We know that the summer of animals is over, because there is real news again at last. Which is why we ignored the story yesterday about Shamu, the 35-pound black-and-white cat who turned up at the same New Jersey animal shelter as Intel favorite Princess Chunk. But today we learn that Princess Chunk himself has again fallen victim to the foibles of his owners. He's being exploited! Look at the outrageous picture of Chunk on the Courier Post Website, as he is poked and prodded by fans. He's garishly festooned with banners and balloons like some whorey, feline Miss New Jersey. The animal shelter that rescued him, the Camden County Animal Shelter, wants to use him for more appearances like this to raise money for their organization. The Damiani family, who adopted him, thinks he's being used as a "pawn." Princess Chunk deserves better!

Chunk's adoption held up by contract squabble with shelter [Courier Post]