A Lynchburg man is facing criminal charges after fatally shooting a neighbor's pit bull puppy. Jeffrey Bradley says he shot the dog to protect himself. But Lynchburg police have charged the Liberty University law student with two misdemeanors: recklessly handling a firearm and discharging a firearm in the city.

A three-month-old puppy miraculously survives swallowing a metal tent peg that was almost as long as its body. Disa, a Staffordshire bull terrier, was taken to a local veterinarian with what was thought to be an upset stomach. However, an x-ray later showed the problem was an eleven-inch peg. The hospital staff said, "We suspected a foreign body may be to blame but didn't expect it to be so big. We operated immediately to remove it as it could have proved fatal. "

A couple that had their love life ruined by a badly behaved puppy, were reunited with the help of a British TV Dog trainer. "Bailey" a Yorkshire terrier hindered Phil Woodlock from sharing a bed, or even a sofa, with girlfriend Jacqui Mallin.

The Year of the dog has increased sales of puppies in Malaysia, where Chinese patrons believe it as a source of good luck. The ethnic Chinese majority are rushing to buy puppies before the beginning of the Year of the Dog on January 29.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, animal welfare workers are finding an abundance of puppies springing up throughout the devastated streets of New Orleans and Mississippi. Although more than 6,000 pets were saved in the region after Katrina, thousands of other animals are running loose in neighborhoods where fences were flattened and where their owners fled.