Americans Love Animals More Than They Used To

There are 48 days until the presidential election, and it often feels as if we Americans are at each other’s throats. Sometimes it seems as though all we can agree on — or agree to click “like” on — are dog and cat videos, right? Actually, that’s not so far from the truth. Americans do broadly have positive feelings about dogs and cats — and they also feel warmer and fuzzier about wild animals, such as sharks and wolves, than they did four decades ago.

http://tinyurl.com/guc486v

A New Code of Conduct to Protect Animals From Drones

A quick search online will reveal dozens of videos of drone and bird encounters. While it's always impressive to see a bird of prey take down a pesky quadcopter, the disturbance could impact the animal in ways we don't yet understand.  As the commercial drone industry kicks off and drones are increasingly used in conservation efforts, two Australian researchers have developed an animal-drone code of conduct to begin the conversation about how these machines should be ethically used.

http://tinyurl.com/ha4brxu

Video: Best Animal Videos Of 2012: The Cutest, Funniest And Most Popular Clips Of The Year

As 2012 comes to an end, it's a good time to reflect and remember the most important stories of the year. So let's be honest: wacky, cute and fascinating animal videos stole the show.

http://tinyurl.com/cyzjm4n

Video: Hero Dogs: 10 Canines Who Went Above And Beyond In 2012

For indisputable evidence of just how heroic dogs can be, take a look at the team of Golden Retrievers who recently arrived in Newtown to help comfort the victims of Friday's shooting. All through 2012, we've seen countless such examples of heroic pets.

http://tinyurl.com/bmhq37d

Video: Veteran's Day: Dogs Welcoming Soldiers Home

Veteran's Day is November 11, and in honor of our men and women in uniform we've rounded up our all-time favorite videos of soldiers being welcomed home by their canine counterparts. Nothing says, "Welcome back," like a wagging tail and a slobbery kiss.

http://tinyurl.com/agvjh79

Video: 19 Dogs Fetching Beer On YouTube

A long time ago, a man (probably) was sitting on a couch (probably) and had a thought: "If my dog can fetch tennis balls, why not a beer?" Lo and behold, the Internet was flooded with videos of dogs fetching beers for their masters. To think: an actually USEFUL pet trick!

http://tinyurl.com/cx7m82m

Hey, Kitty! Museum To Host First-Ever Cat Video Fest

Nominations are open for the world's first Cannes for cats. The al fresco Internet Cat Video Film Festival will unspool -- in the space of an hour or so, given how short cat videos can be -- on August 30 on the grounds of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minn. "While enjoyed by a broad online audience of millions, cat videos are normally viewed alone. Until now," wrote organizer and "self-proclaimed borderline cat lady" Katie Czarniecki Hill on the Walker's blog pages.

http://tinyurl.com/824yt9c