Pets

Hayden and a few other surfers from the US and Australia went into the waters off Japan in an effort to drive the dolphins away from a hidden cove where the killings are carried out in secret. Angry fisherman used propellers of boats to scare surfers away, and even used a hook to intimidate the activists. After an intense struggle, surfers from the Save the Whales Again Campaign had to give up -- forced to leave the water due to the extremely dangerous situation.

As Tyra Banks can attest, clearly, these are two of the luckiest sweater puppies in any town!

Are you a celebrity who loves pets? Not too busy to take a day off for a good cause? Well, have we got a job for you!

Zootoohouse.org is seeking some celebrity backing to help gain support for pet shelters in need. The spokesperson would be featured in a public service announcement to run on airwaves across the U.S.

Celebs who love pets, and have credibility? Paris? No. Britney? No. Michael Vick?! No way in hell! The organization should try to reach Ellen DeGeneres. Now there's a pet lover!

Todd Minikus filed the breach of contract lawsuit Thursday in Palm Beach County, Fla., in which he claims the Springsteens bailed on a deal to pay Minikus $650,000 to buy Pavarotti for their teenage daughter, Jessica. Minikus says they were also supposed to give him their horse named Scarlett, worth $200,000. But neigh!

After Vick's four-minute speech, a rep with the Humane Society of the United States went up to the podium to retrieve his microphone, and found the note left by Vick containing his talking points.

Vick's big idea: apologize, apologize, apologize. The six-point speech calls for him to "apologize for what I've done;" apologize to his coach and team; tell young kids that "I acted immature;" ask for "forgiveness and understanding;" "take full responsibility for my actions;" and remind people that "we all make mistakes."

Cameras caught the wrong-way driver dropping off her two pooches, Foxxy Cleopatra and Honey Child, at California Animal Hospital under the protective watch of baby daddy Joel Madden. Less than an hour-and-a-half after she kissed her babies goodbye, Nicole was free to pick 'em back up again.

Sources in Cyrus' Toluca Lake, Calif. neighborhood tell TMZ that ever since the 46-year-old moved into his multi-million dollar home two months ago, he's been letting his hound take huge, giant dumps -- on their lawns! We're told this is a continuing problem, since "Hannah Montana's" dad walks his dog every night. Achy breaky fart!

According to Cyrus' rep, Billy Ray is fanatical about curbing his dog and this must have been an isolated incident. When we contacted Billy Ray himself, his only comment was "The more you stomp in sh*t, the more it stinks." Smell that!

After using hand motions to describe how to accurately decapitate a chicken, grossing out the audience more than she usually does, polite talk then resumed. Now Lizzy's in the soup with PETA, and they had this nugget for the right wing chicken winger:

"PETA has two words for Hasselbeck, 'Cluck you!' Next to Barbara and Joy, who expressed compassion, Elisabeth sat there chirping about the joys of killing defenseless birds. Conservatives love animals too, and she ruffled a lot of feathers today. Now that Whoopi has joined the show, maybe it's time for Hasslebeck's head to go on the chopping block."

TMZ has learned that Britney's self-arranged photo shoot and interview with OK! Magazine was a complete disaster. We're told that the photos are so bad, execs at the magazine are, at this moment, trying to decide whether to report what actually happened -- or sanitize the truth to protect the pop train wreck.

According to multiple sources, Britney's behavior during the interview was "nothing less than a meltdown." She was, according to our sources, "completely out of it" during the shoot. The photos are "so bad" we've learned, that to publish them could "kill her career."

Apparently, Brit Brit's eyes rolled back in her head at one point, causing her to look half dead. Her mood, we're told, was extremely erratic. She took frequent bathroom breaks our source says, and each time she returned her mood would change. She was also completely paranoid during the entire interview, fearing at one point the ceiling was about to cave in on her. Out of control y'all!

We've also learned that Brit had some issues with hygiene on the set as well. At one point, Britney ordered up some fried chicken to munch on. We're told after she chowed down, she wiped her hands on a several thousand dollar dress that she was wearing for the shoot, staining it with grease. Yuck! One of her dogs also needed some assistance in the housebreaking department. Our on-set spy says that the dog pooped all over the floor, and Brit used (what else?) -- a dress to clean it up! How trashtastic!

Say it isn't so! Brandon "Greasy Bear" Davis' hard-partying, firecrotch-calling ways have finally caught up with him. Page Six reports that Davis' wealthy oil family is so disgusted by his behavior that they've financially cut him off.

Greasy Bear's been asking friends for funds to stay afloat, but these days, many of them, including Paris Hilton and Stavros Niarchos, aren't calling him back. Oh, how the Greasy Bear has fallen!

The oily heir has reportedly holed up in Miami with one of his few remaining pals, music producer Scott Storch.

Britney Spears falls in love with dogs just about as quickly as she falls in love with men, y'all. Brit-Brit picked up a new Yorkie puppy yesterday after walking into a Bel Air pet store and spending less than a half hour with the pup. Take that, Jason Alexander!

The pop trainwreck plunked down a cool $3K for the pooch, who, reports People, has been named London. Also new to the Brit menagerie of weird and wacky animals: a parakeet she picked up last month.

Crabby Simon Cowell weighed in on the ongoing feud between Kelly Clarkson and Sony/BMG boss Clive Davis -- and he's firmly in the Davis camp. Clarkson and Davis butted heads over Clarkson's newest album -- with a catty Kelly saying to Davis, "You're 80, you're not supposed to like my album."

Cowell fired back in Davis' defense, telling EXTRA "Clive Davis at 80 is better than 99 percent of the people in the music business in their 20s, 30s and 40s ... and he's not 80 ... [Davis] is the boss of the record company, and it's his job to advise."

Joel Madden got lots of love yesterday when he picked up his hound from L.A. Dogworks. With a clean coat and pearly white teeth, the dog felt Madden was clean enough to be kissed.

Ono was reportedly part of a canine-chewing stunt at a London radio station yesterday, reports Reuters, in which gonzo artist Mark McGowan ate cooked pieces of a Corgi, Queen Elizabeth II's dog of choice. McGowan staged the Fido-feeding (pictured above left) to protest the Queen's husband's treatment of a fox on a hunt last year. While the artist did his best to swallow a few chunks of Corgi (which had been minced with apple, onion and other seasonings), Yoko could only manage a small taste before looking "a bit strange," according to McGowan.

Who needs human friends when you can lunch with your tiny, yappy dog -- through a window?

Mischa Barton had her midday repast at Tribeca's Bread yesterday, and made sure to heed what appears to be, at least from the back, a miniaturized version of Charo.

Not sure if Barton was aware that these parks are designed to let your dogs run free, or if she was preventing the dog from being eaten by a pack of cavorting canines.

Hope the poor pug-lookin' pup didn't need to pee!

Serena Williams seems to be serving up a suspect story. She's denying the pit bull that bit a security guard in Palm Beach, FL was hers.

Security guard Michael Norton responded to a report Friday of a pit bull and a poodle on the loose in Palm Beach Gardens. According to the police report obtained by TMZ, Norton says when arrived on the scene, the poodle approached him as he was getting out of his vehicle. At that point, Norton says the pit bull immediately ran toward him and began barking, as if to protect the poodle. The pit bull then bit him in the left rear, but did not puncture the skin. Norton says in the report that his wallet, which was in his left pocket, protected him from injury.

The pit bull was not wearing a collar, but the poodle was. When checked, the information led police to Serena Williams. According to the police report, the tennis star said the pit bull did not belong to her, it belongs to a friend named David Tomossini. Now here's the rub...

When TMZ contacted Animal Care and Control in Palm Beach, a rep for the agency confirmed that Williams is the registered owner of two dogs; a Jack Russell terrier... and a pit bull. They also said there is no record of a David Tomossini owning any animals whatsoever.

The "fun facts" section of Serena's official website quotes the tennis ace: "I have two dogs "Jackie" a Jack Russell Terrier and "Bambi" a pit bull."

Now we're no line judge... but it seems to us that this one may not clear the net.