News: General

BT engineers are suffering at the jaws of the nation’s dogs. There have been 150 dog attacks on engineers since 2007 and the company has decided to take action. Openreach, the BT division upgrading the telecoms network to fibre-optic cables, said that 24 of its engineers have been attacked just this year — with the…

Children with learning disabilities are being entered into schemes where they are reading to dogs. The four-legged friends in turn are being enlisted to hear recitations of Dr. Seuss, Hans Christian Andersen, and J.K. Rowling in schools and libraries. The reason? Studies show conclusively that children who read to an audience perform much better when…

Scientists claim they may have discovered the secret to a longer life – but so far the treatment is only suitable for pets. The potential cure for age is a drug which protects telomeres, sections of DNA long thought to be the key to the ageing process. However, the treatment is not yet considered safe…

New research claims an estimated 1.5 million dogs in Britain are currently suffering from Separation Anxiety as a result of being left home alone. The condition can leave dogs feeling as traumatised as a young child would be by the same experience. In one study researchers placed video cameras in the home of 20 dog…

The late Leona Helmsley’s Maltese dog Trouble (seen together right),who inherited $12 million (£7.3 million), and became one of the richest bitches in the world, has died at the age of 12. The statement from the multi-billion dollar trust of Helsley’s real estate empire said yesterday “Trouble passed away on December 13, 2010. She was…

Birds and cats are dying as many households turn to doing their own rat catching because councils have cut their pest control departments, leading to an increase in rat infestations – rat numbers are now up to an estimated 80 million. According to The Times,  Peter Crowden, chairman of the National Pest Technicians Association, said…

To coincide with the 2011 National Census, insurers Petplan asked the nation their own set of questions and have now revealed the Petplan Pet Census 2011 – the UK’s largest ever study of its kind. While the British people are already known to be a nation of animal lovers, the findings show that pets may…

Despite their vote-winning appeal, dogs and politicians don’t seem to mix. Pooch-loving ministers are relatively rare and no-one can recall a dog in Downing Street since Harold Wilson and his yellow Labrador Paddy (left). Hectic schedules and multiple homes do not favour dog ownership, but there are notable exceptions. The late Michael Foot, the former…

A puppy raised with lambs is leading the fight against wolves in Spain. Dana, a Pyrenean mountain dog like the one above, has been raised with the lambs because his job will be to defend the flock from the re-emergence of its ancient predator – the wolf. Wolves have been detected in hills only 25…

Dutch police have created the world’s first official force dedicated to fighting crimes against animals. The 500-strong team is the pet project of the Party for the Animals, which has two MPs under the Netherlands’ proportional representation system. In 2008 Malaysian police rescued more than 1,200 protected animals, including monitor lizards and pythons, thought to…