Animal Nation recently visited the 2012 World's Ugliest Dog Contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair, and while the contestants may have been vying for ugliest in show, all we saw were beautiful dogs. It turns out the world's ugliest dogs were actually really cute!

We saw mohawks and mullets, snaggleteeth and curled tongues. Sure, they may have been a little different, but that just made them all that much more adorable.

By WebVet.com

This guy makes you more clever?

Rescuing and adopting chinchillas | Webvet

By Clinical Nurse Specialist Anna Katzman, GalTime.com

Pets also come with health benefits for your family!

If you've been dodging the bullet for years, extolling the virtues of your Beta fish to your kids, "Look! He responds to you when you go to feed him!", as if he's a real, snuggly pet, or anything other than the cold-blooded vertebrate just eating for survival that he is… you now have one more reason to get a dog.

A new study from Finland, by Bergroth et al, Respiratory Tract Illnesses During the First Year of Life: Effect of Dog and Cat Contacts, has just discovered that dogs - and cats - are good for children's health. More specifically, the recent study found that "children with early dog contacts seem to have fewer infectious respiratory symptoms and diseases, especially otitis, during the first year of life."

If you're still not ready for a dog, however, don't ditch the fish. He is a pet, after all, and research consistently shows what the 61% of households in America (which is the percentage of househol

By Ilisa Cohen

young blonde family holding gray kittens

Lisa Hanes's kids have always been animal-crazy. Even with a cat, two dogs and two guinea pigs in the house, Paige, 8, and her brother, Hunter, 11, often stop at the local pet shop in Monterey, CA, to visit the animals. Paige declared she wanted to be a veterinarian when she was in preschool. So Lisa wasn't shocked when two years ago, the kids suggested that their reward for completing chores be volunteering at Animal Friends Rescue Project (AFRP) in nearby Pacific Grove. Kitty love: (from left) Lisa, Paige, Hunter and Mark Hanes

Eager to encourage their passion for animals and their desire to contribute to the community, Lisa and her husband, Mark, drove the kids to the shelter to sign up as volunteers. But they soon realized that with their work schedules and the kids' baseball, soccer, basketball and ballet, there just wasn't any spare time. That's when they decided to foster and care for cats at home.
Try 8 home remedies that actually

By WebVet.com

If you think the current presidential election has gotten catty, know that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have nothing on Talkeetna, Alaska -- where a feline has been serving as mayor for the last 15 years. Stubbs the cat has been presiding over the sleepy Alaskan town since he was just a kitten.

Stubbs' political ascent was the result of a dispirited mayoral campaign, when a majority of Talkeetna's 900 residents -- unhappy with the available prospects -- encouraged their neighbors to elect Stubbs as a write-in candidate.

Related: Cat At Center Of Political Scandal For Not Catching Mice

By Dr. Marty Becker

Q. My cat is sneezing and has a runny nose. I searched the web for her symptoms, and I'm pretty sure I know what's going on. Should I take her to the veterinarian, or can I treat her sniffles at home?

A. While upper respiratory infections are not uncommon in cats - and it is likely but not certain that's what your cat has - you need an accurate diagnosis to be sure of the cause of the symptoms. Without the right diagnosis, you won't get the right course of treatment. And left untreated, even a "routine" viral infection could get deadly serious, with complications such as pneumonia.

See Also: 10 Most Dangerous Creatures for Your Pets -- Many Are in Your Own Backyard

Your question brings up a very important point: Not all illnesses can be treated at home. While the Internet is a useful source of information and can help you assess your cat's symptoms in a very general way, it does not and cannot replace the hands-on

By Nora Zelevansky

The old saying states that in order to truly know someone, you have to walk a mile in his shoes.

That's not really possible when it comes to our four-legged buddies, who tend to go barefoot, but - at the very least - we can learn about their feet.

See Also: Do Dogs & Cats Get Depressed?

Dr. Tara Miller, DVM, of West Hollywood's VCA TLC Animal Hospital, and Dr. Rachel Barrack, DVM, CVA, who's based in New York City, shed light on the story behind our pets' paw pads.

"The pad is made up of hairless, pigmented skin overlaying a thick grouping of fat and tissue," explains Dr. Miller, who also points out that the surface texture can differ based on an animal's environment. "They're often tough in dogs who are exposed to rough surfaces, and more smooth and sensitive in cats and dogs who do not walk much or who are always on smooth, soft surfaces."

Paw pads aren't just for decoration. In both cats an