Toxicology helplines report 42% increase in calls involving animals poisoned by drugs and nicotine
A record number of pets are ingesting recreational drugs and requiring veterinary care in the UK, figures shared with the Guardian reveal.
Last year, the UK’s only emergency poison centre for animals received its highest ever number of calls involving animals poisoned by cannabis, cocaine, magic mushrooms and nicotine, and it is on course to do so again this year.
Continue reading...Charity calls for faster progress on humane slaughter laws for farmed fish in England and Wales
Up to 77m fish are slaughtered each year in the UK but there are no routine or mandatory inspections of fish slaughterhouses in England and Wales, it can be revealed.
Concerns within government about the way fish are slaughtered date back decades but all of the official bodies responsible for animal welfare and food standards in England and Wales said they do not undertake regular inspections.
Continue reading...Designer showcases wool alternatives and ocean-inspired clothes and says ‘kindness requires real work’
Stella McCartney has been talking about animal rights at fashion week for 30 years. She is usually a lone voice, but the issue is back in the headlines this season. Outcry over the physical restraining of a Peta protester at a catwalk show by Steven Kolb, the president of New York fashion week’s governing body, has put cruelty in wool production – previously considered niche compared to the hot button topic of fur – on the news agenda.
“There is no wool on the runway this season, and I’m proud of that,” McCartney said after her show. She has been working on wool alternatives, including Brewed Protein, a fermented alternative to cashmere and wool developed in collaboration with the Japanese biotech firm Spiber, which was first used in her collections a year ago.
Continue reading...Two troops of chacma baboons are breaking into homes and shops but animal rights activists insist coexistence is the answer
Cape Town’s city council has said it will “imminently” round up two baboon troops coming into repeated conflict with residents. The animals will be sterilised and permanently moved to a newly constructed sanctuary. The plan has been fiercely criticised by animal rights activists, who say the monkeys should remain roaming freely, and that less destructive options have not been properly considered.
Cape Town’s baboon problem has been brewing since the 2000s, after the city stopped culling troops in the late 1990s after pressure from the public. But in the past two years it has reached boiling point. A 2025 census found that the population had grown by a third since 2000, from 360 baboons to 493, now living in 12 managed troops.
Continue reading...Former Yes musician plays at sanctuary to raise awareness of animals that remain stuck in cages at ‘bile farms’
Rick Wakeman has played to all kinds of people around the globe, but he has now performed to an audience he had never encountered before – an enclosure of 150 bears.
The former Yes musician, who has gone on to have a prolific solo career, played the piano at a Vietnamese bear sanctuary.
Continue reading...Dog collars, guitars and self-portraits among 285 objects, with money going to her animal welfare foundation and son
An auction of the French film star turned animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot’s personal items has fetched nearly €1m (£858,000, US$1.15m, A$1.61m) in Paris, almost 20 times the estimate, according to the auction house Millon.
A total of 285 objects were auctioned, ranging from straw hats, sunglasses and nightgowns to tableware and furniture from Bardot’s homes in Paris and Saint-Tropez, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Continue reading...Major operation launched after spate of pet thefts in Ho Chi Minh City, according to local media
Police in Vietnam have rescued more than 400 cats in a bust of a cat meat crime ring in Ho Chi Minh City, according to animal welfare groups and local media reports.
More than 40 cats were reunited with their owners after the multiday operation last week, but several dozen of those rescued have died due to the harsh conditions in which they were found, the groups said.
Continue reading...Annual killing of infant gannets has been carried out on a remote Scottish island for at least 400 years
Animal welfare campaigners have called for talks on phasing out the “inhumane” hunt for infant gannets known as guga, which are killed by hunters on a remote Scottish island once a year.
OneKind and the League Against Cruel Sports said it should be slowly phased out in dialogue with the Hebridean islanders who see the hunt, which has been carried out for at least 400 years, as a cultural pursuit and as sustainable food harvesting.
Continue reading...Endangered snow leopard had leg amputated and capybara died at Mario Tabraue’s controversial roadside facility
An endangered clouded leopard had a leg amputated and a capybara died following botched breeding attempts at a controversial Miami roadside zoo owned by a convicted drug trafficker featured in the Netflix documentary Tiger King.
Federal wildlife inspectors found multiple other violations during a March inspection at Zoological Wildlife Foundation (ZWF), including dilapidated, insecure or unsafe housing conditions for wild animals, filthy cages, and water and food contaminated with algae and dead insects.
Continue reading...Rare albino buffalo spared due to security concerns over unusual level of public interest in 700kg animal
A rare albino buffalo in Bangladesh nicknamed “Donald Trump” for its distinctive blond tuft has been spared from Eid al-Adha sacrifice after a last-minute government intervention, according to a home ministry official.
The nearly 700kg (1,543lb) animal had already been sold for ritual slaughter when authorities stepped in, citing security concerns after a surge of public interest before Thursday’s festival.
Continue reading...Horses seized and several people questioned after animal rights activist shares video of race along country roads
A video showing an illegal horse race in Sicily, with spectators firing pistols into the air and brandishing Kalashnikov rifles, has prompted a police investigation that has led to the seizure of the animals.
The clip, reportedly filmed last Friday, shows two jockeys driving horse-drawn carts at breakneck speed along country roads in the town of Palagonia, near Catania, in eastern Sicily. Behind them, dozens of people follow on scooters, firing shots into the air. The footage was posted on social media by an animal rights activist named Enrico Rizzi.
Continue reading...Julie, once a circus elephant, and Kariba, from a Belgian zoo, are to be moved to a former ranch in Portugal
Europe’s first large-scale elephant sanctuary, which is opening to offer a more natural environment for some of the 600 animals still held in captivity across the continent, is to receive its first arrivals.
Julie, Portugal’s last circus elephant, will be moved next month to the animal charity Pangea’s multimillion pound sanctuary in the Alentejo, 200km (124 miles) east of Lisbon, close to the border with Spain.
Continue reading...San Diego Humane Society finds more than 400 animals at Julian facility, with malnutrition and injuries amid bankruptcy dispute
Authorities in California have rescued more than 400 animals, including horses, cats, dogs and goats, from a now shuttered sanctuary in San Diego county.
The San Diego Humane Society conducted the massive operation last week at Villa Chardonnay, a sprawling facility in Julian that had operated since 2003.
Continue reading...Big Dog Ranch Rescue made deal to buy 1,500 dogs from Ridglan Farms, a Wisconsin breeding and research facility
The first beagles removed from a Wisconsin dog breeding and research facility that was the site of recent protests seemed to know right away that they were safe.
“They started within an hour or so coming up to us, wanting attention. Some crawled in people’s laps. Every single one of them are super sweet,” Lauree Simmons, the president and founder of Big Dog Ranch Rescue, said on Sunday. “I think they are loving the attention. I just know they know they’re safe.”
Continue reading...Hannah Spencer says minister ‘continuously offends people by saying working-class people don’t care about dogs’
Labour is “offensively caricaturing” working-class people by saying they do not want a greyhound racing ban in England, the Green party MP Hannah Spencer has said.
The sport has traditionally been associated with working-class culture and has historically been popular in so-called red wall areas, which Labour insiders suggest is part of the reason why there are no plans for England to follow bans announced last month in Scotland and Wales.
Continue reading...Dozens of dogs were found crammed into single living room space at property in undisclosed location in UK
More than 250 dogs have been found at a property in scenes so shocking that the RSPCA was forced to deny allegations that the images were faked by artificial intelligence.
The animal welfare charity said it took in 87 dogs from the property at an undisclosed location in the UK and the remainder went to the Dogs Trust, another charity.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Animal welfare charities ‘bitterly disappointed’ UK government plans to backtrack on manifesto promises
This article contains an image of a duck being force-fed that some readers may find upsetting
The UK government is to break a manifesto commitment to ban foie gras imports, and has declined to stop fur imports, after the EU made these red lines in its discussions for a trade deal.
Animal welfare charities say they are “bitterly disappointed” that ministers are failing to use powers granted by Brexit to restrict the import of these “cruel” items.
Continue reading...Female named Rounder surrounded by family members when about to give birth to her second calf
Scientists have managed to film a sperm whale giving birth while other female whales worked together to support the mother and her newborn.
A team from Project Ceti, an international effort seeking to understand how whales communicate, was in a boat near a pod of 11 whales off the coast of the Caribbean island of Dominica on 8 July 2023.
Continue reading...Police and animal rights activists say the practice is frequently used as a ‘smokescreen’ for illegal foxhunting
The UK government has said it will ban trail hunting, the rural sport that police and animal rights activists have long accused of being a “smokescreen” for illegal foxhunting.
“We pledged to ban trail hunting in our manifesto and that is exactly what we intend to do,” said Sue Hayman, the animal welfare minister. “The nature of trail hunting makes it difficult to ensure wild and domestic animals are not put at risk of being killed or injured – that is clearly unacceptable.”
Continue reading...Exclusive: Labor bill recognising all animals as sentient and raising care requirements won’t be introduced before state election
Warning: This article contains graphic content
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A bulldog trapped on a balcony, forced to live among its own faeces. A corgi kept in similarly squalid conditions, surrendered by its owner after community outrage. A Maltese shih tzu beaten with a metal pole – its attacker spared jail.
These are the kinds of animal cruelty cases the Victorian government promised to target with new laws almost a decade ago. But Guardian Australia can reveal those reforms have been shelved indefinitely.
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