The Swine Flu isn’t the only thing making headlines these days, now you have the Micro swine!  The new craze in the world of  micro sized pets happens to be a pig of all things.   They are a mixture of breeds including Miniature Pot Bellied, Kune Kune, German Micro, Gloucester Old Spot and Tamworth .  Teacup pigs are all the rage in Britain right now,  these pets are small in size but command a high price tag.  Teacup Pigs are sold for as much as  £700 each, that coverts to about $1,125.   These pocket sized porkers are much smaller than your standard farm pig,  this teacup breed weighs  9 oz.  (the size of a teacup) at birth.   At two years old, they are fully grown,  weighing in at around 40-65 lbs and standing at only 12-16in in height.  The trendy piglets are almost impossible to get hold of in England.  Breeder, Jane Croft, has already received thousands of inquires from people eager to own one.

Rescue parties located Kale more than 24 hours after he vanished. With him was the stray dog, who had kept the little boy warm by cuddling with him during the damp, cool night and protected him in the bear-infested woods. “The night was cold and wet and the terrain in the area is rough … Most adults wouldn’t make it through the night before succumbing to hypothermia, let alone a 2-year-old child,” Michael Pealow, a member of the Whitehorse District Search and Rescue Society team, wrote in a blog post, according to The Globe and Mail.

In some sad news Chanel the worlds oldest dog died today at 21 years old which would of been 147 years old in Doggy years. May she rest in peace.

Here is the Press Release

World’s oldest dog, 21, dies on Long Island

Associated Press – August 31, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) – The wire-haired dachshund who held the record as the world’s oldest dog has died on Long Island.

Chanel (shah-NEHL) was 21, that’s 147 years old in dog years when she died Friday at her owner’s home in Port Jefferson Station.

Guinness World Records officials honored Chanel as the world’s oldest dog at her 21st birthday bash in May at a Manhattan dog hotel and spa hosted by a pet food company.

Owners Denice and Karl Shaughnessy (SHAW-neh-see) adopted Chanel from a pet shelter in Newport News, Va. when she was six weeks old.

They say Chanel in her later years wore tinted goggles, called “doggles” for her cataracts and favored sweaters because she was sensitive to the cold but still lively for her age.

Chanel wearing her “Doggles” with owner Denice

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Handlers say Gidget the Chihuahua, whose Taco Bell commercials made her a star, has died. She was 15.

The owner of Studio Animal Services in Castaic says Gidget suffered a massive stroke late Tuesday at her trainer’s home in Santa Clarita and had to be euthanized.

Gidget was the sassy mascot in Taco Bell commercials from 1997 to 2000. While other dogs had bit parts, it was her bug-eyed, big-eared face that is seen pronouncing, in a dubbed male voice, “Yo quiero Taco Bell,” Spanish for “I want Taco Bell.”

The ads made the Taco Bell mascot wildly popular, although they provoked some criticism from activists who felt they used Mexican stereotypes.

Gidget also had a role in the movie “Legally Blonde 2.”