You Might Want to Rethink

As the coronavirus spreads, some animal shelters and private rescue orgs are throwing up their hands and leaving their animals in the wind -- fortunately for Angelenos, one place isn't.

TMZ called various shelters (which are usually run by local or county governments) as well as rescues (privately run) and it appears most of them are ill-equipped to handle the influx of people looking to foster and/or adopt a dog right now.

We're talking about locations in and around California, Philly, NYC, Chicago, Miami ... by and large, a lot of the calls we placed went straight to voicemail -- which isn't that unusual. But, what is strange is what happened next ... little to no information on ways to get in contact, book appointments or, most importantly, go about taking in a dog from their facility.

It's pretty shocking. Some of these shelters and rescues have voicemails that say "we're closed due to the coronavirus." The obvious question ... what about your dogs??? The sad truth ... a lot of these shelters appear to have thrown in the towel. BTW, more people are looking to foster/adopt than ever ... so there are plenty of potential homes out there.

Enter, L.A.-based private rescue -- Ace of Hearts -- which has NOT closed its doors ... and is actually managing the influx of both dogs and clients pretty well these days. Their voicemail system is organized and clear about how to get in touch, as is their website ... which walks folks through how to go into the dog process.

The rescue's founder, Kari Whitman, tells us ... there has never been a better time to get these poor abandoned pups into a decent home -- 'cause people are, in fact, at home and realizing a pet in their lives wouldn't be such a bad thing right about now.

As such, Kari says she's seeing a massive rush of interest on both ends of the business -- she tells us she's taking in and housing up to 31 dogs in a matter of 3 days (that's the number she'll normally see in 10 weeks) and she's getting up to 40 foster/adoption apps a day.

She tells us she and her staff are working around the clock to get back to everyone, and then to interview them and see which households would be a good fit for which dog. It's a whole lot of work, but Kari says it's a lifestyle, and not one she intends to put on pause.

As for how exactly she goes about pairing dogs to people, she's taking precautions ... doing virtual house checks first, and then bringing the would-be new dog owners to her rescue where they can get to know the doggo. Masks and gloves are worn for this part.

Bottom line ... she hasn't stopped working for the cause. If anything, she's working harder than ever when the demand has never been higher. It's a win-win for both the people and the animals, as far as she's concerned.

Kari says there was one particular shelter out in San Bernardino County's Victor Valley that seemed more inclined to put dogs down than facilitate a transfer to Kari's place ... which might very well be happening at other locations too.

Moral of the story here ... dogs are still sitting in shelters, and some of them are eager to help you make them part of your family. So, doggonit ... adopt or foster a dog today!

This is the clear and present danger ... people continuing to congregate -- squeezing into close quarters like sardines -- and that's exactly what happened Sunday at a Florida Church.

The River Church in Tampa was packed to the gills with worshipers who clearly were looking for hope. Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, who presides over the megachurch and has been reportedly defiant over social distancing, has claimed he'll cure coronavirus just the way he did with Zika.

He has vowed he will never close his church ... despite every doctor and scientist saying social distancing is the only thing that will prevent the disease from spreading even more.

The Pastor boasted his place was white-glove clean, saying, “We brought in 13 machines that basically kill every virus in the place, and uh, if somebody walks through the door it’s like, it kills everything on them. If they sneeze, it shoots it down at like 100 mph. It'll neutralize it in split seconds. We have the most sterile building in, I don’t know, all of America.”

Howard-Browne said on March 17, "We are not stopping anything. I've got news for you, this church will never close. The only time the church will close is when the Rapture is taking place.”

The Pastor has peddled ridiculous theories in the past, but this takes the cake.

The scariest part ... all these people showed up elbow-to-elbow. If they contract the disease, they are the ones most likely to spread it, because they are clearly not practicing or understanding social distancing.

BTW ... Pastor Joel Osteen, who presides over the Lakewood Church in Houston, is doing virtual services to protect his congregation.

The Weeknd defied the odds for success after he refused to put his album release on ice in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic ... and now he looks like a genius!!!

Here's the deal ... The Weeknd announced a March 20 release date for his new project "After Hours" long before the virus reached the United States ... and made the difficult decision to keep the date as things got serious.

We're told there were fears the album would flop because of a lack of marketing opportunities ... TV appearances were drying up as the outbreak started shutting down Hollywood.

Artists like Lady Gaga had already postponed her own project, "Chromatica."

The Weeknd trusted his work and his fans, and wanted to push forward with the release ... so he made the ultimate decision to drop the album, giving people a much-needed distraction and some joy in a dark time.

So far, The Weeknd's looking pretty smart ... the album passed 1 BILLION streams in its first week, and the first day saw 100 million streams. At one point, "After Hours" songs held the top 12 spots on the Apple Music Top 100.

An E.R. doctor who dared to sound the alarm his hospital did not have enough PPE's to protect hospital staff has been fired ... according to the doc himself.

Dr. Ming Lin says he was given his walking papers from PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, Washington, after he pled with folks on social media and other outlets for the hospital to get more gloves, masks and other items that protect doctors and nurses from contracting the coronavirus. As you know, the disease has hit Washington state with a vengeance.

Dr. Lin, who worked at the hospital for 17 years, says he was unceremoniously fired by a supervisor who told him, "You've been terminated."

Dr. Lin reportedly took it in stride, telling the Seattle Times, "It's a blow to my ego more than anything."

Lin had been very critical of the hospital, saying it wasn't protecting the staff. He claimed on social media the hospital would not screen patients outside the facility for COVID-19 ... so when they got in the E.R. safety became a crapshoot.

Jon Jones told police he had vodka before getting behind the wheel of his Jeep Thursday morning -- and needed to get out of the house because he was going '"stir-crazy" during the coronavirus pandemic.

It's all on police body cam footage from Jon's DWI arrest in Albuquerque, New Mexico ... with the UFC superstar calmly trying to explain to officers why he drank and then drove.

"I literally just got stir-crazy," Jones said ... "I just wanted to have a drive. This is my first drive in 2 weeks. And, I saw these homeless guys. I was being nice to them, having conversation with them, treating them like humans.”

During the stop, Jon said he has "really bad" short-term memory -- and blamed it on the fact he's a UFC fighter who gets "punched in the head" for a living.

"My short-term memory is really bad."

Jones was given multiple field sobriety tests including balancing, counting and reciting the alphabet. It did not go well. He struggled mightily.

Jones was ultimately arrested and booked for aggravated driving while intoxicated, negligent use of a deadly weapon and possession of an open container.

As we previously reported, cops say he fired a black handgun at some point during the evening -- which is why they were called to the scene in the first place.

Cops say they found a gun and a half-empty bottle of booze in Jon's car while searching the vehicle.

While officers are putting Jon in the car, he's overcome with emotion and begins to weep -- telling the officers, "I'm scared for my family."

At one point, Jon tells one of the officers, "I love you guys so much. I actually wanted to be a police officer when I grew up."

This is disgusting, horrifying and possibly criminal during the coronavirus pandemic -- an Amazon delivery guy was caught spitting on a package and appearing to use his hand to smear it, as well.

TMZ's obtained video of the vile incident, which we're told occurred Thursday evening at a duplex residence in L.A.'s Hancock Park neighborhood.

Take a look ... the delivery guy sets the package down on the porch, leans over and spits ... then catches some of the spit and appears to wipe it on the package as more saliva falls out of his mouth. He then stands up as if nothing gross just happened, and takes a photo to verify the delivery.

Our sources say Amazon was contacted by a neighbor and a friend of the person whose package was spit on, and a customer service rep watched the footage with them.

We're told the rep gasped in horror and expressed shock that it was an older man, and not a young delivery worker. The rep confirmed the delivery guy was from a third party service and he was reported -- but said it's possible he might be back on the job today, anyway.

A neighbor posted the delivery confirmation photo -- with a strong note to Amazon -- and the image clearly shows liquid smeared on top of the box. Amazon is supposed to get back to the aggrieved party by Monday.

When we reached out about the video an Amazon spokesperson said, “This is clearly not representative of drivers who deliver for Amazon and the care they take for customers around the world every day. We are aggressively investigating to understand what may have occurred in this situation. If it truly was a malicious act by the driver, we will be sure he is held accountable, up through and including law enforcement action.”

As we reported ... a similarly disgusting incident went down this week at a grocery store in Pennsylvania, when a woman allegedly coughed all over the fresh produce, forcing the supermarket to throw it all out and do a major disinfecting.

Here's what it's come to in Los Angeles ... you can't go inside the courthouse anymore to file a lawsuit .... one brave soul stands by the door, grabs your legal docs, and then sends you on your way.

The main courthouse in Downtown L.A. is now posting a court clerk by the dropbox. She receives and monitors lawsuit filings from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

It's become increasingly difficult and in some cases impossible to get justice these days. No such thing as a jury trial at most courthouses -- with good reason, of course. And, increasingly, it's hard to get any matter heard before a judge.

Check out the restrictions at the Downtown L.A. courthouse ... and with the direction things are going, the list will get longer.

Joe Rogan is blasting Gal Gadot for what he sees as a serious case of tone-deafness ... Joe says she's a "f***ing idiot" for singing "imagine there's no heaven."

Joe just gave Gal an epic dressing down on his podcast, ripping her for getting tons of her celebrity friends to sing John Lennon's "Imagine" in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

The way Joe sees it ... "This is not the time when everyone's grannie is dying, you f***ing idiot, to sing, 'Imagine there's no heaven.' It's such a dumb move."

As you know ... Gal and her famous friends -- including Will Ferrell, Natalie Portman, Amy Adams, Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Kravitz, Kristen Wiig and Sarah Silverman -- sang parts of Lennon's famous tune and posted it on social media while in self-isolation.

Joe says they're all a bunch of "knuckleheads" ... he thinks it's really not what the country needs at this time, and says they all stink at singing anyways.

Comedian Tom Segura, Joe's podcast guest, thinks Gal and her buddies probably feel like they did something significant, but he says it's really a slap in the face to many.

FBI agents say they nailed a coronavirus snake oil salesman -- a SoCal man who allegedly claimed he had a cure, and used Magic Johnson's name to try to snare investors.

Ya just knew this was bound to happen ... the FBI arrested Keith Lawrence Middlebrook Wednesday evening in an undercover sting. The feds say Middlebrook delivered pills to an agent posing as a potential investor.

He allegedly claimed to have developed a "patent-pending cure" that would prevent people from getting infected, and also treat those already suffering from COVID-19.

The feds say Middlebrook solicited funds from investors and promised huge profits from his company, Quantum Prevention CV. For instance, the FBI says he told a cooperating witness a $1 million investment would turn into $200 to $300 million, conservatively.

He also allegedly dropped Magic Johnson's name to at least one potential investor ... claiming Magic was on his board of directors. The feds say they checked with Magic, who confirmed he had NO clue about Middlebrook or his "company."

Attorney General William Barr warned this week, during a White House briefing, the feds would come down hard on anyone preying on fears surrounding the pandemic.

True enough, Middlebrook's been charged with wire fraud, which carries a max sentence of 20 years.

Folks across the country are learning a new skill during the coronavirus pandemic ... how to cut hair from the comfort of their own home.

With barber shops and salons shuttering because of the outbreak, more and more people are boning up on hair styling, and they're buying clippers ... according to the company that invented the first electric hair clipper over a century ago.

Honchos at Wahl, which invented the electric clipper back in 1919, tell TMZ ... they've already sold out of their top-selling clippers on Amazon, and their own online shop is about to be cleaned out.

But, clippers are no good unless you know how to handle them, and Wahl says their website is being flooded with visitors to their men's haircut tutorials. We're told people are reading how to do fades, tousled cuts, brush cuts, easy cuts and business hair cuts.

Overall, Wahl says website traffic is up a whopping 287% over the same period last year ... and search traffic is up double-digits in nearly all 50 states, led by New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut, Washington and West Virginia.

Remember, Supercuts took a huge hit at the start of the outbreak ... and now folks are channeling their inner Edward Scissorhands.

L.A. County's decision to leave firearm stores open during the coronavirus is already leaving one business owner with more customers than he could ask for ... many of whom are newbies to the gun game.

Burbank Ammo & Guns owner David Schwartz tells TMZ ... he is one of a few gun shops in the area that has seen lines out the door and around the corner lately, as people flock in to pick up a piece for protection. Interestingly, he also says many are first-time buyers.

Novices or not, Schwartz says he is cleaning up big time on the panic buying going on right now ... telling us his sales per day are way up, as much as 750%. The guns selling the most ... 9mm pistols and shotguns.

Those aren't the only items folks are picking up though -- Schwartz says people are snatching up just about anything they can get their hands on, ammo included. The main rationale he says he's hearing from those walking in his door ... protecting their homes at all costs. It's fascinating ... seems like buyers anticipate massive chaos and eventual looting.

BTW, Schwartz is being responsible with the frenzy ... he says he encourages customers to social distance while in line, and only lets a limited number of people inside at a time.

In any case, Schwartz might have to thank some County bigwigs for the uninterrupted cash flow. Earlier this week, L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said he was going to be shutting down all local gun shops, as he believed they weren't essential businesses.

Coronavirus has folks in heavily populated areas getting outta Dodge ... believing they'll be much safer away from people, isolating in homes on wheels.

It seems RV parks and campsites are the new safe haven for motor home owners fleeing COVID-19. Campground owners and managers in inland states -- like Nevada, Idaho and Wisconsin -- tell us they've seen an influx of folks from pandemic hot zones.

The owner of Devils River Campground in Manitowoc County, WI says they’re closed -- the ground is frozen, there’s no running water and power has been switched off -- but that hasn’t stopped diehards from trying to set up camp there anyway. As they say ... any port in a storm.

The owner tells us one couple from L.A. appeared in the middle of the night last week offering $40 just to hunker down for a night in the parking lot. A Chicago family had the same idea, and even told the owner they picked Manitowoc County because it had no reported coronavirus cases.

Anderson Camp in Eden, Idaho is also filling its RV spaces with folks from “areas that have been hit hard” ... according to the owner.

The same is true at the Canyon Trail RV Park in Boulder City, Nevada. Owner and operator Mike Wells says residents from California and Washington -- 2 of the hardest-hit states -- have accounted for 50 percent of patrons trying to crash on his 13 acres.

Mike says, “It’s been so busy and so many calls are coming in -- it’s like a call center here."