Pets returned to shelters in Hungary as owners face rising costs
Budapest, Hungary Reuters Chelsy, a soft-eyed dog with an immune illness, has been returned to a Hungarian animal shelter two years after he was adopted as his owners can no longer afford the vet’s bills or his food, forced to sell their own home to make ends meet. Chelsy, four, is not alone. People turn […]
Cash-strapped Britons give up pets as living costs soar
London, UK Reuters Stood on her hind legs to greet any prospective owner who might approach her glass-doored kennel, Harriet is a black English cocker spaniel abandoned as a deepening cost-of-living crisis pushes growing numbers of Britons to part with their pets. She was found running along a busy road in London after witnesses saw […]
StrangeSights: Cooling for hot dogs and cats; “chief candy officer” wanted; and, a giant Swiss flag…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Brazilian city’s homeless get incentive for going to shelter: beds for their pets
Canoas, Brazil Reuters A small city in southern Brazil has found a way to attract more homeless people to one of its shelters on chilly winter nights: They now also take in people’s pets. Canoas – a city with an estimated population of 348,000 in the state of Rio Grande do Sul – came to […]
Health Insight: Pet therapy – how dogs, cats and horses help improve human wellbeing
In an article first published on The Conversation, ANN HEMINGWAY, professor of public health and wellbeing at Bournemouth University in the UK, looks at the role pets can play in human health…
Latvian woman drives into Ukraine to rescue pets
Lviv, Ukraine Reuters At an animal shelter in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, Natalia Horobets bid an emotional farewell to her beloved pet cat Charly on Monday. Horobets and her husband had fled their home in the eastern city of Kramatorsk as Ukrainian troops fought Russian invaders. But after a difficult journey west on […]
Dog custody: Spain to consider pets’ welfare in divorce battles
Madrid, Spain Reuters Spain will consider a pet’s welfare when couples divorce or break-up from Wednesday in a legal shift that strengthens the case for couples obtaining shared custody of their animals. The decision follows similar moves in France and Portugal and obliges judges to consider pets as sentient beings rather than objects owned by […]
As Spanish volcano roars, drones drop food for dogs stranded by lava
La Palma, Spain Reuters Several emaciated dogs lie curled up in and around a walled, ash-covered yard cut off by volcanic lava in the mountainous area of Todoque on the Spanish island of La Palma, until a drone appears in the sky to drop packages with food and water. They lift their heads to look […]
Philippines pets receive blessings in drive-through ceremony
Manila, Philippines Reuters Hundreds of animal lovers in the Philippines had their pets blessed via a drive-through ceremony on Sunday to mark World Animal Day and the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, forgoing the usual fanfare due to COVID-19. This was the second straight year that organisers had to […]
UK Government plans new pet abduction offence after rise in thefts
London, UK Reuters The British Government said on Friday it was planning to make pet abduction a criminal offence in England after a rise in the theft of animals, especially dogs, during the COVID-19 pandemic. With pet ownership surging during coronavirus lockdowns as people spent more time at home, the price of some dog breeds […]