Pets

Hugh Jackman brought a little extra protection with him to the gym today ... and we do mean little ... in the form of his adorable French bulldog, Peaches.

Jackman told photogs yesterday he was still a little shaken up from the incident Saturday ... when an unstable fan broke into his gym, screaming and crying, and threw an electric razor filled with her pubic hair at him.

Clearly he's hoping that if she tries it again ... Peaches will wake up in time to stop her.

Sam Ronson is paying for the (alleged) crimes of her bulldog in cold hard cash after she finally settled with the woman who sued her for the death of her pooch ... TMZ has learned.

As we first reported, Sam's bulldog Cadillac allegedly mauled her neighbor's maltese Tiger back in 2010 ... and the pup later died. So Tiger's owner, Farnouche Kamran, sued Sam for $750,000. She also blamed the apartment complex and Sam's landlord in her suit.

Every dog has its day -- and sources tell us the parties reached a settlement outside of court. We're told Kamran isn't walking away with the $750k ... but she did score in the low five figures.

Kamran's lawyer, Ronald Richards, tells TMZ it wasn't about the money, saying, "It was all about vindicating the death of Tiger, my client's beloved companion and nothing more."

R.I.P. Tiger.

TIME magazine is offering a limp excuse for its new Grumpy Cat photo spread -- telling TMZ the fact that it appears to be a flagrant and shameless rip-off of some lesser known feline photos is a total coincidence.

The other spread -- featuring an Internet celeb cat named Lil Bub -- first appeared in Bullett Magazine back in October. The TIME piece ran last week.

And the similarities are glaring -- down to the actual poses and the matching pink backgrounds.

The people at Bullett are understandably pissed, telling us, "Inspiration is one thing, but some of these photos are nearly identical. If it was indeed a copycat, it shouldn't have happened in the first place."

The art director behind the Bullett piece adds, "It's not about the money. It's more the lack of journalistic integrity and general laziness, the mere audacity that they thought no one would notice.”

For TIME's part, the mag's rep would only call the similarities "a complete coincidence."

All that monkeying around has finally caught up with Justin Bieber (literally) after officials in Germany confiscated his monkey because Biebs didn't have the proper paperwork.

Bieber arrived at the Munich airport on Thursday and was confronted about the monkey when he went through customs. Since Bieber didn't have the proper documentation for the monkey (and you know how Germans about having your papers in order) they took the monkey into quarantine.

It appears the monkey was a recent gift from record producer Mally Mall, who tweeted the above photo earlier in the week with a caption, "OG MALLY FIRST PIC WITH HIS POPS @JUSTINBIEBER."

Scott Disick should have his legs sliced open, blood gushing, and then be fed to the gators ... that's what a Reptile Rescue Org wants ... after Scott shot an alligator in the face on a recent episode of "Kourtney and Kim Take Miami."

Mary Hart from International Reptile Rescue -- a world renowned nonprofit that's been rescuing reptiles for decades -- tells TMZ, Scott's hunting trip which aired this weekend on E! was a cruel, insensitive act.

She says, "He didn’t kill that alligator, he murdered that alligator." And she goes on: "Fairness would be to cut both his thighs so he bleeds and then toss him in a gator pond with gators small enough to rip him apart slowly and painfully."

FYI ... in the episode Scott hunted the gator (legally) in Florida ... shot at point-blank range in the head and later skinned and gutted it -- all while cameras rolled.

PETA, Tori Spelling, Shannon Elizabeth, and a slew of celebs have already slammed Scott and E! for the gator-cide ... calling it upsetting, horrible, pathetic and f****d up.

TMZ has just obtained the 911 call that was placed by a breathless man who repeatedly pleaded for help after Ashley Greene's apartment exploded in flames, screaming, "The building's on fire."

As we first reported, Ashley and two men were sleeping in her rental unit when the fire broke out. Officials now say the cause of the fire was an unattended candle that torched the couch and subsequently the entire place.

73-year-old "Babe" star James Cromwell got off easy after his disorderly conduct arrest last month ... when he burst into a UW-Madison board meeting, protesting cat torture at the university.

Cromwell's case was called today in Wisconsin where he pled no contest to a low level charge of disorderly conduct. His punishment is a measly $100 fine, which he paid on the spot.

As we reported, Cromwell was busted along with a PETA spokesperson after they barged into the board meeting, claiming the school's labs tortured cats in the name of science. Cromwell waved a sign with a photo of an abused cat, and shouted, "This is not science! This is cruel!"

A rep for the D.A. tells us, prosecutors went easy because the duration of yelling wasn’t particularly long, he cooperated with law enforcement, no one in the room was really disturbed by the protest, and he had no criminal history.

And it WAS kinda funny.

It's case closed for the Ashley Greene condo fire ... TMZ has learned, the devastating flames that ripped through the actress' L.A. apartment Friday have officially been ruled an accident.

Law enforcement sources tell us, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, the L.A. Fire Department and the insurance company -- all of which opened an arson investigation -- are in lockstep ... the fire occurred as the result of carelessness.

TMZ broke the story ... the fire started when an unattended candle accidentally lit Ashley's living room couch ablaze.

Building sources tell us, at least four neighboring units were significantly damaged from the blaze. Insurance agents are expected to stop by today to start the claims process.

Ashley Greene's condo will have to be completely gutted, sources tell TMZ, and four other units in her building will need work done following yesterday's tragic fire.

As TMZ first reported, an unattended candle in the living room of Greene's West Hollywood condo started a horrific blaze that resulted in the death of one of Greene's dogs.

According to our sources, the damages to Greene's unit is so bad, the place will have to be completely gutted -- walls torn down, floor removed, etc.

We're told moisture damage from the blaze will require four other units in the building to be worked on. Our sources say the unit directly above Greene's was the only other unit that needed to be evacuated.

The only thing that stinks more than horse dung is Miley Cyrus' stance against horse-drawn carriages ... that's according to the carriage owners who are pissed the pop star is trying to shut down their biz.

Miley tweeted her support earlier this week for a petition that supports the ban of horse-drawn carriages in New York City ... which didn't go over too well with the folks at Carriage Operators of North America.

Tommy Doyle, a member of the Board of Directors for CONA, tells TMZ there is no horse abuse in the industry and that the animals are "properly tended to" and "very well taken care of."

Doyle says, "How many times has Miley spent with working horses? Does she even know what a healthy horse looks like? Has she been in the barn to see these animals?"

Doyle tells us Miley has an open invitation to come see the horse carriage business up close.

We now know what caused the fire at Ashley Greene's condo that killed her beloved dog -- an unattended candle ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... they have already done a preliminary investigation and determined the candle lit the living room couch on fire -- a fire which spread throughout the unit.

As we previously reported, Greene, her boyfriend and brother were all sleeping in the condo when the blaze erupted.

Cradling her dog's dead body, "Twilight" star Ashley Greene was utterly heartbroken at her West Hollywood condo this afternoon ... after the whole place went up in flames.

TMZ broke the story ... the fire pretty much destroyed the condo and one of the actress' two dogs perished in the blaze. Ashley can be seen holding the dog's body in the video, wrapped in a sheet.

As we reported, Ashley was home at the time with her boyfriend and brother when the fire broke out on the living room sofa. They were sleeping at the time, and quickly evacuated before anyone was hurt.

Once they realized Ashley's dogs were still inside, the two boys rushed back to save them ... but couldn't. One dog died, the other is expected to be taken to Animal Control to be checked out.

3:30 PM PT -- TMZ has learned, a candle was responsible for starting the fire.

12:16 PM PT -- A firefighter tells us ... Ashley, her boyfriend and her brother were out late last night and were sleeping when the fire broke out on the living room sofa. They ran out of the apartment, and then realized the dogs were still there. The 2 men tried to get back in to rescue them but couldn't. We're told Ashley wanted to keep the dog that died, so firefighters wrapped it in a sheet and gave it either to Ashley or one of the 2 guys.

11:50 AM PT -- A firefighter and a neighbor on scene just told TMZ ... one of the dogs died at the scene ... under the bed. We have been told a second dog is expected to be taken to Animal Control ... to be checked out. And, we're told several other residents tried to fight the blaze with fire extinguishers. They were covered in soot.

11:15 AM PT -- Residents in the building who live near Ashley tell TMZ ... Ashley's brother and assistant had been going in and out of the condo all morning. One resident says she heard glass exploding in Ashley's condo. The woman says Ashley's toy fox terriers were inside the unit. As we reported, one dog was definitely saved.

"Twilight" star Ashley Greene's home has been burnt to a crisp ... after a fire ripped through her West Hollywood condo, TMZ has learned ... but luckily, one of her dogs was saved. We know Ashley has 2 dogs, and we don't know the status of the second.

Marlo is a girl and Theo is a boy ... we're not sure which died.

At least 10 fire trucks swarmed to the 7-story building moments ago to extinguish the blaze. The full extent of the damage is unclear ... but a photo agency has released shots of the aftermath inside the apartment.

We don't know if Ashley was home at the time. One fireman told TMZ ... the fire started on a sofa.

Three people were treated for minor injuries.

The tribe has spoken -- and the adorable Party Pooch was the blarney best in our annual St. Paddy's Photo Contest -- scoring the $250 pot-o-gold and some great gifts from TMZ!

There could be a canine calamity tonight on "Dancing with the Stars" ... because we've learned Lisa Vanderpump's pooch Giggy will dance his paws off.

Giggy -- a permanent fixture on "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" with more than 65,000 Twitter followers -- has been added to Lisa's inaugural dance number ... and if all goes according to plan (i.e. no poo mishaps) the pooch will hit the floor LIVE.

In fact, we're told Giggy -- who's slated to make his entrance at the end of the routine -- has been rehearsing non-stop with Lisa and her pro-partner Gleb Savchenko.

Gleb might make the Pomeranian a permanent fixture ... it all depends on his performance ... and how well he wears sequins.

Pressure's on.

TMZ has learned ... Vick -- who cancelled his book tour after "credible threats" were called in to several Barnes & Noble stores across the country -- says he refuses to let his haters control his life.

Vick's rep tells us ... "Regardless of the past threats, he has millions of fans around the world and has been receiving countless messages of support. He will continue to keep an active schedule working with charities."

Mike will continue to work with the Team Freedom Outreach (recreation and visitation programs for youth detention centers) and the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization. We're told Mike has security measures in place in case more threats are made and plans on giving cops a heads up before he visits the centers.

"Mike is committed to helping make his community a better place," Vick's rep says ... adding, "[he] is determined to continue his work with charity and helping others."