Pets

There are 4 new legs wandering the West Wing -- the Biden family's welcoming a new cat into the White House ... and let's hope this feline likes dogs.

Willow is a 2-year-old tabby, and Dr. Jill Biden's office says she's got some history with the Prez and First Lady dating back to before they were even in the White House.

The First Lady's Press Secretary Michael LaRosa says Willow jumped on a stage with then-candidate Joe Biden during a 2020 campaign stop at a farm -- and the farm owners said they saw an "immediate bond" between them.

The cat's name is an homage to Jill's hometown: Willow Grove, PA.

LaRosa says Willow's been fostered with friends and acquaintances of the Bidens since then ... just waiting for the right moment to make her White House debut.

Remember, it's already been ruff-going at 1600 Pennsylvania with the Biden's dogs.

As we reported back in June, Champ, the Biden family dog, died at the age of 13 ... then Major had to be re-homed because he'd had multiple biting incidents ... but he was immediately replaced by a new German shepherd puppy, Commander.

So, now that the dust has settled ... the White House is officially a one dog, one cat home -- and, of course, there are still plenty of rats.

It's next to impossible for pet owners in Hong Kong to get their animals out of the country ... as a result, pet owners in large numbers are chartering private jets for their animals.

Here's the deal ... flights out of Hong Kong are packed to the brim and pet owners can't get dogs and other house pets on board.

Enter Top Stars Air, which has found a niche with group charters for pets.

The owner of the company says pet owners have chartered jets for dogs, cats, hamsters and rabbits. Forget businesspeople ... the target audience now has 4 legs.

A flight from Hong Kong to New York runs $22,000, but plenty of folks have plunked down that kind of loot for their beloved pets.

As for how many ... the owner of Top Stars says business is up 700% since the beginning of the pandemic.

Pet owners in Hong Kong may have reason to fear because the country has some of the most restrictive and in some cases drastic COVID restrictions in the world.

Authorities there have been euthanizing small animals by the thousands over COVID fears.

More than 2,500 hamsters and other small pets have been euthanized after authorities tested a hamster in a pet store that turned up a positive COVID read.

Crazy times.

To celebrate her 100th birthday, Betty White's sent a final message, thanking fans for all their love and support over the years.

The video was supposed to go out on Jan 17, which would've been Betty's 100th bday. BW used the opportunity to thank fans for all the money and donations raised for animals through the #BettyWhiteChallenge. In the post, the beloved actress sits in a chair and shares her last words of love and gratitude.

The posthumous post says she would never have imagined such an outpouring of love, and she would be extremely grateful to everyone ... if she were here to see it. The post ended by saying "I think it’s appropriate to post today as a thanks from Betty and the animals."

TMZ broke the story ... the adored actress and comedian died at her home just weeks before her birthday ... she had the longest-running career of any woman in television.

Jeff Lowe's sticking to the old adage of the show must go on, but this time it's gonna be in Spanish -- he's taking the zoo 'Tiger King' made famous out of the country to skirt a U.S. government ban.

Jeff tells TMZ ... he just signed a deal to build a zoo down in Mexico, on a 35-acre property between Playa del Carmen and Tulum. He says the new spot will be built among a lush jungle with natural water features, and he already has all the necessary permits for construction and possession of animals.

The plan is to open the zoo in the next 12 to 16 months ... and Jeff says it will mostly showcase big cats, as well as lemurs, sloths, giraffes and a pair of elephants.

Jeff says he's still working on a name for the zoo ... but naturally, it will be related to the 'Tiger King' brand.

Despite how things played out with Joe Exotic, Jeff's not shying away from partnerships. He says he's working on the Mexico project with an old friend who already owns a small zoo in Playa del Carmen.

We're told the plan is to move his large animals into Jeff's new zoo.

The move to Mexico comes on the heels of the feds banning Jeff and his wife Lauren from ever exhibiting animals again in the States -- a judge ruled they'd violated the Endangered Species Act by delivering, carrying and exhibiting animals without a license. However, the DOJ dropped all of the civil charges against the Lowes.

In the beginning, man learned not to trust serpents — but even in the 21st century, they’re still biting us in the ass ... or in Maeta’s case, the face.

The 21-year-old R&B singer -- who's signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation -- dished about what exactly led up to her viral snake bite — of which she shared in BTS footage last month, showing her get nipped on the chin — and apparently .... it wasn’t really her idea to begin with.

Check it out ... Maeta tells us the whole snake idea came courtesy of the directors who worked on the video to her single, “Habits,” which she says she just rolled with. And, as for the snippy snake itself, she actually says there’s no hard feelings!

Fortunately for her, the reptile wasn’t venomous ... nor were its fangs all that long. Still, Maeta says the little bastard’s bite did indeed draw blood — but she doesn’t hold anything against it. Sounds like it was just a freak thing from Mother Nature.

While she says it was scarier in the moment than after the fact — considering the sheer shock value of getting chomped on — Maeta does have this to say about the prospect of ever working with these slithering creatures in the future ... hell to the no.

She’s taking a page out of Adam and Eve’s playbook ... and ditching snake play for any other projects going forward.

Jeff Daniels doesn't just have friends in low places -- a newly discovered, and pretty damn vicious, worm now bears his name ... and tarantulas everywhere are quaking in their boots!!!

Here's the dirty lowdown ... scientists discovered a new species of parasitic worm that's particularly deadly to the hairy spiders and decided to name it Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi. If you're wondering why Jeff, you probably haven't seen his 1990 flick, "Arachnophobia."

In the movie, Jeff's character saves a town from an invasion of deadly spiders ... and the scientists at UC Riverside must be fans of the cult classic.

The actor clearly digs his new place in the animal kingdom, saying ... “Honestly, I was honored by their homage to me and Arachnophobia. Made me smile. And of course, in Hollywood, you haven’t really made it until you’ve been recognized by those in the field of parasitology.”

BTW, jeffdanielsi do some pretty nasty things once they infect tarantulas -- the spiders' limbs are slowly paralyzed ... making them walk on their 8 tiptoes, and their mouths and fangs are rendered useless. They eventually starve to death.

The Betty White Challenge raised tens of thousands of dollars for animals in need -- and probably even more -- and one dog, in particular, is getting the ultimate benefit ... a new lease on life.

We surveyed some of the shelters and animal rescue orgs that participated in Monday’s nationwide fundraising effort -- and the haul from coast to coast was impressive. Even sweeter ... the real-world impact this money is going to have on their four-legged beneficiaries.

That’s perhaps most evident for Golden Retrievers In Need (aka G.R.I.N.) whose president, Lisa Kine, tells us a lot of the dough they raised is gonna help out one of their most beloved pooches, Zilly. Kine says they collected about $7,600 from about 200 people on the #BettyWhiteChallenge Day -- much of which, we’re told, is going toward life-saving surgery Zilly needs to walk properly.

You see ... he suffers from hip dysplasia, and while he already had one procedure for his right side -- he still needs the other one done as well. Luckily for him, this cash will help cover the cost of both surgeries ... and should help him get back to 100%.

There’s also places like K9s for Warriors, Puppy Jake and Days End Farm Horse Rescue ... which raised $4,390, $1,190 and $4,200 for their institutions Monday, respectively. The money will go toward everything from training service dogs for veterans (which we're told can cost thousands of dollars per dog) to rehabbing horses ... not to mention helping pay for equipment, tools and gear all these critters might need along the way.

One of the biggest winners of the #BettyWhiteChallenge, it seems, is the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association ... a rep for which tells us they pulled in over $70k on Monday ... accounting for 1,731 donations from 49 different states and 11 countries.

All told, GLAZA says it’s banked a little over $94,000 in Betty White-inspired funds ... which means the donations were coming early and often these past two weeks.

Jim Belushi's digging into life as a cannabis farmer, but he's running into a bunch of new challenges -- some caused by rodents, and some by politicians. Yes, there's a difference.

JB's reality show, "Growing Belushi," is back for a second season, and on Tuesday's "TMZ Live" he revealed one of the biggest surprises he's encountered on his 93-acre marijuana farm in Oregon are underground pets.

Farmer Jim says he's constantly battling gophers and ground squirrels, which seem to love getting high off his plants. We think he's joking but seems plausible! Then again, we're no scientists.

Sounds like he'll be doing his best impression of Bill Murray in "Caddyshack" when the show returns Wednesday night on Discovery.

On the business end of things, we talked to Jim about the push for federal legalization and, sorry to harsh your buzz, but he doesn't see it happening anytime soon ... because of how much money's at stake.

Fact is, his farm sits in the area Jim calls the Napa Valley of marijuana -- it produces the best buds in the land -- and, right now, the states of Cali and Oregon are enjoying all the tax revenue that comes along with that.

You gotta see his explanation, but, in a nutshell, he's not so sure states are willing to share -- or let's say, puff puff pass -- all that dough with the feds.

Betty White's 100th birthday is here, and even though she's gone ... people are still honoring her by supporting animal charities -- but Trisha Yearwood's effort went over the top, as she raised a boatload of cash in record time.

The country star hopped on TalkShopLive Monday to contribute to the #BettyWhiteChallenge -- the movement calling on folks to donate to animal shelters and other pet charities ... causes that were near and dear to Betty.

During the 15-minute-plus webcast, TY made a massive impact ... raising more than $24k for an animal charity called Dottie's Yard. Unclear what her final figure will be, because donations were still pouring in toward the end of Trisha's time.

She was joined by her 2 rescue dogs ... who were very well-behaved. Trisha also talked a lot about Betty's life and love for pooches, explaining why she felt compelled to hop on the bandwagon.

Fans from all over the nation are gearing up for what would've been Betty White's 100th birthday ... joining in on a challenge encouraging fans to spread the love to animals in need and donate to local orgs.

Brittany Vizcarra from Paw Works joined us on TMZ live to pitch the "Betty White Challenge." As you know, Betty was a fierce animal rights advocate who spent her adult life tirelessly working for animal rights orgs. Brittany says this challenge is about everybody doing more -- just like Betty -- by caring for abandoned and abused animals.

Paw Works is an animal rescue org that places unwanted animals in L.A. shelters into loving homes.

Since the Betty White challenge has taken off on social media, some orgs have seen an uptick in donations ... and with the help of people like Brittany, those donations are bound to pour in all over the U.S., as the 17th approaches.

Brittany says it's super simple to "be more like Betty" ... folks can volunteer, adopt, foster or find any other way to get involved.

The lead trainer from "Canine Intervention" is absolutely pissed about that disturbing viral video of a trainer in Texas abusing a dog, and says there's no place for someone like that in his industry.

Jas Leverette had some choice words for the guy in the brutal video recorded at TyCalK9 Dog Training Center, near Houston. Jas spoke directly to the trainer, saying "You're a coward, bro!"

He explained that, as a trainer himself, this sort of behavior puts a black eye on the whole field of dog training -- and he hopes the authorities in Texas take the incident seriously enough to prosecute the guy in the video.

The video is tough to watch ... the trainer picks up the German shepherd by its leash, swings it over his shoulder and then slams it down onto a concrete floor.

Jas tells us this kind of treatment can be really terrible for animals, and leaves them with PTSD, in addition to any physical injuries. The Netflix star says some people have been contacting him over the video ... because the Texas training facility has a similar name to his company.

Jas makes one thing clear -- he is NOT affiliated with this guy at all, and thinks he ought to pay for what he did.

Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra know how to take a pic ... with a beach stroll, a pooch or 2 and a little PDA.

Nick and Priyanka were the picture of chill at Del Mar Dog Beach, near San Diego. They meandered on the sand for about 30 minutes as their dogs took in the sights, sounds and smells.

Folks on the beach said Nick and Priyanka were super happy, chatting most of the time as they held hands and walked with their 2 dogs. They weren't stopped by anyone ... not even sure if they were recognized. Then again, it's possible everyone stayed to themselves because of Omicron.

As you know, Nick and Priyanka got married 3 years ago last month, so it's good to know ... they haven't talked each other out!!!

Rob Gronkowski ain't just worried about the Eagles this week ... he's got dogs on his mind too -- 'cause his adorable pup, Ralphie, is sick.

The Buccaneers tight end and his girlfriend, Camille Kostek, shared the news on social media Wednesday -- just days before Tampa's playoff game against Philadelphia -- explaining poor Ralphie has some kind of lung infection that's been keeping him up at night.

Kostek revealed she and Gronk took the fur baby to the vet this week ... after the dog had been breathing abnormally, not sleeping and not eating.

"He was waking up pretty much every hour on the hour, having some kind of wheezing fits," Kostek said. "His regular breathing is off. He's been super uncomfortable."

Thankfully, Kostek said the issue does not appear to be too serious -- with the vet prescribing some meds after discovering a lung issue.

Kostek said she's hoping Ralphie is better in a few days.

She and Gronk, meanwhile, have been firing up the steam room for their dog with the hope that it helps the animal breathe better too.

A stomach-churning video from social media has authorities investigating a dog training facility for animal cruelty ... and the images of the dog getting brutally slammed to the ground is pretty damning evidence.

This went down at a place called TyCalK9 Dog Training Center in Arcola, TX ... outside Houston. The video, which we must warn is hard to watch, shows the trainer bark a command at a German Shepherd.

Apparently, the dog did not heed that command, because the trainer picks up the animal by its leash, swings it over his shoulder and then hurls it down onto a cement floor. You can hear the dog whimper as it struggles to get back on its feet.

The gruesome video has thrown social media into a frenzy, and it's also prompted the Fort Bend County District Attorney to launch an animal cruelty investigation.

The D.A. says, "We cannot share the details as the investigation is ongoing, but we take these matters seriously and do not condone the mistreatment of animals in any regard. A thorough investigation by experienced animal cruelty investigators and prosecutors is underway."

There's a new tribute to Betty White in town, but this one isn't just about honoring Betty ... it's about promoting the cause closest to her heart.

Corie Mattie is responsible for the new mural that's been installed on L.A.'s famed Melrose Ave. She says the piece took her roughly 15 hours to complete and includes the mission statement ... "Be More Like Betty."

Even cooler is the fact it's got a way for you to do just that.

Corie added a QR code on the mural which fans can scan to donate directly to wagmorpets ... an org supporting dog rescues. She tells us, Betty "loved animals so I thought it would be a good idea if people wanted to pose in front of it, this will go directly to [the] nonprofit."

The artist just figured the tribute was the perfect gift back to Betty ... who famously donated to and supported animal rescues for years. Corie's mural is right in line with a movement Betty's fans have started online with the #BettyWhiteChallenge.

The hashtag encourages people to donate to their local rescues and animal shelters.

As far as the mural itself... Mattie told us she felt Betty was the epitome of a "perfect human" who was way ahead of her time in promoting a more inclusive world. She says that's why she included the line, "Be More Like Betty."

Betty White was a known animal lover who supported a number of organizations throughout her life ... now one of them is stepping up to honor her in one of the best ways possible!

The CEO for Guide Dogs for the Blind, Christine Benninger, tells TMZ ... Betty was a true friend of the org for more than 35 years ... and that's why they'll be naming one of their Golden Retriever puppies after her.

The name of the pooch -- BettyRose. It's is a nod to Betty's character on "Golden Girls."

The doggie will go to a puppy raiser when she's around 6 weeks old. Betty herself became a raiser when she adopted a Golden Retriever named Pontiac. He was her puppy for many years.

We're told there will also be a tribute to Betty in October in San Fran ... where staff and volunteers will share stories about Betty and play a video montage to honor her decades of dedication to the organization.

GDB is the largest guide dog school in North America, and Betty's legacy will continue to live on through the org and little Ms. BettyRose.