ANIMAL CRACKERS

The things animals have to put up with to humour their humans! First this three-year-old Labradoodle looks like she’s dye-ing of embarrassment after being made up by her New Zealand owner to look like a tiger. Her owner says she did it to bring laughter and amusement to the community. 
“This is such a nice way to make people smile and give them something to talk about,” she said. 
The dog doesn’t look as if she’s smiling.

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Then there’s Tai, the 42-year-old elephant who, after starring in the new Fox film Water For Elephants, was transported to a Santa Monica hotel to stand in the parking lot posing patiently with journalists who interviewed her co-stars, Reese Witherspoon and Rob Pattinson, but rarely spoke to her. 

Me, Tai and her co-star  (Photo: Theo Kingma)

And yes, I’m as guilty as the rest but at least I chatted to her and she waved her trunk (gratefully, I think, but somewhat alarmingly) at me.

Fortunately Reese Witherspoon was on hand to exercise a calming effect on us both.