shameless animal video of the week

We commend these guys for humanely trapping and releasing a mouse. Too bad their plan backfired so very, very quickly. Seconds after being set loose in a field, a hawk swoops up and grabs it. Their reaction is priceless. So much hard work for nothing.

Cat and dog lovers alike will be grinning after this one, in which Buster busts out some MacGyver moves on a sliding door to help his puppy friends get back into the house.

This is Aero. He went to the vet for treatment, which he recovered handily. But in the meantime, this is what he sounds like when he's expressing displeasure under sedation. The results sound eerily similar to Chewbacca: So that's how they did it...

Just when we finally thought that dubstep was mercifully on its way out, a new video comes along that breathes life back into the dance genre. And who do we owe for that? None other than cats, the internet's unofficial mascot. We'll get you for this, cats.

Ahh, puppies. We have no idea how it's possible, but everything they do is so darn cute. They can wear an Elvis suit, prepare for Hurricane Sandy or even subject themselves to toddler torture, and they're still ridiculously charming.

We've said this before, and we'll say it again -- puppies and kids are a match made in adorable heaven, especially when they're playing together. How do they pull it off? We have no idea, nor are we questioning.

Remember when something as simple as a balloon could occupy your attention? Neither do we, but these dogs sure have a great time excitedly batting a pink balloon around in their backyard like there's no tomorrow.

We think grumpy dogs are super-adorable -- it's just that dogs this big don't usually fall into the "precious" category.

Breakfast, as they say, is the most important meal of the day. So why not start things off with a nice, healthy cat omelet? And look -- two of them have already climbed into a frying pan for you. We're kidding, of course. We don't condone eating cats. (Usually.)

You might want to watch a video of a cat on a treadmill for the moment when it goes flying off and hits a door hard enough to make a sound but not hard enough to injure the cat. This is not that video. This is a video of a cat that does a pretty good job of running on a treadmill. Good job, cat. Good job, internet.