Love me, love my goat.
Pixabay
We assume that dogs are smarter than other domesticated animals, but science says otherwise.
Can greyhound racing be ethically justified?
Andy Rain/EPA
The huge numbers of unwanted dogs killed by the greyhound racing industry has led the New South Wales government to outlaw the sport.
Technology is catching up with dogs – and has additional advantages.
Stef
New research is narrowing the gap, creating technology with the detecting capabilities of canines but without the downsides of relying on a biological system.
How safe is a dog lick, anyway?
AAP Image/Mark Graham
It’s possible – but rare – for a lick from the family pup to transmit bacteria that can cause dangerous blood poisoning.
More than 60% of Australian households include at least one companion animal, which are seen as family members by 88% of these.
from www.shutterstock.com
With a majority of households having pets and growing numbers living in apartments, a review of regulations on keeping animals in such communities is timely.
Dogs may not have a confirmed homing instinct but other factors could be driving them homeward bound.
www.shutterstock.com/Purino
There is more than pure instinct helping lost dogs find their homes.
Shutterstock
Social media has fuelled a trend for foreign dogs being rehomed in the UK, hampering domestic rescue efforts and increasing disease risks.
Rabies rates are rising in Africa.
Andy Wagstaffe
New initiative with old handsets halves rates of the disease in southern Tanzania – and is being applied to other conditions, too.
Do we see Yarra Trail in South Yarra, Melbourne, as being purely for people, or should dogs be able to enjoy it too?
Dogs are important users of urban parks, but these are clearly designed for the use of people – except for a few out-of-the-way dog parks. Is that fair to dogs that have no say about living among us?
Dogs rescued from an Asian farm.
Muellek Josef/Shutterstock
Eating cats and dogs which have been violently dispatched remains a key element of South Korean cuisine.
State Farm/Flickr
Accusations of animal cruelty at this year’s Crufts have reminded us of the mostly hidden dark side of pedigree breeding.
Susan Schmitz / shutterstock
We’ve bred them into all shapes and sizes, but dogs haven’t been around for long enough to have evolved beyond Canis familiaris.
Slugs and snails can be accidentally eaten by dogs, wildlife species and humans.
Shutterstock/Bankolo5
Around 5% of common garden snails in and around Sydney contain larvae of the parasite Angiostrongylus cantonensis, commonly known as the rat lungworm.
Anthony Devlin/PA Archive/Press Association Images
An animal science expert explains why Crufts teaches us so much about man’s best friend.
The cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) female full of eggs.
Jan Slapeta
Fleas have lived with people for as long as people have lived with pets.
Adam Baker/Flickr
The answer lies in the history we share with our canine companions.
Puff adders can become motionless and scentless to avoid detection by those preying on them.
Shutterstock
Puff adders have developed impressive techniques to avoid being detected by predators.
There goes some precious DNA….
Graeme Bird
Researchers want your canine’s DNA to help unravel the connections between genes and behavior – for dogs and human beings.
Robert H Howington/Flickr
Cats share some important genes associated with herbivores – this might explain their particular eating habits.
You’ve come a long way, baby.
moggafogga
The how and the when of dog domestication are fairly settled. As for the where: now DNA says Fido traces his roots back to wolves in Central Asia that lingered around people’s camps millennia ago.