August 3, 2012: We've scoured the Web to find the best and most compelling animal stories, videos and photos. And it's all right here.

Bell, a 3-year-old Chihuahua, is being credited with sniffing out three missing girls in the woods.

Pint-Sized Chihuahua Makes a Good Bloodhound

Three young girls — Carlie, Lacey and Victoria — were just planning to take a dog named Lucy for a quick stroll in their Atlanta suburb, when they say that Lucy pulled them toward a trail, ultimately getting them lost in the woods. Neighbors, police and firefighters searched for the girls when they didn’t return home — but it took Bell the Chihuahua, who belonged to neighbor Carvin Young, to track them down. The girls play with Bell every day, so she knew their scent. "She smelled them, her tail went to wagging and she kept running and running until she got to them,” said Young. The mom of two of the girls called it a “sheer blessing” that Bell is their neighbor. — Watch it at CBS Atlanta

Study Looks at How Dogs Can Detect Low Blood Sugar

While we’re on the subject of hero dogs, more canines are now being trained to alert diabetics to blood sugar drops, so pharmaceutical company Eli Lily is partnering with the Indianapolis Canine Assistant Network to study just what is inside dogs' noses that allows them to sniff out when a person with Type 1 diabetes has low blood sugar. — Watch it at WISH-TV

Scientists Record Whales Singing a Trove of Aquatic Tunes

For about a year, researchers used microphones attached to the seafloor off the coast of Greenland to pick up the sounds of endangered bowhead whales singing 60 unique songs — at nearly every hour of the day. “We hoped to record a few little grunts and moans,” said one researcher. “We were not expecting to get five months of straight singing.” Scientists believe the songs come from males during the mating season, which hints at the possibility of a rebound in the bowhead whale population. — Read it at Newswise

Sarah the cheetah breaks her own world record in the 100-meter dash

Cheetah Breaks Land-Speed Record

There may be plenty of athletes breaking world records at the Olympic Games, but none of them could catch Sarah, a Cincinnati Zoo resident who’s believed to be the world’s fastest cheetah. She recently broke her own world record for the 100-meter dash, coming in at just 5.95 seconds. "She looked like a polka-dotted missile," said a National Geographic photo editor who witnessed the sprint by the 11-year-old cheetah. — Watch it at National Geographic, and read about eight other animals who could beat Olympic record holders

Plus: What if domestic felines were Olympians? Yahoo looks at the medal-worthy personality traits of seven popular cat breeds. — View it at Yahoo

Lion Cub Calls a Dog His Dad

A rare white lion cub named Jojo has taken to a dog named Lejon at a safari park in Germany. “Jojo scrambles all over him, jumps on his head, bites his fur," said the caretaker for the 3-week-old cub, who had to be separated from his mom. "But he doesn't mind — he's a very patient surrogate." — Read it at People Pets