Are crows into Grand Theft Auto? These brainy birds steal windshield wiper blades for reasons known only to themselves, although having fun with them might be the answer.

Ravens seem more interested in studying sign language. Like primates and humans, the birds use gestures to communicate—in this case, pointing with their beaks.

SteveD | cc by 2.0

Octopuses have bird brains (read "big brains") too. Some octopuses in captivity make toys and games out of items in their tanks. Some let the people they like stroke their heads, while a person on an octopus's bad side may get squirted.

Fish enjoy the calming effects of touch, too, but not from people. They will allow small fish who work as full-time cleaners to nibble at their scales even when they don't have parasites because they like the gentle massage.

Dogs, of course, love affection from people, and their devotion to their guardians doesn't usually fade when that guardian passes away. A faithful dog in China refuses to leave his guardian's grave, and the townspeople plan to build a doghouse there for the grieving canine.

After being stolen from his home, held for five years, and then apparently dumped after he developed a medical problem, a precocious pup who loves to travel hopped on a bus. When he was spotted by the driver and taken to a vet, his microchip guaranteed that the next trip he took was back home to his family.

Another clever canine is a hero after she grabbed a bag of kittens someone had tossed onto the highway, pulled it off the road, dragged it home, and cried until her guardian opened it.

Resourceful deer, raccoons, blue herons, and other animals have figured out how to safely cross the road (without instructions from chickens).

Paul, the octopus who correctly "predicted" the outcome of seven World Cup matches and the final, has been found dead in his tank in a German aquarium. PETA Germany has appealed to aquarium officials not to subject another intelligent and fascinating octopus to a life of confinement to a tank.

In the sea where they belong, these willowy, winsome creatures form relationships with other octopuses and communicate through color change and their skin texture. They are curious and like to decorate their homes with trinkets such as bottle caps and shells ("an octopus's garden"). They are gentle and shy and try to avoid human contact.

Please learn to appreciate and respect these fascinating and sensitive animals instead of crisp-frying their tentacles and making sauce out of the ink that they use as a natural defense. To honor Paul, order a free vegetarian/vegan starter kit today for yourself or a friend. And here's a fabulous faux-fish dish to get you started.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lecates/ / CC BY 2.0

Showing cruelty of gastronomical proportions, restaurants in Queens (Sik Gaek and East Seafood Restaurant) are chopping up and serving live octopuses to customers. Octopuses have their tentacles cut off while they are still conscious and are then served, writhing, while their hearts are still beating. Others are slowly steamed alive in front of customers before their tentacles and upper bodies are cut into small pieces with scissors.

Since we can't "release the Kraken" on these animal abusers, we're unleashing our legal team on the district attorney—calling on the DAs to file cruelty charges against the restaurants. Because octopuses have sophisticated nervous systems and feel pain just as acutely as mammals do, we feel that the restaurants' practices clearly violate the state's anti-cruelty statute.

Recently, octopuses were observed carrying around coconut shells to use as shelter—making these complex cephalopods the first known invertebrate animals to use tools. These "deep" thinkers are also fond of decorating. They decorate their dens with bottle caps, stones, and other objects that they find on the ocean floor. They are so smart that they can also learn how to do things such as unscrew jars by watching someone else do it—once!

Let's hope that the district attorney in this case is just as smart and sentient. You can call or fax the Queens County District Attorney's Office and politely ask that they take action against these restaurateurs. We'll keep you posted. Until then, take this octopus-inspired poll.

Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth