Animals news

• Soy is not the sole component of a poultry diet | Letters

  14-04-2026 19:05
  Prof Julian Wiseman challenges claims made by another letter writer and says poultry may cope easily with more than one grainRuth Tanner’s comments (Letters, 9 April) cannot be left unchallenged. She says “the fast-growing, low-welfare breeds we use rely solely on the import of soy for feed – the only grain they can be fed”. Initially, this gives the impression that soy is the sole component of a poultry diet, which is untrue. Diets are a combination of several raw materi
  
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• Hundreds of animals rescued from ‘appalling’ conditions at California sanctuary

  05-05-2026 19:17
  San Diego Humane Society finds more than 400 animals at Julian facility, with malnutrition and injuries amid bankruptcy disputeAuthorities in California have rescued more than 400 animals, including horses, cats, dogs and goats, from a now shuttered sanctuary in San Diego county.The San Diego Humane Society conducted the massive operation last week at Villa Chardonnay, a sprawling facility in Julian that had operated since 2003. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘They know they’re safe’: beagles saved from US research facility after protests

  04-05-2026 00:59
  Big Dog Ranch Rescue made deal to buy 1,500 dogs from Ridglan Farms, a Wisconsin breeding and research facilityThe first beagles removed from a Wisconsin dog breeding and research facility that was the site of recent protests seemed to know right away that they were safe.“They started within an hour or so coming up to us, wanting attention. Some crawled in people’s laps. Every single one of them are super sweet,” Lauree Simmons, the president and founder of Big Dog Ranch Rescue
  
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• Attempts to rescue Timmy the stranded whale ‘inadvisable’, experts say

  29-04-2026 17:51
  Month-long mission to save animal in Baltic sea off Germany has attracted national frenzyTimmy the whale rescue attempt begins off coast of Germany – in picturesAttempts to rescue a young humpback whale stranded in shallow waters off the Baltic coast in Germany have been criticised by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) as “inadvisable”.The 10 metre-long whale, variously nicknamed Timmy or Hope, swam on to a sandbank more than a month ago and its health deteriorated as i
  
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• What does the Zoological Society of London do? After 200 years, the answer is still ‘everything’ | Martin Rowson

  29-04-2026 15:00
  The ZSL has given us the word ‘zoo’, inspired artists and birthed a quarter of all Sumatran tigers. It has fascinated me since childhood – and the world since 1826In the spring of 1826, two extraordinary things occurred in central London. The first was the death of Chunee the elephant. On 1 March at Cross’s Menagerie, upstairs in the Exeter ’Change on the Strand, Chunee was killed by a firing squad in the cramped enclosure where he’d been kept for the previous
  
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• A British ban on imports of hunting trophies is long overdue | Letters

  26-04-2026 17:48
  Eduardo Gonçalves and Blair Patrick Schuyler respond to an article on the myth at the heart of trophy huntingRegarding Cal Flyn’s article (On the trail with the hunters who believe shooting big game can save Africa’s wildlife, 21 April), I spent several years undercover in the trophy‑hunting industry, engaging with hunters and CEOs of hunting companies. I wanted to understand their motivations and whether wildlife conservation was one of them. It wasn’t.The pr
  
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• Ban fur farming or risk a new pandemic | Neil Vora

  24-04-2026 14:00
  Banning an industry that is brutal to animals could be one of the most consequential public-health measures in decadesEvery year, millions of captive animals are gassed or electrocuted and then turned into multithousand-dollar fur coats. Though the industry has shrunk considerably in recent years, it poses a disproportionately large risk to human health. There’s a real chance that the next pandemic could be incubated within the cramped confines of a fur farm, and banning the cruel and sens
  
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• Why chicken farms’ reliance on cheap imported soya bean is risky business | Letter

  22-04-2026 18:43
  Ruth Tanner sets out the wider environmental and economic ramifications of factory-farmed poultry in response to a letter on chicken feedProf Julian Wiseman’s letter (14 April) makes important distinctions on the diet of poultry, but misses our point. My claim was never that chickens cannot physically eat other things, but that the factory-farming business model cannot function without cheap imported soya. Modern, fast-growing broilers – the Ross 308 or Cobb 500 being the dominant co
  
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• Police use gas and rubber bullets on activists at beagle facility in Wisconsin

  19-04-2026 01:59
  Law enforcement rebuffs protesters at breeding and biomedical research farm amid attempt to remove dogsA chaotic scene unfolded on Saturday at a beagle breeding and biomedical research facility in Wisconsin as about 1,000 animal rights activists seeking to breach the property were rebuffed with rubber bullets and pepper spray by law enforcement.It was the latest attempt by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (4okm) south-west of
  
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• Green MP: Labour caricatures working-class people over greyhound racing

  18-04-2026 08:00
  Hannah Spencer says minister ‘continuously offends people by saying working-class people don’t care about dogs’Labour is “offensively caricaturing” working-class people by saying they do not want a greyhound racing ban in England, the Green party MP Hannah Spencer has said.The sport has traditionally been associated with working-class culture and has historically been popular in so-called red wall areas, which Labour insiders suggest is part of the reason why there
  
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• ‘Huge’ increase in kennelling and vet spending by police after XL bully ban

  14-04-2026 07:00
  Data from 22 police forces shows spending has more than tripled since the ban came into force in 2024Police spending on kennels and veterinary bills in England and Wales has more than tripled since the XL bully ban came into force, with some forces recording an almost 500% spending increase since the new law was enacted in 2024.Data from 22 police forces obtained via freedom of information requests showed police spending had soared from an average of £137,400 per force in 2022-23 to £
  
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• Government plan to relax rules on industrial chicken farms is wrong | Letter

  09-04-2026 18:05
  Ruth Tanner says Labour must cap the number of industrial units and put in place the building blocks for nature-friendly farming The government’s intention to relax planning regulations to allow for more industrial chicken units is immensely shortsighted (UK looks to relax planning rules for factory farms after industry lobbying, 2 April).These proposals would effectively commit the UK to business as usual for chicken production, one of the least resilient and most cruel farming systems we
  
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• Cost of living and mental health crisis driving mass animal rescues, says RSPCA

  09-04-2026 14:38
  Charity says it dealt with 75 incidents last year involving 100 or more animals living in one propertyThe cost of living crisis and an increase in people experiencing mental health difficulties have led to a rising number of multi-animal rescues in England and Wales, an RSPCA superintendent has said.The animal charity this week had to confirm that a shocking photograph of more than 250 poodle-cross dogs found at a property in the UK was not faked with artificial intelligence. The RSPCA took in 8
  
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• ‘It’s not AI, it’s real’: shock as RSPCA releases images of 250 dogs found at property

  08-04-2026 19:56
  Dozens of dogs were found crammed into single living room space at property in undisclosed location in UKMore than 250 dogs have been found at a property in scenes so shocking that the RSPCA was forced to deny allegations that the images were faked by artificial intelligence.The animal welfare charity said it took in 87 dogs from the property at an undisclosed location in the UK and the remainder went to the Dogs Trust, another charity. Continue reading...
  
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• Rebecca Hall obituary

  08-04-2026 18:22
  My partner, Rebecca Hall, who has died aged 78, was a woman with many gifts and interests – perhaps too many, to the detriment of her talent as a writer.Rebecca was a prize-winning screenwriter, adapting Klaus Mann’s The Volcano for a film by the German director Ottokar Runze in 1999; a clever poet in her book Fruits of Paradise (1999), a collection of daily thoughts, poems and philosophies; a fearless campaigner, who documented cases of medical malpractice in Indefensible Treatment
  
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• Peter Greste warns court finding about animal cruelty footage has grave consequences for press freedom

  07-04-2026 17:00
  Finding set to have significant implications for the use of covertly recorded footage by media outlets to expose wrongdoingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA court case attempting to thwart animal activists from sharing covertly recorded acts of alleged animal cruelty has profound and grave consequences for press freedom, the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom’s Peter Greste has warned.The high court is no
  
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• Labour to back down on foie gras and fur bans to ease EU trade deal

  05-04-2026 15:00
  Exclusive: Animal welfare charities ‘bitterly disappointed’ UK government plans to backtrack on manifesto promisesThis article contains an image of a duck being force-fed that some readers may find upsettingThe UK government is to break a manifesto commitment to ban foie gras imports, and has declined to stop fur imports, after the EU made these red lines in its discussions for a trade deal.Animal welfare charities say they are “bitterly disappointed” that ministers are f
  
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• Keir Starmer urged to ban ‘cruel’ greyhound racing in England

  03-04-2026 14:00
  Exclusive: Group of MPs and animal charities call for end to practice after Scotland and Wales vote to phase it outKeir Starmer is coming under pressure from backbench Labour MPs to ban the “cruel” practice of greyhound racing.The Welsh and Scottish governments voted last month to phase out the practice. Animal welfare groups say thousands of dogs in the UK have died in recent years owing to racing in the “inherently dangerous” sport. Continue reading...
  
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• UK looks to relax planning rules for factory farms after industry lobbying

  02-04-2026 09:00
  Exclusive: documents chronicle years-long campaign to make it easier to build intensive livestock unitsMinisters are rewriting planning rules to make it easier to build intensive livestock farms despite concerns about water pollution, air quality and local opposition.Documents obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act show that proposed changes to the national planning policy framework (NPPF) were discussed by ministers and officials in response to concerns of the country&rsq
  
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• Scientists film whale giving birth while other whales work together to help her

  27-03-2026 17:13
  Female named Rounder surrounded by family members when about to give birth to her second calfScientists have managed to film a sperm whale giving birth while other female whales worked together to support the mother and her newborn.A team from Project Ceti, an international effort seeking to understand how whales communicate, was in a boat near a pod of 11 whales off the coast of the Caribbean island of Dominica on 8 July 2023. Continue reading...
  
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• Trail hunting ban a step closer as Labour launches consultation process

  26-03-2026 16:37 via labouranimalwelfaresociety.org.uk
  
  The Labour government has taken an important step for animal welfare by launching its consultation on banning trail hunting in England and Wales.This is welcome news for everyone who wants to see stronger protection for wild animals. Labour pledged in its 2024 manifesto to ban trail hunting, and the government has now begun the process of delivering on that promise.Baroness Sue Hayman, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at Defra and Minister for Biosecurity, Borders and Animals, has played a
  
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• Respond by 9 March 2026 to support ending cages for hens and better welfare for lambs.

  01-03-2026 10:04 via labouranimalwelfaresociety.org.uk
  As part of the government’s world-leading Animal Welfare Strategy, announced in December, DEFRA has launched two consultations: one on ending cages for hens, and one on lamb welfare during castration and tail docking. Both consultations close at the end of the day on Monday 9 March.The government is interested in responses from organisations and members of the public. Every consultation response from animal advocates makes it more likely that there will be an end t
  
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• LAWS hosts parliamentary reception to celebrate Animal Welfare Strategy and back Labour delivery for animals

  26-02-2026 17:33 via labouranimalwelfaresociety.org.uk
  This week, the Labour Animal Welfare Society (LAWS) hosted a parliamentary reception with Labour MPs, peers and animal protection advocates to celebrate the government’s new Animal Welfare Strategy and discuss the next steps needed to turn its commitments into real-world change for animals.The reception reflected a strong sense of momentum, after years of delay, Labour has set out an ambitious programme that has the potential to deliver the biggest boost to animal welfare in a generation.
  
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• LAWS hosts parliamentary reception to celebrate Animal Welfare Strategy

  26-02-2026 17:33 via labouranimalwelfaresociety.org.uk
  This week, the Labour Animal Welfare Society (LAWS) hosted a parliamentary reception with Labour MPs, peers and animal protection advocates to celebrate the government’s new Animal Welfare Strategy and discuss the next steps needed to turn its commitments into real-world change for animals.The reception reflected a strong sense of momentum. Labour has set out an ambitious programme that has the potential to deliver the biggest boost to animal welfare in a generation. For campaigners and pa
  
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• ‘What’s up with all these monkeys’: Djungelskog the orangutan comforted Punch – but can the Ikea toy help me?

  24-02-2026 04:18
  Punch may look sweet with his plushie – but anthropomorphism can’t tell us what a wild animal is truly experiencingGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastStanding in line at Ikea’s click and collect service to pick up a large plush orangutan, a wave of fatigue washes over me.Not only because I have been in transit for almost 24 hours after a series of flight delays, and this is my last stop before collapsing in a heap on my living room floor, but also for th
  
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• Horse meat set to be banned in Italy amid draft equine bill

  19-02-2026 15:08
  Law defines animals including horses, donkeys and mules as pets and is backed by opposition partiesItaly could soon ban horse meat as part of a law that would define equine animals including horses, donkeys and mules as pets, making it illegal to kill them.The bill has been drafted by Michela Vittoria Brambilla, a politician with Noi Moderati, a member of Giorgia Meloni’s ruling coalition, and is backed by opposition parties. Continue reading...
  
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• From cigarette-smoking orangutans to lavender for lions: Melbourne zoo’s dark history gives way to progressive animal care

  14-02-2026 20:00
  Tackling the tension between promoting conservation, keeping animals in captivity and its heavy history, the zoo has been reshaped around environmental awarenessOn the other side of wire mesh, two large lions pace, shaking their shaggy manes and occasionally letting out a low rumbling, not quite a roar. They think – or perhaps hope – it is feeding day but their keepers have other plans.“We sort of mimic what happens in the wild,” Meryl says. “They got fed on Monday.
  
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• Peta calls for pork-free menus as Peppa Pig show rolls into Grimsby

  14-02-2026 08:00
  Auditorium to remove bacon and sausages from cafe during stage run after request from campaign groupCampaigners are calling on theatre bosses to stop serving bacon, sausages and ham in their cafes – at least while Peppa Pig and her family are performing in the same building.Grimsby Auditorium in Lincolnshire said this week it would remove pork from the menu when Peppa Pig’s Big Family Show opens next month, after a request from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta UK). T
  
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• New York City’s real animal welfare crisis isn’t the Westminster Dog Show | Lauren Caulk

  04-02-2026 16:45
  As Westminster week once again put dog breeding under the spotlight, Peta’s messaging remains as incisive as ever. But its moral clarity fades when the conversation shifts to catsEvery February, the Westminster Dog Show arrives in New York City trailing equal parts pageantry, nostalgia and protest. The dogs come to be judged. The owners and handlers come to uphold breed standards. And, almost as reliably as the movie references and the best-in-show ribbon, Peta arrives ready to dominate th
  
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• ‘Demand has increased, without a doubt’: the shocking rise of personal protection dogs

  04-02-2026 06:00
  Pets trained to bite, hold and release on command are growing ever more popular in the UK. But why – and at what cost to the animals and their owners?Even if you’re not afraid of dogs, you might be a little intimidated by Butch Cassidy. His tail may be wagging, but the Belgian shepherd weighs 40kg and moves with awesome agility. Even a casual brush of his body could knock you off your feet if you weren’t expecting it. “I don’t for a minute think he’s going to
  
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