My Animals, and Other Animals by Bill Bailey review – dogs and monsters
4 DAYS AGO - The comedian’s endearingly zany tribute to the creatures that populate his life, from guinea pigs Expand
4 DAYS AGO - The comedian’s endearingly zany tribute to the creatures that populate his life, from guinea pigs to peacocksAh, Bill Bailey, mate, you didn’t: you didn’t just preface My Animals, and Other Animals, a memoir told through every animal you’ve ever met, with “they teach us lessons about loyalty and responsibility, and even loss”. You sound like a trainee vicar doing a pet funeral service.The much-loved comedian, nature show host, paddle-boarder and national treasure doesn’t over-trouble himself with what’s original, so long as it’s true. He’s much more of a questions guy than an answers guy. Why did his mum dress him in a bow tie to go to the beach when he was five? Why, in early adulthood, did he go camping in Sellafield, rather than somewhere picturesque, or at least less radiation-adjacent? Why is it so hard to spot an otter? Why do badgers like peanut butter? Why do dogs hate getting their photo taken? He’s largely happy to name the mystery and let it stand. Collapse
Dog killings and pet-eating claims: the weird and disturbing ways animals are dominating US 2024 election
7 DAYS AGO - Cuddly White House pets have been swapped out for stories of dog killing, whale decapitating and Expand
7 DAYS AGO - Cuddly White House pets have been swapped out for stories of dog killing, whale decapitating and bear pranksAnimals have always played a role in political lore in the US, whether it’s a series of beloved and cuddly White House pets or Teddy Roosevelt’s love of horses that helped cement his robust public image.But as the US’s traumatic 2024 election has played out, amid warnings of democracy under threat, multiple attempted assassinations of Donald Trump and fears of civil unrest, it seems that the political treatment of animals in US politics has also taken a disturbing turn. Continue reading... Collapse
From beer to books: 16 subscription services to save you time and money
27/09/2024 - Whether it’s for loo roll, veg or underwear, a regular delivery of life’s everyday essentials can Expand
27/09/2024 - Whether it’s for loo roll, veg or underwear, a regular delivery of life’s everyday essentials can be the smartest way to shopGone are the days when subscriptions were only for newspapers and magazines. There’s now one for almost everything. And it makes sense: they can save you money, and it’s often one less thing to lug home from the shops.A subscription can also be fun, with an exciting element of surprise if you’re using them for something that changes with each delivery, such as beer or fruit and vegetables. Most are flexible and can be altered or cancelled easily, meaning no everlasting contracts. We spoke to some subscription-service devotees to find out what made them sign up. Continue reading... Collapse
The pet I’ll never forget: Shackleton, the cat who faked his own death
23/09/2024 - He turned up at our house in the dark days of lockdown, asking for food, then settled straight in. Expand
23/09/2024 - He turned up at our house in the dark days of lockdown, asking for food, then settled straight in. Once the veterinary surgeries reopened, we found out he was microchipped – but also, apparently, dead and buried …Late one night during the first Covid lockdown in 2020, my partner, Louisa, and I were watching TV in the sitting room when a tabby cat appeared in the darkness outside the patio door. He stared in through the glass, sat down and miaowed loudly.Next morning he was still there, still miaowing. By the evening, since he hadn’t moved or even slept, we decided we had to give him some water. The next morning, we fed him. The evening after that we let him in and made him a bed out of an old fleece jacket. Because he was an explorer who’d been marooned, we called him Shackleton. Continue reading... Collapse
Trump says he’s the ‘leader’ on IVF, but Republicans are blocking national access
21/09/2024 - The ex-president may not be able to explain how in vitro fertilization works, but he’s had a lot Expand
21/09/2024 - The ex-president may not be able to explain how in vitro fertilization works, but he’s had a lot to say about it latelyDonald Trump, I strongly suspect, would not be able to explain how in vitro fertilization (IVF) works if his life depended on it. Yet in recent months – and in what seems to be a disingenuous and desperate attempt to woo female voters – he has had a lot to say on the subject. Continue reading... Collapse
The pet I’ll never forget: Floof, the lost cat who found me – and made me feel I was worth loving
16/09/2024 - She followed me home from work one rainy night, and never left. I was in a dark place, but we Expand
16/09/2024 - She followed me home from work one rainy night, and never left. I was in a dark place, but we filled a hole in each other’s hearts. Floof burst into my life on a gloomy autumn night in 2015. I was new to London, walking home from my bar job in the teeming rain, when a pair of green eyes on a porch roof stopped me in my tracks. Closer inspection revealed a small fluffy cat – black as the night, totally drenched and yelling right at me. I helped her down, and in response she shadowed me for 25 minutes down the busy main road, screeching outside my front door with a determination that woke my flatmate. We let her in – “just for tonight”. But as she bedded down on my pillow, I knew she had no plans to leave.It shouldn’t have worked. I was 23, broke and in no position to become the sole custodian of an alarmingly personable animal – plus, my flatmate already had a cat. We searched for her owner for a week, imaginatively naming her Floof in the interim, but were secretly glad when nobody Collapse
Trump is such a sad wannabe despot. How can he be so close to Kamala in the polls? | First Dog on the Moon
14/09/2024 - What is wrong with people in this country?!Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog Expand
14/09/2024 - What is wrong with people in this country?!Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading... Collapse
Feline frenzy: could cats swing the US election?
11/09/2024 - From JD Vance’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comment to the sign-off in Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Expand
11/09/2024 - From JD Vance’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comment to the sign-off in Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, kitties are front and centre in this campaign. Will cat-lovers help win it for the Democrats?Take a shot at a cat, and you’d better not miss. It all started in 2021, with a remark by JD Vance, long before he became the Republicans’ vice-presidential candidate. To be fair to the guy, Vance lives in a low-consequence universe, where you can hate Trump one minute and love him the next, with no ding to your credibility, so he must have been gobsmacked in July when he was called on this historic remark.“It’s just a basic fact,” he had told Tucker Carlson back in 2021. “You look at Kamala Harris, [transportation secretary] Pete Buttigieg, AOC [congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] – the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?” Collapse
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Of course I look like a crazy dog lady! I am one | Arwa Mahdawi
5 DAYS AGO - Every night, I make up little Rascal’s bed and leave a dog chew on his pillow. What’s so odd about Expand
5 DAYS AGO - Every night, I make up little Rascal’s bed and leave a dog chew on his pillow. What’s so odd about that?In the popular imagination, writers often have rock’n’roll lifestyles. Me? Not so much. In fact, I have the world’s most mundane weekday routine. Every morning, about 8.25, I wipe congealed oatmeal off my kid’s face and put her in a stroller. Then I put a lead on my dog (a mutt called Rascal) and walk to daycare with them. Then I walk back home with an empty stroller and my dog.This extremely ordinary routine – or at least the second half of it – seems to puzzle people. Surprisingly often, I have had strangers stop me in the street and ask if the empty stroller is for my dog. “No, it’s for my small child, whom I just dropped at daycare,” I will explain. They will nod along, but look as if they don’t quite believe me. “Oh,” they might say. “I thought it was for the dog.” Continue reading... Collapse
Owning a pet can be complicated, but it’s a signifier like no other
29/09/2024 - A pet is a symbol of virtue, its happiness a test of our humanity. This year it’s also a marker of Expand
29/09/2024 - A pet is a symbol of virtue, its happiness a test of our humanity. This year it’s also a marker of electability…My friend Shay has acquired a cat. It started when her family got a kitten, but then the kitten attracted a stray, who entered the house and ate all the food, much like that awful tiger who came to tea. He’s a big guy, muscular, itchy, needy, and they took him to the vet, to discover he was unchipped. They put up posters, they asked online if neighbours had lost a cat. “Enjoy your new cat!” said the neighbours. The vet’s advice was not to feed it or pay it any attention. The cat shelter’s advice was to feed it and love it.They compromised, with a bed in the shed and food outside. Foxes used the bed as a toy – the cat stoically remains at their window. Along the way, Shay’s young daughter has named it Mr Fish, a name both formal and disgusted. I have enjoyed my Mr Fish updates, not just because it’s very funny seeing my friend compelled to care for an animal that, to quote, Collapse
Experience: My dog is the ‘ugliest in the world’
27/09/2024 - Wild Thang had a huge audience because he’d been going to the competition for five years. People Expand
27/09/2024 - Wild Thang had a huge audience because he’d been going to the competition for five years. People were screaming and going wild. He was kind of the underdogI have been a heritage breeder and exhibitor of pekingese dogs for more than 30 years – though I’ve rescued more than I’ve bred. Eight years ago, one of the dogs I rescued had canine distemper, a nasty disease that can cause developmental problems, and he spread it to one of our puppies.Sadly, despite thousands of dollars’ worth of vet bills, we weren’t able to save our rescue dog, but we were able to save the puppy. We called him Smurf. Later we changed his name to Wild Thang because he looks like something from Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. Continue reading... Collapse
NSW to help renters avoid added app fees and make it easier to keep a pet
22/09/2024 - Landlords will have to offer convenient ways to avoid extra charges when paying the rentFollow our Expand
22/09/2024 - Landlords will have to offer convenient ways to avoid extra charges when paying the rentFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNew South Wales renters will no longer be made to pay extra fees when they pay the rent and will have greater rights to keep a pet in a suite of reforms to be announced on Monday.The state government plans to introduce legislation to modernise the state’s rental regulation into parliament in October.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading... Collapse
Cat that comforts trafficked women in London safe house is feline of the year
18/09/2024 - Marley, whose ‘incredible gift of empathy’ is said to help exploited women, beats thousands of Expand
18/09/2024 - Marley, whose ‘incredible gift of empathy’ is said to help exploited women, beats thousands of cats to prizeA cat that offers comfort to trafficked women has been named cat of the year at a national ceremony.Marley, a black and white cat who lives at a safe house for women who have been enslaved, exploited and trafficked, won the award because of his “gift of empathy”. Continue reading... Collapse
Revenge of the childless cat ladies - podcast
16/09/2024 - How Donald Trump’s vice-presidential running mate JD Vance calling Democrats ‘childless cat Expand
16/09/2024 - How Donald Trump’s vice-presidential running mate JD Vance calling Democrats ‘childless cat ladies’ backfired. Elle Hunt reportsWhen Taylor Swift announced her support for Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign last week, she signed the post ‘Childless cat lady’. It was a reference to the Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance’s interview with Tucker Carlson in 2021, in which he said Democratic party members were a “bunch of childless cat ladies with miserable lives”.Journalist Elle Hunt and Helen Pidd reflect on their experience being cat owners and why the sexist trope of ‘childless cat ladies’ is holding less power in 2024. Continue reading... Collapse
‘This has to stop’: Biden condemns attacks on Haitian US immigrants
13/09/2024 - A bomb threat in Springfield, Ohio, came after Trump repeated baseless rumor about immigrants Expand
13/09/2024 - A bomb threat in Springfield, Ohio, came after Trump repeated baseless rumor about immigrants ‘eating pets’Joe Biden on Friday said the hostile attacks on Haitian immigrants in the US “[have] to stop” after Donald Trump repeated a false and derogatory claim about a Haitian community in Ohio.“It is simply wrong that the proud Haitian community is under attack right now in this country,” Biden said. “There’s no place in America. This has to stop – what he’s doing. It has to stop,” the US president said at a White House event marking Black excellence.Fears mount that election deniers could disrupt vote count in US swing statesMicrosoft billionaire fights US election disinformationPalestinian advocacy groups pressure Harris as election loomsPresidential poll tracker Continue reading... Collapse
The Happiness of Dogs by Mark Rowlands review – a masterclass in canine philosophy
11/09/2024 - From delighting in repetitive tasks to unselfconscious joy, there is much to be learned from a Expand
11/09/2024 - From delighting in repetitive tasks to unselfconscious joy, there is much to be learned from a dog’s approach to lifeWhat is important in life? What gives it purpose, and meaning? While philosophers ponder these questions, dogs just live them. In his new book, Mark Rowlands argues the case that a dog’s capacity for joy, for meaning, for wholesale commitment to being, far exceeds that of humans. A professor of philosophy and a serial dog owner, Rowlands has written a profound and funny examination of what it means to be fulfilled, both for canines and humans. By the end, you will envy your dog’s every waking moment.It was Socrates who said – or probably said – that the unexamined life is not worth living. But the examined life is not all it’s cracked up to be. We humans are creatures of doubt, agonisers and second-guessers, ceaselessly interrogating ourselves, our actions and our motives. Dogs, not so much. Continue reading... Collapse
People Who Like Dogs Like People Who Like Dogs review – a touching tale of the canine-human community
08/09/2024 - Journalist Nick Duerden finds a puppy provides entry into an unexpected new social world at his Expand
08/09/2024 - Journalist Nick Duerden finds a puppy provides entry into an unexpected new social world at his local parkThere’s nothing quite like a puppy for luring total strangers into conversation. So discovers journalist Nick Duerden when Missy the border terrier joins the family. As energetic as “a just-lit firework”, her role is to provide him with gentle daily exercise while he recovers from the post-viral fatigue that he’s chronicled elsewhere. She’s also set to give his atrophying social skills a workout, stripping him of midlife invisibility and earning him an entrée to an unexpected new social circle at his local London park.There he meets the likes of Pavlov, a Russian existentialist who shares his council flat with Dog, a three-legged staffie; Elizabeth, an elegant older widow and owner of grey-muzzled Betty; and Agatha, an art teacher whose grandparents came here from the Caribbean, and who is forever dressed in purple, Coco the French bulldog tucked under her arm. There’s also Collapse
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The pet I’ll never forget: Brown Hen, the eggless hero who loved us – and outsmarted all her predators
6 DAYS AGO - As our flock of chickens dwindled, she truly came into her own, adopting us as her flock and Expand
6 DAYS AGO - As our flock of chickens dwindled, she truly came into her own, adopting us as her flock and miraculously avoiding death-by-pine-martenBrown Hen was originally one of five chickens that we kept at our home in the Scottish countryside. But chickens do not live long, and over time our flock dwindled until only she was left. Having lived in the shadow of the others, somewhere near the bottom of the pecking order, Brown Hen now took the chance to come into her own.Hens are social creatures and we wondered how long she would last without company. We only ever called her Brown Hen or “the hen” to avoid getting too attached. But in the absence of other chickens, she adopted a new flock: us. Continue reading... Collapse
SofistiCAT 2024 international cat show – in pictures
28/09/2024 - About 250 felines from 15 breeds gathered in Bucharest, Romania, to compete for the international Expand
28/09/2024 - About 250 felines from 15 breeds gathered in Bucharest, Romania, to compete for the international title Continue reading... Collapse
My dog has been reviewed online – and it wasn’t exactly glowing | Zoe Williams
24/09/2024 - While the sitter’s words were not untrue, there were so many other things they could have said Expand
24/09/2024 - While the sitter’s words were not untrue, there were so many other things they could have said about my staffordshire bull terrierWhen Uber was first invented, my mother was incensed about the star-rating system. She did not wish to be evaluated for her manners, she said. It was outrageous. You paid someone to take you somewhere – your personality was none of their concern. “You could try just being nice?” I suggested. “I am nice! I’m always nice. I’m really nice,” she said, with feeling. “I just don’t want to be ranked on my niceness.” I pointed out that she could rank them back; it was a symmetrical power dynamic that could only serve to drive up niceness in aggregate. And that is pretty much how it is worked out, I think (I’m a 4.73, thanks for asking, and I’m sure I dropped that quarter point because of my husband).You know what online power dynamic isn’t symmetrical? Dog-sitters. Romeo, my charming but problematic staffordshire bull terrier, went to stay overnight with a Collapse
I decided to spend a day as a dog. It was completely idyllic, at first ... | Emma Beddington
22/09/2024 - Being human is so complicated – all that doubt, dread and self-loathing. Dogs have a much better Expand
22/09/2024 - Being human is so complicated – all that doubt, dread and self-loathing. Dogs have a much better time of it. But can I access their world of pure sensation?You know how sometimes you think you’ve had a brilliant idea, then it bites you in the bum like an athletic but mean jack russell? Suggesting I could “live like a dog for a day to see if they’re happier” turned out to be one of those.It seemed so promising. When I heard the title of the philosopher Mark Rowlands’ book The Happiness of Dogs: Why the Unexamined Life Is Most Worth Living, it struck me like a Frisbee to the head. Rowlands hasn’t written a how-to guide – rather it’s a lovely meditation on what it’s like in our canine companions’ heads – but it filled me with urgent longing. Continue reading... Collapse
From Truman Capote to feline firefighters – a day out at New York’s historical cat walking tour
16/09/2024 - Historian Peggy Gavan created Cats About Town with Dan Rimada, who runs an Instagram account about Expand
16/09/2024 - Historian Peggy Gavan created Cats About Town with Dan Rimada, who runs an Instagram account about bodega catsEmily Warren Roebling was a groundbreaking engineer who took over construction of the Brooklyn Bridge after her husband, who had been leading construction, and son died of decompression sickness. On 24 May 1883, Roebling became the first human to cross the bridge during its opening ceremony. But the first creature to cross the bridge did so about a month earlier, when a cat named Ned claimed the honor.According to a New York Times article dug up by historian Peggy Gavan, a saloon keeper named CW McAuliffe and the city alderman James J Mooney set up the stunt, searching through Brooklyn strays to find a cat that, as they put it, “was inclined to see the world”. The pair stumbled upon a gray cat they named Ned, who, with the blessing of the bridge’s chief engineer, was placed in a basket and let out on the center of the structure, and walked toward Manhattan. Continue reading... Collapse
Tim Dowling: all the new puppy wants to do is eat and pee – anytime, anywhere
14/09/2024 - Food is Jean’s obsession, to the extent that the tortoise has serious concerns about his supply of Expand
14/09/2024 - Food is Jean’s obsession, to the extent that the tortoise has serious concerns about his supply of lettuceThanks to a strict system of positive reinforcement, the little dog has learned that it’s good to pee outside. Unfortunately it still has no idea that it’s bad to pee inside. It could be that the distinction between inside and outside has been made insufficiently clear. Or it could be that our negative reinforcement is simply ineffective.“This is, frankly, an outrage,” I say to the little dog, after finding yet another puddle of piss in the sitting room. The dog, who I’ve located in the kitchen, has no idea what I’m talking about. It sits up, tiny tail thumping against the floor, waiting to be rewarded for something it has inadvertently done right. Continue reading... Collapse
Markus Zusak: ‘Yes, I swear at home and call my dog a bastard – that’s how we all live’
13/09/2024 - The global bestselling writer on the wildness, love and sorrow that defines life with dogsGet our Expand
13/09/2024 - The global bestselling writer on the wildness, love and sorrow that defines life with dogsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMarkus Zusak has never looked far for sources of dramatic potential. The internationally bestselling writer has long found seeds of the epic in the regular unfolding of daily life.In 2022, Zusak was consumed with a project that wasn’t working in the wake of Bridge of Clay, the follow-up to The Book Thief, an acclaimed novel that has sold 16m copies since it was published in 2005. His beloved dogs, Archer and Rueben, had died. His family had reluctantly taken in a wolfhound cross called Frosty. One evening, the writer found himself at the intersection of Ocean Street and Syd Einfeld Drive in Sydney’s Woollahra. Frosty lunged at him. Zusak fought back, risking the judgment of the joggers, cyclists and well-heeled women that people this neighbourhood. Continue reading... Collapse
The pet I’ll never forget: Anya, the big-hearted dog who taught me never to take life for granted
09/09/2024 - I knew I was taking a risk when I moved home to adopt a middle-aged boxer/staffy cross. But it Expand
09/09/2024 - I knew I was taking a risk when I moved home to adopt a middle-aged boxer/staffy cross. But it more than paid offMy life was mostly happy – I had a job I enjoyed and a husband I loved. But as the Covid-19 pandemic took over I felt something was missing: having an animal to nurture. I had grown up with cats and found them affectionate but aloof. Meanwhile, everyone said that dogs showered you with unconditional love. In a time as isolating as lockdown, that sounded just what I needed.In 2020, we left London for Essex so we could adopt Anya, a seven-year-old boxer-staffordshire terrier cross whose grin enchanted us from the moment we saw her photo on the Danaher rescue website. We settled on the city of Chelmsford for its proximity to our friends in London, and because it offered us a bigger, more affordable space so Anya could have a garden of her own to frolic in. It was a match made in heaven. Continue reading... Collapse
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