Animals news

• ‘Are they going to eat me alive?’: trail runners become prey in newest form of hunting

  15-11-2025 14:00
  Nervous reporter is chased across English countryside by baying bloodhounds, in what could soon be only legal way to hunt with dogsWould you like to be chased by a pack of hounds? It’s a question often put to highlight the cruelty of hunting, because the answer would seem to be no. Or so you would think.Yet increasing numbers of people are volunteering to be chased across the countryside by baying bloodhounds in what could soon be the only legal way to hunt with dogs in England and Wales,
  
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• Cuddling capybaras and ogling otters: the problem with animal cafes in Asia

  27-11-2025 07:00
  A boom in places offering petting sessions is linked to a rise in the illegal movement of exotic and endangered species, say expertsThe second floor of an unassuming office building in central Bangkok is a strange place to encounter the world’s largest rodent. Yet here, inside a small enclosure with a shallow pool, three capybaras are at the disposal of dozens of paying customers – all clamouring for a selfie. As people eagerly thrust leafy snacks toward the nonchalant-looking animal
  
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• Dog and cat abandonment soars in UK as owners struggle with cost of living

  20-11-2025 01:01
  RSPCA says pet abandonments in England and Wales rose by almost 25% in 2025 compared with 2024There is an “epidemic” of dogs, cats and other pets being abandoned as owners struggle to cope with the cost of living crisis, the UK’s largest animal welfare charity has said.The RSPCA said abandonments in England and Wales had risen by almost 25% in 2025 compared with last year, reaching their highest rate for at least five years. Continue reading...
  
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• UK introduces voluntary health assessment for flat-faced dog breeds

  18-11-2025 18:41
  Breeders welcome initiative from all-party parliamentary group on animal welfare, but question its usefulness With their huge eyes, large heads and tiny snub noses, the public perception of flat-faced dogs as “cute” and “infant-like” has driven demand over recent years.Film, TV and the greetings card industries have long capitalised on this anthropomorphism, attracting criticism from animal welfare campaigners who highlight the painful health disorders experienced by the
  
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• MPs call for release of 15 penguins ‘trapped’ at London aquarium

  11-11-2025 20:41
  Cross-party group wants environment secretary to urgently examine moving the birds to a facility ‘better aligned with their needs’A group of 75 MPs are calling for the release of 15 penguins “trapped” in a small enclosure “without sunlight or fresh air” at the Sea Life London Aquarium.Housing the 15 gentoo penguins at the attraction on the South Bank was “un-British”, said the leader of the campaign. Continue reading...
  
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• Life or death in Joseph Wright’s 1768 painting | Letter

  11-11-2025 18:31
  Harriet Monkhouse responds to a review of the National Gallery exhibition that includes An Experiment on a Bird in the Air PumpRe Jonathan Jones’s review of the Joseph Wright of Derby exhibition at the National Gallery, and his 1768 painting An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (Wright of Derby: From the Shadows review – science, skeletons and a suffocated cockatoo, 4 November), the good news is that the bird probably doesn’t die after all.An episode of Radio 4’s
  
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• UK minister unveils plan to cut animal testing through greater use of AI

  11-11-2025 10:34
  New funding for researchers and streamlined regulation part of roadmap for phasing out use of animals in scienceAnimal testing in science would be phased out faster under a new plan to increase the use of artificial intelligence and 3D bioprinted human tissues, a UK minister has said.The roadmap unveiled by the science minister, Patrick Vallance, backs replacing certain animal tests that are still used where necessary to determine the safety of products such as life-saving vaccines and the impac
  
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• ‘Too far? I don’t think we’ve gone far enough!’ The founder of Peta on gruesome stunts and her bloody fight for animal rights

  09-11-2025 13:00
  After 45 years as chief fake blood thrower, Ingrid Newkirk is still waging war on everything from leather to cashmere. Is she still relevant?Ingrid Newkirk was 54 when she thought she was going to die in a plane crash. It was late summer and the founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) was flying from Minneapolis in the US to the company HQ in Norfolk, Virginia when her plane encountered strong wind shear. The pilot attempted an emergency landing, but failed; back up they we
  
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• Newmarket horse owner receives notice of complaint over ‘constant neighing’

  07-11-2025 18:36
  Local council contacts Mandy Young about animals she kept at her home 10 miles from famous racecourseIt is known as the “headquarters of horse racing”, with its equine heritage stretching to the 17th century. But one resident near Newmarket has apparently had enough – and complained to the local council about the neighing horses.Mandy Young, a horse owner based about 10 miles from the racecourse, said she received a notice of the complaint in the post and was told it was linked
  
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• Going to the Dogs review – lovable canines at the heart of a sport in decline

  06-11-2025 08:00
  Documentary examines British greyhound racing with affection and respect but doesn’t shy away from the opposing views of animal rights activists At one point in this documentary about greyhound racing, an interviewee describes it as a fundamentally working-class sport, and it’s hard to argue with that. And like so many British working-class pleasures and pursuits, shifting tastes and the relentless march of gentrification have seen its popularity wane substantially since heydays past
  
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• More pets being abandoned in England as food and vet bills soar, say charities

  02-11-2025 14:19
  Firefighters report rise in rescue callouts as RSPCA says some who got pets during Covid have ‘realised it costs a lot more money than they want it to’Firefighter callouts for animal rescue have risen by more than a quarter in five years, figures show, as charities warn of a new wave of abandonment linked to the soaring costs of food and vet bills.The RSPCA received a record 22,503 abandonment reports last year, as the cost of vets and pet food surged dramatically. Figures from the O
  
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• US woman who ‘rescued’ four chickens found guilty of trespassing and conspiracy

  30-10-2025 00:08
  Zoe Rosenberg, 23, of San Francisco Bay Area does not deny taking animals, saying she was removing them from crueltyA San Francisco Bay Area woman has been found guilty of trespassing and conspiracy after she took four chickens from a processing plant in northern California, a spokesperson for a group representing her said.Zoe Rosenberg, 23, did not deny taking the animals but said she was rescuing them from a cruel situation. She faces more than five years in prison. Rosenberg and her attorneys
  
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• At least 174 racehorses died from racing or training injuries in past 12 months in Australia, report finds

  27-10-2025 21:00
  That’s the highest number recorded by the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses since they began tracking deaths 10 years agoFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAt least 174 thoroughbred racehorses died at the track or as a result of injuries sustained while racing or training in the past 12 months – the highest number recorded by animal rights activists since they began tracking 10 years ago.The report
  
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• She took chickens from a slaughterhouse. Was it a rescue or a crime?

  24-10-2025 16:00
  Zoe Rosenberg, a California student, is on trial over a tactic that animal rights activists consider a moral imperative. Critics say it’s a threat to the food supplyOn a Monday afternoon in late September, Zoe Rosenberg, a 23-year-old University of California, Berkeley, student, emerged from a courtroom in Santa Rosa, California. Flanked by her lawyers, she moved briskly through the courthouse corridors, past more than 100 prospective jurors.Pinned to her black blazer was a tiny metallic c
  
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• Marine park threatens to euthanize 30 whales if Canada does not provide funding

  06-10-2025 18:16
  Marineland’s warning comes after Canadian official blocked the transfer of the beluga whales to a theme park in ChinaMarineland has threatened to euthanize 30 beluga whales if Canada’s federal government does not provide financial support for the embattled Niagara Falls amusement park. The warning comes after the country’s fisheries minister blocked the transfer of the captive whales to a theme park in China.Marineland, an amusement park, zoo, aquarium and forest occupying near
  
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• I bought my cat a lead – and I was quickly humbled | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

  04-10-2025 09:00
  The news that one in six UK cat owners use them baffles me: who are all these cooperative, compliant cats trotting down the street beside their owners?The news that almost one in six cat owners in the UK use a harness – if indeed you can call it newsworthy to anyone except cat people such as myself – brought forth a mix of emotions. As with anything that makes me think of my mad little cat, Mackerel, they were a cocktail of guilt, bafflement and love.Let’s start with guilt. The
  
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• Warnings of imports of caged hen eggs as Ukraine and Poland become UK’s biggest suppliers

  04-10-2025 07:00
  Shift raises food safety and welfare concerns as imports can bypass standards for domestic producersUkraine and Poland have overtaken other EU countries to become the UK’s biggest egg suppliers, sparking warnings that imports of eggs from caged hens are slipping “through the back door” despite welfare pledges.Freedom of information data from the Animal and Plant Health Agency shows that, while the Netherlands supplied a large proportion of UK eggs in 2022, its share has steadil
  
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• STATEMENTS ON ANIMAL WELFARE FROM DEPUTY LEADERSHIP CANDIDATES

  03-10-2025 17:45 via labouranimalwelfaresociety.org.uk
  Labour Animal Welfare Society is pleased to share statements from candidates for Deputy Leader. As in previous leadership contests, we invite all candidates to set out their priorities for animals and animal welfare. The statements are published in alphabetical order. LAWS will not endorse or nominate a candidate in this process, although as a Socialist Society affiliate we are entitled to make a nomination. Our aim is to inform members and supporters and to keep animal welfare on the agenda.Can
  
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• Branded New Forest ponies are well cared for | Letter

  02-10-2025 18:54
  Brice Stratford defends traditional practices and says New Forest ponies have a better quality of life than any othersJason Rose objects to the traditional care and management of New Forest ponies (Letters, 29 September).Though the ponies are free-roaming, they are not “wild”. Each is owned and cared for by a New Forest commoner, and grazes the forest thanks to ancient rights in use for more than a millennium. Continue reading...
  
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• Dame Jane Goodall obituary

  02-10-2025 14:29
  Pioneering scientist whose breakthrough studies of chimpanzees changed how the animals were perceived and led to greater protectionDuring the final months of 1960, in what is now Gombe national park, Tanzania, Jane Goodall, then 26 years old, made two discoveries that established her name and reputation as a field scientist studying wild apes. First, she observed chimpanzees eating red meat. Before that moment, the scientific consensus, based on virtually no direct observation, was that chimpanz
  
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• Labour faces legal scrutiny after allowing chickens to be carried by legs

  25-09-2025 14:39
  Practice was forbidden under EU law, but secondary legislation came into force in July permitting it in England, Wales and ScotlandLabour faces further scrutiny of its record on animal welfare after a high court judge allowed permission for a challenge to the legalisation of the harmful practice of carrying chickens by their legs.The practice, which causes distress and injuries to chickens, was forbidden under European regulations but a statutory instrument, laid by the environment secretary, St
  
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• Bailey the support dog freed from Northern Irish prison after public outcry

  22-09-2025 20:30
  Cocker spaniel was being kept full-time in Magilligan prison but is now in family home after ‘free Bailey’ campaignThe six words that Northern Ireland’s dog-lovers were waiting to hear came on Monday: “Bailey is now out of prison.”A vocal campaign to free the cocker spaniel who committed no crime culminated in his release from Magilligan prison and transfer to an undisclosed location to begin a new life. Continue reading...
  
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• LAWS at Conference 2025

  22-09-2025 16:56 via labouranimalwelfaresociety.org.uk
  It’s that time of year again: next week we’ll be in Liverpool, working hard to push animal welfare at Labour Conference. LAWS will be exhibiting throughout Conference at Stand E10 in the main exhibition hall.If you’re attending, please come and say hello, pick up materials and a plant-based chocolate, and hear how we can help deliver the biggest boost to animal welfare in a generation.We also have a fringe event together with Labour’s environmenta
  
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• ‘Push back – or they’ll eat you alive’: James Cromwell on life as Hollywood’s biggest troublemaker

  17-09-2025 06:00
  He marched against the Vietnam war, supported the Black Panthers, has protested over animal rights, ended up in prison after a climate sit-in – and starred in Babe, LA Confidential and Succession. He explains how he became the ultimate activist-actorAmid the hustle of midtown Manhattan on Wednesday 11 May 2022, James Cromwell walked into Starbucks, glued his hand to a counter and complained about the surcharges on vegan milks. “When will you stop raking in huge profits while customer
  
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• Labour could end badger cull but only with Covid-style testing and vaccines – report

  04-09-2025 06:00
  Review says ministers have only ‘small chance’ of wiping out bovine tuberculosis by 2038 without more investmentLabour can end the badger cull but only with a Covid-19 style focus on testing and vaccinating, the author of a government-commissioned report has said.Ministerial plans to stop the shooting of the animals can be achieved but at a cost to the Treasury, the report warns. Continue reading...
  
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• Trout farm in Cotswolds tourist hotspot accused of welfare abuses

  24-08-2025 08:00
  Exclusive: Charity says footage shows fish being struck repeatedly and at least one child taking part in killing fishAnimal welfare campaigners allege that a “harrowing series of welfare abuses” have taken place at one of England’s oldest working trout farms in a tourist hotspot in the Cotswolds, including the participation of children in killing fish.Animal Equality UK, a charity that works to end cruelty to farmed animals, has released video footage that it claims shows fish
  
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• When a sick possum showed up in my garden my heart overtook my head. Is it ever OK to feed urban wildlife?

  20-08-2025 17:00
  While official advice is clear, it’s not a black-and-white issue, experts say. Responsibly interacting with urban wildlife may increase our compassionChopping vegetables in my kitchen on a winter afternoon, I was startled by the sound of rustling branches and loud coughing coming from my back yard.I walked outside tentatively, prepared to face a fence-hopping intruder. Instead, after a few minutes of listening to evenly timed wheezes, I spotted it – a small brushtail possum, tucked b
  
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• Supermarkets suspend supplies from Lincolnshire pig farm over animal abuse footage

  17-08-2025 21:43
  Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons said they had ‘immediately’ suspended supplies from Somerby Top Farm after piglets kicked by workersThree of the UK’s biggest supermarkets have suspended supplies from a Lincolnshire pig farm after footage filmed covertly by an animal rights organisation appeared to show workers kicking piglets and hitting them with boards and paddles.The footage also suggested the injured pigs with open wounds were packed into pens covered in faeces
  
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• Victoria could save nearly $500m over 10 years by scrapping greyhound racing, estimates show

  14-08-2025 05:30
  Exclusive: Parliamentary Budget Office analysis shows any loss of revenue from betting would be offset by lower government spendingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Victorian government could save almost half a billion dollars if it follows Tasmania in phasing out greyhound racing in the state, according to independent analysis.A policy costing by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), to be released on Thursday,
  
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• The elephant whisperer: one Thai woman’s lifelong quest to protect a rescued herd

  08-08-2025 08:00
  Lek Chailert devoted her life to rescuing abused elephants. Now caring for 120 of them, she fears for their future in AsiaSaengduean Lek Chailert was five years old when she saw an elephant for the first time. It was in chains, lumbering past her home in rural Thailand on its way to help loggers pull trees from the forest. Back then, she saw the giant mammals like everyone else – as animals that served humans. But that changed the day she heard a scream from the forest.Chailert was 16 when
  
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