Three young people could be heard urging a terrified man to come outside and talk to them before they smashed their way into his home and killed a 12-week-old puppy.

Fat cat Hazel is a pet with a plan. And she needs an owner willing to help her stick to it.

In the foothills of the Himalayas, a war is being waged. Soldiers with M16 assault rifles patrol the grasslands and forests and surveillance drones buzz overhead.

Four days after a pet dog disappeared, its skinned and mutilated body was dumped on a family's South Auckland lawn.

About 60 "flat cats" came a step closer to domestic bliss at a clinic in Dunedin for the cats of tertiary students.

A woman out for her morning walk was left with deep bites on her forearm and thighs after being rushed by a dog which dragged her to the ground.

Derek Cheng challenges himself and sets a new personal best for culinary repugnancy.

Auckland SPCA is overrun with rabbits. The organisation is hunting for homes for more than 40 rabbits - and staff say it's a great time to adopt.

Wanted: people to adopt a growing gaggle of white Embden geese.

A total ban on animal testing in legislation to regulate legal highs has been voted down by MPs despite an emotional speech by Act leader John Banks.

Act Party leader John Banks will make a rare vote against his coalition partner National this week to maintain his passionate defence of animal rights.

A farmer who left his herd of calves without food and water for months at his leased Papamoa farm neglected the animals so he could attend to his sick wife and newborn child.

The world's top dolphin scientists have urged the New Zealand government to act now to protect the Maui's dolphin marine environment or risk the species being extinct in 20 years.

The group responsible for phasing out battery chicken cages within a decade has bowed to industry pressure and proposed extending the timetable.

SPCA head and staunch animal welfare advocate Bob Kerridge admits that some animal testing will be required as part of a new regime which is designed to prove the safety of party pills and synthetic cannabis.

A long-awaited threat management plan for Maui's dolphins is to be announced next month - but one MP has questioned whether the Government is going far enough to protect the critically endangered species.

Move over, Gareth Morgan. A Dunedin woman concerned about the number of feral cats roaming the city has a radical solution for ridding Dunedin of such its undesirables.

Norm Hewitt and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have started a conversation with school students around New Zealand.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully has told his Japanese counterpart that he is hopeful Japan will be open to resuming talks with New Zealand to find a diplomatic solution to whaling.

Four abandoned blue heeler puppies rescued by members of the public have been euthanised.