A legally-shot giraffe that has been stuffed and mounted in front of the Northwest Taxidermy Training building in Washington state is causing passersby, neighbors and animal lovers to raise an eyebrow as they drive past. Some even honk and express disapproval. None of this affects Paul Wieser, a hunter and collector who says he understands the feedback.

“The average guy traveling on Bridgeport Way doesn’t encounter giraffes on the highway, at least not these days,” Wieser told The News Tribune. “And even back then, it was bears and stuff like that.”

Wieser, of Lakewood, Wash., has paved over his indoor pool so he can display the 20-foot giraffe that he shot and killed in Africa. The beautiful animal won't be alone, it will join the hippopotamus and elephant that Mr. Wieser also killed on safari in Namibia. Wieser, whose home displays dozens of wild animal heads on his walls, says that all the meat from the game is eaten.

Taxidermist Roger Hamel told KING 5 news that only a few people driving by have yelled out "murderer" as he has been working on mounting the giraffe in front of his shop. Apparently Hamel and Wieser share the same type of thick skin.

Hamel is charging Wieser several thousand dollars to stuff the giraffe. The exact price isn't being revealed because Wieser says his wife will "kill him" if she finds out.

-- Tony Pierce

In the state whose university's mascot is a bulldog and its most disgraced football star is known for abusing dogs comes this sad tale from the Associated Press about a senior citizen being killed by a pack of dogs.

An elderly woman killed by a pack of wild dogs had been out for a walk when she was attacked, and her husband died trying to fight off the mauling animals when he discovered the bloody scene near their rural Georgia home, authorities said Tuesday.

Preliminary autopsy results showed Lothar Karl Schweder, 77, and his 65-year-old wife, Sherry, died from multiple animal bites.

Authorities have rounded up about 11 dogs suspected in the rare attack and returned to the area Tuesday to find four more spotted by a deputy. The dogs were being held by animal control officials while authorities decide what to do with them, said Jim Fullington, special agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

"It just appears that a large number of dogs had started living, running together, multiplying and had grown into what I would describe as a pack of wild or feral-type dogs," Fullington said.

Sherry Schweder had told one of her sons that there were several dogs wandering the neighborhood that no one seemed to be caring for, Fullington said.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals joined a protest outside an Akron, Ohio, court today to draw attention to a former pet store employee who allegedly admitted on Facebook to having drowned two injured rabbits.

Liz Carlisle, 20, of Ravenna in northeast Ohio, pleaded not guilty to two counts of animal cruelty at the  Akron Municipal Court while about 40 protesters outside held signs that read such things as "Justice 4 the Defensless," "Bunny Killers Belong Behind Bars," and "Elizabeth Carlisle Deserves Jail Time."

Carlisle's controversy forced Petland to shutter its Akron store, and acknowledge that the rabbits experienced what the chain called horrific mistreatment. "Petland will in no way, shape or form tolerate any abuse of animals in its care. We are outraged of this gross violation of Petland's animal care standards," the company wrote in a news release earlier this month.

Her lawyer, however, says it's all a misunderstanding and that the young woman is actually an animal lover with an odd sense of humor:

Ron Gatts, an Akron attorney representing Carlisle, said the public is unaware of the entire story behind the photograph that prompted the charges against the Ravenna woman.

The image, posted on Carlisle's Facebook page, appears to show her holding a soaked and drowned small black rabbit in each hand. Carlisle is seen smiling in the photo and a comment on the social Internet site says the animals were euthanized through drowning.

''She regrets this. She regrets all of this,'' Gatts said.

Still, he said, the public will take a different look at the former Petland store worker once the facts are aired.

''I think when all the facts come out, I think people will understand who Liz is, not this monster that holds up rabbits and thinks it's a joke,'' he said. ''She doesn't. She takes this very seriously. She is an avid animal lover.''

The Humane Society of Greater Akron originally pressed charges against Carlisle. It was the pet store manager, Carlisle says, who took the gruesome photo of her with the dead wet rabbits, but a humane officer determined that Carlisle worked alone. She is scheduled for a pretrial hearing before Judge Stephen Fallis on Sept. 3.

-- Tony Pierce

Photos: (top) Animal rights activists in Akron, Ohio, protest outside of the Stubbs Justice Center, where Liz Carlisle, the former Petland employee accused of drowning two rabbits at the store, appeared before Judge James Williams during her arraignment on two counts of animal cruelty. Credit: Mike Cardew / Associated Press

(bottom) Liz Carlisle. Credit: Mike Cardew / Associated Press

An Arabian horse breeder in Texas was arrested Friday after sheriff's deputies, acting on a tip, found several dozen emaciated horses barely surviving in severely unhealthy conditions.

"Some of the horses were standing in 6 to 8 inches of urine and feces," Tom Reedy, public information officer for the Denton County Sheriff's Department told the Associated Press about the horrific scene at the Renazans Arabians ranch in Pilot Point, which he said resembled "a concentration camp for horses."

Reedy said 76 horses were moved to two new locations where they were to be evaluated and treated by veterinarians.

Besides the nearly tragic levels of starvation, the stables were a complete mess, authorities said. "The stalls in the stables were filthy and appeared not to have been mucked out for some time due to the large amount of feces and urine in each stall," Deputy Kirk Sissney wrote in his arrest affidavit, which was released to the local CBS affiliate. 

Gordon Dennis Key, the owner of the ranch, turned himself in Saturday. He is charged with Class A cruelty to livestock, a misdemeanor. He could go to jail for a year and receive a $4,000 fine. He is currently free on bond.

-- Tony Pierce

LAMPANG, Thailand — Motola, an elephant who lost a foot and part of her leg when she stepped on a land mine 10 years ago, happily if tentatively stepped out Sunday after being fitted with an artificial limb.

In her first stroll with the permanent prosthesis, the 48-year-old female walked out of her enclosure for about 10 minutes, grabbed some dust with her trunk and jubilantly sprayed it in the air.

"It has gone very well — she has walked around twice," said Soraida Salwala, secretary general of the Friends of the Asian Elephant, a private group. "She has not put her whole weight on it yet but she's OK."

Motola was injured in 1999 while working at a logging camp near the Myanmar border, a region peppered with land mines after a half-century of insurgency. Her mangled left front foot was subsequently amputated.

Motola had been wearing a temporary device for three years to strengthen her leg muscles and tendons and to prepare her for the permanent prosthesis. Soraida said Motola has otherwise been in fine health and that her once bony frame now weighs more than 3 tons.

Motola's initial operation used enough anesthetic to floor 70 people — a record noted in the 2000 Guinness Book of World Records.

The artificial leg was made by the Prostheses Foundation, which also makes artificial limbs for human amputees.

Animal-friendly events abound in the coming weeks -- here's a sampling.  (Are we forgetting something?  Let us know in the comment section!)

This Week:

Thursday, Aug. 20, spcaLA hosts Dodgers Night.  Animal-loving baseball fans can purchase discounted tickets to see the Dodgers take on the Chicago Cubs in an evening game beginning at 7:10 p.m.  Proceeds from the event benefit spcaLA's work on behalf of needy pets.  More information at spcaLA.com.

Saturday, Aug. 22, Much Love Animal Rescueholds its third annual Bow Wow Wow Howlywood fundraiser at the Lot in Hollywood from 7 to 11 p.m. Much Love bills the event as a fun night of comedy (featuring the likes of "Saturday Night Live" and "Will & Grace" alum Laura Kightlinger), food and drink (with a vegetarian buffet and cocktails) and a silent auction.  The event also honors animal advocates Priscilla Presley, Jacob Fenton, Carole Raphaelle Davis and Carol Sax.  Tickets are $200 per person or $1,800 per table of 10. VIP tickets are $300 and include a private cocktail hour to mingle with comedians and celebrities, VIP parking and gift bags. Tickets can be purchased at Much Love's website or by emailingtickets@muchlove.org. 

Saturday, Aug. 22, spcaLA hosts a low-cost vaccination and microchip clinic from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at its P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village and Education Center, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach. The clinic will offer rabies vaccinations for cats and dogs ($5); DHPP vaccinations for dogs ($15); bordetella vaccinations for dogs ($10); FVRCP and leukemia vaccinations for cats ($15 each); and microchipping for cats and dogs ($25).  More information at spcaLA.com.

The news that Michael Vick has signed with the Philadelphia Eagles is, understandably, sitting better with some than others. Some Eagles fans cheered the announcement;others planned to sell their season tickets after learning that the former dog-fighter would be playing for the home team. "If the Eagles are going to sell out, then so am I," one seller wrote in a Craigslist advertisement offering tickets for $2,000.

For his part, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie says the decision to sign Vick was an agonizing one that he didn't make lightly. "The question eventually I had to ask is, 'Going forward, is Michael going to be a negative force in society the way he's been?' " Lurie told our colleague Sam Farmer.  "Is he going to be responsible for pain, suffering, disappointment, disloyalty, criminal behavior? Or is he going to have an opportunity and be committed enough . . . [to] become a force for good?"

Eventually, of course, Lurie decided to gamble on Vick, who is not only controversial and baggage-ridden but also hasn't played in a professional football game since 2006. That decision is already reverberating through animal-loving circles -- an "Eagles fans against Vick" group on Facebook had hundreds of members within 24 hours of the team's announcement. 

Another former Eagles supporter, Tilton Tighe, described herself as a lifelong fan when questioned by the New York Times.  "I cried," Tighe said of learning that Vick was going to Philadelphia. "Now I have to hate the Eagles. Now I don’t have a team to root for anymore. There's no possible way I could ever root for them again. It makes me sick."

The increasingly bizarre story of a formerly-five-legged Chihuahua mix puppy named Lilly has -- once again -- amped up the strangeness.

We told you last week that Lilly's case was going to court -- and not just any court.  Freak show owner John Strong took Lilly's original owner, Calvin Owensby, to Judge Jeanine Pirro's televised courtroom over what he said was a breach of contract. 

Owensby agreed to sell Lilly to Strong for $3,000, but when local media in his native North Carolina reported his intention, the public outcry was intense.  Owensby received numerous calls from animal lovers decrying his decision, but one caller, Allyson Siegel, didn't berate him -- she offered a competing bid for the puppy.  Owensby agreed to sell the puppy to Siegel instead for $4,000 -- $3,000 to match Strong's offer and an additional $1,000 to repay a deposit Strong had already paid for the puppy.

Strong vowed to fight to get Lilly back, and Siegel responded by promptly getting the puppy to a veterinary surgeon to amputate her fifth leg.  The surgery went smoothly, and Lilly has been recovering nicely in the weeks since the surgery.

But things took a turn yesterday, when Judge Pirro ruled in Strong's favor.

Although little Kibibi, a 7-month-old western lowland gorilla, will continue nursing for another few years, she recently began experimenting with solid food. Keepers at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., home to Kibibi and her mother, Mandara, say her favorite snacks so far are cherry tomatoes. (By the looks of it, though, she's willing to try just about anything -- even a leaf.)

Zoo staff describe Mandara as a "supermom"; prior to Kibibi, she'd successfully raised five biological offspring and one adopted son. Lately, one of Mandara's older offspring, a juvenile male named Kojo, has been pitching in to take care of Kibibi. "He is often seen late in the day, after his family has settled down for the night, carrying his sister around from enclosure to enclosure far beyond the reach of Mandara," a keeper wrote on the zoo's website.

Western lowland gorillas are native to the rain forests of central and western African nations including Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  They're endangered, due mainly to deforestation and poaching. Mood-lightening fun fact: The scientific name for the western lowland gorilla is gorilla gorilla gorilla! 

More photos of Kibibi and Mandara after the jump.

It's official: Michael Vick is back in football. The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, disgraced after the revelation of his involvement in the violent world of dogfighting, has signed a contract to play for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Vick's deal commits him to one year with the Eagles, for which he'll make $1.6 million, Fox Sports reports. The deal includes an option for a second year, for which he would make an additional $5.2 million. (We hope he plans to donate a chunk of that to animal causes, but hey, that's just us.) With the Eagles, he'll apparently serve as a backup for regular quarterback Donovan McNabb, and Fox Sports hints that the Eagles' willingness to take on the controversial player may have been influenced by an injury sustained earlier this week by McNabb's regular backup. 

Vick's prison sentence for dogfighting ended last month, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced his conditional reinstatement in the league a week later. Since then, Vick has made two appearances -- one in Atlanta and one in Chicago -- on behalf of the Humane Society of the United States. His alliance with the animal protection group, with which he'll work to combat dogfighting, was announced in May.

The significance of Vick moving to Philadelphia isn't lost on the Humane Society's president and chief executive, Wayne Pacelle. "It's a city we've been looking at very closely because it has a major dogfighting problem," Pacelle said in a phone interview today with our colleague Sam Farmer. "So Vick's landing there has the potential to turn around the issue. This gives us a big boost."

First it was Gidget the Taco Bell dog -- now this. It is with great sadness that we report the death of Gibson, the world's tallest dog. Gibson, a harlequin Great Dane, was euthanized late last week after a battle with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer that strikes dogs and cats as well as humans.

A tumor was found in Gibson's right front paw in April, but his entire leg was amputated in an attempt to keep the cancer from spreading. He also underwent chemotherapy. At first the treatment seemed to have been successful, and Gibson's owner, Grass Valley, Calif., resident Sandy Hall, planned to continue his work as a therapy dog. (Even after losing his leg, Hall maintained that Gibson retained his full height of 42.2 inches and remained the world's largest dog.)

But last week, it became apparent that the cancer had spread to Gibson's lungs and spine, and Hall made that awful decision -- every pet owner who's made it carries the memory like a scar -- to have the dog put down. Gibson was 7 years old.

Hall "made the very difficult decision based on her concern and love for Gibson to have him humanely euthanized," said Gibson's veterinarian, Dr. Peter Walsh, adding that the giant dog "died peacefully in the loving arms of Ms. Hall." 

Urban bear fever returned Wednesday when a black bear wandered into a San Dimas neighborhood, checking out a variety of backyards and even seizing the opportunity to go for a swim in a resident's pool.

The bear was sighted shortly after 1:30 p.m., our colleagues at KTLA report.  But by the time sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene, it had apparently grown tired of exploring and sat in the branches of a pine tree for about an hour.

Deputies were keen to avoid tranquilizing the animal; instead, they tried to frighten it back into the Angeles National Forest from whence it came by blasting horns and using other methods to persuade it to leave.  Eventually the scare tactics (or, perhaps more accurately, "annoy tactics") worked, and the bear returned to the forest -- but not before making a detour through more backyards, causing state Department of Fish & Game officers to shoot it with rubber pellets.

The appearance of the bear wasn't especially surprising to wildlife officials, who noted San Dimas' proximity to the forest.  Black bears are known for being opportunistic eaters, and though their foods of choice are usually berries, roots and grasses, they're not above foraging for less pleasant-sounding meals of carrion and garbage.

Two 10-week-old Asian lion cubs made their public debut this morning at the London Zoo.  The brother-and-sister cubs are the first of their rare species to be born at the zoo since their mother, Abi, was born there in 1999.  Their father is interestingly named Lucifer, another resident of the zoo.

Although the cubs are so young that they don't even have names yet, zoo staff say they are already developing personalities of their own -- the male has displayed an adventurous spirit, the female a calmer, daintier demeanor.  But "dainty" doesn't mean she's not ready for a tussle -- keepers have already seen the pair roughhousing over food during mealtime. 

Asian lions are critically endangered, with fewer than 300 thought to remain in the wild.  All remaining wild Asian lions live in the Gir Forest, a protected region in India's westernmost state of Gujarat.  Another 200 or so live in zoos worldwide, and an additional two are certainly cause for celebration! 

More photos of mother and cubs after the jump.

You might notice a few changes around here this morning -- latimes.com has a brand-new, redesigned and easier-to-navigate site, and our blogs are no different. 

What does this mean for you?  We're glad you asked.  The brand-new blog design streamlines our look and -- we think -- makes the blog easier to read.  But the best part, in our opinion, is that our new design allows us to use larger photos!  Now you can see every tiny flower on this Maltese's dress and every feather on her festive hat in crisper detail -- and who doesn't love crisp detail? 

As with any large-scale redesign, there are a few kinks to work out, so please pardon our dust as we work to restore a few small formatting details like bullet points and the handy "Newer Posts/Older Posts" navigation links that should be at the bottom of the page (but, well, aren't).  Those should be back shortly.

We love our new site -- we hope you do too!

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: A canine participant in a dog fashion show held as a part of the Thailand International Dog Show in Bangkok last month.  Credit: Rungroj Yongrit / European Pressphoto Agency

PETA and McDonald's have long been arch-nemeses, but after a long period of relative calm, the animal rights group has ratcheted up the rhetoric recently. Its tactic: Passing out "Unhappy Meals," which include a rubber chicken stained with fake blood, a small paper cutout showing Ronald McDonald wielding a bloody knife and a T-shirt bearing the logo "McCruelty."  

Needless to say, not everyone is pleased with the approach. At a McDonald's restaurant in Albany, N.Y., some parents fumed when confronted with PETA's message. "I don't want my son to be around something like this," one mother, who'd brought her son to eat lunch at the fast-food chain, told Albany's Fox 23 News. "This is not fair for a child."

But PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman doesn't seem terribly concerned about the criticism.  "If kids knew how unhappy the chickens who are killed for Happy Meals really are, they'd lose their lunch," Reiman said in a statement. "And if parents don't want them to know, then the decent thing to do is to refuse to take them to eat [at McDonald's]."

The issue at the heart of PETA's complaint is the method by which chickens are killed to produce McDonald's menu items such as Chicken McNuggets. The primary method used by McDonald's U.S. suppliers is called electric immobilization, or electric stunning. 

The gray skies grew darker Sunday in Chicago when a man allegedly punched a horse as the Lollapalooza music festival drew to a close. 

Pablo Fernandez, a 21-year-old Mexican national, is accused of approaching a Chicago police horse at around 9 p.m as the three-day festival was winding down, and when he was told by the mounted officer that he could not pet the working animal, Fernandez became angered and allegedly punched the equine.

The assault caused the horse to rear back in a panic while in the middle of the concert-goers, police spokeswoman Gabrielle Lesniak told the Chicago Tribune. Fernandez was charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct. 

Police News Affairs Officer Kevin Kilmer told the Chicago Sun-Times that he couldn't confirm that the  violence was Lolla-related, but it did take place as the festival was wrapping up and police were trying to get crowds to disperse from Grant Park. Approximately 75,000 people a day attended the festival, which was headlined by acts like Jane's Addiction, Depeche Mode and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Kilmer had no word on the status of the horse.

-- Tony Pierce

A general view during the 2009 Lollapalooza music festival at Grant Park in Chicago.  Credit: Jeff Gentner / Getty Images

Four years ago, Santa Ana residents Richard and Josie Rodriguez bought a pug puppy, whom they named Pearl.  But they'd hardly had Pearl a month before she mysteriously disappeared.  The Rodriguezes suspect thieves were targeting purebred dogs in the area, becausea neighbor's Shih-tzu also went missing but no mixed-breed dogs seemed to.

They couple searched in vain for Pearl, but eventually gave up hope of ever finding her again. In time, they brought home another pug. Recently, they'd even considered expanding their family by getting a second pug as a companion for the one they already had.

Things took a strange turn Monday, when Richard awoke to a phone call from the Riverside County Department of Animal Services-- Pearl had been found running loose in Riverside on Sunday, and officers had tracked her back to the Rodriguezes using the microchip she'd been implanted with as a puppy. 

At first, Richard didn't know what to make of the information an animal control officer gave him. "We have a pug at home and so I couldn't understand why someone from Riverside was calling me about my dog," he said of his initial confusion at being told his pug was being held at a shelter in another county.

Where Pearl was for the four years she was missing is a mystery that will probably never be solved.  But, thankfully, she's now home at last -- the Rodriguezes went to pick her up the same day they received that fateful phone call from animal control. 

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Riverside County Department of Animal Services

Sioux City, Iowa, city councilman Aaron Rochester apparently agreed to sell his condemned Labrador retriever, Jake, to a local businessman in the days before Jake was stolen from the animal shelter where he was being held.

The businessman, Lew Weinberg, told the Sioux City Journal that he arranged to buy Jake from Rochester for $1 on July 31.  The idea behind the sale, Weinberg said, was to try to save the dog's life through an appeal to district court. 

Rochester had told local media that he wouldn't continue to pursue the case after two local authorities -- Sioux City's police captain and a special arbiter -- sided with the animal control department, which labeled Jake "vicious" after he attacked a neighbor.  Rochester maintained that Jake was simply trying to protect Rochester's young daughter and a friend, who were playing nearby, from a perceived danger.  But Sioux City's dog rules are hard and fast, and they require that vicious dogs be killed as a matter of public safety.

The irony of the case lies in the fact that Rochester himself successfully lobbied last year to ban pit bulls in the city, alleging that the breed was the one most likely to attack humans.  His position was a decidedly delicate one, then, as he tried to persuade city officials to spare Jake's life. 

A default judgment in a lawsuit filed in 2007 against the now-defunct L.A. pet store Pets of Bel Air will award $4.8 million to customers who bought puppies there.  The judgment by Superior Court Judge John P. Shook came about eight months after the attorney representing Pets of Bel Air left the case; in the time since the attorney's departure, defendants have failed to respond to court motions. 

The lawsuit was filed by attorney Wayne S. Kreger, who purchased a Chihuahua puppy at the store in 2007. Within 12 days, the puppy had died of parvovirus.  Later, the suit was amended to include additional plaintiffs who also said they had also purchased sick animals at the store.  About the time the plaintiffs moved to classify the suit as class-action, the store quietly removed wording on its website stating that its puppies were not obtained from puppy mills, according to court papers.  In October, Shook approved the suit's class-action status.

"We are pleased that the court has held the defendants accountable for their fraudulent advertising and unlawful business practices," Peter J. Farnese, the plaintiffs' attorney, told NBC Los Angeles after Shook's default judgement was announced.  "We hope this case has helped to expose the practices of their industry, and that this judgment will protect other consumers and serve as a deterrent to other pet stores in California and elsewhere who obtain puppies from puppy mills."

It's official: Thailand's beloved giant panda cub has a name.  The Chiang Mai Zoo, where the female cub was born in late May, held a naming contest for which it received more than 20 million votes.  Members of the Thai public were given four names to choose from, and the Agence France-Presse reports that about 60% voted for the eventual winner -- Linping.

The name Linping has significance both in Thailand and in China, the country to which the cub officially belongs.  (China sent Linping's parents to Thailand on a 10-year loan that expires in 2013, and the conditions of the loan specify that any offspring the two produce will eventually be returned to China.)  The "Lin" in Linping honors the cub's mother, Lin Hui, and Ping is a river in Thailand.  In Chinese, Linping translates to "forest of ice."

Panda fever took hold in Thailand when the cub was born after many unsuccessful attempts to get Lin Hui to reproduce with male panda Chuang Chuang.  The public's interest in the cub was so great, in fact, that some Thai elephant keepers even painted their charges in panda colors to compete with her popularity.  Thailand's national news bureau has even announced its plan to allow the 11-pound cub to network with her fans on Facebook and Twitter.  See another photo of Linping after the jump!