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Dogs, our sunny, selfless shadows, crave little more than a daily walk, a treat or two, and their human’s happiness. But increasingly, their own happiness is the topic of concern in veterinarian offices, dog parks, and internet forums. Prozac prescriptions for dogs are on the rise, veterinarians across the country acknowledge, along with a myriad of cheaper generic mood stabilizers sold for humans but applied to pets’ separation anxiety, socialization fears, biting habits, or other problematic behavior. That increase, experts told STAT, says more about the human mental health crisis in America — and the ready availability of inexpensive generic...

Gen-chan at Osaka's Tennoji Zoo was thought for seven years to be a male.Betrayed by its DNA and unmanly toilet habits, a hippopotamus in Japan thought for seven years to be a he is in fact a she, the zoo where the wallowing giant lives said on Tuesday (Apr 23). The 12-year-old came to Osaka Tennoji Zoo in 2017 from the Africam Safari animal park in Mexico, where officials attested on customs documents that the then five-year-old was male. SNIP Nor did it make courtship calls to females and zookeepers were unable to visually identify any male genitalia, a dangerous...

Hungry North Koreans bristle as elites feast on expensive dog meat Food is in short supply and prices continue to rise, but the privileged aren’t feeling the squeeze. By Chang Gyu Ahn for RFA Korean 2022.07.21 Share Hungry North Koreans bristle as elites feast on expensive dog meat A file photo shows a North Korean soldier holding a badminton racket on the banks of the Yalu River near the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong. REUTERS While citizens in North Korea are nearly starving in the face of food price hikes and shortages, the...

Competitors dress for the event Credit: Screenshot YouTube As foreigners living in Spain, many of us can still be surprised at some of the bizarre traditions that occur, but most of Europe can match Spain. The town of De Panne in Belgium, hosted the European Seagull Screeching Championships on Sunday April 21 and there was definitely a Pan-European turn out. Foreign winners The championship is very much a Belgian organised affair with categories for adults, children and groups (know as colonies which is the collective name for seagulls) but the winner in the adult section came from Portugal and the...

April 19 (UPI) -- An animal rescue group in Connecticut said a pair of drunk vultures were treated with fluids and "a big breakfast" before being released. A Place Called Hope said in a Facebook post that the "dynamic duo" had been "dumpster diving" and ended up eating something "that was fermented enough to cause severe intoxication." The rescue said the vultures were initially thought to be seriously ill, but testing confirmed they were merely "too drunk to fly." "They only needed fluids and to be tucked in overnight... and fed a BIG breakfast the next day," the post said....

For about a century, the novelty of horse diving from great heights into a tiny tank of water was all the rage in America. And was every bit crazy as it sounds. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VIDEOS AT LINK............... A horse takes a practice dive at Atlantic City's Steel Pier Park in 1978. (John Margolies, Library of Congress) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Readers will inevitably take sides with this story. There will be outrage. Decidedly, animal rights activists for sure will howl with rage. The intent is not to spark debate or rekindle old controversy. What’s done is done, live and learn. In many ways, we...

This is a ruff take! City-dwelling dog owners are marking their “colonial” territory with pooches who are “gentrifying” neighborhoods, critics say in a bizarre online debate. Sparking the controversy was a story in The Cut that delves into the growing hostility between dog owners and the dog-free in New York. The article quotes Mia, of Prospects Lefferts Gardens, the proud owner of two terriers, who noticed a growing anti-dog sentiment brewing on her community Facebook group. One post about picking up dog poop eventually spiraled into bonkers accusations that the pooches of PGL were “gentrifying the neighborhood.” Mia, a New...

A California gym coach who was looking for ways to drum up motivation for the students on his cross-country running team as they went away for the summer break came up with a brilliant idea: pair them with shelter dogs. It was eight years ago when GNN first reported on it, and ever since it has become a mainstay of the training program at St. Joseph High School in Santa Maria, California. It became so much more, however, after a simple video of the kids running with the dogs went viral, causing athletic directors around the country to phone St....

Since cats first got their adorable claws into us about 9,500 years ago, humans have had a love affair with felines. Today more than 80 million cats reside in U.S. homes, with an estimated three cats for every dog on the planet. (Watch a video about the secret lives of cats.) Yet there's still a lot we don't know about our feline friends—including what they think of their owners.

The waters off Almeria have played host to an ‘exceptional’ sighting, as reported by Equinac, a local network that usually attends to sea creatures that have become stranded. A southern right whale, a species typically found in the southern hemisphere’s oceans, has been spotted, an occurrence which has been described as highly unusual for the Mediterranean. This cetacean, native to the South Pacific, South Atlantic, and South Indian oceans, is more commonly seen near the coasts of Argentina, Australia, Chile, and Uruguay. Measuring up to 20 metres in length for females and weighing around 20 tons, their presence in Almeria...

Irish folklore has many mythical characters such as the banshees or Tir na nOg, but according to one man Leprechauns are 100 per cent real. Kevin Woods, recognised as Ireland’s one and only leprechaun whisperer, recently shared astonishing claims on Ireland AM. During the broadcast, Woods, who comes from Carlingford, County Louth and affectionately known as McCoillte, shared some of the secrets involving leprechauns and their long history which has become intertwined with human spirits. Is British wine the next big thing? According to woods’ official website: ‘He talks to the 236 leprechauns that still exist there. They are affectionately...

Residents in a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, had a brush with the wild when a hippopotamus escaped from a nature reserve and wandered through the streets. Grassy Park residents captured photos and videos when the hippo broke through a fence at the Rondevlei Nature Reserve and went wandering through residential streets just after midnight Saturday. Resident Ashraff Schwartz said police pursued the hippo into the yard of his family's home. "My 74-year-old mom watched from inside the house, very scared, as the hippo came straight for our door. The police were standing outside the yard," he told Independent...

The Loch Ness Centre has reached out to NASA for assistance in a new quest to search for the Loch Ness monster. Following last year’s extensive search of Loch Ness in the Highlands, which included the capture of loud underwater noises and several potential sightings, the centre is eager to enlist NASA’s expertise in their pursuit. Scheduled to coincide with the 90th anniversary of Sir Edward Mountain’s expedition, the latest search will take place from May 30 to June 2. Since the inaugural expedition in 1934 by the Watchers of the Monster, over 1,156 sightings have been documented on the...

BUTTE, Mont. — Montana is known for plenty of large wildlife, like bears, mountain goats and elk. But elephants are a new one. Butte resident Mataya Smith was driving south on Harrison Avenue with her husband, who alerted her to the strange scene at noon on Tuesday. “I though he just meant it was in the parking lot. And then I looked up and was like, ‘No, there is an elephant in the road!’” said Smith. “My coworker pointed out, ‘There’s an elephant!’ Started jumping up and down, pointing out the window,” Civic Center Town Pump co-manager Josh Hannifin said....

Mad cool points earned for Brock Purdy. If you’re a quarterback in the NFL, one of the biggest skills that you’re going to need is situational awareness — San Francisco 49ers’ Brock Purdy has that in flying colors. Making an appearance Tuesday on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Purdy gave confirmation that he issued an alert to a local reporter about a coyote that was approaching both her and her dog during a commercial shoot he was doing for John Deere. We can only assume that this story flew under the radar and is now going viral, because back in Feb.,...

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission on Tuesday issued a stark condemnation of the apparent capture, abuse and killing of a wolf in Sublette County. Meanwhile, Gov. Mark Gordon is “monitoring the situation.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Screenshots from a video clip provided exclusively to Cowboy State Daily show Daniel, Wyoming, resident Cody Roberts kneeling over and kissing the muzzle of a weak and injured wolf in the Green River Bar in Daniel on Feb. 29. No reproduction without permission. (Cowboy State Daily Staff) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While meeting Tuesday in Riverton, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission issued a statement starkly condemning the apparent...

Spain: Mutant cockroaches pose health risks Image of a cockroach. Credit: chaipanya/Shutterstock.com Recent findings suggest a disturbing trend in the genetic alterations of cockroaches, directly linked to ongoing climate changes. So far in 2024, Spain has reported a significant rise in cockroach infestations, with incidents increasing by 33 per cent compared to the previous year. Experts, including Jorge Galvan, director of the National Association of Environmental Health Companies (Anecpla), attribute this surge to the record temperatures that are accelerating the metabolic cycles of these pests, notably the Germanic cockroach, commonly found in homes and food-related businesses. Most Read on Euro...

A golden retriever boarding a BARK Air flight Traveling with a dog can be challenging, and one dog brand is helping to change that. BARK, known for their subscription BarkBoxes and dog products, announced on Thursday, April 11 that they’re launching a new travel service, BARK Air. In partnership with a charter jet company, BARK Air is designed to prioritize four-legged travelers, followed by their humans, so they can travel together comfortably and conveniently. At launch, routes will serve the New York City metro area via Westchester County Airport (HPN) with flights to the Los Angeles area via Van...

We'll be bringing you the very latest updates, pictures and video on this breaking news storyA young girl was rushed to hospital after she was bitten by an XL Bully in a horror attack at home. Police were called by the ambulance service at around 7.10pm on Saturday to a property in Falmouth, Cornwall. The unnamed youngster suffered "serious injuries" in the incident. A statement from Devon & Cornwall Police read: "Police were called by the ambulance service at around 7.10pm on Saturday 13 April to a property in Lowenek Close, Falmouth. It was reported a child had been bitten...

An Oklahoma family had no idea that a birthday gift for their nine-year-old son would lead to the birth of 50 octopus babies, numerous water tanks that took over half of a bathroom, and thousands of dollars on food supplies and water damage repairs. Cameron Clifford, a 36-year-old dentist, said his son Cal had been obsessed with octopuses since the age of three. 'Every birthday, every Christmas, every holiday, he would always say: 'All I want is an octopus,'' Clifford told the New York Times. In October, Clifford made a call to a local aquarium store and acquired a female...