Finland's new Animal Welfare Act prohibits unspayed female cats roaming freely outdoors

Finland has introduced a new Animal Welfare Act which deals with a number of problematic areas including what the Finnish call 'population cats' aka community cats or stray cats or feral cats. Here are some details about this new law...See below image for details.

The new Animal Welfare Act in Finland introduced measures to prevent uncontrolled reproduction, especially in cats. The law emphasizes that the reproduction of mammals, including cats, must be controlled by their owners. This means that letting unspayed female cats roam freely outdoors is not permitted, as it risks unregulated breeding and contributes to the feral cat population. The new rules aim to tackle the issue of abandoned and stray cats, which is a significant problem in Finland​.

In addition, there are strict regulations requiring cat owners to supervise their pets to prevent them from wandering freely. Cats left unsupervised outside of their owner’s property can be considered abandoned, which is against Finnish law​.

Further, Finland's new Animal Welfare Act, which came into force in 2024, represents a significant update to the country's approach to general animal protection. This comprehensive legislation strengthens protections for various animals, from pets to farm animals, and introduces several new measures aimed at improving their welfare.

Key Features of the Act:

1. Breeding and Pets: The Act includes strict rules on breeding, particularly for pets. It prohibits breeding practices likely to produce offspring with serious health issues or those that would cause harm to the animals. For instance, animals with hereditary defects that impair their well-being can no longer be bred.

2. Restrictions on Animal Use: The use of wild animals in circuses and traveling exhibitions is now banned. This includes prohibitions on keeping animals like sea lions in circuses, effectively ending the practice in Finland.

3. Care Requirements: The Act mandates that all mammals and birds should have continuous access to drinking water, although certain exceptions are allowed for species like reindeer and sled dogs under specific conditions. The law also imposes stricter requirements on the care of pets, ensuring they have proper opportunities for physical exercise, rest, and social interactions.

4. Ban on Certain Practices: The sale and use of electric and spiked collars have been banned, although electric cattle prods for farm animals are still allowed. Additionally, cosmetic surgeries like ear cropping and tail docking for dogs are prohibited.

5. Farm Animal Protections: The construction of new tie stalls for cattle has been banned, though existing ones can still be used. There are also enhanced requirements for the outdoor exercise of dairy cows, extending the mandatory walking period.

6. Fur Farming: Despite public pressure, fur farming was not banned, but the Act did not introduce new restrictions on this practice. This remains a controversial issue, with many advocating for a complete ban.

While the new Act introduces significant improvements, it has faced criticism for not going far enough in some areas, such as fur farming and the long transitional periods for certain practices. Nonetheless, it is a step forward in enhancing animal welfare standards in Finland.

--------------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

What focal length is a 35mm lens on an APS-C camera?

When you use a 35mm lens on an APS-C camera, the effective focal length is determined by the camera's crop factor. The crop factor for most APS-C cameras is typically around 1.5x (for Nikon, Sony, and others) or 1.6x (for Canon).

To calculate the effective focal length:

Effective focal length = focal length X crop factor.

For a 35mm lens on a 1.5x crop factor APS-C camera:

35mm x 1.5 = 52.5mm

For a 35mm lens on a 1.6x crop factor APS-C camera:

35mm x 1.6 = 56mm

So, the effective focal length will be approximately 52.5mm on a 1.5x crop factor camera and 56mm on a 1.6x crop factor camera.

The simple reason why I have written this short post is because I just did a quick search on the Internet for the 35mm equivalent on an APS-C camera (popular on mirrorless cameras) and the answers that I got were confusing as far as I am concerned 😊. They were back to front. It looked chaotic to me. Maybe its me! It is the way you present the information and I hope this way is good.

In short, the answer has to be that if you use a 35mm lens designed for a full frame camera the effective focal length on a cropped sensor camera has to be longer because you're taking out the middle of the frame. It's a bit like a digital zoom. You are cropping the picture digitally in effect. 

This means that you are zooming-in which means that the focal length is longer from 35mm on full-frame to to a little over 50 mm on APS-C. 

So a 35mm lens on a full frame camera which is a wide-angle lens, becomes a standard lens on a cropped sensor camera such as the APS-C format.

----------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Veterinary nurse pleads guilty to owning dogs that worried livestock

This story is about a veterinary nurse, Evie Watson, who, it has been suggested, should have known better when going out into the countryside with her two dogs near to a farm called Hall Pastures Farm where there were sheep and lambs. She didn't have one of her dogs, Beans, on a lead and her other dog's lead was dropped as she tried to untangle him. That dog's name is Patcho.

In short, both her dogs became free and they ran off and worried, attacked and killed sheep and lambs. In all, it's reported by The Times that her dogs killed 15 ewes (adult female sheep) and lambs in an horrific attack. Further, the newspaper reports that she did not call the police until the following day.

It's been traumatic for the farmer as you might expect. Lynne Parnell, said that she felt "very sickened" by the attacks and mentioned that she had wished that Watson had told her what had happened straight away.

It's been traumatic for the ewes who lost their lambs. In a victim impact statement she said: "Farmers like us work hard, and our livelihood depends on us producing good quality livestock and [it] is a long term enterprise. A disruption such as this can take years to recover from".

Evie Watson attended Southern Derbyshire magistrates' court on May 17 and pleaded guilty to owning dogs that worried livestock. The magistrates told her that it had been an horrific incident but they recognised her efforts in trying to track down her dogs, one of which had collapsed. She took him to the vet. Watson had tried to follow her dogs and bruised herself as she scrambled in bushes but she lost sight of them. She asked her family and ex-partner for help and they assisted. She found her dogs after 3.5 hours.

So Watson did make some big efforts but she's been criticised by Derbyshire Police. Sergeant Chris Wilkinson of the rural crime team said: "No one ever wants to believe that their dog is capable of hurting other animals but as has been seen time and time again they can and do return to their predator instincts, and chase livestock if given the chance. That's why it is vital that dogs are always kept on leads around livestock."

That's the point: dogs revert to their grey wolf ancestors' instincts and become predators when given the chance. The same happens to domestic cats. The dog is a predator and as such they must be on a lead under the circumstances described.

Separately, a survey of 1,100 dog owners by NFU Mutual has found that 68% of people let their pets off the lead in the countryside last year. And almost 8% admitted that their dog had chased livestock. However, 46% believed that the dog was not capable of causing death or injury to farm animals. While 49% of the respondents in this survey said that the dog always came back when called. In other words 51% don't. And almost half of dog owners don't believe that their dog is a predator it seems to me!

As Watson was convicted of owning dogs that worried livestock, she was ordered to pay £750 which included a £475 fine, legal costs and a victim surcharge. The farmer said that the punishment was insulting but added that she at least received justice.

-------------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

UK's unhappy teenagers should deeply concern us all

The unhappy teenagers of the UK should be of deep concern to the country's leaders. It appears that the UK's teenagers are unhappy. They are experiencing what is described as a "happiness recession". They are more unhappy than their European counterparts. This is according to a charity, the "Children's Society". They say that their results are deeply worrying and indicate a trend of lower life satisfaction in Britain compared to other European countries.

They took their data from research over several years which indicated that the wellbeing of UK's teenagers was lower than neighbouring countries.

The most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) survey for 2022 show that on average just over a quarter (26%) of 15-year-olds in the UK had low life satisfaction. The European average is 17%. This puts the UK at the bottom of 27 ranked countries.

Indeed this is very troubling. And they found that in the UK 30.9% of girls aged 15 reported low life satisfaction. This is more than for boys at 19.8%. It is also higher than the European average for girls which stands at 21%.

The also found that socio-economic inequalities continue to be important factor and worryingly the report also found that those aged between 10 and17 in households under financial strain were more likely than their peers to have low life satisfaction.

"Alarm bells are ringing: UK teenagers are facing a happiness recession, with 15-year-old's recording the lowest life satisfaction on average across 27 European nations. Particularly affected are girls and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Equally alarming is the high level of food poverty found among these young people. The UK ranks fourth highest for food poverty among 15-year-old's across 21 European countries, underscoring the severe impacts of societal inequalities on their well-being." - Mark Russell, the chief executive of the said charity.

The government said that "We understand the pressures teenagers are facing and that is why we are taking action to deliver our mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child."

Source: The Times newspaper - many thanks.

Reasons for their unhappiness?

I feel obliged to make some suggestive reasons as to why British teenagers are unhappy. I don't know the answers but this is what I think.

The world today is far more complicated. Today we have the Internet which speeds everything up. There is social media to which teenagers are often addicted or somewhat obsessed. This creates added pressures and expectations. People present themselves on social media as successful or iconic and a young man or girl wants to emulate what they see but what they are seeing is not real.

There are these unattainable expectations. And young people are a kind of litmus test as to what older people feel. Perhaps they are more sensitive than older people or more vulnerable to life's vicissitudes. I'm sure they observe the world and see Putin's invasion of Ukraine which is very troublesome. It is worrying as is climate change. These are things which are happening now but which affect the future greatly.

I believe that young people look to the future and too many don't have optimism about the future based upon as mentioned the Ukraine war and the possibility of China invading Taiwan. We've just had Covid which is still present and has undermined society. The legacy of Covid is being felt in society in many ways including education.

In addition I think young people see the breakdown of some societal norms in the UK. The breakdown of normal services like the NHS which is failing and education is pressured due to large classes due to increased population. 

The justice system is broken pretty well. The prison system is overcrowded which feeds back to the justice system making it impossible for judges to sentence criminals properly.

There is this sense of a broken Britain which also makes it difficult to be optimistic about the future. Universities are in trouble in Britain. Degrees have become somewhat useless in many instances because they been dumbed down. Personally if I was a young person now I would not do a university degree but choose an apprenticeship instead; far more valuable and useful.

Jobs are more competitive. Once again these things feed into a lack of optimism for many youngsters regarding the future. There are other things I'm sure but of all these things I would point towards the damaging effects of social media, unrealistic and impractical expectations which cannot be met, a lack of desire to grind it out and progress through one's life in the long term. 

To work hard for one's objectives and rewards. I sense that a lot of young people don't relish the idea of working hard in the conventional sense over many years to attain a reward which is a stable family life with some savings.

------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Cat food should not be more expensive than human food but it often is

This is a cross-post. The title almost says it all. The truth is that in the UK and perhaps in other countries cat food can often be more expensive than human food. This is entirely wrong. I'm not saying that cats are not as important as humans. I am not saying that cats aren't equal to humans. But I don't think, in all fairness, that mass produced cat food should be more expensive than specific items of human food on weight-cost basis.

Hill's Prescription dry cat food is as expensive as steak by Michael Broad

I'm referring, in this instance, to Hill's Prescription Diet dry cat food which as far as I am concerned is inordinately expensive and as expensive as a sirloin steak in the UK on a weight per cost basis.

This is cat food produced en masse in a factory using the carcasses of diseased cows and other dubious sources. Some of these foods are probably based on better quality sources but dry cat food of all types I allege and believe is sourced from dead animals considered too unhealthy for humans and is therefore cheap. 

If you shop at Sainsbury's you will find that sirloin steak costs the same.

And I would argue that the big dry cat food manufacturers such as Hill's are indirectly driving concerned cat owners to buying cheaper products. Cheap dry cat food served up all day long every day is not good for a domestic cat's health in my view particularly if the caregiver is away from home a lot. 

In this instance (a fairly common one) you have a double whammy of problems: separation anxiety potentially which causes stress which can lead to a bladder infection and idiopathic cystitis combined with dry cat food which does not contain enough water which also exacerbates the potential for developing cystitis, a bacterial bladder infection.

You can see how things work and a lot of people go for the convenience of dry cat food and also for its cheapness provided they avoid the big manufacturers such as Hill's.

Hill's should take their leading role more seriously. They have a very heavy responsibility regarding protecting the health and welfare of domestic cats. They promote the concept that their dry cat food is veterinarian approved and based upon "prescriptions". It's a false narrative. I would allege that their foods promote the opposite in many domestic cats owned by people on tight budgets with not a lot of disposable income.

Only the relatively well off can, arguably, afford Hill's dry cat food. This is unfair on the vast majority of cat owners many of whom are single people on limited budgets trying to cope as best he can in a highly competitive world.

-----------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Use sounds of nature to de-stress (and connect with nature)

As a cat caregiver you want to be in the best state of mind that you can achieve in order to discharge your duties and responsibilities towards your cat companion to the highest standard! 😉😎 A pretty fancy introduction don't you think? But essentially true. 

The modern world is pretty stressful because it's more competitive than ever before and there's that background noise of impending WW3 and that background noise of climate change which I think makes a lot of people anxious as it is ever present.

Listening to the sounds of nature to destress on your daily commute. Image: MikeB using AI - Bing's Copilot.

So, we need to do all we can to de-stress ourselves and I've always said that if everybody connected with nature by walking in a park every day for half an hour it would help. I do it (Richmond Park - a fabulous place). 

But if you can't do that then you can listen to the sounds of nature on your daily commute on the train which, according to a small study, reduced stress levels by 35% compared to those who had listened to nothing at all.

This is called a 'pilot study' because it's quite small and non-peer reviewed. It was commissioned by South Western Railway, a British railway company. They conducted the test on a loop-line from Waterloo Station and back to Waterloo station; a 45 minute circular journey leaving London and then returning. I have used that line often.

Forty-two passengers participated. The participants in one group were asked to listen to nature sounds for 15 minutes, followed by a 15-minute break, followed by 15 minutes of listening to audio of their choice such as music or perhaps a podcast.

The second group did the same thing in reverse order. Their mood was assessed using a questionnaire described as an "industry-standard mood assessment questionnaire".

They reported "a significant decrease in the average feelings of stress when the passengers listened to the nature-inspired soundscape as compared to their baseline levels".

The research has not been peer reviewed and neither has it been published in a scientific journal. It was carried out in consultation with Charles Spence, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Oxford.

Comment: as mentioned in the first sentence, I believe that all humans need to ensure that they connect with nature because we come from nature. Too often we distance ourselves from nature with concrete, steel, televisions and mobile phones. We live in this human-generated artificial consumer-orientated techno-world which is anathema to nature. Connect with nature, walk in nature as best you can and as regularly as you can and it will help ease some of that pent-up stress and simmering anxiety.

---------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Fruit flies can teach us about love, risk and reward

It may surprise you to know that according to a study, fruit flies can teach humans something about love, risk and reward. You thought they were just silly, irritating small flies that got in the way and needed to be squashed at any opportunity. I understand that but read this article and see whether you change your opinion afterwards.

They say love is blind and for the fruit fly it's true. But then again it is sometimes true for humans as well. Sometimes a person in love can take untypical risks because everything in their lives flies out of the window (excuse the pun again 💕😉).

The study discovered that when a male fruit fly sets his sights on a female his sex drive takes over. He loses his ability to spot predators. When sex is the goal male fruit flies become "oblivious to physical danger". They pursue their mate with an abandonment of the risks because they don't register.

So why don't the risks register any more? They studied the neural pathways that are activated in the brains of fruit flies to see what happens. When the fruit fly is close to mating with a female there is an increase in dopamine caused by his sex drive. This increase in dopamine overrides the fly's sensory receptors. This in turn "reduces the ability of the fly to respond to threat, causing it to focus on mating".

That's according to the study published in the journal Nature. The researchers have suggested that a similar process might take place in the human brain. The suggestion is that when humans are close to achieving their goals risk is subsumed by the potential of the reward.

"You can see this kind of motivation that play all the time among humans. Imagine you are climbing a mountain and you're close to the summit. If the weather changes and conditions become dangerous, you might disregard that threat because you are so close to your goal."

Those are the words of Dr. Lisa Sheunemann, of the Free University of Berlin who contributed to the study findings.

It seems that the male fruit flies develops tunnel vision when pursuing a mate. Dr. Carolina Rezaval, also of the study and the lead researcher, said that: 

"Our study shows that as courtship progresses, dopamine increases, acting as a sensory filter that blocks distractions and helps the animal focus on the task at hand when close to its goal. We are excited to explore if this is a general decision-making mechanism that is also present in mammals, including humans."

Comment: my life's experience tells me that it is also common in humans. Perhaps particularly males as is the case for fruit flies. We can learn something from fruit flies.

--------------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Animal shelters need an open-door policy to save lives

America's greatest advocate for shelter animals is concerned that many animal shelters in the US are sticking to pandemic methods for potential adopters and requiring that they make an appointment rather than allowing people who want to adopt a shelter animal to simply turn up and have a look. This is leading to more killings of shelter animals because of less adoptions according to Nathan.

America's rescue centres need to revert to the pre-pandemic methods asap to save the lives of shelter animals.

Nathan Winograd says this in an email to me:

"A new study proves that requiring an appointment to adopt out animals leads to fewer adoptions — and fewer adoptions leads to more killing. The No Kill Advocacy calls on “shelters” to open the doors."

I confirmed this through ChatGPT which said the following:

Yes, it is true that some animal shelters in the US have shifted to an appointment-based system for adoptions rather than allowing walk-ins, and this change has been linked to a decrease in the number of adoptions.

This trend gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many shelters adopted appointment-only systems to manage social distancing and reduce the spread of the virus. While this system helped shelters manage the flow of visitors and ensure that they had enough staff to assist each potential adopter, it also had some unintended consequences.

Critics argue that requiring appointments can create barriers for people who might otherwise adopt on impulse or visit a shelter on a whim, leading to fewer animals being adopted. Potential adopters may find it less convenient to plan a visit in advance, and some may be discouraged by the additional steps required to schedule an appointment.

On the other hand, supporters of the appointment system believe that it can lead to more thoughtful and prepared adoptions, as it gives shelter staff more time to assess potential adopters and match them with the right animals.

Overall, while the appointment-only system can have benefits, it is true that in some cases, it has led to a reduction in the number of adoptions.

Nathan adds:

Data shows that shelter intakes remain below pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, 6.8 million dogs and cats entered U.S. shelters. In 2023, that number was down to 6.5 million. In 2024, that number continues to remain below the baseline. Despite this, dog killing is up 12% from pre-pandemic levels, and cat deaths are up from 2022.

And the following:

Not surprisingly, allowing people to visit the kennels without an appointment led to increased adoptions. Moreover, adoptions didn’t just increase slightly during these periods; they skyrocketed by 82%. This was also true of large dogs, which pound managers argue are the most challenging to adopt — and are often killed in greater numbers. Despite limited hours when people could visit the kennels without an appointment — two days a week for a meagre 2.5 hours each of those days — those hours accounted for 83% of large dog adoptions. This one change — ending pandemic-era closures by fully opening to the public without an appointment — will vastly increase adoption and significantly reduce killing.

Comment: is this change in MO a sign of post-pandemic laziness? It makes life easier for shelter administrators if visitors have to make an appointment. There are less people milling around the shelter. I sense that this new MO is down to shelter administrators wanting an easier life.

--------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Latvian authorities send cars of drunk drivers to Ukraine (no compensation)

If you are arrested for drink driving in Latvia, you lose your car and it is sent to Ukraine to support the country in their fight against the Russian invaders. More $1m of cars have already been sent (by Dec 2023). Lithuania is planning on doing the same. Also, all vehicles with Russian registration plates are confiscated and sent to Ukraine for the war effort. Great. Tough for Russians living in Russia.

The drivers are not compensated financially when their vehicles are confiscated due to drink driving. The confiscation is part of the penalty for the offense. In Latvia, this measure is intended to be a deterrent against driving under the influence, with the additional benefit of aiding Ukraine by providing vehicles for their efforts in the ongoing conflict.

The loss of the vehicle is a consequence of the criminal act, and the government does not provide financial compensation to the convicted drivers. This policy aims to send a strong message about the seriousness of drink driving and the importance of supporting Ukraine.

How about that? Amazing don't you think? Very bold action. The UK government might learn from that and be a lot bolder in their actions to put things right in the country. 

------------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Confused Emma Raducanu unsure what her playing schedule should be

Not long ago Emma Raducanu said that she'd follow her own playing schedule which was and would be less than is typical for tennis playing professional as this suited her. She was losing too many matches and she and her advisers decided that playing less matches would make her more competitive. Perhaps it was trying to recreate that freshness she had when she won the 2021 US Open.

See video below which reveals that Emma has no toenails...! Do any of the other players suffer from this condition due to heavy training? I think not. What does this say about her anatomy?

Fast forward to the 2024 US Open. She has just lost in the first round against Sophia Kenin in three sets. She broke down in the post-match press conference saying that she should have played MORE before the tournament. She'll take a look at her schedule.

All in all she is definitely confused about what her playing schedule should be. Many people, both non-playing experts and players have said that she needed to play more to become match ready. There is no substitute for playing competitively to become competitive,

Practice alone is not enough for a tournament pro. You  have to go through the grind of winning tournament matches to sharpen the mind to winning. This is common knowledge so where did she get the idea that playing less was a good idea?

It is another Raducanu screw-up. The fact is that she and her team have unjustified expectations. They are grappling with an unsolvable problem. She won the 2021 US Open unexpectedly. I think she got very lucky. I also think that she is not an exceptional talent. But she has been built up as remarkable with unjustified expectations. News media has not helped.

There are many players of her standard and some of a better standard on the tour at present. She cannot recreate that magical moment of 3 years ago. But she does not feel able to grind it out like other pros.

She wants to go home all the time. I think she has an attitude problem. She does not like the life of a touring pro. Because she has a mental problem with this lifestyle and being on the road all the time, I think she will never recreate that past magic.

“I was maybe a bit slow starting,” she said. “Yeah, I would have preferred to probably play, a little bit more before coming into the US Open.

"You know, I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player, you feel really good. You feel like everything's automatic. So yeah, I think I can learn from it. And you know my manage my schedule slightly differently.”

What she is saying here contradicts what she said a couple of months ago. Confused I'd say. She'll have to accept that she is a middle-ranking pro and grind it out. She can't accept that. I predict an early retirement.

-----------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Measuring the power of different types of love from parent-child to cat lover

Parental love is the most intense and more intense that one's love for a pet by Michael Broad

This is a cross-post from another website of mine. A Finnish study figured out which type of love is the most powerful by MRI scanning participants' brains when they were told stories reflecting different types of love. I'm referring to the following types of love:

• Parents' love of their children
• The love between romantic partners
• The love between close friends
• The love that a pet caregiver has for their companion animal
• The love of a person towards a stranger who needs help and
• The love of nature

Which of these is the most powerful? Which of these forms of love activate most parts of the brain as indicated by the MRI scan? The following is the list in descending order of strength on my reading of the study:

1. Parents' love their children comes top. This type of love activated more parts of the brain than the other forms of love. In parental love there was a deep activation in the brain's reward system, in the striatum area, while imagining love. This was not seen in any other type of love.
2. The second most potent form of love was romantic love which is also strongly activated part of the brain relating to reward, attachment and motivation.
3. The third most powerful form of love is found between the love of friends.
4. The fourth most powerful type of love is one's love of a companion animal.
5. And the fifth is the love of a stranger that requires help in a compassionate act which some participants questioned whether this was indeed an act of love. There was much less brain activity in this kind of love.
6. On a par with the love of a stranger requiring help, or higher is the love of nature which activated very different brain regions "that were absent for interpersonal love" causing activity in areas unrelated to social skills. People need to connect with nature to feel healed (my personal viewpoint).

The study demonstrated the wide range of the concepts of love and its complexity.

Comment: I have said this before, I think it is a little dangerous to generalise as this study has done because you will find many instances of independent, single people living with companion animals who they love more than anything else in the world and upon whom they rely completely and vice versa.

The study recruited 55 people aged between 28-53. They had at least one child and were in a loving couple relationship. 27 of them had companion animals.

Citation

Pärttyli Rinne, Juha M Lahnakoski, Heini Saarimäki, Mikke Tavast, Mikko Sams, Linda Henriksson, Six types of loves differentially recruit reward and social cognition brain areas, Cerebral Cortex, Volume 34, Issue 8, August 2024, bhae331, https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhae331

-------------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Burglars released rescue cats from their cages but stole nothing

There are two different stories, which I think intersect, in the news media today. The Times reports that the UK police have given up punishing shoplifters. Some time ago the police in the UK said that they would not attend shoplifting to the value of £200. 

Minor crime allowed to flourish in the UK because the police have abdicated their responsibilities

And, in my view, since then they've loosened that requirement even further so nowadays as far as I can tell the police don't attend even mass shoplifting by organised gangs at supermarkets. 

It's become a free for all. The old adage that if you allow minor crime to flourish you lead the way to extreme crime applies in this instance. This should be zero tolerance. As soon as the police advertise to the world that they are ignoring all forms of shoplifting they are opening the door to crimes of other types including more serious crime.

The Times reports that: "Police officers have almost entirely ceased pursuing shoplifters despite the number of offences soaring to record levels, analysis of official figures reveals."

Tell me something new! We've known about this for years and years. There has been a gradual learning process by criminals that they are perfectly safe to walk into a supermarket and take items off the shelves as they wish and then walk out of the premises. 

We've seen gangs of people stripping the shelves of steaks and salmon and walking out of the supermarket in complete impunity to prosecution. It is very shocking indeed. 

One of the missing cats. A tuxedo (black-and-white). Photo by Judy Knowles.

Burglary at cat rescue centre?

And that background is important because today, the BBC reports that animal rescue staff have been shocked by the mindless actions of burglars who broke into their sanctuary and let out rescue cats.

The rescue centre is called Compassion for Cats. It is based in Oak Hill, near Shepton Mallet, in Somerset. Judy Knowles, 71, discovered on Monday that the site had been broken into and doors had been left open for rescued cats to escape. 

Eight of them are still missing. She is in shock she said. She reported the break into the local Avon and Somerset Police but I suspect that they will do little about it because, for me, their attitude is terrible as mentioned above regarding shoplifting.

It isn't just shoplifting. Burglars have been left alone to their devices for many many years. Burglaries were always rated as of very low importance by the police across the UK. This is despite the fact that burglars are very distressing to people because their home has been invaded by nasty criminals. 

But the police just did not want to deal with burglaries and I suspect that they will do little or nothing about trying to find these rescued cats which have dispersed throughout the community.

Judy Knowles said that it appears that the elderly cats had been disturbed possibly chased around and some of them were very distressed. She can't understand why somebody would do this and it is noticeable that nothing was stolen.

Perhaps, actually, these were not classic burglars looking for money but animal advocates looking to release rescue cats. But that would be a terrible mistake because these cats were slated to be rehomed as that is the general intention of all cat rescue centres.

Anyway, this story is about the police actually. The police's failure to deal with what was once minor crime and is now a major crime because the country is looking at organised gangs carrying out shoplifting. This is no longer on individual deciding to nick something. It's far far bigger than that. Shame on the UK police.

The new Home Secretary said she'd do something about! Fat chance.

-----------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Overview of the diseases that can be transmitted to cats through ticks and fleas

A study looked at the diseases that a cat can acquire through ticks and fleas. This is a summary. It may be useful for cat caregivers.

Amusing but not amusing in reality! Image: DALLE. 

TICKS

Cats can contract several diseases from ticks, although these infections are generally less common in cats than in dogs. Here are some of the key tick-borne diseases that can affect cats:

1. Cytauxzoonosis

• Cause: This disease is caused by the protozoan parasite Cytauxzoon felis.
• Transmission: It is transmitted by ticks, particularly the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma americanum).
• Symptoms: Symptoms include fever, lethargy, loss of appetite, jaundice, difficulty breathing, and sometimes sudden death. The disease progresses rapidly and is often fatal if not treated promptly.

2. Anaplasmosis

• Cause: Anaplasmosis is caused by the bacteria Anaplasma phagocytophilum.
• Transmission: This bacteria is transmitted primarily by the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis), which is also known as the deer tick.
• Symptoms: Symptoms in cats may include fever, lethargy, joint pain, loss of appetite, and anemia. Although more common in dogs, cats can still be affected.

3. Ehrlichiosis

• Cause: Ehrlichiosis is caused by bacteria from the genus Ehrlichia, with Ehrlichia canis being a common species.
• Transmission: Ticks, particularly the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus), are the primary vectors.
• Symptoms: Infected cats may show signs such as fever, lethargy, weight loss, swollen lymph nodes, and anemia. While rare in cats, it can lead to chronic infections if not treated.

4. Lyme Disease (Borreliosis)

• Cause: Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi.
• Transmission: The disease is transmitted by the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis).
• Symptoms: Cats may experience fever, lethargy, lameness, joint pain, and loss of appetite. Lyme disease is more commonly recognized in dogs and humans, but cats can be infected as well.

5. Tularemia

• Cause: Tularemia is caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis.
• Transmission: It can be transmitted by several tick species, including the dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) and the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma americanum).
• Symptoms: Symptoms in cats include fever, lethargy, loss of appetite, swollen lymph nodes, and abscesses. Tularemia can be severe and is a zoonotic disease, meaning it can also infect humans.

6. Babesiosis

• Cause: Babesiosis is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Babesia.
• Transmission: Transmitted by various tick species, though it's more commonly reported in dogs, cats can still be infected.
• Symptoms: Cats may show signs of fever, anemia, lethargy, and jaundice. Babesiosis is rare in cats but can occur.

7. Hepatozoonosis

• Cause: Hepatozoonosis is caused by protozoan parasites from the genus Hepatozoon.
• Transmission: Cats typically acquire the infection by ingesting an infected tick rather than through a bite.
• Symptoms: Symptoms include fever, muscle pain, weight loss, and lethargy. Hepatozoonosis is uncommon in cats.

These diseases highlight the importance of regular tick prevention and monitoring for symptoms in cats, especially in areas where ticks are prevalent.

FLEAS

Cats can contract several diseases from fleas, some of which can be serious or even life-threatening. Here are the key flea-associated diseases that can affect cats:

1. Flea Allergy Dermatitis (FAD)

• Cause: Flea Allergy Dermatitis is an allergic reaction to flea saliva.
• Symptoms: Cats with FAD experience intense itching, skin inflammation, hair loss, scabbing, and secondary skin infections due to excessive scratching and grooming. Even a few flea bites can trigger this condition in sensitive cats.

2. Bartonellosis (Cat Scratch Disease)

• Cause: This bacterial infection is caused by Bartonella henselae and is transmitted by fleas.
• Symptoms: Infected cats may show mild to no symptoms, but when symptoms do occur, they can include fever, lethargy, swollen lymph nodes, and inflammation of the gums, eyes, or heart. Cats can also transmit this disease to humans through scratches or bites, where it may cause swollen lymph nodes, fever, and other symptoms.

3. Hemoplasmosis (Feline Hemotropic Mycoplasmosis)

• Cause: This disease is caused by blood-borne bacteria known as Mycoplasma haemofelis and related species, transmitted by flea bites.
• Symptoms: Cats with hemoplasmosis may develop anemia, fever, weakness, loss of appetite, and jaundice. The disease can be severe, especially in immunocompromised cats or those with other underlying health conditions.

4. Tapeworms (Dipylidium caninum)

• Cause: Tapeworm infection occurs when a cat ingests a flea that is carrying the tapeworm larvae.
• Symptoms: Infected cats may show signs of weight loss, vomiting, or see small segments of the tapeworm (resembling grains of rice) around the anus or in the feces. While not usually severe, tapeworms can cause discomfort and gastrointestinal upset.

5. Flea-Borne Rickettsiosis

• Cause: Caused by Rickettsia felis, a type of bacteria transmitted by fleas.
• Symptoms: Infected cats might show non-specific symptoms such as fever, lethargy, and loss of appetite. Though more commonly recognized in humans, rickettsiosis can affect cats as well.

6. Plague (Yersinia pestis)

• Cause: While rare, fleas can transmit the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which causes the plague.
• Symptoms: Cats with plague may exhibit fever, swollen lymph nodes, respiratory distress, and lethargy. This disease is very serious and can be fatal if not treated promptly. It's also zoonotic, meaning it can be transmitted to humans.

7. Flea-Borne Typhus

• Cause: Flea-borne typhus is caused by Rickettsia typhi, transmitted by fleas.
• Symptoms: Symptoms in cats are generally mild but can include fever, lethargy, and loss of appetite. The disease is more commonly recognized in humans, particularly in regions where flea infestations are prevalent.

8. Feline Infectious Anemia

• Cause: Feline infectious anemia is primarily associated with Mycoplasma haemofelis and similar organisms, which are transmitted by fleas.
• Symptoms: Anemia, lethargy, weakness, and jaundice are common signs. Severe cases can lead to life-threatening conditions if not treated.

These diseases highlight the importance of flea prevention and control in cats. Regular use of veterinary-approved flea preventatives can help protect cats from these flea-associated diseases.

------------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Kamala is 'Comma followed by 'la' and Walz is 'Walls'. Got it!

There has been a 96-hour coronation for Kamala Harris. It seems to me that when it comes to campaigning to be the president of the United States, the American citizens need to have some sort of leader to look up to which can lead to a kind of cult. Trump was said to be a cult figure but now I think we can call Kamala Harris a cult figure judging by the recent super-energetic Chicago convention at which, she apparently, made a rather weak speech but that doesn't matter because the delegates were super-excited and in all there were about 66 speeches apparently! She has amassed a $500m war chest. She is that popular. May it continue.

'Comma' followed by 'la' Harris! She is great. Image credit see base on article.

But one thing came out of this convention which is that I discovered how to pronounce 'Kamala' and the name of her running mate Tim Walz. He's been specifically picked to look 60 years old and white!

Trump has consistently used nicknames to belittle Kamala Harris. And he tried to pick holes in her ethnic background which I think is horrendously bad. He's been criticised for this. For sniping and stupid insults. Well let him continue because the more he does it the less effective he looks and the more stupid he looks as well.

Okay, to the point which is in the title to this article. The exact way to pronounce her name is apparently to first say the word "comma" and then add to that the French word "la". And regarding Tim Walz, the way to say his surname is as follows: "Walls".

RELATED: Kamala Harris is an animal champion. Donald Trump has a poor record on animal welfare.

I bet you didn't know that! Perhaps you did but I certainly didn't and it is nice to finally get to the bottom of it. I believe that the unusual way to pronounce her name comes about because of her ethnicity where her name has a meaning: lotus flower.

FYI: Kamala is an Indian name, and her middle name is Devi— a South Asian middle name. Kamala Harris's ethnicity is Indian and Jamaican. Vice President Kamala Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican-born father and an Indian-born mother.

Image: By Lawrence Jackson - https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/vice-president-harris/ (direct download), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=103324295

--------------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable. What else!?

Veterinarian responds to woman's criticisms (while doing her makeup!)

This is quite a cool video firstly because the woman is confident enough to criticise vets in general on social media (TikTok) while doing her makeup! Why do it like that? Is he making a statement? I think she is and it is this: it is a feminist statement saying 'I am a woman and confident in my own skin. Listen to me...' Just a thought.

And I like this very erudite veterinarian. He sits in his car to make a TikTok video in responding to the woman's criticisms. I think the vet's only place (space) of privacy while at work is his car! Good idea.

He responds very nicely. The woman is a bit extravagant in her criticisms. He picks holes in them with ease.

Last point: vets in the UK are currently being criticised in exactly the same way. Too expensive. Rip off businesses because they are often owned and run by big corporations who focus on profit first and foremost and it shows. This video is relevant to the UK situation despite it being made in the USA.

Note: these videos from social media sometimes stop working. Sorry if that has happened.

@thejunglevet lets talk, im genuinely curious to hear you guys’ experiences with your vet #fyp #viral #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #veterinary #veterinarian #vettok #petowner #petparents #vetoffice #vetclinic #vets #vetdoctor #greenscreenvideo ♬ original sound - Dr. Drew | Veterinarian

----------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Why Google search results are often irrelevant and just 2-3 pages long

THIS IS MY OPINION, NOT HARD FACT, EXCEPT FOR THE FIRST-HAND OBSERVATIONS: For those who are interested in internet search results, the recent change to Google's algorithm has been shocking. Sometimes Google only lists 2 pages of search results whereas in the recent past it was dozens of perhaps hundreds. Now 30 websites or even 24 are listed. Sometimes less. And most of them are irrelevant to the search query!!

Reddit is the top-ranked site for Google. Reddit is a forum. A huge site on all manner topics and discussions but often the discussions are frivolous and silly. Just a list of wisecracks and often not very informative. A platform for budding comics.

Featuring Reddit.com as the font of all wisdom is going to certainly lead to irrelevant search results. But it isn't just Reddit. Google now features website in search results which do not hit the search term on the head. They are at best obliquely relevant. Poor basically. Google knows this but it doing nothing about it an apparent act of self-harm. 

Why is Google doing this? It looks like a massive backward step for Google. 

For me it IS a massive backward step for Google which now incorporates AI into its search engine. To me it looks like a failure as AI is not adding to the quality of Google's search engine but detracting from it.

CAVEAT: If you are testing Google search its results vary massively between being logged on and logged off and if you have set for personal search. When I am logged off from Google and personal search if off, the search results are better. This may be a bigger factor than I had realised.

I have been trying to figure out what is going on as these changes have buried or effectively destroyed hundreds of thousands and perhaps millions of smaller websites as they are no longer listed at all by Google. They've become invisible. As Google dominates internet search at around 85% of searches, if a site is effectively delisted by Google is is consigned to a black hole of everlasting oblivion.

Working on these websites become almost pointless as so few people visit them. Some hits are possible by promoting your site on social media but it is a poor substitute to being ranked on page one of a Google search.

The reason for these apparently destructive and backward changes is mostly to do with AI which is so much more efficient at web search.

Ask AI - such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini - for details about a topic that you are researching and it will do the work that you would have done in one hour, in 30 seconds. And write it up for you; nicely packaged often in bullet lists unless you instruct it otherwise.

Game over for search engines and listed websites.

People these days are asking AI for answers and details and even for full articles which they copy and past. Or they ask AI to create an image or a full video. These products are proving very popular on social media.

At lot of the internet content (information articles) are now written by AI. There are big dangers as AI becomes incestuous, feeding on its own information which was stolen from millions of websites. The quality takes a nose dive.

But the guys who run Google realised that Google search has almost become redundant. These days you hardly need Google search as you can get all the info you need from ChatGPT or other AI bots.

And as almost no one goes beyond page one of Google search results why list more than 3 pages? The Google guys and ladies realised this and that's why Google search has changed dramatically. The effective internet has SHRUNK bigtime.

The victims are website owners who've seen visitors drop by up to 90%. This means a loss of Google Adsense revenue which in turn means less commission for Google.

Google features Reddit.com as it is a forum and you can't replicate the form format in an AI bot's response. It relies on real people.

Personally I feel despondent about all these negative changes as I see them. My sites are almost dead. What I am doing here is a waste of time but I am bored so it occupies me!

I feel that the current journey of dramatic change of internet search is going to end badly. And I feel that more websites other than mumsnet.com should sue the AI bot owners for compensation as they have scraped the internet like a trawler scraping the bottom of the ocean for fish. Billions of dollars of it.

Website owners need to get together in large numbers and protest. Revolt against the injustice of these arrogant and unfair actions by the masters of the internet.

Perhaps Google is also very concerned about being sued by the American authorities for being a monopoly. They want Google broken up. Perhaps Google is paving the way for that.

-----------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Lily Allen's rescue dog "ruined her life" and she gave her back

Lily Allen and a (not the dog in the story) Maltipoo. Image credit for Allen at base of article.

The news today on the celebrity circuit is that Lily Allen returned her rescue dog to the shelter from where she adopted her (which I believe was a Maltipoo) because he or she ate her passport and the passports of her children. The latest is that PETA has criticised her publicly for surrendering her dog to the shelter in an open letter. AND she said that she has received death threats on social media. It is pretty bad. She did wrong. There is no doubt about it but she does no deserve death threats. And she did adopt a rescue dog rather than buying a purebred. Anyway...

This caused her a huge amount of disruption and distress mainly because she was unable to take her children to see their dad in England for four or five months. 

In response to suffering that disruption to her life she said the following: "And because the father of my children lives in England, I couldn't take them back to see their dad for, like, four months, five months, because this f***king dog had eaten the passports. And I just couldn't look at her. I was like: 'You've ruined my life.'"

As a consequence of telling the world that she felt that she had to return her rescue dog to the shelter from where she adopted her, she received criticism on social media. She told the world about it on the podcast Miss Me? which she hosts with the TV presenter Miquita Oliver.

The singer explained: "We rescued our puppy Mary from a shelter in NY and we loved her very much, BUT she developed pretty severe separation anxiety and would act out in all manner of ways.

"She couldn't be left alone for more than 10 mins, she had 3 long walks a day 2 by us and 1 with a local dog walker and several other dogs, we worked with the shelter that we rescued her from and they referred us to a behavioural specialist and a professional trainer, it was a volunteer from the shelter who would come and dog sit her when we were away, and after many months and much deliberation everyone was in agreement that our home wasn't the best fit for Mary."

One X user wrote: “Lily Allen is all that’s wrong with the world, got a puppy, used it for likes on Instagram, and then sent it back to the home because it chewed up her family passports that she left within its reach.” - A lot of people would agree with this.

Update: this is a picture of Mary. A black dog! It is from her Instagram page. I am not sure that this dog is a Maltipoo. She looks like a mongrel (mixed breed) to me. 

Mary. Now returned to the shelter from where she was adopted. Image: Instagram.

Liliana lives in New York with her husband, the actor, David Harbour and her two children, Ethel Mary, 13, and Marnie Rose, 11. She added: "We actually did adopt a dog already, but then it ate my passport and so I took her back to the home. She ate all three of our passports and they had our visas in. And I can't tell you how much money it cost me to get everything replaced, because it was in Covid and so it was just an absolute logistical nightmare."

She didn't say which specific pet she was talking about but my research indicates that she was a Maltipoo, which looks like a little, fluffy white terrier-type dog. These are small dogs and small dogs are popular.

The dog was named Mary and she adopted Mary in 2021 from Animal Haven, a New York-based animal sanctuary. Mary had her own Instagram account.

Allen added in her frustration about this incident that "Passports weren't the only thing she ate. She was a very badly behaved dog and I really tried very hard with her, but it just didn't work out and the passports were the last straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak."

She said that she was keen to get another dog which the family had decided to name Jude Bellingham after the English footballer.

As mentioned some criticised the singer on X. For example, one user wrote the following: "That's her fault, not the poor dog's. She is clearly an idiot of the highest order for not keeping important documents away from animals."

Another added: "There are no badly behaved dogs only badly behaved owners. A dog did not ruin your life, you ruined your own life by not being responsible for your belongings."

My comment: these comments are essentially correct. And it's down to her as well to ensure that her dog is trained. This was a double whammy of arguably irresponsibility from Lily Allen in both failing to ensure that her documents were kept in a safe place and arguably in failing to ensure that her dog was properly trained before adopting her or training the dog after the adoption (but see below). 

I appears that the dog acted up due to separation anxiety. That points to the fact that she was not in a position to adopt the dog in the first place as she is away from home a lot it seems. I think that is the problem. She was not in a place to adopt a dog. It is said that dogs should not be left alone for more than 4 hours. Other people helped her keep Mary company but it did not work out.

I think that there is one good thing to say about Lily Allen regarding this incident: she had the courage to take the dog back to the shelter and admit her failings I presume at the shelter. She would have told the shelter that the dog was badly behaved but in doing so she was indirectly and by implication admitting that she had failed herself as well. I think that was quite courageous because some people don't have the courage to do that.

Lily Allen image credit: By Justin Higuchi from Los Angeles, CA, USA - Lily Allen 04/25/2018 #22, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79414080

Update: Lily Allen is angry at PETA. She claims that the organisation has 'added fuel to the fire'.

-----------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Live-in maid abused employer's cat that she shared a room with

This is an interesting little cat story from Singapore; a well-organised country with well-developed animal welfare laws which are referred to after the story.

The employer in this instance appears to live in a substantial home because there is a room for a domestic helper to live in. She appears to be a live-in maid and their room has air-conditioning as I presume has the rest of the house.

In addition, the story tells us that the cats of the home have a room of their own as well which is also air-conditioned!

I think that gives you a flavour of what it's like; a well-off person or couple with a son. At least one child perhaps more we don't know.

But the air-conditioning in the maids room failed and they were asked to temporarily live in the cats' room which was air-conditioned.

The son noticed that the maid was abusing the male cat by throwing things at him. He told his parents and suggested that they sack the maid.

The story tells us that he convinced his parents to fire the maid to protect the cat.

But the comments tell us that this didn't happen for a while because they indicate that the cat's owner allowed the maid to live in this room knowing from their son that she was abusing the cat albeit not in a way which physically harmed the cat.

This is a case of mild abuse because the cat was taken to a veterinarian and there were no injuries.

It's more about the attitude of the person rather than the actual harm done. There may have been some mental harm but that's unlikely in my opinion.

The comments to the story include the following:

“Why do you still let the cats sleep with her when you know she’s abusing them? Set up CCTV, get evidence, then report her to the police. Singapore has laws against animal abuse.”

“Please remember that your cats are also family. They are vulnerable and depend on you for safety. Please do not fail them. You won’t know the extent your helper may go or if accidents can happen leading to deaths.”

“After seeing her throw objects at your male cat making him so stressed, you still let him sleep with her behind a closed door?”

One person was so disturbed by it that they suggested that they telephone the police if the cat's owner provided them with more details in this comment as no one was doing anything positive about it:

“Can we have more details so that we can report your helper and family since no one wants to do anything about animal abuse other than you. Let the internet do it for you then.”

My comment: the story is somewhat slightly overhyped I think because it appears that the maid became irritated by the cats or was perhaps upset by being told to live with the cats in a room while the air-conditioning was being repaired for their room. They may have felt belittled by it. There may be a back story here about the way the cat's owner was treating the domestic helper. And we don't know what that back story is.

It's possible that the helper was upset by their treatment and was taking it out on the family cat. There is no information about how this person interacted with the cat before this incident happened.

That said, it's not good if a maid throws things at the family cat! The question that people will ask is can she be trusted? Can she be trusted to not go further and harm the cat? That's why she should be let go from this job in the interests of animal welfare.

Singapore's animal welfare laws in summary

Singapore's animal welfare laws, primarily governed by the *Animals and Birds Act* and enforced by the National Parks Board (NParks), are designed to ensure the proper treatment and well-being of animals across the country. The laws prohibit cruelty towards animals, covering acts such as unnecessary suffering, neglect, and abandonment. This means that any behavior like beating, kicking, or overworking an animal is illegal.

Additionally, the law places a duty of care on animal owners and caregivers, requiring them to provide sufficient food, water, shelter, and necessary veterinary care for their animals. Offenders found guilty of animal cruelty face significant penalties, with fines of up to SGD 15,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 18 months for a first offense. Repeat offenders may face even harsher punishments, including fines up to SGD 30,000 and/or up to three years in prison.

The law also addresses the issue of stray animals, making it illegal to abandon them. Those caught doing so can be prosecuted. Regulations extend to pet shops and breeding facilities, which are required to meet specific standards to ensure the animals' welfare. Furthermore, wildlife protection laws are in place, making it illegal to capture, kill, or trade protected species without proper authorization, with a particular emphasis on endangered species.

Overall, Singapore’s animal welfare framework combines strict legal enforcement with efforts to raise public awareness, promoting humane treatment for all animals.

Singapore

Singapore is a sovereign city-state and island nation located in Southeast Asia. Singapore is known for its strong economy, high standard of living, and efficient government. Despite its small size, it is one of the most developed countries in the world, with a significant global influence in finance, trade, and technology. Singapore gained independence from Malaysia on August 9, 1965, and has since developed into a prosperous nation with a unique blend of cultures and languages.

---------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.