Laurens County, S.C., Sheriff's Office

Rebecca Smith Keith of Laurens, S.C., and her two daughters were free on misdemeanor animal cruelty charges.

Three South Carolina women face court hearings on animal abuse charges after sheriff's deputies serving an eviction notice found more than 80 dead animals — including baby deer — littered around their property, court records show.

"I guess you could say they're like family," one of the women said of the dead animals.

The women — identified in Laurens County jail records as Rebecca Smith Keith, 58, and her daughters, Amanda Keith Woolf, 33, and Sara Janette Keith, 31 — were arrested Thursday. They were freed on $5,000 bond apiece and were scheduled for preliminary court appearances on July 5.

Sara Keith, who records show lives at the rental property in Laurens with her mother, was charged with "mistreating an animal in general." Rebecca Keith and Woolf, who lives at a separate address in nearby Waterloo, were charged with failing to bury a dead animal. All of the charges are misdemeanors.

Laurens County Sheriff's Lt. Judy Stiles told NBC station WYFF of Greenville, S.C., that the animals had been dead for some time.

"It was all sorts of animals — dogs, cats, birds and even baby deer," Stiles said. Some of the carcasses were found in the refrigerator and the freezer, she said.

Woolf told WSPA-TV of Spartanburg that she and her relatives "didn't want to leave them behind."

Woolf told the station that a veterinarian had told them it was OK to keep animals in the freezer. But the property's landlord, Jason English, said power to the home had been cut off.

"My nightmares have nightmares about what we saw," English told WSPA.

Laurens County court records show that earlier this month, Sara Keith was sentenced to 20 days in jail for "ill treatment" and "overworking" of animals. Details of that case weren't available Sunday.

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Alex Wong / Getty Images

Are Punxsutawney Phil's days numbered after an Ohio prosecutor indicted him and said he deserves the death penalty?

An Ohio prosecutor says Punxsutawney Phil should be predicting the weather from six feet under.

With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Michael Gmoser, the prosecuting attorney in Butler County, filed court papers this week indicting the world-famous groundhog for "misrepresentation of early spring" and announcing his intention to seek the death penalty.

"This is a ground-breaking indictment," Gmoser said Friday as he fielded phone calls from around the world about the light-hearted legal battle. "There's a lot of people who want a piece of him. I know because I'm getting recipes from around the country."

On Feb. 2, Phil forecast an early spring when he emerged from his Pennsylvania home and did not see his shadow. Six weeks later, Gmoser looked out his window to snow, high winds and frigid air.

"I said to someone, 'Phil let us down. I ought to indict the little rascal.' They said, 'Why don't you?' and I said, 'I think I will,'" the prosecutor said.

He said he had to seek the ultimate penalty because otherwise the indictment would have had no teeth.

Courtesy Butler County prosecutor's office

Butler County prosecutor Michael Gmoser filed indictment papers against Punxsutawney Phil for falsely predicting an early spring.

"Phil right now is in jail, behind bars, serving a life sentence. Because of that, there's nothing left for Phil but the death penalty," Gmoser said.

He was laughing, but sadly, not everyone got the joke.

"Frankly, I have received a number of phone calls from people who think this is a serious story," he said. "It's a spoof. We do some real serious work regarding rape, murder and mayhem and it's something to lighten the spirits of folks around here."

Phil could not be reached for comment, but Jeffrey Lundy, vice president of the Punxsutawney Ground Hog Club, said there was no chance of extradition.

“He's going to have to go through 15 licensed hunters to get to Phil,” Lundy told Triblive.com.

A Connecticut legislator has proposed a bill that would allow the appointment of an advocate to act on behalf of an animal during court proceedings.

Connecticut State Rep. Diana Urban proposed the bill, known as HB 6310, "An Act Concerning Animal Advocates in Court Proceedings." It would permit a veterinarian with the Department of Agriculture to be appointed as an advocate for an animal whose welfare or custody is the subject of a civil or criminal court proceeding.

"HB 6310 would give the option for an advocate in court for an egregiously injured animal," said Urban, a Democrat from North Stonington, Conn. "This would enable the animal's injury to be identified as a red flag for future violent behavior. We are putting together a public/private partnership with the state Department of Agriculture and nonprofit rescue groups including Connecticut Votes for Animals to be available to speak for the animals in court."

Also on NBCConnecticut.com: New backlash over Conn. state budget

Urban was joined at a news conference Thursday by Asa Palmer, a North Stonington high school student who discovered two of the cows on his family farm shot in the face in January. One of the cows had to be euthanized.

"If this was in place today, Asa Palmer could request an advocate for his young cow, 'Angel,' who was shot in the face and left with her jaw hanging off," Urban said.

Two men have been charged with shooting Palmer's cows.

The bill, which is awaiting action in the legislature's Judiciary Committee, has the support of other lawmakers.

Also on NBCConnecticut.com: Caregiver charged after elderly woman is found on snow bank

"Much like our children who cannot advocate on behalf of themselves, innocent animals that are abused or worse, killed, deserve that same right," said Rep. Brenda Kupchick, a Republican from Fairfield, Conn. "Violence of any type is unacceptable and we must do whatever we can to give a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves."

It was not clear if or when the Judiciary Committee would take action on Urban's bill.

Handout / REUTERS

A veterinary technician reviews the pictures on the monitor as a member of the animal staff maneuvers the ultrasound wand on a pregnant Sumatran tiger named "Leanne" in this October 4, 2012 handout photo supplied by the San Francisco Zoo and released February 14, 2013.

It's anyone's guess what the sex of the 10-day old Sumatran tiger at the San Francisco zoo is.

That's because no human has been inside the Lion House to see the cub, born Feb. 10 to parents Leanne and Larry. Still photographs

taken from the video camera inside the grotto show the striped cub nuzzled against its resting mother.

Zoo spokeswoman Abbie Tuller said the gender of the cub will be revealed in a couple of weeks when a veterinarian goes in for a routine wellness check.

Tanya Peterson, executive director and president of the San Francisco Zoo, said that Sumatran tigers are a critically endangered species and the population in the wild is estimated at less than 400.

Zoo officials also pointed to the excellent prenatal care the Mama tiger received. Leanne is one of the few tigers in the world trained to receive examinations and prenatal sonograms without general anesthesia.

SF Zoo / NBC Bay Area

Baby tiger cub at SF Zoo born Feb. 10.

Leanne is a 9 1/2-year-old female Sumatran tiger. She came to the SF Zoo from the San Antonio Zoo in 2006. This birth is her second litter; her first was in 2008 when she gave birth to three males, who were transferred to other zoos to participate in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan. Leanne is named for the late Leanne Bovet Roberts, a former SF Zoo trustee and very generous donor and supporter of animal care organizations.

Larry is a 6-year old male Sumatran tiger that came to the SF Zoo in 2012 on breeding loan from the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, with a stop at the Jackson [Mississippi] Zoo in between. This is the first litter he has sired. He is named in honor of Lawrence Hauben, the late husband of SF Zoo donor Margaret Hauben, who always signed his correspondence, “Love, Larry the tiger."

This birth represents the first tiger born at the SF Zoo since 2008. Prior to that, the last litter of tigers born at the SF Zoo was in 1976.

Arguably the best known tiger in the Bay Area was Tatiana, who fatally attacked a young man on Dec. 25, 2007, and was killed by police. But she was a Siberian tiger and has no relation to the new baby cub.

KFOR

The miniature colt was recaptured early on, but his mother escaped a second time in Oklahoma City on Friday.

Two miniature horses led motorists, state troopers and animal welfare officers on a merry chase in Oklahoma City for several hours Friday, causing a traffic accident that injured a woman, officials said.

"It's Oklahoma, what do you expect?" Jeannie Troxel, a motorist who stopped to help corral the horses, told NBC station KFOR of Oklahoma City.

The horses — a light brown mare and her colt — broke loose from their field and were first spotted about 4 a.m. (5 a.m. ET), eventually ending up on Interstate 40. The posse of state troopers, animal welfare officers and passing motorists managed to corral the colt, but the mare got loose a second time.

KFOR

The horses were back in their field in Oklahoma on Friday — eight hours and one wreck later.

"We almost hit the horse," said Troxel, who drove past the scene about 7 a.m. "All you could do is — 'Oh, my God.'" 

A white truck whose driver had spotted the excitement ran off the road and into a tree, state Trooper Betsy Randolph told The Oklahoman newspaper. The woman's condition wasn't immediately available. 

Officials said the horses were finally rounded up shortly after noon local time. Animal welfare officials told KFOR that the owners, who haven't been identified, were cited with violations.

"We've been running on foot back and forth, so it's been quite eventful," Troxel told KFOR.

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Richard Shinn / California Dept. of Fish and Gam

California's lone wolf, officially named OR-7 because he was the seventh wolf to be collared in Oregon, has journeyed for more than 3,000 miles and appears to be enjoying northern California.

FRESNO, Calif. -- He doesn't like busy Interstate 5 or eating cattle, at least so far. He gets along with his distant cousins the coyotes, likes to swim and roams a lot — an awful lot — around the northernmost reaches of the Golden State. 

A week or so ago, California's lone gray wolf passed his one-year anniversary as a transplant resident with the same technical accoutrements some people possess: a Twitter account and an online site about his travels. 

"What strikes me about him is that when I talk to the general public they show remarkable knowledge about his movements, much more than some world events," said Richard Callas, a senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. "No matter how you feel about wolves, when you see one it's amazing." 

Far larger than coyotes, wolves were feared and hunted to near-extinction in the U.S. before being protected by the Endangered Species Act. They were reintroduced in the Northern Rockies in the mid-1990s, and some migrated into Idaho and Oregon, where they quickly reproduced. 

California's wolf is known as OR-7 because he was the seventh in Oregon to be fitted with a GPS tracking collar. While most wolves stay within 100 miles of where they were born, OR-7 proved different: he trotted 1,000 miles from northeast Oregon to California, then more than 2,000 miles since arriving. 

Scientists speculate the 3½-year-old is looking for a mate or a new pack, though they know both prospects are remote. He is believed to be the first of the predators to roam within the state's boundaries since 1924, when the last gray wolf was killed by a trapper intent on making the West safe for cattle. 

"The reality is OR-7 is not likely to find a mate in California. He'll likely pass on without successfully reproducing," said Karen Kovacs, whose job as wildlife program manager for the state Department of Fish & Wildlife has been focused lately on this one animal. 

His presence has prompted action by one state and two federal agencies that now have to figure out how to manage the species if others follow in his 5-inch paw prints. Federal wildlife agencies had not considered California a part of the original western states wolf recovery plan. 

Currently the state is considering a petition that would list the wolf as endangered, as he already is federally in California. Killing the wolf means a $100,000 federal fine. 

If the state's wildlife commission approves the petition come October, authorities would determine how many wolves would be needed to populate a given area before the species would not be considered endangered anymore. It would include a plan to deal with livestock depredation and monitoring for disease such as distemper and rabies. 

OR-7 has aroused concerns among residents of the northeastern counties who fear the wolf will kill livestock, although officials say he has not so far. 

The California Cattlemen's Association opposes listing the wolf on California's endangered species list based on a single animal wandering into the state. 

"Any time a predator is introduced, or in this case crosses the border, it concerns people especially those in Northern California where this wolf now seems to call his home," said Justin Oldfield, vice president of government relations for the association. "Our goal now is to work with (wildlife agencies) to see how we can manage this predator in California. That would include things such as ... what livestock owners can do to protect their animals." 

The lone wolf also has been celebrated by fans such as  @iamgreenbean who this week sent the message "We are THRILLED to have you" to the Twitter account @WolfOR7. The anonymous wolf often tweets about eating ungulates, or asking journalists, "Why the fixation with my love life?" 

So beloved is OR-7 in Oregon that a newspaper cartoonist depicted him as a candidate during the 2012 presidential campaign.

Despite the high tech gadgetry hanging from his neck, sightings are rare. Kovac's department updates a tracking map when OR-7 moves significantly out of an area, but since July he has been hanging out mostly in Tehama County, and wildlife officers don't want the public to know exactly where. Cattle ranchers, however, are warned if he gets too close or stays too long in one area.

"When we believe he's reached a threshold, when he's hanging around in one area too long ... we have felt compelled to knock on doors and tell them to be a little more vigilant," Kovacs said.

For the past month, he has been roaming around the northern and eastern edges of Tehama County around Red Bluff as he follows deer migrating from the northern Sierra to lower grazing areas at around 1,500 feet. He has approached I-5 on several occasions, but never crossed the freeway though he has repeatedly crossed less traveled highways.

With a sample size of just one, it's hard to note any breakthroughs in wolf science, though researchers have been amazed at the distances OR-7 has covered. The 3,000 miles recorded are just connecting the dots between GPS coordinates and don't count any meandering in between.

"If you look at dispersing gray wolves, OR-7 is clearly on the far end of the bell curve in terms of how far he has traveled," Kovacs said. "He's not the first, but there are a handful that have traveled this far. That has been what's most interesting about him."

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A man near Fresno, Calif., was mauled to death by four pit bulls that have since been taken away as authorities on Thursday investigated what happened.

The man was found dead Tuesday night in the driveway of a home in Selma. Animal control officers later impounded four pit bulls, six pit bull puppies and two other dogs at a house next door, NBC affiliate KSEE TV reported.

Neither the victim nor the dogs' owner were identified.

A neighbor said he wasn't surprised, saying that the pit bulls had killed his own dog about a month ago.

"They come in our front yard and will come in our driveway," Blake Anderson told KSEE. "I couldn't even get out of my car one time. There were like four of them, so yeah it's ridiculous." 

Anderson said the owner should be held responsible for letting the dogs run free.

Authorities would not confirm if the owner will face any charges.

Liberty Animal Control Services, which handles pet issues in the area, said it had not received any earlier calls about the pit bulls.

"The owner of the animals was cooperative. He did sign all the animals over to Liberty Animal Control Services, where they will not be returned to the owner," Liberty director Daniel Bailey told KSEE.

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