Animal grief: how animals mourn
November 5th, 2011
Animal Grief - how animals mourn
Watch Animal Grief: How Animals Mourn now on YouTube
Don’t laugh next time someone tells you that animals can feel grief. There’s now the science to prove it.
Filed Under: General
Tags: animal grief book, Animal Grief: how animals mourn, David Alderton book, dolphins, elephant graveyard, Elephants, Gorilla, grieving chimpanzees, Orangutan
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The dolphins at Monkey Mia
February 13th, 2011If you’re looking for an amazing encounter with wildlife at close quarters, and are heading to western Australia, plan your route carefully! Driving along the dirt road to Monkey Mia, close to the town of Denham, some 800km (500ml) north of Perth in Australia will lead to an opportunity for a truly unique encounter with wild dolphins. A small group of these marine mammals living in the area actually swim into the shore on a regular basis and allow themselves to be touched by people – an event that happens nowhere else in the world.
One of the dolphins at Monkey Mia.
Other dolphins in the vicinity were soon attracted to this part of the bay where the pickings were easy, but it was not until 1964 that a teenager on holiday in the area persuaded an old toothless dolphin nicknamed Old Speckled Belly to take fish from her hand while she stood in shallow water close to the jetty. This dolphin then allowed herself to be fed by other people in a similar way.
By the time that Wilf and Hazel Mason took over the caravan park next to the shore in 1975, the dolphins had become regular visitors. News of their readiness to associate with people has spread, and today, the campsite has grown into a tourist attraction, drawing visitors from all over the world. Every day, the park ranger heads down to the shore around seven o’clock in the morning, when the dolphins are most likely to make an appearance. The eager crowd of visitors are organised into a line in the shallows and wait in anticipation.
The dolphins usually first reveal their presence by leaping out of the water further out to sea. As they approach the beach, the dolphins then readily accept the greetings from the people there, allowing themselves to be stroked and taking fish from the hand. Sometimes, mother dolphins bring their young, and so knowledge about this encounter has been handed down through the generations. Just as Old Charley had usually swum off by 8.30am, those visiting the beach today still adhere to his routine, so that if there has not been a sighting of the dolphins by this stage, they are unlikely to be seen that day.
Out of an estimated population of some 150 dolphins in the Shark Bay area however, less than a dozen will venture inshore to the beach. They can all be recognised by individual marks and nicks on the bodies and fins, allowing scientists to monitor their comings and goings, but no-one can yet explain as to why some are ready to associate closely with humans in this way. The fact that these dolphins do not swim away as soon as they have eaten suggests that they enjoy aspects of human contact, beyond the obvious attraction of food.
Dangerous substances for cats
September 25th, 2010A surprising number of household products and remedies, including aspirin, are poisonous to cats, and so it’s never advisable to treat a sick cat without seeking veterinary advice first. Other dangers include anti-freeze, which cats like to drink, even though it will cause kidney failure. Be sure to keep all such chemicals out of reach of cats around the home. If you suspect that your cat might have ingested a poisonous substance, you may be able to give it salt water to make it vomit, based on your vet’s advice. But never try to make a cat sick if you suspect that it has drunk a corrosive substance.
Touching tributes
August 11th, 2010The degree of loyalty which dogs can display towards their owners can be truly remarkable. In Japan, near Shibuya train station, there’s a sculpture to a special dog, paid for by public donations. It is a tribute to the devotion of Hachiko, who was a Japanese Akita.
Hachiko used to walk to the station with his owner each morning, and would then return to accompany him home in the evening. Even though the professor died suddenly at Tokyo university during 1925, Hachiko continued this journey back and forth to the station every day for a further 10 years, in the hope that they would be reunited.
In its own way, this simple gravestone in an Edinburgh churchyard is just as poignant, even though the events surrounding it are not well-known, especially when compared with the case of Greyfriars Bobby – this Scottish city’s most famous canine resident.
© kyz
Commemorative stone
The engraved inscription on the stone tells of the death of an elderly shepherd in 1795, but that is only part of the story. John Foord became caught up in a fierce snowstorm on Corstorphine hill in February that year, while tending his sheep. When he was found after the blizzard, he was lying dead near a rock, with the body of his sheepdog at his side.
His friends then decided to bring the rock down the hill, and cut it to create this tombstone. They also placed the smaller stone alongside it, to commemorate the death of John Foord’s faithful canine companion, who stayed with him right to the end.
Filed Under: Dogs
Tags: Greyfriars Bobby, Hachiko, Japanese Akita, loyal pets, sheepdog
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Dog Photographer of the Year
July 19th, 2010The 2010 Dog Photographer of the Year competition has been launched, and it’s easy to take part. For full details, call 020 7518 1035/1009. Entries should be accompanied by a donation of £3.50, with all monies raised going to the Kennel Club Charitable Trust, which funds a wide variety of work ranging from research into canine diseases to welfare initiatives and the promotion of support dogs which work closely alongside people.
The winning photographs will be put on display at Discover Dogs, London’s leading canine event which takes place at Earls Court in November, and the overall winner will be placed on the front cover of the Kennel Gazette, the flagship monthly publication of the Kennel Club. Winners from each category will be presented with a framed print of their photograph.
There are four categories:-
* Dogs at Work
* Dog at Play
* Dog Portrait
* Man’s Best Friend
There is also a special category for entrants under 16, simply called ‘I Love Dogs’ – entry is free in this case.
Tags: Discover Dogs, Dog Photographer of the Year, Kennel Club Charitable Trust
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A Strange-coloured Cat
June 12th, 2010
Unusual silvery colouration in a cat. © kgsz.
Sam the spaniel is back home again!
May 30th, 2010After vanishing from his home on a farm in the English county of Devon over two and a half years ago, Sam the crossbred spaniel has finally been reunited with his owners, Christine and Ray Robinson. They had been devastated when their beloved pet suddenly disappeared.
Sam the cross-bred spaniel.
Following many months of searching, posting hundreds of “missing” posters through the area and even visiting a psychic, Christine almost gave up hope of ever seeing Sam again, but her husband Ray was confident that they would be reunited as Sam was microchipped. Using a process similar to giving an injection, the tiny microchip – about the size of a grain of rice – is inserted under the skin in the neck. It contains a unique code, which can be read by a special reader.
Sam’s details had been logged with the UK’s largest pet reunification service, known as PetLog, which is run by the Kennel Club. Their database presently contains the details of over 4.2 million pets and their owners, with this figure growing by 40,000 each month. Welfare organisations, dog wardens, veterinary practices and similar groups can trace owners of stray dogs through this scheme, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Sam was finally discovered wandering along the side of a road several miles from where he had last been seen. He was taken to the local pub, in the hope that the landlord might recognise him. When he didn’t, the local dog warden was called and Sam was scanned to see if he had been microchipped.
Christine was amazed and delighted to be reunited with Sam. “It is really fantastic to have him back, and to think that if we hadn’t had him microchipped and his details stored with Petlog, we would never have seen him again. Everyone should have their dog microchipped – it’s such a wonderful service.
“Sam was jumping all over us when we came to pick him up and, as we were approaching the farm, he went wild, tail wagging and running around. He knew exactly where he was! The people who had taken him in had obviously cared for him and treated him well as a family pet. When he left us, he was a healthy gundog, but he has come back slightly overweight. He still enjoys going out with us, although he seems to have forgotten his gundog training.”
*For more information about Petlog, visit http://www.petlog.org.uk
Filed Under: Dogs
Tags: microchipping, Petlog, Sam the spaniel, the Kennel Club
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Discover your dog’s ancestry!
May 9th, 2010Do you have a cross-bred or mongrel but aren’t sure of its origins? It’s always fascinating attempting to work out which particular breeds may originally have contributed to your pet’s make-up. Several years ago, I tried to come up with a formula to identify different characteristics for this purpose. It formed the basis of The Mutt Book : Decoding Your Mutt’s Heritage, which was published in association with the Dogs Trust.
This wasn’t scientific of course, but now, for the first time, you can take the guesswork out of the equation, as a DNA test has just been launched which should reveal your dog’s true origins. All you need to do is to take a swab from your dog’s cheek, which is completely painless and easy to do, and then send it direct to the laboratory.
Within three weeks, you’ll receive your pet’s official ancestry report back. This will be based on a comparison with the DNA of over 170 breeds – the largest database of its type on the market.
Neale Fretwell, director of research and development at Mars Veterinary which has pioneered the test, points out that knowing your dog’s background is important, because there are significant breed differences, not just in terms of appearance but behaviour as well.
“It’s not just about curiosity,” he says. “The smarter you are about your dog’s past, the smarter you can be about his future”. Neale explains that by knowing the breeds which contributed to your pet’s ancestry, so you will be able to meet its feeding, training and exercise requirements more effectively.
The test itself costs £61.29 and is available through Pet-Supermarket. Just click here, visit the site and type ‘DNA Test’ in the search box.
Tags: canine DNA testing, dog dna, dog DNA tests, mutt ancestries, mutts, tracing your dog's ancestry
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Cat voted leader of UK political party : policy change follows
April 18th, 2010One cat has risen to lead one of the United Kingdom’s most colourful political parties. The Monster Raving Loony Party was set up in 1983 by a rock musician David Sutch, who was better-known to the public as Screaming Lord Sutch, and campaigned hard at various elections on policies including the abolition of income tax. Following the death of the party founder in 1999, the membership then met to vote for a successor.
The result was a tie between Alan “Howling Laud” Hope, who was acting leader, and his cherished pet, Cat Mandu. The cat was hailed as being responsible for producing the party’s manifesto for the general election of 2001, which consisted of a blank sheet of paper. Sadly, this new era of co-operation in British politics came to a premature end in July 2002, when Cat Mandu was killed by a car crossing the street.
But Cat Mandu lived long enough to see a lasting policy change affecting cats, arising from a proposal put forward by the Monster Raving Loony Party in 1984. Their proposal for pet passports was laughed at by all the mainstream parties at that stage. And yet these were introduced by the British government in 2001 and now cats can travel to the United Kingdom from Europe and a number of other countries without having to spend time in quarantine.
Cat Mandu is just one of cats featured in my book Famous Felines available here from the Pet Info Club shop.
Tags: Cat Mandu, General Election, Monster Raving Loony Party, Screaming Lord Sutch
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Environmental vandalism in Brighton
April 16th, 2010When BBC’s Countryfile programme visited the English city of Brighton and Hove recently to cover the urban shepherd scheme, focusing on how sheep are being allowed to graze in the confines of the city’s parkland, they didn’t record the massive habitat damage taking place in another area of the city directly because of this programme.
Huge swathes of mature woodland which are home to a wide variety of species ranging from jays to pheasants, are being felled and burnt to create new sheep habitat. Yet this has never even been a sheep grazing area – at least for the past half century. If sheep habitat was required, there is a downland field just five minutes walk away, which has been left fallow, and so could have been used very easily.
It’s hard to understand how a Council where the Greens have a very significant influence, and hope to return a Green Member of Parliament for the first time in the forthcoming General Election could allow this wanton act of enviromental vandalism to occur. This is no different from clearing rainforest for agriculture. Furthermore, disturbing the habitat of breeding birds at this time of year is also a criminal offence, but in spite of being aware of this, the council workers have carried on regardless.
Some of the destroyed area of woodland
Filed Under: General
Tags: BBC, BBC Countryfile, Brighton & Hove City Council, General Election, Green Party, woodland clearance
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