Pet Scoop: Fluffy Westie Wins Best in Show at Crufts, Snowmobile Driver Hits Iditarod Teams
Published on March 14, 2016
March 14, 2016: We’ve scoured the Web to find the best and most compelling animal stories, videos and photos. And it’s all right here.

Geordie Girl Takes Top Prize
She’s not even 2 years old, but a fluffy white West Highland Terrier took the top prize at the world’s biggest dog show, Crufts, in England Sunday. Geordie Girl is the first Westie to win Best in Show in 26 years at Crufts, which included 22,000 dogs. "Am I dreaming? This is absolutely amazing, I can’t believe it and can’t find words to describe how I feel — it’s amazing!” said the dog’s breeder and trainer, Marie Burns. She said she knew from the time Geordie Girl was a puppy that she was special. “I think I’ve got the nicest Westie I’ve ever bred here,” she told a friend at the time. The Reserve Best in Show winner, a Whippet named Hazel, was handled by her 19-year-old owner, Charley Donaldson. — Read it at the U.K.’s Telegraph
Snowmobile Driver Hits Iditarod Teams
Arnold Demoski, 26, was arrested and charged with assault, endangerment, reckless driving and criminal mischief for driving into the sled dog teams of two Iditarod racers in Alaska early Saturday morning, killing one of the dogs. One of the dogs belonged to racer Jeff King, who’s won the competition four times. Demoski apologized in an emotional interview with a local TV affiliate, saying he had been drinking before the incident. “I shouldn’t have been driving last night,” he told KTUU. “It wasn’t intentional, though.” Several other dogs were injured in the episode. — Read it at The New York Times
Ryan Gosling Saves Little Dog From Highway
While he was in Palm Springs, California, for his girlfriend Eva Mendes’ birthday last week, actor Ryan Gosling still had time to save a little dog. The couple was out to get something to eat when they almost hit a small white dog who was running in the middle of the road. Gosling jumped out of the car to help the dog, and photos published on ET Online show him carrying the pooch safely back to his owner. — Read it at the Huffington Post

Cop Adopts Orphaned Kangaroo
When a kangaroo joey’s mom was hit and killed by a truck in Cue, Australia, on Wednesday, he bonded with the man who came to his rescue — Constable Scott Mason. Mason tucked the 4-month-old kangaroo baby into his shirt to simulate a pouch, and the little guy seems quite content with his surrogate “mom.” The Cue Police Station turned to Twitter to ask for name suggestions, and settled on the clever Cuejo. For now, Mason is continuing to care for Cuejo, feeding him every three hours. The station has been posting updates (and more adorable pictures) on Twitter. — Read it at Today
“Legally Blonde” Chihuahua Dies at 18
Moonie, the tiny dog who played Bruiser Woods in the 2001 movie “Legally Blonde,” passed away last week. His costar, actress Reese Witherspoon, paid tribute to the 18-year-old dog on Friday. “He was a sweet little Chihuahua who was very loved. I will never forget all the days we spent together . . . I’m sure his tail is wagging in the sky,” Witherspoon wrote on Friday, with a photo of them from the movie. The pooch, who was a rescue dog, also appeared in “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde” with Witherspoon, who played Elle Woods. In that movie, Elle finds out that Bruiser’s mom was being used for cosmetics testing, and she goes to Washington, D.C., to help get “Bruiser’s Bill” passed to outlaw animal testing. — Read it at the New York Post