News: Animal welfare

3 November 2011 is the 54th anniversary of Soviet space dog Laika (literally meaning “Barker” the first animal to orbit the Earth – as well as the first animal to die in orbit. As little was known about the impact of spaceflight on living creatures at the time of Laika’s mission, and the technology to…

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…

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…

A species of parakeet living wild in Britain – mainly in London & the south east – could be culled to protect native wildlife. The monk parakeet, originally from South America, damages crops and is a threat to “national infrastructure”, according to the Government. About 100 to 150 of the birds live in the wild…

A disease transmitted by dogs and deadly to people could reach Britain after a European Commission decision to order the lifting of restrictions on pets entering the country. Hundreds of people have died on the Continent in the last 10 years after ingesting Echinococcus multilocularis larvae from a small tapeworm carried by dogs and foxes….

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…

Pet owners caught up in the massive Japanese earthquake are reported to have been alerted to the impending disaster by their cats and dogs. One Akita-owner in the Honshu region is reported as saying that his dog “did everything in his power” to get away from the disaster that was about to strike. He was…

Ronnie, an eight-month-old Labrador Rottweiler-cross (see right), has to stand up to eat his meals because of an incurable condition which prevents him swallowing – so kennel staff have built him his own feeding station. The abandoned puppy suffers from megaoesphagus which stops him from swallowing properly. So when it’s feeding time, he stands on…

A plan to move thousands of stray dogs from Moscow to a site outside the city has been dropped, animal rights activists say. The Hope Bringers charity said that the city government, which had been due to endorse the plan yesterday, dropped it after activists said that it would endanger the animals’ lives. The charity…