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All in Animal Companions
In December 2023, marine biologists in New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf came upon an unusual sight: an octopus riding on the back of a shark. The team was looking for “workups,” or feeding frenzies, according to University of Auckland professor Rochelle Constantine.
It took Guinness World Records several months of counting, but finally it’s official: last fall the German town of Regensburg hosted the largest gathering of dachshunds ever. An estimated 897 of the long-eared, stump-legged wieners paraded through the medieval town while their humans marched alongside, many dressed in festive top hats and lederhosen.
It’s that time of year again. This weekend animal shelters and zoos around the world are fundraising by encouraging people to perform symbolic acts of vengeance against their exes. The “anti-love” campaigns can take many forms.
A giant schnauzer named Monty with a pronounced beard and a jaunty gait wins Best In Show this week at the Westminster Dog Show. The 5-year-old had reached the final round in the previous two years; he finally won it all, besting an impressive field of competitors.
Last summer the UK became the first country in Europe to legalize pet-food meat grown in a lab. This week the company Meatly has put its lab-grown dog treat called Chick Bites on the store shelves for the first time.
A grieving dog who waited for months outside a convenience store in Thailand after his owner died has been adopted – by a Thai princess. The dog, named Moo Daeng, hung around his usual spot outside a 7-Eleven in Nakhon Ratchasima every day after his owner — who was homeless — died in November.
In April 2023, Elodie Cappé found an abandoned boar piglet near the rubbish bins on her horse farm in Chaource, France. She tried to release the piglet back into the wild, unsuccessfully, so she named it – Rillette, after the local dish of shredded pork – gave it a pen, and had the boar sterilised and vaccinated.
The miniature donkey called Perry – short for Pericles – died last week in Palo Alto at the age of 30. Perry’s claim to fame was as the model for the gabby character “Donkey” in the movie Shrek.
At year’s end the American Kennel Club recognized five very good dogs in its annual Humane Fund Awards for Canine Excellence. The categories include Exemplary Companion, Search and Rescue, Service Dog, Therapy Dog, and Uniformed Service K-9.
“Pish for thee, Iceland dog! thou prick-ear'd cur of Iceland!” Thusly Shakespeare described the Icelandic sheepdog more than 400 years ago (Henry V, Act II). Now the UK’s Kennel Club will formally recognize the breed, and it’s high time. Long before Shakespeare, the dog was celebrated in the Icelandic Sagas a thousand years ago.
The winner of the UK’s ugliest dog contest is Muppet, a 12-year-old Chinese crested pooch from Peterborough. Bev Nicholson, the dog’s proud owner, says Muppet is a “wonky little rescue dog” that is “beautiful inside and out.”
“Why are one of my puppies that my American Pit had ... green?” dog owner Annise Tooley asked Google last week.
A sheriff's deputy in northeast Washington, not far from the Canadian border, was on patrol in a rural wooded area when he came across a dog sitting in the road. Deputy Wright tried to coax the dog into his vehicle so he could find the owner, but the pup held her ground.
French cinema icon Alain Delon died last week at 88, and he almost brought his beloved dog, Loubo, with him. Delon had wanted the 10-year-old Belgian malinois to be euthanized and buried with him, but fortunately Delon’s surviving family kiboshed the idea.
Dolce & Gabbana has just rolled out a new product called Fefé, a perfume for dogs. According to their website, Fefé is “an olfactory masterpiece featuring the cocooning and warm notes of Ylang, the clean and enveloping touch of Musk, and the woody creamy undertones of Sandalwood.”
The US women’s gymnastics team completed a strong Olympics this week, capturing 10 medals in Paris. The thrill of victory and its agonizing opposite can be stressful in the extreme, but the team has had a comforting presence on their side: a four-year-old golden retriever named Beacon.
The smell of human stress affects dogs’ emotions – and their decision-making – according to a study conducted by the University of Bristol, Cardiff University, and the British charity Medical Detection Dogs. Their research appears in Scientific Reports.
A Great Dane named Kevin, the record holder as tallest living dog, died less than two weeks after earning the title. Guinness World Records said Kevin, following an unexpected surgery, had “tragically died just days after his record-breaking achievement was announced to the world.”
There is something about ginger cats. They tend to be more confident, more outgoing, and generally more cheeky – especially the toms. BBC News asked biologist and cat behavior expert Roger Tabor if there was a reason for ginger adventurousness.
