Did you know that rescue dogs in the UK were trained to fly a real airplane?
In 2016 Sky 1 aired a TV series called Dogs Might Fly. Twelve dogs underwent acting challenges, made music videos, and even acted in a live play.
Three of the dogs made it to flight school. With special equipment and training, the dogs learned to steer the plane, keep it level, and follow simple flying instructions. Two dogs were able to fly a Cessna 172 in a figure 8.
Good dogs!
The dogs didn’t handle takeoff or landing, but they did control the plane in the air. I think they earned their wings!
Hello, Anipal Times! We are TJ and Bart, ready for our second column.
Dis is Bart!
Dis is TJ! Let’s do Dis!
Bart: Today, we are going to talk about music. Our daddy is a DJ and likes to play music on da social media.
TJ: Well, he likes to play da old music. SOOOOOOOOO old.
Bart: It is embarrassing. Daddy only likes to play songs dat are fifty years old.
TJ: I mean, Daddy is playing people like Elton John, a group called America, play Dat Funky Music White Boy, what is dis, Daddy?
Bart: Dis music is stwange. Some of da songs are about people dying in the middle of the songs. Why are people singing about dis?
TJ: And why is Daddy playing dis music? Dat’s what we’re concerned with. Dey were wearing dese ugly bell-bottom pants in da 70s. Why do you want to remember dis?
Bart: Dey even have a song called da Berta Butt Boogie. Ise serious, TJ!
TJ: Humans are weird. I think we need to take a nap to think about dis, Bart.
Bart: Good idea, TJ! See you next time, Anipal Times readers~
Do you ever wonder why your peeps eat garlic, onions, almonds, and spicy foods but tell you it is deadly — that’s right, deadly — for you to eat? #notmissingit #nottasty #evolution
Saturday night was another amazing night for the Cats of Anarchy as they had their annual Thanksgiving party!
But the COA wouldn’t be complete without the duck and his twin terror sister, Darci! In this instance, they committed the unthinkable, transforming the Thanksgiving turkeys into zombs!
The crew needed to determine which potion would trigger the spell. Of course, they forgot the crew had their secret weapons in the Kittens of Anarchy and Atticus and Gilbert, who quickly could come up with a potion to reverse the spell and foil their evil plan! Sending the terror twins scrambling to find something else to ruin everything!
With the evil plot foiled, the crew could enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with so many delicious foods, desserts, and a drink menu designed by the amazing mixologist himself, Atticus!
It was another successful mission and holiday for the Cats of Anarchy crew.
Anticipating their Christmas activities during December!
MeeWOW! This cat recently spoke with Midge’s professional cartoonist, Sunny, to discover how she chronicles her beloved Midge the Mutt’s escapades in panel cartoons. Midge is a proud mutt according to her X bio; a lover of dirty socks, a hater of baths, and a Bond and Snoopy fangirl. Loves bacon. Good dog!
SPL: Sunny, what initially inspired you to become a cartoonist? Sunny: Well, funny as it may seem, I originally aspired to be either a paleontologist or an archeologist. Unfortunately, being allergic to the sun makes digging in the desert for dinosaur fossils a bit tough for me. By the time I accepted this, I had already been drawing comics regularly. I had a whole bunch, but Midge was the one I kept up with and was always trying to improve.
SPL: Are there artists that have inspired you? Sunny: A lot, really. But my biggest inspirations as to comic art and style are Bill Watterson, who created Calvin and Hobbes (the greatest comic strip of all time), and Klasky & Csupo, the animation studio best known for Rugrats (although I preferred The Wild Thornberrys – I was pretty obsessed with it as a kid).
SPL: What mediums (materials) do you use? Sunny: All modern Midge comics are first sketched out (on printer paper because that’s the easiest size for me to work with even though it’s a professional no-no) with Kimberly pencils, then inked with Uni-Ball pens before I scan them to my computer and color them in Krita. I used to color them with colored pencils, but the scanning process sorely misrepresented the color and I had to move to digital.
SPL: Have you found AI to be a tool or a hindrance/drawback? Do you ever use it in your art and why? Sunny: I mostly hate AI because it does a crappy job of whatever it is it’s doing. I never use it. Honestly, if I see AI art, I get fixated on spotting all the mistakes like a Hidden Picture puzzle. But, even if it were to improve enough to be helpful, I won’t use it. I like creating my work myself on my own terms and I feel like AI takes that away from creators.
SPL: What do you enjoy the most about being an artist? The least (i.e., drawbacks) ? Sunny: What I enjoy the most is the creativity. I just love when ideas come to me, and I love picturing them and thinking about what I can add or how I can mold it into something cool or special or funny. What I enjoy least are deadlines. Odd as it sounds, I consider it a blessing that the syndicates I submitted Midge to rejected her. I learned afterwards, personally, from professional cartoonists, how hard those deadlines are to make.
Sunny: Taking a slight intermission to take out the shihtzu who is doing the doody dance.
SPL: Meow! Welcome back Sunny! My Scribe is also an artist, yet never took it to the commercial side. We (that is, me the hamsum cat, an my Scribe) are familiar with your art in the marketplace. How did you transition from hobbyist to professional cartoonist? Sunny: Basically, I was just blessed with a very supportive family. I’ve been working for my parents, including as my mom’s caregiver during the last six years of her life, so I can work on my passion projects, including Midge. I can’t say I make a lot on Midge, so I’m not sure how great those tips would be, BOL.
SPL: Well, riches or not, we really hope you’re doing a Midge calendar again this year? If so, where could a cat or doggo (or squirrel, raccoon, stuffie or bunny…with ‘their’ credit card) obtain your 2026 calendar or or other Midge art? Sunny: Yes, oh yes! We’ve created the Midge 2026 Calendar, which is out now in MidgeShop on Zazzle: http://www.zazzle.com/midge_2026_sunday_comics_calendar-256605243268250874. Click where it says MidgeShop to see the other cool merch. I’m hoping to add some designs next year, too.
SPL: Sunny, thank you for sharing your insights on art and life as an artist. Wishing you and Midge a sweet holiday!
SPL: Midge the Mutt is often a found-in on Xtwit, Bluesky, Zazzle, and deFURnitely at facebook.com/midgethemutt. Thank you for joining me on this Behind the Scenes with Sir Pickle Longpaw. If you would like to share your story about your art, business (yes, farms!), or purrhaps a passion that can be published without causing massive blushing, please forward a brief bio and your contact details to: Behind the Scenes with Sir Pickle Longpaw, C/O The Anipal Times
Well, we know Chandler @dog_phoebe loves cake, and has a fun Christmas planned exploring and keeping the area zombie and squirrel free!
We spoke to Truman @tweetingtruman and found out about Mistletoe Magic and the Anipal Times.
We had an interactive show where we thought about what we are thankful for. With Thanksgiving, we are all very thankful for friendship and having food in our tummies.
TJ @TJS12145 also came onto the show to yell at us about their on-and-off Twitter commitments.
We featured lots of pets in rescue needing homes, and hoping that the featured pets find their forever homes soon.
Paws crossed for Mike in Leicester, Sonny in Missouri, Buscuit in Wales, Pistachio in Texas, and all the other pets in the rescue centres.
We have a fun-filled diary of guests planned, so we look forward to seeing you all for the shows next month.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Love and hugs, Millie, Pixie, and the #OTLFP team.
Work with animals is a source of suffering to all of us. We treat them like babies who cannot speak. The more time passes, the more I’m sorry about it. We shouldn’t have done it. We did not learn enough from the mission to justify the death of the dog. — Russian scientist Oleg Gazenko, 1998, speaking about Laika, the first dog in space.
When December arrives, we think about major winter holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah. We also think about Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, the winter solstice, Yule, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, taking stock of everything from the year, and setting New Year’s Resolutions.
December doesn’t have as many animal holidays and observations as other months, but there are still some important ones!
The only December Animal Monthly Observation is:
National Cat Lovers Month
Daily holidays during the first week include:
December 1 – 24: Operation Santa Paws • December 1: Cyber Monday (Monday after Thanksgiving) • December 1: National Twin With Your Dog Day • December 2: National Mutt Day (also July 31) • December 4: International Cheetah Day • December 4: Wildlife Conservation Day • December 4: Celebrate Shelter Pets Day (First Thursday after Thanksgiving)
The Anipal Times 