Taylor Swift's bad decision to purchase Scottish Folds

There is currently some criticism (indirectly and directly) of Taylor Swift for adopting (purchasing) a couple of Scottish Fold purebred cats. The woman is worshipped by billions of people and she's become a huge influencer. I've gently argued that she adopted Scottish Fold cats because they look cute and because they enhance her image. Although, that said, she seems to be a genuine cat lover but a vet argues that she can't be because she purchased a cat with osteochondrodysplasia. Click the link below to read that article.

https://pictures-of-cats.org/vet-accuses-taylor-swift-of-not-being-a-true-cat-lover.html

But she made a big mistake in purchasing the Scottish Fold as far as I am concerned. This cat is arguably permanently in some discomfort because of a genetic mutation which makes the cartilage throughout the cat unable to perform its function. The mutation damages the cartilage. This is a cat which is inherently defective. And in Germany it is banned under their torture breeding policy. It is that bad.

Cute by inherently very unhealthy. Image in the public domain.

Brits love the Scottish Fold

It can't be denied that this cat should not really exist but according to Wales Online the British have named the Scottish Fold as their top cat according to a Burns Pet Nutrition study. Sad new for me as I am mainly concerned with animal welfare.

This clearly indicates the enormous influence that Taylor Swift has over the British public and in other countries. She is the world's biggest and most powerful influencer. She must get paid millions of dollars to promote items on her Instagram pages. Wealth breeds wealth and she is a good example.

According to this poll, the British believe that the Scottish Fold is the most intelligent and the most affectionate and the easiest to train cat breed.

There is no scientific evidence to support those assertions. It's as simple as that. The number of Scottish Fold cat sold in the UK soared to 110,000 in 2021. That is thanks to Taylor Swift as mentioned.

She has done a terrible disservice to the well-being of domestic cats. And I don't want to criticise her. I like her. I like what she does and I think she's a good person; a decent person with a good mind and a good business sense but she made a mistake.

She could have done some good

Being a massive influencer she had the great opportunity to encourage people to adopt rescue cats. She could have led the way here. Think of those poor rescue cats in rescue centres languishing in cages waiting to be adopted while the British purchase Scottish Fold cats which leads to one more rescue cat not being adopted. And this can lead to the euthanasia of that unadopted cat. It's all so very wrong from a logical point of view.

I don't want to harp on and be negative but I want to be realistic and fair and decent. Why don't the British listen to this sort of argument?

I recently wrote an article about a scientific study which concluded that the inherited disease suffered by the Scottish Fold causes pain and discomfort even when the breeder is careful in breeding this cat. They cannot breed Scottish Fold with Scottish Fold because that produces an unviable cat. They have to breed a non-Scottish Fold with a Scottish Fold which results in half the litter being Scottish Straights. These are Scottish Fold cats without the folded ears. They are in essence moggies. But sometimes people adopt them but there's no real point because you are paying for a purebred cat that has no distinguishable and distinct features.

The only reason why the Scottish Fold is so popular is because of their cute appearance and that comes about because of their flat ears which is due to weak cartilage as mentioned.

https://pictures-of-cats.org/our-dominant-sense-of-vision-makes-a-rescue-cats-appearance-important.html

I've always said that the biggest influence on humans is the appearance of something. That is because vision is the dominant sense of humans (click link above for more on this). We rely on vision far more than example cats do. For cats vision and smell and sound work together but for humans we rely far more dominantly on our sight which leads to the appearance of objects both inanimate and animate being very important to us. We tend to conveniently ignore some very important aspects of what we are purchasing namely the health of the animal.

https://animal-human-relationship.pictures-of-cats.org/21-genetic-diseases-inherited-by-the-french-bulldog-are-they-always-in-pain/

That problem has occurred with domestic dogs as well during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many people purchased at a high inflated cost the French bulldog. This is the world's most unhealthy dog and the dog that they bought were probably bred in puppy mills in Eastern Europe (click link above for more on this). They didn't mind. The British simply dived in and bought the French bulldog because it's an interesting looking animal. The should realise that the flat muzzle causes breathing problems.

The same goes for the classic British bulldog. In hot weather you see them wheezing and coughing and spluttering trying to breathe. Health is more important than appearance, I say, but the British public disagree with me very strongly.

It's a great shame that Taylor Swift made this mistake. She would disagree with me but it is a big mistake and there's no ignoring it. She must use her power to influence millions of people more wisely. I'd like to see her talk about this.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Putin, the man who murders journalists

Screenshot from video below.

Although it has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt that Putin murders journalist in 2006, I refuse to say that murder of Anna Politkovskaya by Putin is an allegation. He has murdered so many detractors that we in the West have lost count. The murders are never investigated. And she was criticising him well before his invasion of Ukraine. She would have had more ammunition to criticise him if she had lived to report on the Ukraine war.

She was killed 2 days after writing these words, on 7th October 2006, taken from a Twitter feed:

"This is what she thought of Putin, based on her long-term observations of the Russian dictator. What reasons do I have to dislike Putin? 

There are many. 

• First, his artlessness, which is worse than theft. 
• His cynicism and racism. 
• His endless war and lies. 
• The gassing at “Nord-Ost.” 
• The corpses of innocent victims, accompanying his entire first term. Those are corpses which could have been avoided. 

I often wonder if Putin is human at all, or a frozen or iron statue. I wonder and can’t find confirmation that he is a human being. 

Putin, having accidentally received enormous power into his hands, administered it to catastrophic consequences for Russia. And I do not like him, because he does not like people. He can’t stand us. He despises us. He believes that we are a means for him only, a means to achieve his own personal power goals. 

Therefore, he can do anything he wishes to us, plays with us as he pleases, destroys us, if he wishes. For him, we are nobody. And he, having accidentally scrambled to the top, is now a king and a god, whom everybody should worship and fear. 

Putin has propped up his rule solely on the clay struts of the oligarchy – ordinary people did not find a place for themselves in this scheme. He is friends with some oligarchs, and fights with others, and it is this that we call supreme State Administration, when billionaires who have divided oil and gas reserves among themselves, have ultimate importance. 

Why do I dislike Putin? For the years that pass by. This summer it will be five years since the second Chechen war was initiated for the sake of Putin’s first ascension to presidency, and it is still ongoing. Putin’s style of politics displays deep personal resentment. 

Putin has many times publicly demonstrated that he fundamentally does not understand the purpose of a debate, especially a political debate. According to Putin, a discussion between a superior and his subordinates should not be possible."

17 years ago, on 7th October, the Kremlin boss silenced Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist, writer and activist, on his birthday.

This is what she thought of Putin, based on her long-term observations of the Russian dictator.

What reasons do I have to dislike Putin? There are… pic.twitter.com/44iPYmqaDa

— Yasmina (@yasminalombaert) October 6, 2023

RIP this brave lady. Great courage. She must have known that it was likely that she'd be murdered. But it did not stop her. She was probably tired of living a country managed by a murdering, warmongering, psychopathic tyrant.

"Since 1992, since CPJ began compiling the Global Impunity Index, 58 Russian journalists have died, 38 of them killed as a direct result of their professional activities."

'CPJ' refers to the Committee to Protect Journalists

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Cats inherit prey killing skills but they are refined with learning (infographic)

Image in the public domain.

You might, in an idle moment, ask yourself if domestic cats inherit their ability to kill prey or whether they learn the skill from their mother. Fair question and the answer can been seen in the infographic below which I prepared based on my own knowledge refined with information from Dr Desmond Morris who I believe is still the world's best cat behaviour. He was the first to apply his considerable skills to writing a book - a bestseller the world over - 'Catwatching' about cat behaviour. He explains cat behavior so elegantly and logically. All subsequent books on cat behaviour follow his.

Is actually killing prey a learned behavior for cats? by Michael Broad

The domestic cat is a killing machine. Their anatomy has evolved over eons to be hight tuned up for killing prey animals. Hunting is the raison d'etre of cats. As kittens when they play they are practicing their hunting skills. All play for cats is based on hunting and killing.

I have argued that the inherited hunting prowess of the domestic cat stands in the way for many people of a good relationship. Think of their claws for instance. Some people hate them and ask their vet to remove them. A cruel act as far as I am concerned because claws are an important and integral part of the sophisticated anatomy of the cat. Without them their behaviour is affected and many declaw ops are botched horribly.

Cats are very quick. Their reflexes are faster than those of snakes. They can avoid being bitten by a snake as they can back of extremely rapidly in reaction to a lunge by a snake. Just one more example of the super-refinement of the domestic cat making them a wonderful hunter.

If the domestic cat was not such a refined hunter they would be better pets! We love the cat but we put up with their constant desire to hunt and the refined skills that accompany it.

The desire to hunt can be squashed out of a cat by keeping them indoors full-time long enough. They give up trying to express their natural desires and curl up and go to sleep. For me, this is a failure in our relationship. It is unfair. Humans fight for their basic rights. Yet millions of humans deny their cat some basic rights.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Dogs should not be fed dried penises of bulls. Here's why.

Dried penises of bulls are called pizzles or steer sticks, beef pizzles, or beef sticks! Ultimately they are the penises of bulls which have been dried out. It sounds completely disgusting to me but perhaps I'm being unduly squeamish or silly. But I'm not sure we are going down the right route feeding bulls' penises dried or not.

And the advice comes from an American veterinarian living in Virginia Beach whose name is Tiffany. She's been a vet for seven years and she wants to bust some myths about what is good and bad for dogs and their owners.

Will Demand for Species Appropriate Raw Diets Influence Traditional Pet Food Manufacturers?

Dr Tiffany. Image from her Instagram pages.

She is making the point about owners as well because she is claiming that some of these foods are also dangerous for their owners. She is criticising the idea of feeding dogs raw foods as well. That's because they contain bacteria often and the bacteria can be spread to the caregivers when they prepare the food or in faeces. And of course they can infect the the dog.

Tiffany has an Instagram account where she spreads her advice. She also advises not feeding canine companions raw eggs or raw meat. Those are the three things she would never feed her dog and just to recap they are: raw eggs, bully sticks or pizzles and uncooked meat.

She adds that "Even if a dog does not show signs of infection, they can be carriers and transmit the bacteria to humans through contact with an infected dog. Long-term feeding of raw egg whites can also lead to biotin deficiency, resulting in skin and coat problems, lethargy and other health issues."

The reason why she's against pizzles is because they are very high in calories containing about 90 cal per 6 inches. More importantly perhaps is that "it has been found that about a third of them are contaminated with bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella."

And thirdly, she says that, "If a dog swallows a large piece, it can cause an intestine blockage, which may require emergency surgery."

As to the calories, it doesn't sound like a lot but she says that "treats should only make up 10% of a dog's daily calories".

As to uncooked meat she says that there are no clear benefits but there are risks. She also adds that "Raw meat-based diet are also high in fat. While they could potentially lead to coat improvements, higher fat diets can cause gastrointestinal issues and increase the risk of obesity. It's easy to overfeed due to increased palatability."

She admits that many dogs can tolerate pathogens but not all dogs can. And because it's raw meat they are inherently prone to bacterial contamination. She advises buying raw meats from commercial suppliers. And, "Although freezing and freeze-drying may reduce the number of bacteria, it does not destroy all pathogens. These pathogens will continue to be shed in the faeces even if the dog consuming the raw meat-based diet does not show signs of illness."

This can put owners at risk as well as their dogs she advises and she added that "This can affect people who are young, pregnant, old or immunosuppressed, as well as increased exposure to resistant bacteria which can cause antibiotic resistance."

Tiffany recommends people feed their dogs a commercial fresh food diet and that fresh food is the ideal choice.

Her advice is seen as controversial by some because there is a following for raw meats for dogs and indeed cats. There are risks with bacteria she says but many people believe that there are distinct health advantages for some dogs and cats to a raw diet. Often these people are suspicious about commercially prepared foods and prefer to give the dog or cat something which is purer and less tainted by commercial processing.

One commenter on her Instagram page said that:

'Wow. I've been raw feeding for over 10 years, and the only food that ever made my dogs sick was kibble. Yes, I'm not sure why people advocate for raw meat when you can just gently cook the meat at home and make it safer!' 

The comment comes from one of those people who supports raw diets but you will find that veterinarians in general both in respect of cats and dogs object to a raw diet but you will find that veterinarians in general both in respect of cats and dogs object to a raw diet because, as mentioned, of the risk of bacterial cross contamination and the difficulties of storage of raw foods safely. It does require skills and finally there's the issue of a balanced diet.

Raw food by itself is not enough to provide a balanced diet and for cats. If you provide a raw diet it should be commercially prepared or you should know how to supplement it with the required supplements and additives to ensure that it is fully balanced and therefore beneficial you should know how to supplement it with the required supplements and additives to ensure that it is fully balanced and therefore beneficial.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Russian fencer uses F-word multiple times against Ukrainian opponent

This is the European Fencing Championships in Basel. Olena Kryvytska, the Ukrainian, won the bout with a score of 15:9. But in the video you can see how badly behaved the Russian was after Olena refused to salute her at the end of the bout which I presume is part of the etiquette in fencing competitions. 

Screenshot from the video.

To me it shows us how many Russians 'just don't get it'. They don't understand what is going on in the war in Ukraine thanks to Putin's incessant television propaganda and news blackouts because he terrorises independent newspapers in Russia. 

And therefore this Russian fencer competing under the Georgian flag (why!?) becomes enraged when her Ukrainian opponent - who beat her - does not do the polite thing at the end. 

And the Ukrainian fencer was correct. How could she salute and be polite to a Russian who is a citizen of  country bent on destroying Ukraine in an illegal war? This problem is the same for tennis players. Ukrainian tennis professionals have refused to shake hands with their Russian competitors at the end of the match.

There is a strong argument that all Russian athletes should be banned from all competitions during this war but I understand that they are sometimes entirely innocent and victims of Putin themselves.

Here is the video:

"F*ck, why do they act like that? F*ckers. Why the f*ck are they allowed to do anything? Have they lost their f*cking minds?" - Russian fencer Maya Guchmazova (competing under the Georgian flag) when the Ukrainian fencer Olena Kryvytska refused to salute her.

The incident took… pic.twitter.com/5FEGw3bT8f

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) June 18, 2024

Of course this has nothing to do with cats! Directly. But indirectly it has everything to do with cats and other animals. Hundreds of thousands as you probably know by now have been killed by Putin's forces. He has also killed many thousands of wild animals. It is Armageddon for animals in Ukraine thanks to that terrorist, tyrant Putin who professes to be an animal lover. We must think of the animals as well as the human victims.

The man is destroying Russia as well, in small steps compared to Ukraine where he likes to shell grandmothers with their cat companions in one-bed flats at night.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Russian woman lists Putin's achievements

I hope she does not live in Russia because if she does she is as good as dead. She'll have an accident and fall from a tower block somewhere. Or have a heart attack or die of unexplained natural causes. Putin likes to murder detractors. He is a mass murder and it is astonishing that he is still in power. I think it is the power of indoctrination which I have written about today: https://pictures-of-cats.org/how-vulnerable-the-human-psyche-is-to-indoctrination.html

"Volodya, as always, beat everyone."

A Russian woman lists Putin's "achievements".

What would you add to her list? pic.twitter.com/zOx5ktMF9b

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) June 17, 2024

Headset which alleviates depression endorsed by NHS

We know that caring for a domestic cat can help alleviate depression. We know that it can help alleviate the feeling of loneliness and it can help people get through life particularly when they live alone. There are real, tangible benefits to living with a domestic cat and/or domestic dog companion but sometimes depression just sticks around. A cat owner cannot shake it off and if that's the case, which would be entirely understandable particularly in a more stressful world, this NHS endorsed headset might assist as well.

Flow headset superimposed on a model presenting depressive behaviour.

The Times newspaper, yesterday, refers to this device as a way to alleviate the emotional distress a person suffers when they break up with a partner. The headline for The Times was "£400 headset could help to fix pain of a broken heart".

But the pain of a broken heart includes depression, low mood and extreme sadness sometimes. So this device is designed to alleviate a low mood and it purportedly achieves this through very low level electrical signals sent through the brain with electrodes. That sounds a little bit shocking (excuse the pun) or it might to some people but as I said it endorsed by the NHS and its got some good reviews so I would like to mention it on this website.

The problem is this: a person who is sick or depressed cannot in all fairness and truth be a good cat caregiver. You got to be up to the business of cat caregiving to do a good job. It requires human input which makes this post relevant to the website.

The report is that "wearing the device for a few minutes a day with a mild electrical current may reduce feelings of misery, negativity and depression".

36 participants took part in a study. They wore the "transcranial direct current stimulation device".

The participants were split into three groups each wearing the headset for 20 minutes twice a day over five days.

In one group the current was aimed at the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain linked with task switching, inhibition, planning and working memory.

In a second group, the stimulation was directed at the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex which helps people make conscious decisions according to their motivations. And in the third group the headset was switched off.

Sometimes the gentle electrical current can cause tingling.

The study is published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. The researchers concluded that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex stimulation was more efficient than the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex stimulation to deal with "love trauma syndrome". This includes distress, anxiety, insomnia, mood swings and obsessive thoughts.

The researchers were from Iran and Germany. They found that the device "significantly reduced LTS symptoms and improved depressive state and anxiety after the intervention, as compared with the sham group."

A month after the treatment stopped the participants said that they still felt better. The author of the study said: "These promising results require replication in longer trials."

In January of this year, and NHS trust said that it was offering a headset to deliver transcranial direct current stimulation treatment for patients with a diagnosis of depression. Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said that their patients use the Flow headset device themselves at home for 30 minutes five times a week for three weeks. After about three weeks they reduce the level of the treatment. They can then stop or continue to use it for as long as needed. It is designed to relieve depressive symptoms.

It's not cheap at about £400 in the UK. But if you are depressed and have tried a lot of things including drugs you might like to consider this as an alternative. I am not a doctor. I'm simply reporting what I read in the newspapers but I want to help people who are depressed and cat caregivers.

Flow headset in operation.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Everyone screamed as police 4x4 hit the calf at 30 mph and 4 more times!

This is the viral news story of a police officer driving his police vehicle into a female calf on a suburban road because that police officer feared for the lives of pedestrians in the area and the police claim that the calf rammed cars and by implication therefore damage them.

Everyone screamed as police 4x4 hit the calf at 30 mph and 4 more times! Screenshot from resident's video

The truth of the story is different to the one presented by the police which isn't unusual in my experience. This, by the way, is an opinion article based upon the news. I will declare right away that I don't like the police. Some like the police and some don't. I am in the latter group. My dislike of the police come from personal experience and encounters with them.

Initially in a news report it was said that the police car rammed the calf twice and on the second occasion the calf ended up under the vehicle. The latter is true but an eyewitness said that the police officer rammed the calf five times. And to all intents and purposes it looks very much like this police officer wanted to kill the calf in a panicked judgement.

The officer who used his police car to ram the escaped cow has been removed from frontline duties while witnesses said they were disgusted by what they saw. They screamed and cried and howled in anguish at what they saw.

And it appears to me that it was bystanders who successfully intervened and helped the police to get the calf into a horsebox and back to the farm from where it had escaped. The owners of the farm are bemused as to how the cow escaped but they think it might've swam over a river. It would seem, too, that without wishing to be too critical, they are also negligent.

Everyone screamed as police 4x4 hit the calf at 30 mph and 4 more times! Screenshot from resident's video

And I'm making an allegation here that the police were negligent and I will also make an allegation that it is possible that the police committed a crime. A crime under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in the UK.

It's being investigated. Advocates for Animals a law firm, said that they had been instructed by the charity Humane Society International UK to look into prosecutions. It isn't me who believes that this might have been a crime which it looks like.

Under that act it is a crime to unnecessarily cause pain in an animal. The argument here is that it was unnecessary to ram the calf because there were many other more humane options. The police needed to seek help. They were involved with this calf for a few hours we are told. They had plenty of time to assess the situation and seek proper assistance from experts who could have dealt with the calf humanely.

The calf was knocked down near Bedfont Lakes Country Park and Saint Dunstan's Meadow in Feltham in west London. Hounslow Heath has been a home for a herd of cattle for a long time and is about 3 miles away.

What's amazing about the story is that the police officer decided to ram the calf knowing full well that it was likely that there'd be someone somewhere filming the incident and that is what happened. A resident's video footage shows the police car speeding into the back of the stray animal sending its sprawling down the road. And in another video seen by The Times newspaper a female police officer tells a witness that she understood their anger and said, "I feel awful."

That's an admission by a fellow police officer that what the behaviour of male police officer driving the vehicle was awful and wrong. Here, here!

The calf has a name: Beau Lucy, indicating that this was a pet of some sort or at least they have a close relationship with the owner.

James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, called for a "full and urgent explanation" having seen the video I believe on social media where it has been shared extensively.

Deputy Chief Constable Nev Kemp, of Surrey police said: "I fully appreciate the distress our handling of this incident has caused and will ensure that it is thoroughly and diligently investigated. In addition to an internal referral to our professional standards department, we have also referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. At this time, the officer who was driving the police car has been removed from frontline duties pending the outcome of these investigations. I know there is much concern around the current welfare of the cow. She continues to be monitored by a vet and our rural officers are staying in contact with the owner for updates."

Kai Bennett, 22, a warehouse worker, was an eyewitness to the events. He said the animal was struck five times and not two as initially reported. He said he was returning home after visiting a friend when a group of people ran towards him. "They carried on past me and I asked them what they were running from and they just shouted 'cow'. I then saw a black baby calf running at me."

"I didn't want to get hurt so I decided to follow it and called the police. A big police 4x4 turned up and hit the cow at about 30 mph. I went ballistic. The car wasn't hurting anyone. They did it again and this time they pulled forward so the car was pinning it down by the neck. It was disgusting. It managed to get up and walked off very confused. The police officer got back in the car, did a U-turn and ran it over again. Everyone was screaming, thinking it was dead."

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Police try to stop an escaped cow by ramming it with their car in Feltham, West London.
byu/Xisrr1 inPETA

Ludwig the Dackel sniffs German Euro 24 win

BERLIN: 'Dackel' is short for dachshund in modern Germany. Ludwig, a cute dachshund, was, according to this Times report, enticed more by a bowl of chicken treats next to the German flag which indicated to Germans (! 🐶) a home win in their opening Euro 2024 match against Scotland. To be frank, if Germany don't beat Scotland then I would be shocked but then shock results to take place sometimes.

Ludwig the soothsayer. Photo: The Times.

There is quite a nice desire by humankind to have animals select winners in sports competitions. In 2008, Paul the Octopus garnered a huge following as a sporting soothsayer. Paul also selected the winners at the 2010 World Cup. More about Paul below.

And then we have Emma the pig and Nelly the elephant. There was also Konstantin the elk and the ferrets, Snow White and Freddy. Finally, there was Lorenzo the parrot and Fedor the Tiger. I could go on but we do like to do this sort of thing.

And in line with this tradition, Germany has a prediction for Euro 24 football competition. The opening match takes place tonight and Germany will win because Ludwig says so.

He's been described as a "Dachshund Oracle". He was presented with three bowls of chicken treats. One bowl was next to the German flag. Another bowl was next to the cross of St Andrew (the Scottish flag) and a third bowl was by both flags indicating a draw.

Ludwig confidently trotted determinedly over to the German bowl said the man organising the soothsaying, Philipp Paulus, the owner of a marketing company. He said that "Ludwig believes the German team will win the opener against the Scottish team."

Ludwig is three years old and entirely unfazed by all goings-on including the photographers. He also picked the tournament winner: Portugal.

It's possible he may be asked to make more predictions. It's hoped that he will be accurate! Apparently there have been some failures which is unsurprising when you think about it.

His predecessor was Sisi, also a dachshund, who picked Byern Munich to beat Chelsea in the 2012 Champions League Final and was off the mark by a small amount because the German team lost on penalties.

Ludwig's owner has confidence in his ability and added: "He is a very relaxed even-tempered and thoughtful character especially for a dachshund".

It appears that Germany had a fascination with animal oracles which dates back to Paul the Octopus. Paul lived in the Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen. He picked the winner in four of Germany's six Euro 2008 matches. He also picked all of their seven matches in the 2010 World Cup and he predicted correctly that Spain would win. Remarkable.

On each occasion Paul was offered two transparent boxes marked with a national flag and containing a mussel. The first one opened marked the winner.

He became more famous after each new successful prediction. He became so famous that he had to have guards outside his tank at the Sea Life Centre.

He became an honorary citizen of the Spanish village of Carballino. Russian reporters travelled to Oberhausen to interview him to pick the winner of the next presidential election! Comment: no point as it had to be Putin 😡.

My thanks to The Times newspaper for this story.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Tabby cat walks on stage during Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ symphony in Istanbul

The Turkish like their cats and they have a lot of stray cats probably because there is not enough spaying and neutering under TNR programs and also with domestic cats in homes. 

Here we have a cute video of a tabby cat wandering onto the stage during a concert in Istanbul. Nothing happens which is great. The musicians carry on as if nothing has happened although one of two of the ladies and the men look at the cat as he/she ambles by. They smile in recognition. Cats tend to make us smile.

It seems that the the audience took it in their stride too. This may be because as mentioned the Turkish are used to seeing lots of stray cats. Perhaps they are integral to city life and accepted.

That's a good and bad thing. Bad because too many cats are procreating and good because they are in general well treated.

@animatedserenity Stray Cat Steals the Show at Istanbul Concert! 🎻🐱 #StrayCat #ConcertCrashes #IstanbulConcert #LucerneFestival #Beethoven #OrchestraMoments #UnexpectedGuests #ClassicalMusic #CatLovers #TikTokAnimals ♬ original sound - Animated Serenity - LofiAnime Harmony

You'll see mother cats bringing their kittens into mosques for sanctuary and the iman accepts it. And you see Muslims praying in mosques and cats joining in. No one blinks an eye. 

This is the link between the Prophet Mohammad's love of cats and the Islam faith which encourages Muslims to treat cats well.

The video is embedded from TikTok and it may disappear one day. Sorry if that has happened.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Labour Party will ban imports of foie gras into UK

As you can see from the title, this isn't about cats but it's about something which concerns me all the time: animal cruelty. And the creation of foie gras, a delicacy in France, is a form of animal cruelty; no question about it. The world knows it but it continues and I'm pleased to note that in The Times today, there is a report that "Imports of foie gras will be banned under Labour".

Foie gras. Looks great, right? Shame it's the product of gross animal cruelty. Image: MikeB.

The journalist, Tom Ball, says that "A Labour government would ban the importation of foie gras, in effect outlawing the sale of the French delicacy in Britain."

In the UK, production of foie gras has been bound for a decade but, regrettably to animal advocates, 200 hundred tons of the food is imported from Europe into Britain annually.

For the sake of complete clarity, the process of creating foie gras involves force-feeding ducks and geese using a foot long tube stuffed down their throats until their livers become diseased swelling up to 10 times their natural size. Cruel? It is hard to deny that it is anything but horribly cruel.

In the UK, the Animals Abroad Bill had been introduced by the Conservative party but it was thought that it had been shelved under pressure from Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and other MPs on the right of the party.

Animal advocates revolted at the dropping of the bill including high profile personalities and actors such as Mark Rylance who wrote a letter to Rishi Sunak demanding Britain end its "complicity in this appalling trade".

Competition law prevents a product being banned outright. But if Labour wins the election on July 4 they will ban the importation of any products made through the force-feeding of ducks and geese.

Labour's shadow environment secretary said: "Labour has a proud track record on animal welfare from ending the testing of animals for cosmetic products and the cruelty of fur farming. The next Labour government will build on this. We will ban the commercial import of foie gras, where ducks and geese are aggressively force-fed."

Foie gras has been a staple in the French diet since 17th-century when it was a regional delicacy in the south-west of the country and in Alsace.

Production has declined from around 19,000 tons annually about 10 years ago to 10,000 tons in 2023. The reduction is due mainly to outbreaks of bird flu but since the late 1990s, there's been a halving in the number of European countries making foie gras. In short, there's been a gradual change in attitude towards the production of foie gras which is welcome but it is too slow for many animal advocates.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

90% of domestic abuse professionals say pets a barrier to victims seeking safety

The percentages from this study are mind boggling. The picture painted is that when a woman is being abused by her partner, if she is the caregiver of a cat, the cat is exposed to violence too and sometimes killed or the abuser threatens to harm the victim's cat in 90% of the cases.

Cats Protection mural at Leake Street Arches in London

Here is the story:

Nearly 90 percent of professionals aiding domestic abuse survivors consider a pet to be an obstacle to seeking safety, according to a prominent animal welfare charity. Recent data from Cats Protection reveals that numerous cat owners are hindered from exiting abusive relationships by the concern for their pets' fate if abandoned.

The study involved Cats Protection gathering data from 409 individuals employed in social care, domestic abuse agencies, and helplines.

Additionally, they discovered that nearly nine out of ten (87 percent) care professionals have encountered situations where perpetrators have threatened cats or kittens with harm.

As many as 78 percent of respondents have reported physical abuse of cats, and 39 percent have indicated that their cats have been killed. Numerous owners have stated they feel trapped in their homes, concerned for their pets' safety. Cats Protection has partnered with the charity Refuge to provide a haven from domestic abuse through the Lifeline services offered by Cats Protection. This initiative has garnered support from celebrities such as Dame Joanna Lumley and Wendy Turner-Webster, who have made urgent appeals for additional volunteer cat fosterers.

Ms. Lumley stated, "Amid the challenges faced by survivors of domestic abuse, the bond between a person and their beloved pet can be a beacon of hope and comfort."

Following the charities' collaboration, a mural by artist 7th Pencil in Waterloo's Leake Street Arche, which ensured security in the area last week, was unveiled (see picture above). It was noted that the mural "highlights the unique bond owners share with their feline companions."

Amy Hyde, National Lifeline Manager at Cats Protection told the Evening Standard newspaper: 

“We created the mural alongside Refuge to highlight that there is support out there for both people experiencing domestic abuse through services like Refuge, but also for their cats as well through life lines.

“Cases can be really emotional and we’ve also come across children going into refuge. One of the nice parts of our role is we’ll quite often receive little pictures that the children have drawn of their cat that they want to send in to show to it.

“And we also keep the family updated of how the cats getting along whilst they are in care. So we'll keep them in foster care, normally for anything between six to nine months whilst the survivor is receiving support and is finding new housing. But we have been receiving so many calls so the Lifeline service is seeing one of its busiest times right now.”

The Cats Protection Lifeline service, supported by Refuge, has expanded its reach. Last year, the service extended from the Southeast to East Anglia, Yorkshire, and the Midlands. This year, it has further expanded to include Scotland and Wales.

This expansion comes after a particularly busy period for the charity in January, when Lifeline received 104 referrals, a 74 percent increase from the previous year, with 98 of those from the Southeast of England.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.