Pets

A puppy learned firsthand how scary nature can be, but luckily a brave man came to its rescue ... by battling a gator with his bare hands.

The wild scene went down in a pond somewhere in Florida -- naturally -- where the poor little doggie wound up in the mouth of an alligator ... which thankfully wasn't nearly as big as that one who visited a golf course in Naples last week.

It's still terrifying nonetheless, as the gator had the puppy completely submerged before our hero jumped in and pulled them out.

As the frightened pooch yelps for help, the man uses his brute strength to pry open the beast's jaws, allowing the dog to get free and run to safety.

Florida's version of Crocodile Dundee wasn't done dealing with the gator, though. He reportedly tossed it over a nearby fence, in hopes it would not return to the pond.

Jeff Lowe is back under Uncle Sam's microscope -- the feds have more concerns about animals at his zoo, and want to check things out for themselves -- but Jeff says they can kick rocks.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the feds claim the 'Tiger King' star is displaying animals at Joe Exotic's former zoo in Oklahoma without the necessary licenses or care. Prosecutors believe the animals are in "serious danger" because they don't have an attending veterinarian, and are getting substandard care.

The feds paint a grisly picture of the scene on the ground, claiming some animals are malnourished, dehydrated and licking wounds from fights in their enclosures.

However, Jeff says it's impossible for the feds to know what condition the animals are in because no one outside of his team has seen them in 2 months! Jeff says, "How arrogant and ignorant of them to deduce that my animals are in anything but perfect health. Their filing doesn’t have a single factual accusation in the entire document."

Jeff also gave us a pic shot Thursday at the park, showing 2 very healthy looking tigers. He tells us all of his animals has a perfect body scale rating.

As we reported ... the USDA inspected the zoo this summer and found a bunch of problems -- including a razor-thin 16-week-old lion cub that could barely stand -- and suspended Lowe's license for 21 days.

Making matters worse, the feds claim Jeff's zoo doesn't keep good records of everything that's going on with the various animals.

The government wants an order declaring Lowe is in violation of federal law, and giving federal investigators immediate access to inspect the park ... to determine the condition of the animals.

Orlando Bloom might have just expanded his family of 3 with Katy Perry to a family of 4 ... thanks to a new pooch.

Orlando's version of Sunday fun day included a little shopping with a new fluffy companion ... a white poodle. Orlando and his new companion hit up a pet store in Montecito, and it looks like Orlando grabbed a bag full of things for his new best friend.

The new pup comes into Orlando & Co.'s life nearly 4 months after the actor made a tearful goodbye to his beloved dog, Mighty. As we reported ... Orlando was inconsolable after his dog disappeared in the Santa Barbara area.

We don't know yet if the new dog is a permanent addition or just a visitor in the Bloom-Perry household -- but a new pup would just be more for them to celebrate.

We have POTUS, FLOTUS, SCOTUS and now ... an official title for the First Family's furry friends, DOTUS, which just became Twitter official.

Dr. Jill and President-Elect Biden set up online accounts for their 2 German Shepherds, Major and Champ, with a handle of @First_Dogs_USA. Unfortunately, some troll already snapped up @DOTUS, which is dedicated to "The Don of the U.S." -- so the Bidens settled for this.

Their bio reads, "We are the First Dogs of the USA, Champ and Major Biden,” their Twitter profile said. “You can call us #DOTUS. We love nom noms, snuggles and we can’t wait to explore the WH!”

Doesn't look like the dogs have a formal Instagram account dedicated to their White House adventures just yet ... which would be a good idea, since more people probably wanna SEE Major and Champ more so than read their canine thoughts and musings. Just a thought!

As of Monday morning, the DOTUS Twitter page has over 94k followers, and counting.

Like we told you, Major and Champ will be the first dogs in the White House since Barack Obama was there with his family's two Portuguese Waterdogs, Sunny and Bo. Not just that, but Major is the first rescue to set its paws down at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Joe Biden's newest German Shepherd is set to be the first rescue pooch to ever set paws in The White House -- and it's especially great because canines have been dog-sona non grata for the last 4 years.

With JB officially winning the presidency this weekend, that means his two doggos -- Champ and Major -- will join him and his wife, Jill, at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. come January. Champ's been with the Bidens since 2008, and Major joined the party in 2018.

The story goes ... Joe and Jill fostered him at first after being flagged to a new litter of puppies needing a temporary home by their daughter, Ashley, which spurred her parents to take one in. One thing led to another, and eventually ... they adopted him from the Delaware Humane Society.

Word is the dog is very well trained -- much like Champ -- to endure major travel and lots of people around. After today, he's really gonna be put to the test now that dad's POTUS

Of course, this will be the first presence of a snout at the People's House since a long 4 years ago -- when Obama's two Portuguese Water Dogs, Bo and Sunny, were residents there ... upholding a long tradition of having man's best friend as part of the First Family.

Jay Cutler needs help -- the ex-NFL quarterback's beloved dog, Bane, has gone missing in Tennessee ... and he's asking everyone in the area to join the search to bring him home.

Bane joined Cutler and Kristin Cavallari's family as a pup in February 2015 -- and was featured on their reality show, "Very Cavallari." He also became a regular on Kristin's IG page.

Jay was particularly close with the German Shepherd -- and when Jay and Kristin broke up earlier this year, he apparently kept Bane at his Tennessee home.

But, Bane is now M.I.A. and Jay is concerned -- posting a call to action on social media to help find his pet.

"Ok Instagram it's time to do some good today," Cutler said. "Bane is missing. 80lb German shepherd. Last seen on Old Hillsboro in Franklin, TN."

"$1000 dollar reward for his return. Let's find him."

There have been issues on Jay's ranch this year -- remember, his chickens were being massacred by a mysterious predator that turned out to be a raccoon.

Jay personally sat watch to protect his chickens -- ya gotta believe he's on the ground searching for Bane too.

The dog owner who was caught on camera slapping around his dog has just been charged ... TMZ has learned.

The Santa Monica City Attorney's Office charged Jeffrey Previte, CEO of an environmental consulting firm in L.A., with 1 count of animal neglect ... a misdemeanor. If convicted, he faces up to 6 months in county jail and a maximum fine of $500.

As we reported ... Previte snapped on the dog, Bici, back in August in the hallway of his Santa Monica apartment building. The video was pretty damn disturbing ... showing Previte dragging, choking and slapping his poor dog after it started peeing.

An infamous claim Amber Heard dropped a deuce in her and Johnny Depp's bed has been shot down as unlikely by none other than a judge, but the truth may never be known.

Judge Nicol -- who presided over Depp's libel suit against The Sun -- weighed in on the crappy sitch, which has long dogged Amber after Johnny alleged either she or a friend shat on their bed and tried covering it up ... which sparked the nickname "Amber Turd."

Hizzoner's official two cents ... it probably was NOT Amber who made brown on their own bed, and the offense likely came from their notorious Yorkshire terrier, Boo, whom the judge concluded -- based on evidence, it seems -- ate a nug of bud and had an accident.

The judge writes Boo, "had an incomplete mastery of her bowels after she had accidentally consumed some marijuana." As for why it couldn't have been Amber, he says the supposed prank would've been ineffective and harmed her before Johnny (y'know, since she slept there too).

If you're unfamiliar with this tale, it goes something like this ... back in 2016 before Johnny filed to divorce Amber, she was having a birthday party at their DTLA apartment -- which Johnny showed up to late, and ultimately bailed on, something he says seriously ticked her off.

The next day, their maid called Johnny up to say she found caca in their bed -- and Johnny assumed it was Amber who'd done it as a way to "get back" at him for skipping out. That ended up being the last straw ... shortly after that, he dumped her and the rest is history.

What's funny -- and what the judge appears not to have addressed -- is the fact that we're told this maid attested a while ago that she knew Boo's poo inside and out ... claiming it was usually quite small, and what she found was what Johnny described as a "whopper."

The feces was tossed out, so there was no realistic way to test the DNA to confirm who the culprit actually was. As it stands, though, seems like Amber's rep is no longer in the toilet.

Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello's Halloween almost turned a little scarier than they might've liked -- and it's all thanks to her many rambunctious dogs.

The pop star couple were attempting to walk the pooches Saturday in Camila's Miami neighborhood -- where the two are currently quarantining together -- and they seemed to have a difficult time getting a handle on the three canines going down the street.

Camila was handling her Shih Tzu, Leo, and what appears to be a younger relative of hers was dealing with her long-haired Chihuahua, Eugene, while Shawn took the reins on Camila's black German Shepherd, Thunder. All 3 pups seemed jumpy about something from across the way, and Camila and co. had to hold back their leashes tightly to keep them in check.

Soon enough, the mysterious trigger was revealed ... it was another dog that its owner was also walking ... and Leo, especially, wanted to get a whiff. Watch ... chaos briefly ensued as the Shih Tzu got away from Camila and chased the other dog before they could grab it.

All's well that ends well though (we think). Shawn threw up a Halloween photo of the two of them later in the day, and they seemed pretty chummy ... which leads us to believe nothing terrible happened in the furry fracas.

How is it that a dog and a gopher can get along better than human beings with divergent political views?

Well, that was the case at Golden Gate Park in San Fran, when Fiona, a Great Pyrenees came upon a gopher hole and, low and behold, a critter emerged and mesmerized the pooch.

The gopher seems as curious as Fiona, repeatedly popping out of the tiny cave and staring at the much larger creature, who is equally intrigued.

Instagram model Deyana Mounira claims her career was derailed by a photo shoot with an aroused pooch humping her leg ... and she's seeking legal payback against its owner.

Deyana just filed suit against Tony Toutoni, the guy who owns the Russian royal terrier seen on video humping the bikini-clad model by a pool.

According to the new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Deyana claims her promising career hit a major speed bump when Tony lured her to the April 2018 photo shoot, which she says turned out to be a scam.

In the docs, Deyana says the shoot was a bait and switch for a perverse stunt, which saw Tony encouraging his pooch to "f*** her" on camera in order to get content for his IG account ... which she labels "misogynistic."

You'll recall ... Deyana was initially sued by Tony, who claimed she sexually aroused the pooch, named Hef, by playing with its genitals. Deyana claimed she was the real victim, and said Tony was the one sexually harassing HER.

In her suit, Deyana also claims Tony falsely reported her to the FBI ... and tried to grope her while attempting to get in her in bed at the shoot location.

Deyana, through her attorneys Ben Meiselas and Dev Das, is going after Tony for money and other relief.

One down, 8 to go for this cat after it jumped out of an apartment that was intentionally set on fire ... and it escaped with not a second to spare.

The cat's harrowing escape -- fully captured on camera -- went down this weekend in Harlem ... as it was clinging to the ledge as the flames intensified right behind it.

Cops were waiting on the ground trying to catch it, but the cat was hesitating until the flames became too intense. With the back half of its body smoking, the cat finally made the leap and managed to land on its feet, of course.

It was quickly corralled, so paramedics could take a closer look.

Cops say the fire was started by a man wanted on domestic violence charges -- he barricaded himself in an apartment on the second floor and set it on fire.

Chilling in the yard with your dog is different, and dangerous, in Alaska -- where an aggressive moose can show up and charge at man's best friend!!!

Brody is the pooch in this video, and you can hear his owner was shocked to see the giant moose suddenly nose-to-nose with Brody ... and frantically tried to back away. Make no mistake, the moose seemed pissed about something.

Check out the clip ... the moose even charged at Brody, which only made the owner yell even harder for the dog to get the hell back. The owner's repeatedly yelling at Brody to get inside.

Dogs in Alaska appear to be too brave for their own good, but Brody and his owner did manage to retreat inside their garage without catching a face full of moose.

One vulture figured out an easy way to take a quick break while up thousands of feet in the air ... and it's all thanks to a couple of paragliders.

The incredible video was shot late last month above Algodonales, Spain and while it might appear to be an incredible encounter with nature ... there's actually a method behind it. The technique is called parahawking and it's practiced by paragliding instructor Scott Mason.

Parahawking includes a trained bird of prey to guide paragliders through thermal columns in the air. Participants don't just get to be up close and personal with the animals ... but the aerial trips also last longer and feel more "bird-like."

Sergey Kovalev pled guilty Friday in a criminal case stemming from an alleged violent incident with a woman and dog in 2018 ... and the boxing star will now have to spend the next 3 years on probation, TMZ Sports has learned.

Kovalev was accused of punching a woman in Big Bear, Calif. back in June '18 ... after the alleged victim claimed she turned down his sexual advances.

The woman, Jamie Frontz, said the two had met at a boxing gym-opening party ... and began kissing at her rental cabin shortly after.

But, she says when she pulled away from the fighter after feeling like he was too aggressive ... he became violent.

Frontz says Kovalev kicked her dog ... and then later socked her in the face.

In an interview with TMZ Sports about the incident, Frontz claimed the punch caused a broken nose, a concussion and facial lacerations.

Kovalev was eventually arrested and hit with a felony assault charge ... and faced YEARS behind bars.

But, according to court docs, Kovalev cut a deal with prosecutors Friday ... and got the felony charge dropped.

In exchange, 37-year-old Sergey pled guilty to misdemeanor fighting/noise/offensive words ... and was sentenced to 3 years probation.

Kovalev was also ordered to serve a 2-day jail sentence ... but he received credit for time served and won't spend any more time behind bars.

Court docs also show Kovalev must attend/complete an anger management program, as well as pay $220 in court fees.

We've reached out to the boxer's attorney for comment ... but, so far, no word back yet.

Not even a high-ankle sprain could kill this adorable moment for Christian McCaffrey ...

Here's video of the injured NFL superstar getting some much-needed TLC from Olivia Culpo's dog ... and it's probably the cutest thing you'll see all day!!

Culpo and her pup, Oliver Sprinkles, have been away from the running back for a few days ... as the 24-year-old has been rehabbing an injured ankle.

But, Culpo and her man finally reunited Monday ... and the reaction OC's dog had in seeing McCaffrey again will melt your heart!!

Check out the video ... Culpo came through the door with doggo in hand, and as they got to McCaffrey in the living room -- it was a full-on face-lick sesh!!

It should be noted ... McCaffrey had some sort of wrap on his ankle and didn't seem to put too much pressure on it to get to the dog -- so, breathe easy, Carolina fans.

As for Culpo ... she seemed to love every minute of the McCaffrey-Oliver reunion -- writing, "Someone's excited to see their dad!!!!"