The news never seemed to stop in 2025, and usually, it focused on humans.
But many of the newsmakers walked on four legs, not two.
This year saw headlines about a massive escaped lizard that roamed Western Massachusetts and Connecticut for two weeks, cats entering local politics, cute new additions to zoo exhibits and scientific breakthroughs involving animals from dogs to donkeys.
Here are some of the best animal-related stories from the past year.
Escaped lizard gains a loyal social media following
Goose, the water monitor lizard, escaped from his Webster home in July, where he was being kept illegally as a pet. The more than 4-foot-long reptile got as far away as Connecticut during the more than two weeks he spent on the run.
Law enforcement and residents frequently posted sightings of Goose on social media during his time on the run. Massachusetts Environmental Police captured him on Aug. 2. The officers used hard-boiled eggs and pieces of chicken to lure the lizard out of its hiding place.
Since then, Goose has been living comfortably at Rainforest Reptile Shows’ Oasis Foundation, a nonprofit animal sanctuary. But he’s still making waves online, as the organization has set up a 24/7 livestream of his habitat for his fans to keep an eye on him.
Tom Brady reveals his dog is a clone
It sounds like something out of science fiction, but this headline was real. Former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said recently that his dog, Junie, is a clone of his beloved dog, Lua, who died in 2023.
A company Brady is an investor in, Colossal Biosciences, collected some of Lua’s blood before her death and used the DNA to clone her, the retired quarterback said.
Colossal Biosciences is mainly focused on “de-extinction,” bringing back animal and plant species that no longer exist on Earth, such as the woolly mammoth.
Hundreds of sea turtles rescued on the Cape
As winter sets in each year, it’s not uncommon for sea turtles in New England waters to end up cold-stunned, a condition that leaves them weak and sluggish.
Last month, volunteers rescued more than 200 cold-stunned turtles that washed up on Cape Cod beaches and brought them to the New England Aquarium’s sea turtle hospital in Quincy for treatment.
Aquarium staff said they’re expecting a lot of cold-stunned turtles this winter, but that they’re ready to provide care.
As of Dec. 18, 667 cold-stunned sea turtles have been rescued from Cape Cod Bay beaches, according to Mass Audubon. Most of them — 573 — are Kemp’s ridleys, the world’s most endangered sea turtle species.
Service dog training program in Mass. prisons expands
For two decades, inmates at Massachusetts prisons have trained hundreds of future service dogs. The program helps both the dogs and the rehabilitation of the people who train the canines.
“When you observe the program inside our facilities, you see the positive influence it has on morale, on the environment, and on the individuals involved. The handlers develop skills they can use upon release, and many describe finding purpose in contributing to something beyond themselves,” DOC Commissioner Shawn Jenkins said. “These dogs go on to assist people with a variety of needs, and we value the opportunity to support that mission.”
This year, the program expanded to Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Framingham, the state’s only women’s prison.
The program has trained more than 850 dogs since its inception.
Hawk rescued after hit by SUV
A hawk was rescued from the grill of a Honda SUV after it was struck by the vehicle on Interstate 495 in Chelmsford on Jan. 16.
Technicians from a nearby car dealership — working with state environmental police and Chelmsford Animal Control — removed parts from the front of the SUV to free the hawk in the safest way possible, according to Massachusetts State Police. It was then taken to the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in North Grafton.
Veterinarians took radiographs of the bird, which had a break in its ulna, a bone in its wing, along with chronic injuries. Dr. Maureen Murray, director of the Tufts Wildlife Clinic at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, said at the time that the hawk would be given pain medication and nutritional support.
Although the fracture healed, the hawk was unable to regain the ability to fly because the injury affected the elbow, Murray said in a written statement on Wednesday (Dec. 31). This led to impaired range of motion and the potential for long-term chronic pain.
“While the Clinic’s primary goal always is to treat and release its patients back into the wild, due to the severity of the injuries, the clinic made the difficult but humane decision to euthanize the bird in early March,” Murray said in the Wednesday statement.
Boston’s most popular dog names
The top 5 most popular dog names in Boston for 2025 included classics like Lucy, Charlie and Luna. But this year, paw-pularity increased with sweet monikers like Maple and Pancake.
It sounds like the North End is getting more dog lovers, too, because Cannoli also rose on the list this year.
Across the country, trendy puppy names leaned heavily toward pop culture references in 2025. The most popular puppy name this year was Elphie, the shortened version of Elphaba, the witch from the blockbuster film “Wicked,” and Elphaba’s best friend, Galinda, also made the list.
More of a cat person? The U.S. most popular cat names list also has a lot of pop culture favorites, but the top kitten names this year were Tater for males and Priscilla for females.
Zoo’s tallest new addition
The Franklin Park Zoo welcomed a newborn Masai giraffe in August, and while the baby boy had some struggles at first, he has since settled into his habitat.
Packenham, or “Packy,” the giraffe, was born to 9-year-old Amari on Aug. 7. While Amari’s pregnancy was normal and her calf seemed healthy, he was unable to nurse. Zoo staff had to bottle-feed him at first, and he was brought to the Hospital for Large Animals at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in Grafton for treatment.
Since then, the young giraffe has made his debut to the public at the Boston zoo. Zoo leaders said in September he was already almost 7 feet tall.
Ditch the bug spray, get a donkey
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst say a compound naturally secreted by donkeys’ skin could be more effective than existing chemical insect repellents at deterring ticks.
The researchers found that chemical substances known as allomones secreted by donkeys can repel deer ticks, which can carry Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and babesiosis, and then spread them to humans. Ticks that would normally feed on horses did not do so when scientists used donkey allomones to mask the horses’ smell.
“The ticks don’t like it, and so they won’t feed on it,” said doctoral student Eric Siegel, lead author of the study. “Our assessment that we can repel ticks with this compound means that, in theory, we could either put it on ourselves or put it on dogs, and the ticks will not want to go near it.”
They hope to eventually develop tick repellents that do not contain pesticides such as DEET, which is commonly used in bug spray.
Somerville chooses a furry, four-legged mayor
At the same time that Somerville voters were preparing to select their next human mayor, they had another — potentially even more important — election to follow: the feline “bike path mayor.”
Originally started as a joke by a couple of cat owners in the Davis Square neighborhood, the campaign eventually expanded to include at least 70 candidates for the coveted position of leader of the Somerville Community Path. Most candidates were cats, but a handful of dogs, other animals and even a houseplant also threw their hats in the ring.
Campaign signs lined the path for weeks with slogans like “Make cats outside again,” “Crunchies in every dish,” “Laser pointing the way to the future” and simply, “Crime.”
That last slogan, run by a fluffy black cat named Minerva, clearly connected well with voters, as she eventually took home the crown in the citywide online vote.
Rare New England alligator spotted in the Charles
Spotting an alligator while walking along a river might seem mundane in Florida, but spotting one in Boston in November is rare.
Multiple people walking or jogging along the Charles River spotted the baby gator in the water or among the fallen leaves and posted photos and videos on social media. State wildlife officials said they were aware of the posts and were looking for the alligator, which was unlikely to survive the cold Massachusetts weather.
But it was a local exotic animal expert and educator who eventually found and captured the reptile. Joseph Kenney, owner of Joe’s Crazzy Critters, said on Instagram that it took him about 15 minutes with a flashlight and headlamp to find the alligator among some reeds on the edge of the river near Back Bay. He hoped it could permanently join his menagerie, which he uses to educate children about animals.
Firefighters rescue dog lost for a month
When West Springfield firefighters went to help the driver of a burning car in April, they weren’t expecting to also rescue a lost family pet.
After the fire was extinguished and the driver was brought to a nearby hospital for treatment, the firefighters began checking the area to ensure no gasoline or other contaminants had leaked into nearby storm drains. Instead, they discovered Ally, a black-and-white dog, trapped inside a nearby drain.
After rescuing the trapped pup, they reported the find to Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center, which had received a report of a missing dog matching her description more than a month before.
Ally was returned safely to her family after the rescue.
