Pedigree in New Zealand has launched an online toy that analyzes your face and matches you with a dog that is up for adoption. I was matched with Shadow, a 7-month-old male Huntaway {wiki} mix, which is a breed of New Zealand sheep dog. He’s a cute dog; too bad he’s in Auckland. Link -via Pawesome

“When she came in, she kept taking more out of her car saying, ‘Can you take more? Can you take more? Can you take more?’ ” said Stone. “Finally, we went out to her car. She had a Mustang convertible full of chihuahuas.”

The woman dropped off 33 chihuahuas on Wednesday and nine more on Thursday morning. One of the chihuahuas gave birth to a puppy on Thursday, bringing the total to 43. All but six of the dogs are under the age of two.

“I think she was a very nice lady who was in way over her head,” said Stone. “She was probably in a situation where she started with one chihuahua and it had babies. People get attached to them and feel that nobody can do as good a job [caring for them], so they end up keeping them. Then other people find out she is the chihuahua lady — her boss died and gave her 12. Pretty soon, her babies are having babies and it’s out of control.”

The shelter is seeking donations for the dogs’ care and looking for adoptive homes as well. Link -via Metafilter

(Image credit: Adrian Lam/Times Colonist)

Fallout Protection for Homes with Basements is a pamphlet produced by the US Department of Defense to help the average family deal with nuclear attack. The 1967 revision is available online for your edification and …amusement, yes, because even during the dark days of the Cold War, most people knew that preparing a fallout shelter was akin to rearranging chairs on the deck of the Titanic. However, this booklet has some handy tips for fortifying your basement, or improvising a shelter out of household items, as shown above. Link -Thanks, Steven Johnson!

This video by Lucy Cooke will introduce you to the sloths of the Aviaros del Caribe sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica, which is the world’s only sloth orphanage. Link -via Metafilter

Shelter dog Edie was schedule to be euthanized. She was fearful, aggressive, and hard to control. Then Bronwyne Mirkovich gave her another chance as he and Eldad Hagar recorded the process on video. -via reddit

Update: Edie has been adopted and is in her permanent home.

Here’s a heartwarming tale of how people at the Teller County Regional Animal Shelter fought to bring the cat (aptly named Icee) back from the brink of death:

"Whatcha got there?" the shelter director, Mary Steinbeiser, asks when officer Cheri France arrives and puts the carrying crate on the counter.

"A cat," France says. "I’m not sure if it’s still alive."

Steinbeiser pulls the black and white cat, so cold it’s rigid, out of the carrier. The eyes are closed. There’s no movement. This is an awful moment for anyone who loves animals. She steels herself. And then hears the tiniest squeak.

The women exchange glances. It looks really bad. But Steinbeiser
thrusts the cat at France, who unzips her jacket and presses the cat close to her body, then zips back up …

Sharon Peters of USA Today’s Paw Print Post has the story: Link

When Scot Simpson bought his circa 1953 house in Charlottte NC, little did he know that he would find an 8-by-12-foot bunker buried beneath his lawn mower shed.

“The bomb shelter was built about 1960 or 1961″, said Earle Heath, who still lives next door. Heath was 12 or 13 back then. “The owner of the house was in the construction business”, he said, “and sent workers over to dig the hole and pour the concrete”.

That would have been just before the Cuban missile crisis, when many Americans feared nuclear Armageddon.

Simpson would like to get rid of the poured concrete and steel bunker, but doesn’t know what’s involved in getting rid of it.

Source: Charlotte Observer