes they’ll find each other again in every lifetime.

Kelsea shared even more heartbreaking details ... saying Dibs, who was diagnosed with cancer in August '24, spent his final days soaking up the sunshine in his backyard, surrounded by and visited by his forever people.

She closed by saying she feels like the luckiest girl in the world to have been his dog mom, calling it "the greatest gift of my life."

Jennifer Lawrence is paw-sitive she’s on Team Cat in the cats-vs-dogs showdown -- and her vote comes with a brutally funny backstory involving ditching her dog ... a tale she retells with zero remorse and maximum chaos.

The age-old debate came up during a NYC Q&A for her new film "Die My Love" -- and J-Law didn’t sugarcoat it, saying things took a ruff turn after her dogs started acting scary around her baby son ... before one of them eventually bit him, instantly flipping her entire outlook.

Jennifer broke down the aftermath with her trademark dark humor -- joking that was the exact moment she wanted to come for the dog, "his f***ing family," and, in her words, pretty much obliterate every dog alive!

The body of a swimmer was found on a secluded beach in Northern California over the weekend … after she disappeared during a swim in the ocean amid reports of a shark attack.

The woman -- identified as 55-year-old Erica Fox -- went missing on December 21, the same day a shark was reportedly seen off the coast in Santa Cruz, feasting on a human body.

Fox had reportedly been separated from members of her swimming club, the Kelp Krawlers, and a person driving in the area contacted the Coast Guard to report that they saw a shark with a human body in its mouth.

Khloé Kardashian's Christmas just got a whole lot cozier, 'cause she is welcoming a new member of the family ... a puppy!!!

"The Kardashians" reality star revealed the adorable addition on her Instagram Christmas day ... sharing the tiny black lab pup, surrounded by fellow presents and toys while sporting a dashing red collar with a bow -- showing it's named "Peppermint."

The timing couldn’t be more festive with Christmas celebrations in full swing ... and Peppermint is arriving just in time to join family traditions, snuggle by the tree, and likely steal the spotlight in some of Khloé’s festive social media posts.

This news comes just a week after Khloé shared a note to Santa from her kids True and Tatum -- aka "Tay Tay" -- which reads "Dear Santa please can I have a real puppy."

The siblings specifically asking for a "Black lab" ... but the duo makes it clear to Santa by emphasizing how he must "make sure it is real" -- so seems like Santa certainly got the message.

Beloved dog influencer Raffie – from the famed TikTok account "bundleofbullies" – has suddenly passed away from a heart attack ... according to his owner who was on vacation at the time of his passing.

The account’s owner Maren announced the news on TikTok, saying she is away in Austria and got the call from the doggie daycare Raffie and his siblings were staying at … and they told her in the midst of a fight with another dog, Raffie dropped dead from a heart attack.

Maren struggles to catch her breath as she says, “I never imagined that I would have to make this video” and says her other dog Pickles wanted to “attack Raffie” … leading to Raffie’s death.

She shares that the owner of the daycare immediately started CPR on Raffie, but Pickles wanted to “attack further” so Raffie’s best friend Oden stepped in to protect him – almost dying himself, but luckily was rushed to the vet and survived the incident.

Alaska Airlines doesn't give in to purr-pressure -- that's what Alexandra Compton found out on a recent flight home for the holidays ... and she told TMZ it might be because they're dog people.

Alexandra -- a 35-year-old bartender now known as '2 Cat Karen' -- got into a standoff with airline staff in Las Vegas when they refused to let her board with her 2 cats in the same carrier.

She tells TMZ ... on December 21 she was travelling from Vegas to Portland to go back home for the holidays on a flight with her cats Phoenix and Blaze. According to Alexandra, the airline caused a fuss over the cats being in the same carrier, but she's travelled with Alaska Airlines in the same carrier many times before.

"A man in charge came down from an office and didn’t even look at the cats," Alexandra told us. "He made the decision I needed to book another seat and get another carrier or I couldn’t fly with them. Because he didn’t look at the cats, it made me think he was a dog person. It was giving he had a golden retriever at home."

This is bananas ... a passenger at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport was caught trying to bring "nonhuman primate meat" through Customs.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said they seized the prohibited item along with some "unknown plants" and beans that were reportedly carrying pests. All the items were reportedly destroyed.

The passenger, from Congo, apparently didn't think anything of it.