Pets

Talk about bringin' home the bacon -- "Young and the Restless" star Kevin Schmidt just scored a solid $5,000 payday after his famous pig booked a television gig with HGTV.

TMZ has learned ... the network booked Kevin's micropig Yuma for an upcoming show called "A-List Pets."

Sources close to Kevin tells us ... Yuma spent the day on the set with the host Ian Ziering ... who took a serious liking to the unkosher creature.

Of course, Yuma's blossoming career was almost torpedoed when he appeared on "TMZ Live" ... and FELL OFF THE STAGE!!!

Fortunately, Yuma's tough -- she got right back on her hooves and finished the show like a true champ ... unlike our fearless leader who squealed like a little piggie when NFL star Adrian Peterson squeezed his hand a little too hard a while back.

Justin Bieber issued a DEATH SENTENCE to his pet hamster PAC when he gave it away to a screaming fan (who promised to love and cherish it forever) outside of a concert earlier this month ... this according to the California Hamster Association (yes, there's actually a California Hamster Association).

TMZ spoke to a rep for the group ... who tells us Bieber committed an act of "animal cruelty" when he gifted away the animal ... even if his intentions were good.

The CHA tells us ... hamsters are fragile creatures that "often succumb quickly to illness and death," especially when faced with "sudden environmental change."

In short ... "The moment that hamster was handed off to a screaming girl in a harsh, frenzied environment was likely the moment it gazed at the short path to its doom."

DOOM!!!!!!

So what should Bieber have done instead? The CHA says if Justin no longer wanted the pet, he could have left it in the care of an animal shelter or rescue center ... so they could've handed it off to a responsible new owner in a safer manner.

As for PAC, he's currently alive and well in the care of Bieber's 18-year-old super-fan Tori ... who has vowed to treat the animal like a tiny rodent god.

So far, no comment for Bieber.

La Toya Jackson wants nothing but the BEST for her two dogs -- telling TMZ, her little flea bags drink ONLY Fiji-brand water.

La Toya was out in Beverly Hills Sunday night when we asked her all about her two pups -- named Prince and Paris ... after La Toya's famous niece and nephew.

And that's when she dropped the bombshell -- telling our camera guy, her furry friends ONLY drink that ridiculously expensive Fiji-brand artesian water in those clear plastic bottles.

Justin Bieber isn't gonna win pet owner of the year any time soon, because we found out he just dumped his pet hamster on an unsuspecting fan.

We got grainy footage shot Wednesday night after Jingle Ball at the Philips Arena -- showing Bieber walking up to a group of screaming fans and signing autographs. Then, suddenly, he handed his hamster cage to a girl in the crowd, declaring, "That's all you."

It's hard to make out much more because of all the screaming, but you can clearly hear Justin tell the girl, "You gotta take care of PAC."

The girl screams back, "I WILL TAKE CARE OF HIM!"

Funny ... PAC the hamster has his own Twitter account -- with over 40,000 followers -- and his last tweet was on Wednesday ... "ATL this is gonna be fun."

Poor guy never saw it comin' ...

If you love dogs and you love "American Idol" ... then you just missed the opportunity of a lifetime, because David Cook unloaded his Hollywood mansion -- and it came with it's own customized DOG YARD!!!!

The Season 7 "Idol" champ recently sold off his Beachwood Canyon pad -- which has a killer view of the Hollywood sign -- for a cool $1,365,0000.

The 3,000-sqaure-foot house is pretty amazing too ... it's rockin' 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, wrap-around decks, and a FULL recording studio.

But best of all, it features a specially-designed dog yard -- which non-dog owners would call ... a yard.

UPDATE: We realized you might need a refresher on who David Cook is ...

Miley Cyrus is having a really ruff day ... because her super cute pooch Lila has officially checked in to the big dog park in the sky.

Miley took to Twitter moments ago to break the tragic news to her fans, tweeting ... "My heart has never been so broken. Lila my sweet baby girl has passed away."

She added, "Can't think of one good reason to get out of bed today."

It's unclear how Lila kicked the can, but she was only two years old.

The economy is rough, even for famous people, so former "Young and the Restless" star Kevin Schmidt found himself a good old fashioned cash cow -- or in this case ... pig.

Sources close to Kevin -- who's also the bro of "Big Time Rush" star Kendall Schmidt -- tell TMZ the actor bought a micro pig (named Yuma) back in February for a cool $10,000.

The tiny pig became a sensation online and has amassed over 5,000 Twitter followers and copious YouTube videos dedicated to its very adorable existence.

Our sources say Kevin decided to capitalize on the pig's fame and started dropping $1,000/month to train Yuma. It's paid off and now the little guy rakes in $15,000 for public appearances (which Kevin attends) and $5,000 for movie and TV gigs.

All in all, we're told Yuma has made around $30,000 and now he's dropping a clothing line at the end of the month (below).

Elijah Wood -- who plays Frodo in the new "Hobbit" movie -- is convinced ... the wranglers who claimed 27 animals died during the production of the film are just out for a payday ... but their diabolical plot will fail.

Elijah was at the airport in L.A. when we asked about the story -- that the production's animal handlers claim the living conditions for the film's horses, chickens, sheep, and goats were so bad ... as many as 27 animals died horrific preventable deaths.

Elijah called the story "heartbreaking" -- but said the complaints were grossly exaggerated, telling us, "I never saw any of those conditions when I was down there."

He added, "All of the technicians who worked on the film take the utmost care of the animals."

Elijah believes the timing of the complaints -- a week before the film premieres -- is extremely suspicious ... and tells us, the people behind them are just out for a quick buck.

It's a Thanksgiving conspiracy -- one of the turkeys pardoned by President Barack Obama last year was euthanized this week ... just days before Turkey Day ... and so far, no one's saying why.

A rep for the Mt. Vernon Estate -- where the pardoned turkeys are SUPPOSED to live out the remainder of their days in pastured leisure -- said the turkey (named Peace) was euthanized Monday following an illness over the weekend.

But the rep didn't know what kind of illness it was, how it was subsequently killed, or what the plans were for the turkey's delicious remains.

The rep says the decision to exterminate the fowl was made by a local veterinarian.

Coincidentally, the Mt. Vernon Estate DOES serve turkey on Thanksgiving.

As many as 27 animals -- from horses to chickens -- died horrific (and preventable) deaths during the production of "The Hobbit" ... this according to people who handled the animals ... though producers say the number has been grossly exaggerated.

Several wranglers who worked on location in New Zealand have come forward -- claiming horses, sheep, goats and chickens died unnecessarily from 2010 to 2011 because the Wellington farm where they were housed was full of dangerous sinkholes, shoddy fencing, and other "death traps."

According to the wranglers, some of the animals -- mostly horses -- would fall into the sink holes and break their backs. At least one horse had to be euthanized.

The wranglers claim several chickens were unprotected and were mauled to death by dogs ... some of the goats froze to death ... and a horse gashed its leg open on an unsafe fence. Other animals allegedly died from eating bad feed, contracting worms or other forms of negligence.

Two wranglers say conditions for the animals were so bad ... they quit in 2011 and complained to the production company about the situation.

A rep for Peter Jackson admitted two of the horse deaths were avoidable -- but says producers "completely reject" accusations that 27 animals died due to mistreatment.

As soon as producers became aware of the animals' living conditions in early 2011, the rep says they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to improve them.

The American Humane Association investigated the situation later that year and gave the production a passing grade ... noting that no animals died on the set.

But the AHA admits their grade only reflected on-set conditions -- and not the animals' housing facilities, which the group admits was subpar.

San Francisco Giants fans got their wish ... the "good luck" monkey -- whose birth coincided with a string of Giants victories -- WILL be named after one of the World Series winning players, and TMZ has learned who gets the honor.

A rep for the SF Zoo tells TMZ, the red-haired Francois' langur monkey will forever be named Romo -- after Giants' closing pitcher Sergio Romo ... who struck out Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera to clinch the WS Sunday night.

Romo (the monkey) rose to fame during the NLCS -- when the Giants went on a 3-game winning streak right after its birth.

Fans claimed Romo's miraculous birth was responsible for the Giants' wins -- and demanded the zoo name the "Lucky Langur" after a current Giants player.

The zoo's rep says they settled on the name because the monkey shares Sergio's "playful spirit."

Ya can't blame a deer for wanting to work its tan on a ritzy Hawaiian beach ... and do some body surfing -- but it's gotta learn to keep the noise down. Rich folk have sensitive ears.

Halloween ain't just for kids and sluts ... just ask actress Angelique Cabral's poor dog -- which, like millions of other pets -- has a bad case of costume-shame.

As the world is well aware, Olympian McKayla Maroney isn't impressed by much, but we may have finally found something that she actually does appreciate ... an exotic bird.

While the cheetah exhibit at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay elicited her trademark bored smirk on Thursday, the 16-year-old gold medal winning gymnast showed some positive emotion and appeared generally excited with an African Ground Hornbill perched on her arm.

She's so fowl.