Animals

Governor Kristi Noem's got social media users howling with rage -- 'cause she admitted to shooting and killing her own dog ... something she says had to be done.

South Dakota's political leader tells the harrowing story in her upcoming memoir, "No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward" ... discussing farm life and detailing exactly why she says her young wirehaired pointer had to die.

The Guardian reviewed the book and rehashed this sad chapter. KN owned a 14-month-old pup named Cricket with an untrainable and aggressive personality, and didn't turn out to be the best hunter either. After an attempted hunt, she says she started driving back with Cricket ... only to make a stop at a local family's home, with the dog attacking their chickens.

A dolphin that washed ashore in Louisiana was riddled with bullet holes -- and now federal officials are now offering a huge reward for to track down the party responsible.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service announced the dolphin's death Tuesday ... saying the mammal's body washed up on Mae's Beach in Cameron Parish on March 13.

The NOAA says it performed a necropsy -- an animal autopsy -- on the body ... and found multiple bullets lodged in the brain, spinal cord, and heart. A photo of the dead dolphin has been circulating -- although, it doesn't appear to show the bullet holes described.

Caballos militares fugados causaron estragos en las calles de Londres durante la hora punta de la mañana, causando lesiones y dejando un rastro sangriento de destrucción a su paso.

Las imágenes son impresionantes, cinco caballos de los guardias de la vida -parte de la prestigiosa caballería- corrió por las calles el miércoles por la mañana. Un caballo blanco parecía estar empapado de sangre... si era su propia sangre o la de otra persona aún no está claro.

El ejército británico confirmó en un comunicado que el galope frenético comenzó cuando los caballos se asustaron durante un ejercicio prolongado.

Escaped military horses wreaked havoc through the London streets during morning rush hour ... causing injuries and leaving a bloody trail of destruction in their wake.

The pics are quite the wild sight ... 5 horses from the Life Guards, part of the prestigious Household Cavalry, tore through the streets Wednesday morning, and one white horse even seemed to be drenched in blood -- whether its own or someone else's is unclear.

The British army confirmed in a statement the frenzied gallop started when the horses were spooked during an extended exercise.

As if L.A.'s famed Venice Beach scene wasn't wild enough -- now it's got apes patrollin' the sand ... on horseback, no less!!!

Yeah, the marketing team behind "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" came up with a seriously eye-catching way to hype the flick Monday ... getting a bunch of apes to saddle up and ride around the beach.

No, they're not real apes -- PETA would be all over that -- but the actors in costume were pretty convincing at a glance ... looking very much like a scene ripped straight from the movie's plot of the apes taking over.

The beef between NYC restaurateur Keith McNally and Jeff Bezos and his fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, just took an odd turn ... and it involves a dirty rat!

McNally – the owner of Manhattan's famed Balthazar bistro – jumped on Instagram Friday to report a suspicious middle-aged man had one drink at the establishment before quickly paying and emptying a bag of 5 white rodents inside the joint.

Customers enjoying their meals freaked out at the sight of the critters scurrying around their feet. One diner shot a cell phone video of a small rat racing across the floor, but it was dark in color, poking a hole in McNally's description.

Residents of Butte, Montana were in for a surprise Tuesday ... when a circus elephant escaped from its home and began freely roaming in the streets, captured in wild video.

According to multiple reports, the elephant broke free from Jordan World Circus -- which made a stop in the city as part of its tour. While it's unclear how the elephant broke free from its enclosure ... it didn't hesitate to stretch its legs once it was out and about.

Check it out ... the massive elephant is seen trotting down the road in this insane clip, delaying traffic and causing heads to turn.

Owners of Spencer, the late Boston Marathon dog, will keep the decade-long tradition alive, tapping their new pups, Jimmy and Jade, to hold the #BostonStrong flag at the famous race!

TMZ Sports spoke with Rich Powers following Spencer's statue unveiling in Ashland State Park -- just over a year after the doggo passed away following a cancer battle -- about the golden retriever's importance to runners, as well as the dogs who will attempt to follow in his paws.

"It is an amazing statue for such an amazing pup," Powers told us. "It was like having an angel living in my house for almost 14 years. We shared him as best we could and this was a way to keep sharing him and inspiring."

After Spencer died, Powers got new therapy dogs, two English cream golden retrievers named Jimmy and Jade, and the plan is for them to hold the flags as thousands of runners pass by along the marathon route.

"[Spencer] was buried with one of his sets of flags along with a marathon medal," Powers said. "One, if not both, will be there on marathon Monday in front of the statue holding a set of Spencer’s flags."

"Jimmy is doing well with holding the flag. Jade is only 4 months old and is in process."

The man who died after a pit bull attack at his home suffered a slow and painful final few minutes of life after getting mauled by his own canines ... this according to officials.

The autopsy report for Dominic Cooper is in -- and per the L.A. County Medical Examiner's Office ... the man ended up dying as a result of blood loss and physical exhaustion, which the M.E. notes was directly related to the injuries he sustained in the mauling.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Cooper's pit bulls turned on him one evening at around 7 PM ... with multiple dogs starting to bite him, which they say lasted 5-6 minutes.

Jason Bateman is facing the ire of PETA after doing an ad read for a dairy company on his podcast -- and they're none too pleased with him ... TMZ has learned.

In a new letter -- obtained by TMZ -- the actor is slammed by the animal rights org for spreading what they call "false and misleading marketing claims" on a March episode of his "Smartless" podcast.

Specifically, PETA takes issue with Jason claiming Organic Valley -- a company that pumps out dairy products like milk -- sells items that are ethically sourced from small family farms ... as they claim the cows used for dairy production are harmed in the collection process.

Un mapache se manifestó en un parque temático de Pennsylvania la semana pasada y causó un caos total al atacar a los transeúntes inocentes... TMZ tiene un video de todo el asunto.

El pequeño salvaje se veía muy feroz el viernes en Hersheypark -en su día de apertura por cierto- donde aterrorizó a un grupo de pasajeros que esperaban en la cola de la montaña rusa SooperDooperLooper... ¡incluso mordió a una niña y huyó con su zapato!

Échale un vistazo al clip, es puro terror. Gritos de pánico se escuchan en medio del frenesí mientras los espectadores aterrorizados luchan por escapar de la bestia.

A feisty raccoon crashed into a Pennsylvania theme park last week and caused utter chaos by attacking innocent bystanders -- and TMZ's got video of the whole thing.

The wild critter was looking pretty damn fierce Friday at Hersheypark -- opening day for the year, BTW -- where it terrorized a group of waiting riders who were in line for the SooperDooperLooper coaster  ... even biting a young girl and running off with her shoe!

Check out the clip ... it's pure pandemonium, and yes -- damn scary. Panicked screams are heard amid the frenzy as terrified onlookers scramble to get the hell away from this beast.

An elderly woman was killed in Africa during a safari trip -- this after an elephant charged her party's vehicle ... and flipped it over, which left her fatally wounded.

The unidentified woman 80-year-old was on a safari Saturday in Zambia at the Kafue National Park -- and at one point in the excursion, a bull elephant charges their truck ... and rams into it head-on, all of which was captured in a dramatic video.

The elephant tips over the vehicle, and you can hear panicked screams from the tour guide as well as the patrons -- including what sounds like the woman who actually died.

Una mujer de 80 años falleció en África durante una excursión de safari, esto después de que un elefante se abalanzara sobre el vehículo hasta volcarlo.

La mujer, que aún no ha sido identificada, estaba en un safari el sábado en Zambia en el Parque Nacional de Kafue, cuando en un momento de la excursión, un elefante atacó la camioneta al embestir de frente, lo que quedó capturado en un dramático video.

El elefante volcó el vehículo y al hacerlo se pueden escuchar los gritos de pánico del guía turístico, así como de los pasajeros, incluyendo la mujer que presumiblemente falleció.

Angie Harmon's beloved beagle Oliver was shot and killed by a deliveryman over the weekend, and cops have already concluded he was justified, but they won't say why.

TMZ has made repeated calls to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Dept., asking them why they concluded the deliveryman acted in self-defense, but all they said was, "... a delivery driver arrived at the residence to deliver consumable goods. The driver told officers that a dog attacked him while he was at the residence and that he defended himself by firing a single gunshot, striking and mortally wounding the dog."

The police told us the case was closed, but they refused to release the deliveryman's statement or alleged injuries. They would not provide any specific narrative as to what the dog did to show aggression or why it was self-defense.

Un repartidor de DoorDash pareció robar el gato de un cliente justo en medio de una entrega, al menos eso es lo que el supuesto propietario está reclamando, y parece que tiene pruebas.

Un tipo llamado Odwin -que parece vivir en Las Vegas, al menos según sus redes sociales- publicó un video el domingo con una afirmación bastante condenatoria e imágenes igual de convincentes, acusando a lo que parece ser un repartidor de DoorDash que tenía que dejar una entrega a su casa.

En el video se puede ver a una persona que trabaja como delivery -Odwin asegura que es de DoorDash- que se pasea por el porche delantero.