He is 12 weeks old, 7cm tall and weighs just 300g. Meet tiny Toudi who is believed to be the world's smallest Chihuahua.

Wrapped in a furry cream blanket with a pink silk trim, Anubis the cheetah lies in a large green sling and is carried into the Auckland Zoo vet surgery by seven zoo staff.

A complicated cat rescue at a Mosgiel arts and crafts shop has ended with the shop's lock picked and holes bored into its wall.

From just plain weird to outright dangerous, going beyond a healthy enthusiasm for pets and animals brings some interesting results.

The northern white rhino is heading the way of the dinosaurs. With only five left on Earth extinction is now inevitable.

Two new dogs have joined the team at border control to help prevent the spread of the Queensland fruit fly. They join a growing team of canines around Auckland in charge of pest control. Michael Craig captured some of them in action.

A family dog reportedly stabbed during a burglary was actually injured while fighting another dog, police say.

An unusual white-coloured kingfisher is on the mend after headbutting the window of a Whangarei home by mistake.

8-year-old Asian elephant Anjalee is en route to Auckland where she will join the zoo's 32-year-old resident elephant Burma.

A powerful parental instinct kicked in and without a thought for my own safety I shoved my inner thigh into the monster's fangs, writes Matt Heath.

A filter-feeding ''lobster'' as big as a human took the place of whales 480 million years ago, a new fossil find has shown.

Animal behaviour expert Sally Hibbard investigates dog attacks and delves in to the debate of nature versus nurture.

The genteel world of Crufts has been rocked by a murder mystery which has seen one dog apparently killed and two others taken ill in suspected poisonings.

Famed dog show blighted by accusations of poisoning by jealous contender after Irish Setter dies in mysterious circumstances.

The claws were out and the competition catty as pampered moggies strutted their stuff in West Auckland yesterday.

A miniature horse has been burnt after someone poured petrol on to its cover while the owners slept.

A cousin of the kangaroo is wreaking havoc in Rotorua. While Wallabies are endangered in South Australia, the species is considered a pest in New Zealand.

The owners of a cat shot with an arrow through its head in East Auckland overnight are too scared to keep the animal and are considering moving house.

Spider venom may contain a long-sought secret ingredient for an effective, long-term painkiller, Australian researchers say.

Forget #thedress; today it's all about an incredible shot of a weasel riding a woodpecker and the clever memes it has spawned.

A police officer who was savagely attacked by a pitbull while on duty yesterday says he went into survival mode while the dog chewed at his body.

A man will appear in court today after a police officer suffered numerous bite wounds to his head and cuts from a pitbull dog in Foxton yesterday.

Thanks to people like Gina Schick, visions of former champion horses being trucked off to pet food factories are proving false.

Dogs are humanity's oldest friends, renowned for their loyalty and abilities to guard, hunt and chase.

A policeman suffered numerous bite wounds to his head and cuts to his face in an "appalling" unprovoked attack by a man's pitbull dog in Foxton yesterday.

Guests at Robert Mugabe's million-dollar birthday party were fed a young elephant, while a lion and a crocodile were also sacrificed as gifts to be stuffed.

A devastated dog owner says he has himself to blame for the canine's slaying of a protected fur seal.