WebClawer: Vegan group sues for hot dog warning labels, feral pig wins fans, new hope for endangered frogs

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From frogs to pigs to badgers to...hot dogs, the Web is crawling with animal news today. A few of the stories that grabbed us:

-- A vegan advocacy group called Cancer Project filed a lawsuit last week asking a New Jersey court to compel food companies including Oscar Mayer and Hebrew National to place labels that read ‘Warning: Consuming hot dogs and other processed meats increases the risk of cancer’ on hot dog packages sold in New Jersey. (L.A. Times)

-- 68-year-old Welshman Gareth Morgan is being called ‘the Badger Whisperer’ for his uncanny knack for, well, communing with badgers. Morgan was birdwatching in a secluded area more than five years ago when he stumbled upon a group of the notoriously secretive animals. Since then, he’s returned three times a week, and the badgers have grown to trust him enough to take food from his hand and allow him to treat their wounds with antiseptic. (Daily Mail)

-- A feral pig living in the Cove section of Panama City, Fla., has developed his own sizable fan base (and a Facebook group boasting hundreds of members) as animal control officers try and repeatedly fail to apprehend him. Last week, the pig continued to evade capture even after being shocked with a Taser and shot with four tranquilizer darts. A rural Florida family has offered to take the pig and allow him to roam free on their parcel of land -- but try telling that to an ornery feral pig. (New York Times)

-- A critically endangered amphibian called the mountain yellow-legged frog has been successfully bred in captivity for the first time, the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research has announced. Biologists hope eventually to be able to release captive-born frogs in the wild in an effort to bring the species back from the brink. (L.A. Now)

-- We wish we were joking: A Brazilian company has introduced what may well be the world’s first (and, hopefully, only) sex toy for dogs. (K9 Magazine)

-- Lindsay Barnett

s Angeles Times