New Hampshire animal shelter struggles to house 1,000 mice

A man surrendered his rodents recently, and now the shelter is grappling with a rapidly multiplying mouse problem

A New Hampshire animal shelter is grappling with how to handle nearly 1,000 mice that have been turned over in recent days, many of which are pregnant.

Lisa Dennison, executive director of the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, called the situation “crippling” and said the organization is scrambling to care for an overwhelming influx of rapidly reproducing rodents.

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Dog owners warned about boom in ticks on Australia’s east coast after last year’s hot, wet summer

Expert reminds owners ‘freeze it, don’t squeeze it’ when it comes to a tick, ideally with a tick-freezing spray from a chemist

Dog owners have been warned about a tick boom unfolding along Australia’s east coast, with some experts predicting an unusually bad season for furry friends.

Veterinary scientist and parasitologist Peter Irwin, an emeritus professor at Murdoch University, said the severity of a tick season was largely determined by the preceding weather, and last summer had been very hot and wet along the east coast”.

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Monty Don’s first Chelsea garden will be dog-friendly

Gardeners’ World presenter is bucking the trend to make the event more inclusive

Some gardeners at the Chelsea Flower Show may balk at the idea of a dog scrabbling around near their prize roses.

But Monty Don is designing his first Chelsea garden for next year’s event – and making it dog-friendly.

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NSW to help renters avoid added app fees and make it easier to keep a pet

Landlords will have to offer convenient ways to avoid extra charges when paying the rent

New South Wales renters will no longer be made to pay extra fees when they pay the rent and will have greater rights to keep a pet in a suite of reforms to be announced on Monday.

The state government plans to introduce legislation to modernise the state’s rental regulation into parliament in October.

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Cat that comforts trafficked women in London safe house is feline of the year

Marley, whose ‘incredible gift of empathy’ is said to help exploited women, beats thousands of cats to prize

A cat that offers comfort to trafficked women has been named cat of the year at a national ceremony.

Marley, a black and white cat who lives at a safe house for women who have been enslaved, exploited and trafficked, won the award because of his “gift of empathy”.

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Ohio city hall bomb threat explicitly hostile to Haitians, Springfield mayor says

Thursday’s bomb threat came after Trump repeated unfounded rumor that immigrants were ‘eating the pets’

The mayor of Springfield, Ohio, has said that the bomb threat made on Thursday that forced the evacuation of the city hall, two schools, and other buildings was explicitly anti-immigrant and hostile to the city’s Haitian community, following Donald Trump’s stoking of a rightwing conspiracy theory that some residents’ pets are being eaten.

Rob Rue, the mayor, accused national Republicans who are amplifying wild rumors from a far-right provocateur that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are hunting and eating other people’s pets of “hurting our city”.

Fears mount that election deniers could disrupt vote count in US swing states

Microsoft billionaire fights US election disinformation

Palestinian advocacy groups pressure Harris as election looms

Presidential poll tracker

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Starmer leads with compromise for new family pet – and gets ‘dog-like’ cat

Siberian kitten at No 10 may get frosty reception from chief mouser Larry, who took on George Osborne’s cat, Freya

On the face of it, the kitten that joined Keir Starmer’s family appears to have had a peaceful first week at an address where feline and human rivals have been known to get their claws out.

The arrival of the Siberian cat – as yet unnamed in public – was revealed on Monday by the prime minister, who said his children had been pushing for a dog to join them at Downing Street.

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Buying puppies from unknown sources ‘devastating’ to welfare, Kennel Club says

Survey found almost a third of UK dog owners spent less than a day researching the breeder

Would-be dog owners are buying puppies with little thought, effort or research, the UK’s leading dog breeding organisation has said, warning that convenience culture is having a “devastating” effect on puppy welfare.

According to research by the Kennel Club, almost a third (29%) of dog owners in the UK spent less than a day researching their decision and the breeder.

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Vets extend strike in first industrial action to hit Britain’s pet-care sector

Staff at a practice in Wales have accused its private-equity-backed owner of poor pay and overcharging customers

Staff working at a chain of commercial vet surgeries have extended their strike, accusing their private-equity-backed owner of underpaying workers and overcharging pet owners as part of the first industrial action to hit the veterinary sector in the UK.

Unionised vets, nurses and support staff at Valley Vets in south Wales, which is owned by one of the largest veterinary corporations in the country, VetPartners, decided last week to stay out until the end of the month, in the latest move in an increasingly bitter dispute.

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‘Delicate, authentic, charismatic’: Dolce & Gabbana launches €99 dog perfume

Italian brand makes first foray into pet scents – but RSPCA warns against such products as dogs rely on sense of smell

If the axiom that a dog is man’s best friend holds any credence, Dolce & Gabbana has now elevated it with the introduction of its latest perfume: a mist for dogs.

But the RSPCA has warned against messing with dogs’ sense of smell by giving them their own fragrance, warning the odour could come across as unpleasant for them – and hamper their ability to connect with their surroundings.

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Tears and triumph as George the cat reunited with owner years after going missing

The cat had lived through thunderstorms, hail and icy cold in Adelaide but it only took him a moment to warm back up to his relieved owner

“Good news, George is alive.”

Adelaide woman Jessica van Niekerk was teaching her class of bright-eyed Year 2 students when she received an unexpected text message from her mother.

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Calls for new dog licences to better control unruly pets in England

Scottish-style right to roam deal should train owners and protect livestock and wildlife, say campaigners

Dogs and their owners must be brought to heel with the return of dog licences, registration for breeders and a ban on toxic flea treatments, campaigners have said.

The activists from the Right to Roam campaign want a deal for dogs to protect farmers’ livestock and vulnerable wildlife from being menaced by Britain’s rising dog population and out-of-control dog behaviour.

Do not allow your dog to approach animals or people uninvited

Don’t linger if wildlife is disturbed by your presence

Where possible avoid animals – release your dog if threatened by cattle

Always keep your dog in sight and under control – if in doubt use a lead.

Don’t take your dog into fields of vegetables and fruit unless there is a clear path.

Finish the jobbie – bag it and bin it. Take it home when bins aren’t available.

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Kabosu, dog that inspired ‘Doge’ meme and became face of Dogecoin, dies

Atsuko Sato announces death of her shiba inu, whose 2010 photo led her to be described as the ‘Mona Lisa of the internet’

The Japanese dog whose photo inspired a generation of oddball online jokes and the £18bn Dogecoin cryptocurrency beloved by Elon Musk has died, her owner said.

“She quietly passed away as if asleep while I caressed her,” Atsuko Sato wrote on her blog on Friday, thanking the fans of her shiba inu called Kabosu – the face of the ‘Doge’ meme.

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Mobile butchers mistakenly kill family’s pet pigs in Washington state

Porcine pals Patty and Betty were shot by butchers who said their GPS ‘screwed up’ when it pointed them to the wrong house

A family in Washington state says a mobile butcher mistakenly slaughtered their pet pigs recently after showing up to the wrong address.

Security camera footage showed an unknown truck pulling up to the home of the family in question when they were not there on 1 May. One of the employees of the family’s farm, who was sent to check on their home, informed them that someone had shot the pigs.

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Sphynx has lowest life expectancy of domestic cat breeds, research finds

The hairless cats live on average for just 6.8 years, while a Burmese could survive to be 14, according to research

They may sound ancient but you should avoid a sphynx cat if you want a pet to grow old with, research suggests.

Experts have revealed how many years on average domestic cats in the UK have left to live based on their current age.

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Licence to trill: Molly the magpie returned to Queensland carers after special wildlife permit granted

Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen are allowed to keep the bird, which had become Instagram famous with their staffy, Peggy, but are forbidden from monetising it

Molly the magpie has been returned to its Gold Coast carers – but they are no longer allowed to make money from its 837,000 Instagram followers.

The department of environment, science and innovation approved a special licence for Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen, who have cared for it since it fell from the nest in 2020.

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Fox bones at ancient burial site suggest animal may have been kept as pet

Clues at Argentina site raise possibility mammal was buried with human owners about 1,500 years ago

The remains of a fox unearthed at a human burial site in Argentina dating back 1,500 years has raised the possibility the animal may have been kept as a pet, research suggests.

Experts say the remains predate the arrival of domestic dogs in Patagonia, which occurred about 700–900 years ago, with a number of clues suggesting the fox was seen as valuable, and may even have been a companion to the hunter-gatherers it lived with.

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Molly the magpie: Queensland premier backs return of Instagram-hit bird to couple after being seized

Steven Miles urges authorities to enable magpie to be reunited with ‘devastated’ Gold Coast carers and its ‘best friend’, their Staffy dog Peggy

Queensland’s premier has thrown his support for a campaign to return an Instagram-famous magpie to its former carers and its dog best friend, after it was seized by the environment department.

Gold Coast couple Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen adopted Molly the magpie in 2020 after it fell from the nest.

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Charity steps in to rehome 300 cats from ‘overwhelmed’ man in Canada

Man says he ended up in ‘a crazy situation’ after he began taking in cats abandoned during Covid pandemic

An animal welfare charity in western Canada is scrambling to secure the resources needed to care for about 300 cats – all of them seemingly in good condition – after a call came in from a man who described himself as being “overwhelmed” by the sheer number of cats and kittens in his home.

Bruce Robinson told the British Columbia SPCA that he had taken in cats that had been abandoned during the Covid-19 pandemic but that the cost of caring for them had become a herculean task after he lost his job.

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