Artist John Coleman paints faces of pets on a mural at the Save-A-Pet animal hospital in Desert Hot Springs, Calif., on Dec. 2, 2013.
The resort town warned last month that it will run out of money by March due to burdensome salary and pension costs and could join other U.S. cities that have recently filed for bankruptcy protection. The city of 26,000 about 110 miles east of Los Angeles would become the third Californian city since 2012 to seek court protection from creditors.
-- Reuters