#animal-welfare

#animal-welfare

A court in Barcelona has ruled that a worker's absence from her job to take her critically ill dog to be euthanised was justified on humane grounds, overturning her dismissal and highlighting evolving legal recognition of the bond between people and their companion animals. The Social Court No. 25 of Barcelona declared the disciplinary dismissal of a teleoperator improper after she missed several days of work, including one absence specifically to attend to her dog's urgent medical needs.

Remember that moment at the dog park when you see two golden retrievers, with one bouncing around with bright eyes and a glossy coat, and the other just going through the motions with a dull expression despite being perfectly groomed? Both dogs are clearly loved and cared for, but something deeper separates them: It's the difference between a dog that's genuinely flourishing and one that's simply being maintained.

On the outskirts of Cartagena far from the brightly coloured facades of the old city and the 500-year-old fortress walls overlooking the Caribbean a crowd of about 300 people erupted into a roar. Given Colombians' passion for football, it could have been the celebration of a goal. But the cheers followed the bloody climax of bout in a cockfighting ring whose white padded walls were now splattered with blood.

In Texas, the Houston Zoo has prepared its buildings and barns with heaters designed to withstand extreme conditions, the zoo said in a blog post on Friday. Animals will have access to extra hay and bedding, and food was stocked in advance. Across the Zoo, sensitive plants are being protected with coverings, and generators are positioned to provide backup power if needed, the blog post said.

Residents said this dog was sweet, friendly, and calm - even with children,

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

Oh, my. It seems like who goes around comes around. It's a shame that you can't leave the past a one-night stand more than 37 years ago in the past and find the humor in this. I suspect it happens more often than you think. Please quit regarding this as a competition between you and your brother-in-law's girlfriend. Your husband chose you. End of contest. If there is cause for embarrassment, it should be hers, not yours.

Ron King, who co-founded the 75-acre Oscar's Place ranch in Hopland in 2021 with Phil Selway, now leads a team of more than 20 full-time employees who take in donkeys surrendered by owners or headed to auctions to be butchered for their hides. So far, the nonprofit has saved more than 400 donkeys, rehoming them to vetted adopters or letting the animals live out their lives on the ranch and another recently acquired property in Potter Valley.

Slaughter's 18-month-old son was found after a 911 caller reported an attempted car theft in the 300 block of North Avenue 52 around 10 a.m. Sunday, police said. The victim said the male suspect fled the area on foot and that the toddler and dog were left behind in the vehicle. The Department of Child and Family Services took temporary custody of the child, while the dog was collected by Los Angeles Animal Services.

Seeing the photos of trophy hunters gloating over their slaughtered bears has been deeply upsetting for all Floridians who love Florida's bears and want them protected. This bloody spectacle has been a heartbreaking way for Floridians to enter the holiday season, she said in a statement. To say FWC missed the mark on this might be the understatement of the year, and like the 2015 hunt, it will surely haunt our state for years to come.

Adopt, don't shop. OK, that's an obvious one coming from us, but it really does make all the difference for an animal in need when you adopt a pet versus buying one. According to Shelter Animals Count, about 5.8 million cats and dogs ended up in shelters in the United States last year. And while that number is down from the previous year, it's still sadly high.

New York City is moving toward phasing out Central Park's horse drawn carriages by June 2026. The proposal is known as Ryder's Law. It would replace horses with electric carriages on city streets. According to the Mayor's Office of the City of New York, the goal is better welfare for animals and safer traffic for everyone. Supporters say a busy city is no place for working horses in heat, noise, and unpredictable congestion.

Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

Trail hunting is set to be banned in England and Wales as part of a new animal welfare strategy to be published by the government on Monday. The practice sees an animal-based scent trail laid for dogs to follow rather than a real animal, while a group of hunters follows the pack on horseback. It has remained legal since the 2004 hunting ban came into force, because it does not explicitly involve the killing of animals.

The US military will stop its practice of shooting pigs and goats to help prepare medics for treating wounded troops in a combat zone, ending an exercise made obsolete by simulators that mimic battlefield injuries. The prohibition on live fire training that includes animals is part of this year's annual defense bill, although other uses of animals for wartime training will continue. The ban was championed by Vern Buchanan, a Republican congressman from Florida who often focuses on animal rights issues.

James Cameron has a deep empathy with nature, as anyone who's ever watched an Avatar movie can tell you. The Oscar-winning director took that further than most while making his 1989 movie The Abyss, revealing to The Hollywood Reporter that he gave a rat CPR on set to save its life. In the movie, there's a demonstration that involves immersing a rat in oxygenated water (a real, if experimental technology).

Nearly 11,000 people have signed an e-petition submitted to Parliament calling for the government "to make it law that if you hit a cat you must legally report it and take it to the nearest vets". Cats and wild animals are not covered by the Road Traffic Act 1988, which states drivers must stop and report an accident which involves certain specified animals such as dogs, horses, cattle, mules, sheep, pigs or goats.

There was something fowl in on a road in central Germany. Thousands of chickens were on the loose after a truck overturned on the highway. A truck was carrying about 5,000 chickens when its trailer overturnedImage: Matthias Bein/dpa/picture alliance Thousands of chickens were on the run after a lorry overturned on a highway, authorities in the central German city of Magdeburg said on Thursday.

"Criminalizing people for rescuing suffering animals is a moral failure," Phoenix wrote. "Compassion is not a crime. When individuals step in to save a life because the system has looked the other way, they should be supported - not prosecuted. We have to decide who we are as a society: one that protects the vulnerable, or one that punishes those who try."

He's taken up the mantle of keeping the world's zoos in check at an interesting time, when their role in modern society is the subject of heated debate, with rows about lonely gorillas or penguins kept in a basement seem to erupt every week. Keeping wild animals solely for entertainment purposes was socially acceptable some decades ago, but there are now far more concerns for their welfare and the conservation objectives of their captivity. This particularly applies to animals such as elephants, which need large spaces to roam and in the wild have complex relationships within giant social groups.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

After receiving treatment at the hospital, the dog was named Ruaidhri. This comes as the animal welfare charity says it is tackling a skyrocketing number of animals being dumped outside. In England and Wales, 24,270 incidents of abandonment were reported marking a 23 per cent increase on last year. To put that into perspective, it means an abandonment incident was reported to the charity's emergency line every nine minutes it was open across the first ten months of this year.