Around the world, people enrich their lives with the loving company of pets to cuddle and nurture.
For many pet owners, their beloved animals serve as members of the family - although seeing as they can't communicate with humans, sometimes they can be difficult to understand.
Other times, they can be downright weird.
Pet owners in the US and Europe have shared such examples of their cats, dogs and other critters behaving very strangely indeed - to the point where they have struck fear in their humans' hearts.
From a black cat who appears to have discovered witchcraft to a hamster whose sleep was so deep its owner thought it was dead, the owners of these pets have had quite a fright.
Human beings are a species of animal lovers and around the world, people enrich their lives with pets to love and nurture. But sometimes, their odd behaviour can give us a fright. The American owners of this Sphynx cat posted a snap of her on Facebook and said they were 'terrified' after capturing her in this position
WackoJaco has collected some of the weirdest and most bizarre snaps of animals gone rogue which have scared the living daylights out of their owners.
Here, FEMAIL reveals the best of the bunch...
This cat owner walked in on their feline standing over a lit candle in a scene that resembled a spell-casting of some sort - and the cat looked very shocked indeed to have been interrupted
In 2017, Canuck the Crow from Vancouver, Canada, caused a frenzy when he stole a sharp corrugated knife from a crime scene and attacked a mailman with it
This black Labrador owner got the fright of their life when they woke up in bed to find their pooch standing over them carrying a plastic fork in its mouth
What do they know? These cats, lined up and sitting in the same position while staring at their owner, look like they are up to no good
Curiosity didn't kill this cat - but it certainly made it look like a non-mortal creature when the feline sneezed into a white powdery substance
Ascend the stairs... if you dare! This cat owner likely got a fright when they went up to bed and saw their felines eerily waiting at the top
Whatever you do, don't open the curtains: This cat owner went to draw the drapes in their home only to be given a sharp warning against it
This adorable pooch picked up its favourite ball on a walk - but the markings on the toy made it look like the angelic puppy had very vicious gnashers
This hamster was in such a deep sleep on its exercise wheel that its owners thought it had died
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