10/09/2021 - Dogs Trust says it has experienced 35% rise in calls about handing over animals since lockdown liftedThe number of people considering giving up their pet dog for adoption has surged since coronavirus restrictions were lifted, a canine welfare charity has said.The Dogs Trust said it had experienced a 35% increase in phone calls about people handing over dogs since 12 July, when it was confirmed that “freedom day” would be happening the following week. Continue reading... Collapse

03/09/2021 - Clare Munks and Sharman Finlay say their beloved pets always know what their owners are getting up toYour article (Paws for thought: dogs may be able to figure out human intentions, 1 September) was interesting, although like most dog owners, I smile at some of the efforts of scientific researchers to find out what we know already. My cocker spaniel, Meg, doesn’t need to use mental reasoning or theory of mind to work out our intentions. She just listens to the conversation.Clare Munks Alfreton, Derbyshire• My lurcher, Aoife, always knows when I am going to go out without her and will not take proffered treats, but goes and sulks on her sofa. I’m intrigued as to how she knows, several minutes before my departure, when I’m not doing anything incompatible with when I’d be taking her out with me.Sharman FinlayPortrush, County Antrim Continue reading... Collapse

01/09/2021 - Readers respond to Gaby Hinsliff’s article about Pen Farthing’s evacuation of animals from AfghanistanThe emotive language of Gaby Hinsliff’s article (What a story to tell the world: Britain values dogs more than Afghan people, 30 August) not only risks deflecting attention from the consequences of the reactive, rather than proactive, response of the British government, but also suggests that one cannot care equally about the victims of humanitarian crises and the plight of other innocent species in manmade conflicts.Accordingly, “human souls” are pitted against a “menagerie of strays”, whose lives a former soldier in Afghanistan and his Afghan staff valued enough to wish to save at the risk of their own survival. Ms Hinsliff is no doubt correct in noting that cats are “of no conceivable interest to the Taliban”, so what fate does she imagine awaited these animals under the new rulers of the country? Continue reading... Collapse

27/08/2021 - As OnlyFans ended the peen panic, Twitter was united by petty grievances. Think of the level of civilisation we have reachedThanks to the continued commitment of 2021 seemingly to give me simultaneous infarctions in every organ, the week opened with the news that Ian “Beefy” Botham is to become the new trade envoy for Australia and John Cleese is to host a new series looking at “wokeness” and “cancel culture”. Related: What exactly do Ian Botham and John Cleese offer ‘global Britain’? Continue reading... Collapse

25/08/2021 - Ben Wallace says he won’t ‘prioritise pets over people’ in evacuation and vents frustration over Nowzad animal charityAfghanistan: live updatesThe defence secretary has complained that dealing with the former Royal Marine trying to fly rescued animals out of Kabul has been a distraction from the main evacuation effort, hours after seemingly trying to broker a solution.On a conference call with MPs on Wednesday, Ben Wallace said that the case meant the military had been “diverted” from their primary focus on saving people. He also claimed that some of the stories about the Ministry of Defence’s handling of the affair had been inaccurate. Related: Fleeing Afghans should try to get to border, says UK defence secretary Continue reading... Collapse

22/08/2021 - Lunch with academic Gillian Beer recalls memories of my father, who survived war in BurnleyThere’s a new novel by Pat Barker and, once again, she reflects on the cost of war to those already regarded as expendable. Reading The Women of Troy, I recalled interviewing her when her Second World War novel Noonday was published, and asking her about a particularly striking image, in which bedraggled troops returning to London are briefly glimpsed as though they might be survivors from Boudicca’s army. “From the point of view of the common soldier,” she told me, “one cockup is the same as another.”Sometimes, the past seems to come closer. Recently, I went to talk to the distinguished academic Dame Gillian Beer, who has written a short piece of memoir called Stations Without Signs, much of it focused on her experiences as an evacuee. We talked in the garden and, as Spitfires from the local war museum droned overhead, giving rich folk a taste of danger, she remembered two young brothers whose Collapse

21/08/2021 - The dog is still on holiday, so there is no dog food for the cat and no dog to eat the cat foodThe door of my office shed is open to catch the sounds of the late summer morning: the bright ring of scaffolding poles being dropped on to the back of a lorry; someone power-washing lawn furniture; the intermittent thrum of a distant helicopter. Because of all these sounds, I do not hear the approach of the youngest one before he leans through my door and holds up an open packet of cat food.“Have you fed the cat?” he says. Related: Tim Dowling: I’ve decided to try Working From Hammock Continue reading... Collapse

14/08/2021 - Enhance your pooch’s wellbeing and your own by making daily walks an interactive, quality experiencePepper meets Mr Binks for the first time and bottom-sniffs the diminutive pooch by way of greeting. As ever, I look away. But Mr Binks’s owner, dog behaviourist Anna Webb, says: “Ah, that’s nice, they’re introducing themselves.”Pepper, my miniature schnauzer, trots off ahead down the pavement, followed by me, holding her lead, and then Mr Binks and the glamorous Anna. The two of them are walking side by side.A dog that is charging ahead does not know where it’s goingThey know if I’m on a downer and cheer me up with a look or tail wag Continue reading... Collapse

14/08/2021 - No dog sleeping on my feet or barking when the bell rings, or staring at me intently as I make coffee or try to watch TVI wake and stretch my legs until they reach the end of the bed. The sun is shining and my mood is unaccountably light. I can’t think why I feel so untroubled. Then I remember: the dog is on holiday.Three days earlier: I am sitting in the kitchen while my wife and the oldest one sort through his laundry and certain items are dropped into a suitcase for his week’s vacation in the West Country. Related: Tim Dowling: I’ve decided to try Working From Hammock Continue reading... Collapse