A morning news anchor gets a face full of beaver urine. I don't know, man. This whole "water sports fetish" thing is just too kinky for me.

• Apparently a hoax.

Remember when three pit bulls killed another dog at Magnuson Park? Never happened, according to Grisha Stewart of Ahimsa Dog Training in Ballard (though pit bulls apparently did break the leg of a husky at the park). She has "an inside source" at Animal Control, she said—here's the report from her blog:

Here are the facts of the Boxer story, as told to me by Animal Control:

There was a senior boxer at the water with a small dog, and there was a scuffle with pit bull—type dogs. The owner was not bald, but had short hair. He did have tattoos. The scuffle seemed to be of the ‘normal’ type that dog park fans see a lot of, with a lot of bluster but no injuries. I’m sure it was still scary for all involved. The boxer was never taken to the vet.

No report has been filed by the Boxer’s owner, and she probably wishes this would all just go away (I had heard from another source that her husband didn’t want the dog at the park in the first place). Therefore, animal control is no longer doing special patrols, just the regular ones.

After weeks of the mystery owner being unidentified, Animal Control got her name and made a visit, 3 weeks after the events at Magnuson. The Boxer had no signs of injury and the woman reported no injuries. Given how much this story has been stretched, I feel like we have no real information on who started the scuffle (versus it being an unprovoked attack), among other things.

The Husky incident is being dealt with by the police, not Seattle Animal Control. I’m not sure why. The Husky did get a broken leg. It may or not have been the same dogs who fought with the Husky as the previous week with the Boxer.

Stewart is asking her source to contact The Stranger to confirm that the "DOG KILLED" signs were a hoax. Dan Savage denies any involvement.

• "Chloe--Sexy Little Pitbull" by LizaDanger1 from The Stranger's Flickr pool

Strip Club Owner Snubbed By Gingrich Names Pit Bull Shelter After Him

The end begins:

Lakeland, Florida — A Lakeland woman is recovering from serious injuries in the hospital after sheriff's investigators say she was "gang attacked" by five raccoons Saturday afternoon.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says 74-year-old Gretchen Whitted was trying to shoo the animals away from her front door when they suddenly attacked.

"When she fell down, they enveloped her," said Sheriff Judd in a news conference called Sunday to warn the public of the aggressive raccoons.

"She's literally bitten and scratched from face and the chest all the way down through the legs."

Raccoons are known to be aggressive when going after food, but the sheriff called Saturday's attack very unusual.

"Not in all my years in Florida have I known of a gang attack by raccoons on an individual," Sheriff Judd said.

"I took my dog to Magnuson this morning, and these signs were up around the park," writes Slog tipper Josh, who goes on to say:

Could this story fit the negative stereotype about pit bulls and their owners more perfectly? That's because it's largely true. Not entirely true, of course — I have some friends who take care of foster dogs, and they have kept several wonderful pit bulls. But we've all seen the hyper-macho douchebags with their pit bulls that look like they're ready to rip your throat out. It's unfortunate that this culture exists around these dogs, but it does, and it ruins pit bulls for everyone else. Just like a high school can tell their students they can't wear all red or blue colors, even though there's nothing intrinsically wrong about wearing all red and blue, it still seems perfectly justified: young men wearing all red and blue has come to signify specific gang allegiance.

That number again, in case you saw something around noon on Saturday at the park: 437-7410. There's some more info on KOMO's site. (Thanks for that tip, Vanessa.)

Recently born at the Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam.

(Via Towleroad, Jezebel, and God.)

BBC reports:

Italian police say they have seized a crocodile they believe was used by a suspected mafia boss to terrorise people into paying protection money.

The reptile was 1.7m (5.5ft) long and weighed 40kg (88lb). It was found during a weapons search at the man's home in the southern town of Caserta.

It was kept on the terrace and fed live rabbits in full view of neighbouring homes, police said.

The mafia suspect was charged with illegal animal possession.

Image by 13Bobby.

How can evolution explain this?

(Telegraph) A lizard that looks startlingly like Spider-Man - Mwanza flat-headed rock agama - has become the latest fashionable pet.

The vivid red-and-blue colouring is almost uncannily like that of the Marvel superhero, and comic book fans have been flocking to exotic pet shops to snap them up.

Agamas like the Spider-Lizard, as it has become known make good pets, as they become tame and docile if handled regularly. However, they require specialist equipment in the UK to maintain their temperature.

Which is worse, a life of fighting...

(Seattle PI)Seattle police have identified several suspects in a suspected cockfighting ring that led animal shelter staff to euthanize 36 roosters that had been seized in the investigation, authorities said.

The roosters were taken Sept. 10 from a home in the 3800 block of Renton Avenue South. The animals "were quite aggressive," which was why they were put down, Seattle Animal Shelter Enforcement Supervisor Don Baxter said.

Police are still investigating the case and no charges have been filed.