Pets

Seamus the pit bull mix has a lot to be thankful for this Christmas ... he got adopted after spending 5 years in a shelter.

The 9-year-old pooch was scooped up at the Fresno Bully Rescue after spending half his life in a cage at the facility.

It's a no-kill rescue shelter that houses 40 dogs. The folks at the shelter have placed a number of other animals in foster homes.

As for Seamus, it's a Godsend. He's had trouble handling the weather of late ... the winter is too cold and the summers are too hot for him. Now he has a home and lots of comfort.

A little about Seamus ... he loves doughnut holes, taking long walks and pilfering toys out of the shelter bin on he way back to his cage.

Doug Flutie says his gorgeous daughter, Alexa, was "in the mix" to become a Maxim cover model ... but a gnarly accident with a dog forced her to back out of the contest.

TMZ Sports spoke with the ex-football star about the former NFL cheerleader throwing her hat in the ring for Maxim's cover girl contest earlier this year ... and he says he was "very proud" of her success.

"Very good," Flutie says. "Very proud of her. She really made a good run at that."

Flutie says Alexa made it a few rounds before a bad dog bite kept her from continuing through the competition ... but she's doing much better now.

"She kind of just ignored the whole thing and left it and went on to take care of herself."

"She’s doing great, she’s fine but would've been interesting to see if she kept promoting herself online and kept after it a little bit how she could of done."

We also asked how he feels about people eyeing his daughter ... and he says he's used to it by now!

"I gave up on that a long time ago," Flutie jokes. "She’s spent 5 years in the NFL as a NFL cheerleader, she went to school for dance, she been in production, she’s been in this and that."

Santa Claus isn't the only one coming down the chimney this Christmas as one household learned in dramatic fashion ... ya gotta watch out for those night owls too.

This is pretty nuts ... a family in upstate New York wanted to light a fire in their fireplace this past weekend for a holiday party but heard fluttering noises from inside their chimney. They figured it was a bird or an animal, so held off on lighting up for the moment.

By Sunday, we're told the noises had stopped ... so the fam figured whatever was in there had gotten out and scrammed. Naturally, they went ahead and started that fire they wanted to get going the night before.

To their surprise ... things ended with an unexpected visitor dropping in (literally) and almost getting burnt to a crisp. Luckily, no animals were harmed in the making of this story.

A fully-grown screech-owl fell down the chimney and was frantically trying to escape the flames. The people inside obviously noticed and immediately cut off the fire ... and eventually got a hold of the little guy, who might've been a little toasty, but wasn't injured.

We're told the family called animal control, which came through and took possession of the owl and took it to a shelter, where it was given fluids due to dehydration. It'll be released in a few days, and yes ... it should be A-OK for Christmas.

Thank God for reinforced glass ... because it saved one little boy from becoming a hungry tiger's lunch.

Check out the insane video ... the boy and his father were visiting The Dublin Zoo and stopped for a quick photo-op with the big cat. You can see the tiger slowly start to creep -- then stop when the boy turns around -- and lunge into a full sprint when the boy looks away again.

The tiger is stopped by the glass before it can get to the boy, desperately pawing for a piece, before finally giving up and searching for its next meal.

WHO'S A GOOD BOY?!?! YOU ARE!! YES, YOU ARE!!!

Check out this AMAZING video of a crazy athletic police dog JUMPING THROUGH A BROKEN GLASS WINDOW to apprehend a perp ... and man, wow.

Here's the deal ... cops in Fontana, CA were involved in a vehicular pursuit of a 31-year-old man suspected of stalking and attempting to injure his estranged wife.

Multiple law enforcement agencies were involved in the chase -- which eventually ended in Corona, CA ... where cops used a pit maneuver to stop the car.

A standoff ensues ... and this is where things got crazy!!!

Cops fired rubber bullets at the driver's side window -- and once they shattered the glass, SUPERDOG sprung into action ... flying through the glass and into the car to incapacitate the suspect.

The perp allegedly punched the dog, but the K9 wasn't fazed -- and cops were ultimately able to move in and take him into custody.

The suspect was hospitalized for minor injuries from a dog bite ... but hey, DON'T PUNCH DOGS!

We're trying to get info on the 4-legged hero ... stay tuned.

Trent Williams has been slapped with a demand letter to get rid of his 9 pit bull mastiffs after his neighbor's dog was mauled and killed last week ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The NFL star's Missouri City, TX neighbor is threatening a lawsuit after her 3-year-old black lab was dragged through her backyard fence and ripped to shreds on Wednesday.

Authorities are currently investigating the dog's death -- as well as the circumstances surrounding the incident -- and Linda Flowers' attorney says they're hell-bent on getting justice.

"Right now we're hoping the authorities handle it," John Kovach tells us. "If the authorities don't handle it, that's when I come in and my firm will handle it."

"In the lawsuit, I'll seek an injunction that restrains him from having those dogs at his house."

Williams claims it was Flowers' dog that initiated the attack, but Kovach says the evidence doesn't back up his claim.

Williams also addressed the incident with local reporters last week ... saying it was "dogs doing what dogs do."

TMZ Sports has obtained the 911 call Flowers made after the incident ... and it's very emotional.

A pit bull owned by NFL star Trent Williams killed a neighbor's 3-year-old black lab -- and while the neighbor is PISSED -- Williams says it's no big deal.

Linda Flowers says her beloved dog, Sandy, was attacked and dragged through a fence by one of 9 pitbulls at Williams' Missouri City, TX home, ripping its body to shreds in the process.

Flowers tells TMZ Sports ... Sandy was docile and friendly and is clearly the victim in the situation. She believes Williams is running a dangerous pit bull mastiff kennel out of his backyard in a residential community with families and children.

Williams, however, told FOX 5 in D.C. he doesn't understand why the mauling is such a big deal ... saying it's "dogs doing what dogs do."

Williams claims his dogs did nothing wrong -- and it was Sandy who broke into his yard and attacked his dogs first.

We've learned Missouri City PD responded to the scene -- but kicked the case over to animal control, which is currently investigating.

No arrests have been made and no charges filed at this time.

31-year old Williams is a star for the Redskins -- the #4 overall pick in 2010 is a 7-time Pro Bowler and signed a 5-year, $66 million contract in 2015.

The "wife" in the derided Peloton ad is taking the mockery in stride, and unlike the "husband" in the spot ... she says everyone's been cool to her about it, and she considers all the hubbub to be a positive thing.

The actress, Monica Ruiz, was out walking her dog Sunday when she was asked about all the backlash to the commercial ... and she pretty much laughed it off like it's no big deal.

Monica says everyone's been really nice to her since the ad started getting roasted online -- along with being labeled sexist -- and contrary to popular belief ... she feels really lucky to have been part of it.

She also says she saw the jabs "Saturday Night Live" took at the ad over the weekend ... and she thought it was all hilarious.

It's interesting, because the actor who plays the Peloton hubby, Sean Hunter, seems to be having the opposite experience of Monica's. He said he doesn't find the situation -- or the 'SNL' jokes --- to be all that humorous, because he's getting flooded with hate mail while the world laughs.

Of course, Sean wasn't recruited to be in an ad for Ryan Reynold's Aviation Gin to help make light of the controversy like Monica was ... so he kinda got the shaft there.

Brother Nature sure seemed ready to fight -- at least that's how the moments leading up to his dual-threat beatdown appear to have unfolded on surveillance footage.

TMZ got a hold of surveillance video taken at the Miami-based sandwich shop where BN was later pummeled twice over ... once in the parking lot, and again inside the restaurant. In this new footage, you can see Brother Nature initially confronting his two attackers.

As we reported ... Brother Nature was allegedly upset that he couldn't be served at his table, and tried griping about it to the shop's staff. We're told he then got in the face of one of his attackers -- who was supposedly filming him -- and you can see that interaction here.

Brother Nature is asked to leave by someone who works there, but not before some words are exchanged between him and these 2 guys who were also more than willing to brawl.

Fast-forward to the parking lot stomp-out ... which then spilled back into the eatery, where we're told BN stormed back in and allegedly socked somebody. It appears you can see that here in the surveillance video as well ... Brother Nature comes in and rushes the slimmer dude, seemingly trying to hit him, before his buddy scurries over and they team up.

The rest is pretty much history -- Brother Nature got walloped by the two dudes ... and by the time cops showed up, everybody had gone their separate ways.

Brother Nature -- the IG influencer famous for vids with wild animals -- had someone wild out on him early Saturday morning ... punching, kicking and stomping him into a daze.

The beatdown happened in a Miami sandwich shop shortly before 6 AM, and it was all captured on video. It's still unclear what prompted the attack, but Brother Nature ended up down on his knees while the assailant teed off on his head.

The crazy part is there were several bystanders in the restaurant who refused to intervene -- even after Brother Nature was clearly down and out of it. Finally, one guy -- possibly a restaurant staffer -- stepped in and tried to break it up.

However, the unknown attacker continued dousing BN with water or soda ... and the viciousness continued outside in the parking lot. Video shows the attacker stomping on Brother Nature's head.

A video, apparently shot moments before the fight, shows Brother Nature -- whose real name is Kelvin Pena -- attempting to order food while at least one other patron is mocking him.

TMZ has confirmed Miami PD got a call around 5:45 AM for a disturbance at the restaurant, and officers responded, but no one was arrested -- everyone involved had already left.

Brother Nature has 2.7 million Instagram followers, and was featured in the Netflix documentary, "Inst@famous."

Chris Brown is now banned from monkey business -- like, real monkeys -- for the next 6 months ... after making a deal with the D.A. in his illegal pet case.

Chris' attorney was in court Wednesday morning, as the judge placed him into a diversion program for the case of the Capuchin monkey he bought back in 2017.

The terms prohibit Chris from buying any monkeys until June 6, 2020. He also has to pay $35,000 to the monkey retreat facility where his old monkey is now living. If he sticks with the program, all charges will be dropped after June 6. The judge also left it up to the monkey retreat to decide if Chris can have visitation with his ex-pet.

TMZ broke the story ... CB claimed he didn't own the monkey, Fiji. The L.A. City Attorney had charged him with 2 counts of having a restricted species without a permit.

Brown was adamant the video showing Royalty playing with the monkey was NOT taken at his L.A. home. He claimed the video was actually shot in Vegas, where the monkey lived with a relative who was the real owner.

As we reported ... Chris took major heat for posting the video of his then-3-year-old daughter playing with the exotic pet. People were freaking out that she was in danger because the monkey's a wild animal. Chris told everyone to take a chill pill.

Lil Bub's remains will soon be orbiting the Earth in a satellite ... at least, that's what the late celebrity cat's owner envisions for her final resting place.

Lil Bub's caretaker, Mike Bridavsky, tells TMZ ... he's planning to load the feline's cremated remains into a satellite and launch it into orbit so Bub can watch over the planet, and he's working with Purdue University to get his spacey idea off the ground.

As we reported ... Lil Bub died in her sleep earlier this week, leaving behind a lasting legacy which includes raising over $700,000 for animals and pets in need.

Bub's human says he wants to link her satellite to a website so people can track the cat's location over Earth, and he even hopes to install a live feed on the craft so people can see Bub watching over them. Yes, it's hard to let go.

The cat's caretaker also wants to keep Bub's fundraising efforts alive ... by allowing people to sign up to have a designated amount of money withdrawn from their bank accounts every time Lil Bub completes a rotation around the Earth, with the funds benefiting homeless pets and veterinary research.

Lil Bub's owner tells us he realizes this is a wild idea, but he says he's been talking with Purdue about partnering on the project. The university's Small Animal Hospital was Bub's clinic for emergency care, and Purdue has an aerospace program.

FYI, the aerospace program is already involved in commercial satellite programs and with the International Space Station ... so Bub would be piggybacking off of those.

Of course, blasting a cat's remains into orbit ain't gonna be cheap ... and Lil Bub's owner says he's trying to work something out with Purdue for funding, or he's just gonna start a GoFundMe.

As for saying goodbye to Lil Bub back on solid ground ... we're told there are no plans yet for a memorial.

The world is a little less bubbly ... because the famous cat with a sparkling personality and super cute looks has sadly taken her last breath.

Internet sensation Lil Bub -- a kitten-size cat with 2.3 million Instagram followers, an album, a book, a stage production and a talk show -- died Sunday, according to her owners, Mike and Stacy Bridavsky, who say Lil Bub "unexpectedly passed away peacefully in her sleep."

Lil Bub had been battling health problems ... including what her humans say was a persistent and aggressive bone infection. Still, they weren't expecting her to die so suddenly and without warning.

LB was a major influencer with people and pets. The cat with an extra toe on each of her paws and osteopetrosis started the first national fund for special needs pets, and was the subject of groundbreaking biological and genetic research, helping raise over $700,000 for animals in need.

Not that she did it for fame, but Lil Bub did rub elbows with human celebs from time to time -- such as Robert DeNiro at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.

She even had a famous bloodline ... scientists say she was related to Ernest Hemingway's six-toed cats.

Fun-ish feline fact: The first 2 cat years are roughly equivalent to 25 human years, after which each year equates to 4 human years. So, by our standards, Lil Bub lived to become a middle-aged woman of 49.

RIP

President Trump couldn't give Conan, the ISIS-killing dog, a real Medal of Honor ... so U.S. Special Forces just cooked up a new award so DT could present it to the four-legged hero.

We've learned U.S. Special Operations fashioned a one-of-a-kind medal for Conan -- the Belgian Malinois canine credited with helping off ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi earlier this month in a U.S.-led raid -- which 45 gave the pooch during Monday's visit to the White House.

A U.S. Special Ops spokesperson tells TMZ ... the award has no specific name, and it was created specifically to recognize the dog for his contribution to the al-Baghdadi operation. We're told Special Ops created the award specifically for Trump to present to Conan.

As you know ... Conan wasn't eligible for the actual Medal of Honor, because those only get dished out to humans.

OMG Ronny is hard at work producing Kanye West's collab with Dr. Dre ... and he's dropping tons of hints about the highly-anticipated sequel to "Jesus is King."

We got the hip-hop producer out shopping Tuesday on Rodeo Drive ... and he's hyping up the new project coming from Ye and Dre, telling us new music is, for sure, coming down the pike.

As you know, Kanye teased his collab with Dre earlier this month, but details on "Jesus is King Part II" have been scarce ... but OMG Ronny is leaving some clues as to what fans can expect.

OR, who produced "Everything We Need" on Kanye's most recent album, says Yeezy and Dre's newest venture is going to have a similar gospel feel, and Dre's working on some additional parts of "Jesus is King."

New England Patriots stud Ben Watson just bodied PETA in the war over Georgia's dog mascot ... straight-up telling the org to "kick rocks" for criticizing the school's use of the sideline pup!

"He IS at home with a loving family," Watson said Tuesday, "Kick rocks @peta."

If you missed it ... PETA started an epic war with UGA this week after footage of the school's dog mascot looking sad during Saturday's rain-soaked game surfaced on social media.

The organization demanded the program retire the mascot ASAP ... saying the British bulldog looked "MISERABLE!" and needs to be moved to a new home.

PETA added, "No dog deserves to be packed up, carted from state to state, and paraded in front of a stadium full of screaming fans."

But, Watson -- who played at Georgia from '01 to '03 -- raced to his alma mater's defense Tuesday ... saying in a tweet Uga X is doing just fine at Georgia and DEFINITELY has a loving home.

Of course, this ain't the first time PETA has gone after Uga ... earlier this year it demanded his removal from the school after he and the University of Texas' Longhorn mascot got into it on the sideline.

For its part, Georgia doesn't seem to be in any hurry to bend the knee to the organization ... with no imminent plans to ditch the mascot anytime soon.