Pets

Olympic medalist Scotty Lago grabbed a shotgun in New Zealand recently and BLASTED his way into the record books at a local shooting range by ANNIHILATING a ton of pigeons ... and TMZ has the pics.

Lago -- who scored a bronze medal in snowboarding at the 2010 Winter Olympics -- was in kiwi country for a FLOW Snowboarding photo shoot ... when he stumbled upon one of the oldest shooting ranges in NZ.

We're told Lago participated in a course challenge -- where shooters get 2 minutes to fire away at 20 clay pigeons. Lago set the course record for an American -- by blasting 18 pigeons in 1:40.

It's been 43 years since he left Mayberry, but Ron Howard still has a little bit of Opie in him when it comes to milking cows.

Howard spent some time with his significant udder last weekend at a farm in Upstate New York -- tugging on a cow's undercarriage while hanging with his family -- and TMZ has the milky pictures.

One of the most recognizable stars of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" waxed poetic minutes ago about the death of Taylor Armstrong​'s estranged husband -- but there's one problem ... the star is Lisa Vanderpump's dog.

You read that correctly -- Lisa's tiny Pomeranian Giggy, which has over 32,000 followers on Twitter, went public with its feelings this morning, writing, "A very sad time...I look at life a little differently today..my heart aches for@TaylorArmstrong .."

Sure, it's a bogus Twitter account -- but we still gotta ask ...

Coco latest revealing Twitpic proves dogs aren't just MAN's best friend -- 'cause her adorable Spartacus, and his jewels, got real cozy ... with her FACE! Sorry, Ice-T.

Just 4 days after Casey Anthony was released from jail ... her parents were kickin' it in the Bahamas ... and went swimming with dolphins -- and for once, there's hard evidence to back up the story.

George and Cindy Anthony went swimming at Dolphin Cay at the Atlantis resort on July 21 ... and spent all sorts of quality time smiling and making kissy faces with a dolphin named Hercules.

As for Casey ... we're told she was not part of the tropical vacation -- but as TMZ first reported, she did enjoy a Corona minutes after she was released from the pokey.

Mehki Phifer has no interest in genetically-altered glow-in-the-dark dogs (seriously, that's a real thing) -- but maybe he doesn't realize how USEFUL they are! Allow us to 'splain!

The tiger -- named Schicka -- was a featured guest at Supperclub in L.A. earlier this month during a birthday party for nightclub promoter Tomik Mansoori.

Sources connected to the tiger tell us ... party promoters shelled out $3,000 to rent the Schicka for the night ... and some guests were even allowed to feed her.

TMZ broke the story ... the Yorkie, named Banks, died after several pit bulls (one pictured below) escaped from Rick's Atlanta mansion back in April and tore Banks apart.

Banks' owner filed a lawsuit against Ross demanding more than $15k in damages and fees ... but today, a judge threw out the case ... saying Banks' owner failed to properly serve Ross with the suit.

Rick's manager tells TMZ, "We tried to do good business ... we paid the vet bill ... but it was an unfortunate accident that [Banks' owner] tried to capitalize off of."

According to the AP, several people tried to drive the animal back towards a nearby wildlife sanctuary ... but the leopard turned aggressive and pounced on some of the men.

Villagers reportedly used knives, stones and batons to strike the animal -- and eventually shot it with a tranquilizer gun.

62-year-old Margot Kidder tells us, a furry, four-legged companion would be less work for the Daily Planet reporter ... explaining, "They are much easier than men."

TMZ broke the story ... DC Comics is rebooting the Superman comic book storyline in September -- and Lois will NOT be dating Superman.

46-year-old Raul Armenteros -- aka Ramon from "Bang Bus" -- has been charged with 22 counts of animal cruelty ... after police discovered a small zoo of animals locked inside his parked van earlier this week, while it baked under the Miami sun.

According to reports, Armenteros and a friend had locked up 8 roosters, 4 guinea hens, 4 pigeons, 4 goats and 1 duck. The goats were tied up inside plastic bags, and one was dead by the time cops arrived.

The incident went down on July 2, says the Bakersfield Californian, and a local animal control spokesperson told the paper Porter was cited for not having the dogs on a leash.

The spokesperson said the dogs appeared to be half mastiff, half pit bull -- and that Porter appeared upset about what happened and apologized to the neighbor.

Since he can't practice with his team ... because of the stupid lockout ... Dockett was hanging out at a place called Holiday Park in the Florida everglades.

We're told Dockett took a private tour and airboat ride ... and then stuck around for the gator show ... total cost -- $225.

Afterward, Dockett tweeted that he purchased one of the gators ... but a rep from the park tells us Darnell MUST have been joking, because the animals are all rescues and they're not for sale.

It all went down June 24 when Katt's tour bus pulled into a Jack-in-the-Box in Williams, Arizona. According to police, one of Katt's bodyguards was bitten by a German shepherd -- prompting the bodyguard to open fire twice ... killing the dog.

The German shepherd -- named Lester -- was a retired police dog that had gotten loose during a walk with its owners. The family tells TMZ they were in shock when, "Katt Williams came outside and told us that he [the bodyguard] will be fired immediately."

This is when it gets weird. The family says Katt went inside his tour bus and walked off with an 8 week old Mastiff ... and offered it to them to replace the dead dog.

They accepted and then -- shockingly -- posed for a picture with Katt ... and everyone was all smiles!

The family tells TMZ, “We are devastated right now,” and the new puppy can't replace Lester. However, they are happy Katt stepped up and took responsibility.

They say they've named the puppy Bella -- and they're never going back to a Jack-in-the-Box again.