Germans keener on cat ownership than the British

On a pro rata basis there are more cats in Germany than the UK. It would appear that the citizens of Germany are keener on cat ownership than the citizens of the UK.

Germany: in 2023 there were 15.7 million cats.

UK: in 2023 there were 11 million cats.

Germany: human population is 83.3 million.

UK: human population is 67.9 million.

The UK population is 0.81 of the German population. Multiplying that figure by 15.7 million cats in Germany produces 12.8 million cats which is 1.8 million higher on a like-for-like basis vis-a-vis the human populations of these countries.

Therefore Germany has more cats per human population than the UK.

Germany: in 42% of households there are 2 or more cats.

UK: 37% of households have more than one cat.

The above figures support the assessment that Germans are keener cat owners than the British.

The above stats come from Pet Food Industry.com and PDSA Pet Populations Report and other sources such as Cats.com and UK Pet Food.org.

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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.

Free micro-chipping by Blue Cross across the UK

In preparation for a new UK law which makes micro-chipping compulsory on June 10, 2024, the well-known charity, Blue Cross has decided to offer free micro-chipping across the UK after trialling an event at their Stratford House Centre in Marsh Barton.

Blue Cross microchipping a tabby cat.

If cat owners fail to microchip their cats by June 10 they may have to pay a £500 fine. Of course, they would have to be found out in order to be successfully prosecuted to pay that fine which I think is unlikely but the law is the law.

This is a first apparently for Blue Cross. They are offering the free service because they are aware of the cost of living crisis in the UK. This problem may have been heightened by the recent extensive news media coverage of rapidly increasing veterinarian prices because veterinary practices have been bought up by conglomerates whose priority would appear to be to increase profits rather than provide an excellent service.

After the trial Blue Cross hope to run the same free micro-chipping service across the UK. Alison Thomas, a veterinarian and head of veterinary standards at Blue Cross said: "As a charity, we are very aware of the impact of the cost of living on pet owners and that is why we are running this event. We aim to run these events over the country if this is successful and we have the resources to do so."

It's almost bound to be successful because the public will be very happy to receive free micro-chipping. Micro-chipping has been a successful process in many countries in many ways.

It allows cats to be reunited with their owners when they are lost. It allows veterinarians to assess who owns a lost cat or a stray cat. It can also help the authorities to assess whether a cat caregiver is providing satisfactory conditions for their cats. What I mean is you can trace the owner of an abused cat and successfully prosecute them if the authorities deem it fit to do so.

It should be noted, however, that a microchip is not complete and total evidence that the details on the microchip is the owner of the cat concerned. It is good evidence that those details provide the name of the owner but it is not conclusive evidence if there is other evidence which overrides it. This is because cats sometimes choose their own "owner" when they migrate from one home to another!

And if there are laws which make it obligatory to keep a cat indoors (this would be very rare but I believe there are certain jurisdictions in Australia where it occurs) you can then make it easier to enforce that law if the cats are micro-chipped. As I said there are benefits for micro-chipping beyond simply finding a lost cat and reuniting them.

Normally the cost of micro-chipping varies between about £10 and £30 in the UK but I'm sure the lower figure is out of date. I would expect it to cost more than that in some veterinary clinics today bearing in mind, as mentioned, the increased charges.

Blue Cross

Blue Cross is a registered animal welfare charity in the United Kingdom, founded in 1897. Their mission is to encourage kindness to animals, protect them, and educate the public about responsible pet ownership. Here are some key aspects of their work:

1. Veterinary Care: Blue Cross provides veterinary care for pets in need. Their hospitals and clinics offer essential medical services to animals.

2. Rehoming Services: The charity actively finds loving new homes for homeless pets. They work tirelessly to match pets with caring families.

3. Behavioural Help: Blue Cross offers expert behavioural advice to pet owners. Whether it’s training, socialization, or addressing behavioral issues, they assist in creating positive relationships between pets and their humans.

4. Pet Bereavement Support: Coping with the loss of a beloved pet can be incredibly challenging. Blue Cross provides a pet bereavement service to support those grieving the loss of their furry companions.

5. Education: The charity focuses on educating future generations about responsible pet ownership. By spreading awareness and knowledge, they aim to create a compassionate and informed community.

Through their efforts, Blue Cross helps thousands of pets and people every year. Whether it’s finding homes for animals, providing veterinary care, or offering emotional support during difficult times, they play a vital role in improving the lives of pets across the UK.

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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.

UK police community support officer orders man to clean up his dog's urine

NEWS AND COMMENT: This is another very strange indeed ridiculous story because the behaviour of the police community support officer is extraordinary and ridiculous.

Steve Schuurman, 56, an NHS worker, was walking his dog in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England (information provided for non-UK citizens) last week. His dog cocked her leg to relieve herself which is what we expect dogs to do.

Dog urinating in typical style! This is not the dog in the story. Image: The Telegraph.

In the UK, the modern policies to pick up dog faeces which makes a lot of sense and people do it all the time these days. But there are no rules about trying to scrub off urine from surfaces. That's entirely impractical and ridiculous.

However, a police community support officer became aggressive towards Steve Schuurman, according to him. He claims that the Dorset police community officer told him to "clear [up] your F*****g dog p**s".

He challenged her at which point the officer threatened to have him arrested if he didn't move on.

At that time, Dorset Police and Bournemouth Council had a stall and a van in the town centre as part of a day of action and after several high-profile crimes in the area.

Steve Schuurman said he would have cleaned up his dog's urine but didn't know how to do it.

He reported the incident to the Dorset Police complaints department. They are looking into it! Steve Schuurman said that the woman "got really aggressive" and "was waving her hands around and putting her hands on her hips, saying it was disgusting."

He asked for an apology. Apparently there were two female police community officers as I understand it. On asking for the apology they told him that he would be arrested if he didn't move on.

As I said, it is extraordinary. And an abuse of police powers. For those living abroad, a "police community support officer" is a kind of lesser police officer with shorter training but they wear a uniform and have certain rights/powers but not those of police officers.

Further comment: obviously these officers were asking for the impossible and therefore they were acting stupidly. And of course if we are to be totally fair, nobody ever asks cat owners to clear up the cat's urine when they pee in public places. Not that it's practical or feasible but it's another point worth making about the idiocy of the behaviour of these two police officers.

There is one last point to make and that is this: of course, when an animal urinates in a public place it is not nice. It is possibly unacceptable but it happens all over Great Britain and other countries all the time. It'll be up to the government of any country to create a law which forbids it. But the police officers can't make up the rules as they go along.

Such a law would be very difficult to pass through Parliament in the UK and in any other legislature in any other country. In fact it would be impossible today but one day it may happen. It really might happen one day.

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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.

UK's new Pet Abduction law will not lead to old ladies feeding cats being prosecuted

There are many kind old ladies and men (for that matter) who are concerned about animal welfare who occasionally feed 'stray cats' and even adopt them. All perfectly normal. And sometimes a kindly old lady might live down the road from a cat owner whose cat likes to visit the old lady's home because she feeds him. And she might be feeding him better food than he receives at his home 😊.

Update: Christopher Wake, of South Croydon, London, writing to The Times said the following: "As a pet owner I acknowledge the emotional distress involved in the theft of family pets but new legislation is not required. The Theft Act 1968 allows for a five-year prison sentence, the same as in the proposed pet abduction bill. Unless the police investigate such crimes more thoroughly and judges are directed to impose stiffer prison sentences, this new legislation will achieve nothing that can't be achieved by present laws."

Comment: perhaps the government thinks that with a specific law concerned only with pet theft, judges and the police will take the matter more seriously and there will be more prosecutions and longer sentences?

Some people might see this as attempted theft 😕! It would be cruel to presume that an old lady is trying to entice a cat away from their owner. Although it might happen very rarely. But the problem here is that in the UK, a new law is being debated in the Houses of Parliament.

It is one specifically tailored to the theft of companion animals. The  existing Theft Act 1968 does not do justice to pet theft. Ordinary theft does not take into account the emotional distress caused to both companion animal and caregiver. It is this emotional distress element which distinguishes the theft of a companion animal from the theft of an inanimate object such as a laptop computer.

Currently they are treated exactly the same but it's time for change which is why the UK government supports the bill going through Parliament currently called the Pet Abduction Bill. Punishment will be tailored to the crime more accurately with a maximum five year prison sentence on conviction as I understand it.

But one Member of Parliament, Sir Edward Leigh, has raised the question about the workings of this Act after it has passed through Parliament. As I think it will be passed by the way because there's great support for it among Members of Parliament.

Sir Edward said that he remembers his mother's grandmother who was a great cat lady. She had 14 cats and every one of them she had adopted by feeding a stray cat as she saw it. Perhaps some of her cats were the property of her neighbours! Who knows. But Sir Edward saw a possible problem because under this proposed law (if it had been in place at the time) it might have resulted in her mother's grandmother being prosecuted and convicted for the crime of pet theft.

Apparently it won't but I can see a problem arising potentially at least. Anna Firth, the MP for Southend West who sponsored the bill said that it would not punish cases where there had not been malice or ill intent when looking after a cat.

This is about what is called mens rea which means intent. All crime requires an intent to commit that particular crime which is part of the prosecution process. There are two parts to it both the mental and the physical. So if an old lady is feeding a cat voluntarily because they want to help the cat but she has no intention of stealing the cat then she can't be prosecuted. 

That's common sense but it doesn't totally preclude the possibility that a charming and kindly old lady might have, on occasions, malicious intent to steal her neighbour's cat! A rare event but just about imaginable.

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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.

British government minister explains in Parliament why her cats are so important to her

Screenshot from the video below.

I like this video as it adds a bit of humanity, gentleness and animal welfare into the House of Commons, which is often a raw place for debate. It is a lady Member of Parliament (MP) who does this by mentioning her two cats who've become so important to her as she alone after her husband died and her children left home.  

RELATED: UK government supports making cat and dog theft a specific crime.

The BBC video tells the story.  She is supporting the introduction into the law of England and Northern Ireland which would make pet theft a specific crime rather than simply the crime of theft under the Theft Act 1998. 

I am told that this law will not affect Wales and Scotland as it seems they have devolved powers on this matter but I think this needs to be checked. I tried but failed to get clarity.

BBC says: An environment minister explains the role of her two cats - Mr Tipps and Raffa - since she lost her husband and her children left home. Rebecca Pow's bill to make cat and dog theft a criminal offence is backed by the government.

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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.

Feral cats are becoming a nuisance at British military bases abroad

NEWS AND COMMENT: this, for me, is a slightly sad story but at least the outcome is going to be reasonable. 

British military base in Cyprus. Image: AP.

The British military have a variety of bases abroad in countries such as Cyprus where there are several and where they are the UK's main defence in the Middle East as they are just a few hundred miles from Israel. 

There are three bases in Belize. And there are also three bases in Brunei Darussalam. In all, there are four bases in Cyprus and my research which also indicates that there is a base in Canada.

The British military have four bases in Germany, three in Nepal, two in Oman, four in Iraq, seven in Kenya and one in Sierra Leone. A lot of bases and in total they occupy about 98 mi².

In all, they are home to 3,500 military personnel 7,000 civilians. The problem is that somebody decided that the feral cats are becoming a nuisance and therefore they are going to do something about them which I hope will be humane.

I'm told that they are going to operate TNR programs on the feral cats to sterilise and microchip them. The cats that are deemed to be in very poor health will be euthanised as I understand it. The project will take three years.

Sounds humane to me and let's hope they stick to the plan. They'll be using a contractor so someone will have to ensure that they act humanely and don't cut corners.

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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.

Rats as big as cats in the UK! Rat catching cats don't stand a chance.

To those of us living in the UK we are seeing more headlines about rats getting larger. They say they are as big as cats. If it's true there is little prospect of domestic cats being usefully employed as rat deterrents. Today's domestic cat ratter will just run away from these monsters.

Massive rat as big as a cat. Image by MikeB based on an image in the public domain.

But in general, I think they are mythical. People like to believe that they are very large. It adds to their story of woe. But if they are larger, it must be an evolutionary process over a very long time.

Animals may evolve to be larger over time as a result of natural selection. Larger individuals may have advantages in terms of survival and reproduction. For example, larger animals may be better able to defend themselves against predators, compete for resources, or attract mates. Additionally, larger size can confer other benefits, such as the ability to travel further or withstand harsh environmental conditions.

However, it's important to note that evolution is not always directional, and animals can also evolve to become smaller or stay the same size over time, depending on the specific environmental pressures they face. Furthermore, evolution is a slow process that occurs over many generations, and there are many factors that can influence the size of a species, such as the availability of resources, predation pressure, and climate change.

AI says this about rats getting larger

There have been reports in the media suggesting that rats in the UK are getting larger, but the evidence for this is mixed and controversial.

Some studies have suggested that rats in urban areas may be increasing in size due to factors such as access to more food and reduced predation pressure. However, other studies have found no evidence of size increase and suggest that the average size of rats in the UK has remained relatively constant over time.

It's important to note that size variation in rats can also be influenced by a number of other factors, including genetics, environmental conditions, and disease. Additionally, different rat populations may exhibit different size trends depending on their location and specific ecological conditions.

Overall, while there may be some evidence to suggest that rats in certain areas of the UK are getting larger, it's difficult to make generalizations about the entire population without more comprehensive data.

Cold climates

Normally animals of the same species living in cold climates are larger such as the puma in North America compared to the same species in South America.

The same difference applies to the tiger. The Siberian is larger than Bengal. The Sumatran is the smallest. Evolution ensures that the bigger animals can keep warmer because of an improved mass to surface area ratio.

This is supported by prey animals also being smaller in warmer climates which feeds into the evolutionary process ensuring that predators such as the tiger is smaller too.

On that basis rats in the UK may be getting bigger to keep warmer as it enhances survival and the evolutionary process is supported by the presence of abundant food supplies because of an increased human population in the UK.

Ratters

The old idea that domestic cats are good at deterring and killing rats hardly applies today. Domestic cats are not great rat catchers. They can be intimidated by a big rat. 

They don't want to risk being injured so leave it alone. It depends on the individual cat. They may even run away from a marauding rat. Rats can be very aggressive and courageous. They are good predators themselves. They've been involved in the extinction of some species on islands.

GB's greatest rat catcher

The UK's greatest rat catching cat was a female living in and around the now non-existent White City Stadium. She is said to have killed no fewer than 12,480 rats in her life. A daily average of 5-6.

A formidable achievement which reflects the reason why the wildcat was domesticated in the first place around 10k years ago. They were utilitarian, working cats as well as companions.

Companions now

Domestic cats nowadays are almost exclusively companions and entertainers to their caregivers.

40-60 wildcats to be released in Devon and Cornwall, UK

I am both surprised and pleased to read this story in The Times today. They are going to release European wildcats into parts of Devon and Cornwall in the UK. As I recall, the last wildcat in England was shot by a rich landowner in the middle of the 19th century. 

The European wildcat is very similar to the tabby domestic cat but a little larger and definitely fiercer! Image: in the public domain (believed).

Before that they were killed by hunters looking for their pelts. They were exterminated completely in England, Wales and Ireland but it is believed that around 200 remain in Scotland.

The problem with the Scottish population of wild cat is that it is probable that most if not all of them are hybrids being first-generation offspring from matings between a genuine, purebred wildcat and a feral cat or even a domestic cat wandering around outside as these two species can make quite freely. 

This is unsurprising because the domestic cat is a domesticated wildcat, specifically the North African wildcat.

So back to the rewilding. Like I said, I'm surprised because there's been talk about this for a long time and historically farmers dislike the rewilding of countryside with predators. Separately, there's a lot of talk about rewilding the New Forest (near the south coast of England) with lynx but the lynx is quite a lot bigger than the wildcat.

The wildcat preys on rodents and small mammals and of course birds. That won't please the ornithologists either.

As the title states, the plan is to introduce between 40 and 60 wildcat into parts of Devon and Cornwall which is in the south-west of England. It's very nice countryside down there. It is a place, if you live outside of the UK, where retired Londoners live.

The designated wildcats to be reintroduced have been bred by a conservationist and re-wilder whose name is Derek Gow. He has five breeding pairs of cats on his farm in Lifton, Devon which is 5 miles from Bodmin Moor.

The breeding wildcats were given to him by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. He is working with the charity to release dozens of them into coastal scrubland and dense forests.

Mr Gow, 57, said: "animals have a knock-on effect on the ecosystems and wildcat were a key part of that until they were hunted for their fur."

I hope they survive and that they are not persecuted.

Petition making it a legal requirement for drivers to stop and report collisions with cats will fail

A petition on the UK government website has 102,436 signatures. It was open for 6 months. Its demand is to "Make it a legal requirement for drivers to stop & report collisions with cats". This is a campaign that has been going on for a long time (since at least 2014). It is a good campaign. Drivers have to stop and report accidents with other animals including horses, cattle, asses, mules, sheep, pigs, goats or dogs, but not cats or wild animals. 

Image: MikeB

Because it reached over 100k signatures it has to be debated in the House of Commons. It will be next week. But it is a waste of time because the government will not enact new legislation to comply with the petition. Their reason?

Here is the Department of Transport response on the petition website:

"The Government has no plans to make it an offence to drive off after hitting a cat. A focus for this Government is to make roads safer for all users, which will in turn reduce the risk to all animals. 

Under section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, a driver is required to stop and report an accident involving specified animals including horses, cattle, asses, mules, sheep, pigs, goats or dogs, but not cats or wild animals. This requirement arises from their status as working animals rather than as domestic pets. To introduce such a measure within the provision of section 170 would require primary legislation. 

Having a law making it a requirement to report road accidents involving cats would be very difficult to enforce and we have reservations about the difference it would make to the behaviour of drivers, who are aware that they have run over a cat and do not report it. 

Although there is no obligation to report all animal deaths on roads, Rule 286 of The Highway Code advises drivers to report any accident involving an animal to the police, and if possible, they should make enquiries to ascertain the owner of domestic animals and advise them of the situation. 

The Government recognises how distressing it can be for someone to lose a pet, especially without knowing what has happened. We committed in our Manifesto, and reaffirmed in our Action Plan for Animal Welfare, to introducing compulsory cat microchipping and plan to introduce the necessary legislation this year. We understand that the vast majority of local authorities now have arrangements in place to scan dead cats and dogs found by them and we will continue working with them and other stakeholders to develop and promote best practice in this area. " - Department for Transport.

That was a massive campaign by some great women to plug a loophole in UK legislation which is unfair on domestic cats. 

The underlying reason why the government won't make new law on this is because they are too busy trying to fix so many profound problems in what many people believe is a broken Britain.

2.3m unowned cats in the UK and 70m in the USA

If anybody is interested, there are 2.3 million unowned (stray and feral) cats in the UK. The figure was worked out by Cats Protection. Is it accurate? They decided that there were 9.3 unowned cats per square kilometre in the UK. As the UK is 248,532 km² there are 9.3×248,532 unowned cats which makes 2.3m.

2.3 million unowned cats in the UK and 70m in the USA. Stray, scavenging cat. Photo in public domain.

However, they also said that there are about a quarter of a million stray cats living in UK cities or urban areas. That would mean there are around 2 million unowned cats living away from urban areas, in the countryside. I don't think their calculations are correct, I have got to say. I don't think there are about 2 million unowned cat wandering around the British countryside. There might be but I would doubt it.

My distinct impression is that nearly all feral cats in the UK are in urban areas. They used a computer model I think to work out an average of 9.3 unowned cats per square kilometre in the UK. They also admit that this figure varies from 1.9-57 dependent upon the location.

USA comparison

On a like-for-like human population basis with America, the figures don't really add up because the experts say that there are about 70 million feral cats in America. The human population of America is currently 330 million which is about five times that of the UK. If we take the human population as a guide as to the number of feral cats in the US there should be around 11 million feral cats in America i.e. 2.3×5 which is around 11 million. This is about one seventh of the estimated figure.

It is hard to know what is going on. Perhaps the problem is that both the estimated number of feral cats in America and the calculations of Cat Protection are simply not that precise and therefore you can't really make a comparison between the countries on this matter. 

USA - overestimation of feral cat numbers?

Perhaps Americans have overestimated the number of feral cats in the USA? It is possible. A lot of the information about feral cats concerns predation on wildlife and this comes from ornithologists who want the numbers to be high as it fits their agenda of keeping cats inside.

UK: surge in puppy and kitten adoptions causes delay in booster vaccinations

News media reports that in the UK there is a national shortage of animal vaccines. Cats and dogs are being turned away from the usual inoculations. Some animals are being prioritised while others are having their appointments put back.

Cat Vaccination. Photo: The Answer Vet

In one instance there has been a delay of several months before they can inoculate. Vets are prioritising kittens and puppies, companion animals most at risk of falling ill. It is the booster jabs which are being put off.

It appears that the shortages are affecting all companies providing vaccinations across the UK. And it affects both cat and dog vaccines.

ASSOCIATED: What vaccinations does my cat need in the UK?

An issue which has been raised is that some insurance policies specify that it is only valid if vaccinations have been administered. What happens if an animal falls ill because the booster was delayed by several months? Can the owner still make a claim under the policy? Petplan say that policies will not be invalidated and they want to reassure their customers. 

The problem of a short supply of vaccinations has been compounded by the rapid increase in the numbers of cat and dog owners in the UK, by 3.2 million during the pandemic.

ASSOCIATED: Unbelievable: UK households buy 3.2 million animals in lockdown

And the problem has been further compounded by a shortage of veterinarians in the UK due apparently to Brexit. Many European veterinarians left the UK following Brexit. Comment: certainly, I noticed what I believed was a large number of young continental European veterinarians in the UK at one time. It seems that large veterinary groups (which is the modern business model) hired newly qualified continental veterinarians which they could pay less.

Britain has for a long time relied upon relatively cheap labour from abroad to cover up poor productivity and efficiency. The time has come to change that and the flaws are being exposed by Brexit.

It is not clear if this is a reduction in supply of vaccines or an increase in demand for vaccines because of the increase in the number of cats and dogs. It looks like the latter: a failure of vaccine manufacturers to produce more to keep pace with the surge in new puppies and kittens. That's my interpretation of the report.

Source: i News.

In the USA, keeping cats indoors full-time opens the door to declawing

Although there is a huge cultural difference between British and American cat owners with respect to declawing, a major cat caretaking difference is the fact that many more Americans keep their cats indoors full-time than Brits. The reason primarily is that there are more predators of domestic cats in America than there in Britain. In fact, there are none in the UK other than dogs and perhaps the odd fox who is ambitious enough to try and attack a cat.

Poster by Kattaddorra (Ruth).

Another reason why there is a growing number of full-time indoor in America is because there are more urban dwellers in America as the human population grows. Outdoor cats have ample opportunities to scratch on objects such as fences and trees. The same cannot be said about indoor cats. Therefore, they carry out their claw-servicing routines on their owner's furniture which irritates and which leads to the convenience of the declawing operation. But that is where the culture difference comes in because when a cat scratches furniture it does not mean that you should remove their claws. You find humane alternatives.

The culture that supports declawing is hard to shift. It is deep-seated. Declawing started in the 1950s. A single veterinarian had the profitable idea possibly inspired by the declawing of cats used as bait to train fighting dogs. It grew from there.

Part of this culture difference is possibly because Americans are more demanding of their freedoms under their constitution. They love their freedoms and do not want the interference of others and the law to curtail them. They want the right to make decisions about how to raise their cat including removing the claws.

To that starting point you have to throw into the mix the attitude of many veterinarians in America. They facilitate the attitude of the cat owners who want their cats declawed. They sometimes offer discount service and fail to explain the operation. Many Americans are misinformed by their vets as to the nature of the operation: a partial amputation and not the simple removal of the claw. This is the exact opposite to what they should be doing because to facilitate it for their owner's convenience is to totally ignore their code of ethics as stated in their oath

I'm sure that Americans hate a Brit writing about declawing which I've done hundreds of times because they probably feel they are being preached to by somebody outside their jurisdiction who has no right to do it. I understand that feeling but in the modern age anybody can comment on anything because the Internet rubs out all the boundaries on the planet.

I've yet to see an accurate, definitive figure as to the number of indoor cats in America. Or the percentage of cat owners who keep their cats indoors full-time. It's strange that. You'd think there'd be some definitive answer but there isn't based on my research. I've seen a figure around 50% or higher. The number is increasing.

If somebody knows a good, accurate figure then please tell me a comment. But what we do know is, as mentioned, there are more full-time indoor cats in the US than there are in the UK. It's ironic, too, that the reason why Brits allow their cats outside is for welfare issues. They believe that the cat has to behave normally and naturally and they can only do that if they have access to the outside. Of course, the outside is dangerous in terms of traffic but they weigh up those risks and decide that overall, the benefits outweigh the risks of injury or death. One of the most common causes of death for domestic cats in the UK is the road traffic accident.

But perhaps it might be fair to say that Americans have a more 'human rights are superior to animal rights' stance. It is their right to elect the declaw operation out of convenience. This may be influenced by the fact that in America they have a written constitution which is often quoted whereas in the UK we don't. The constitution states in writing the right of the citizens of the USA. Maybe it means that those rights are fixed more firmly in the heads of Americans than they are in the British.

Americans are also more religious than Brits. Religion is dying in the UK. The population of the American bible belt is large. The bible encourages declawing as it preaches the dominion of humans over animals.

Although keeping cats indoors protects wildlife from feline predation, this is not the primary reason for keeping them inside. The reason is more human-centric, inward looking.

The conclusion is that there is a link between keeping cats indoors full-time and declawing but it is underpinned by a culture difference.

A cat loving former US diplomat who lives in the UK, Judd Birdsall said:

"When you go around a village in the UK you see lots of cats outside. I can't ever remember seeing a cat outside in the US. For Americans, it's a matter of freedom and convenience - the right to the freedom to make decisions in terms of how you raise your cat, and convenience, because once you remove the claws, you don't ever have to worry about you or the furniture getting scratched. By contrast, in the UK, any concerns for freedom and convenience are vastly dwarfed by concern to the welfare of the cat - it's unthinkable to declaw cats in Europe."

Theft of companion animals is more than simple theft. UK government introduces new offence.

The UK government is going to recognise in a new law that the theft of a companion animal is not simple theft. You cannot apply the law of theft to the crime of stealing companion animals. Because the existing law does not reflect the fact that for most people pets are not just property like a television or computer. The theft of a companion animal is traumatic both for the owner and the companion animal. This added element to the theft of a pet must be taken into account when punishing criminals. The sentencing guidelines should be extended under this new legislation to allow lengthier terms of imprisonment.

Rushi Sunak, Chancellor, and his Labrador, Nova. Photo in public domain.

It will be an offence of "pet abduction". It is a response to the surge in dog and cat thefts (mainly dogs) which have occurred during the coronavirus pandemic. Dog thefts increased by a fifth during lockdown. The thefts were driven by market forces. People wanted to adopt a dog or cat during the extensive Covid pandemic lockdown periods. That pushed up the price of companion animals tremendously. Prices doubled or even trebled for the most popular breeds.

Criminals wanted to get in on the act. And to achieve that they had to obtain the assets for sale. So, they stole them. And it should be said that in the UK the police have a dismal record in either recovering stolen dogs to reunite them with their owners or catching the thieves. In London, for example, a hotspot for dognapping, charges against criminals were brought in less than 10% of cases. In about 50% of cases a suspect had never been identified according to The Sunday Times report of August 8, 2021.

Initially, government ministers had rejected the idea of introducing a pet theft offence because they thought it might interfere with the existing Theft Act and complicate the charging of offenders. They also believed that it might not lead to increased sentencing.

The government listened to charities, the police and breeders before deciding to go ahead with a pet abduction law. The Prime Minister of Great Britain, Boris Johnson, has said that dog theft can "cause huge pain and grief to the victims".

Boris and Carrie Johnson, his wife, live with a rescue dog called Dilyn. Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, bought a Labrador, Nova, this summer and Michael Gove also owns a dog called Snowy, a Bichon Frise.

A recent example of this crime is the theft of three pets, one a therapy dog, stolen from kennels at Brookfield Farm in Spondon, Derbyshire while the owners were on holiday. The therapy dog is a cockapoo called Elvis. He was the pet of a five-year-old boy with ADHD and autism. The dog was a big part of the mental health and well-being of this boy whose name, by the way, is Oscar.

The new offence will be added to the Police Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which is currently going through Parliament. It is expected to become law in the early part of next year.

Feline pancytopenia deaths linked to pet food recall reaches at least 335

I feel that we should remember the quiet disaster that is befalling many households at the moment. You might have read about the rare feline disease called feline pancytopenia affecting many cats in the UK. It is believed that this bone marrow disease has been caused by a range of cat food products manufactured at the same facility. 

Sushi died of pancytopenia after eating Pets at Home AVA dry cat food. She was actually euthanized at the vets. Photo: Mrs Kenny.

But the point of this short post is to report that the Royal Veterinary College has issued a warning about the surge in cat deaths reaching 335 at the date of this post. In all 528 cats have contracted the disease. These are the cases that the college are aware of but there may be more. In fact, they say that this information probably represents only a percentage of cases because many of the sick cats may not be taken to a veterinary practice and therefore diagnosed by a veterinarian.

The information has not been verified and many UK vets are not actively reporting to the Royal Veterinary College at this time.

The investigation so far as reported by the college is that there appears to be no link with common feline infectious diseases, no link with common toxins, and no link with deficiencies or excesses in vitamins or minerals.

Investigations are still taking place including analysis by the college of cat food involved in the product recall. If you not read about this then please click on this link to go to a list of the products believed to be affected.

Associated: Fears that Pets at Home’s AVA cat food killed this cat

It is believed that feline pancytopenia in this instance has been caused by mycotoxins which are toxic compounds that are naturally produced by different types of fungi. They grow on a variety of different crops. Cat food does contain cereal to pad it out and it appears that these mycotoxins on the cereal have found their way into the commercially prepared cat food.

There has been a reduction in the number of reported cases. The peak number of cases reported occurred in mid-June of this year (2021). Seven cases were reported on July 12.

If you think your cat has been made ill by this cat food then you should of course contact your veterinarian immediately to ask for a blood test to look at the levels of red and white blood cells and platelets in your cat's blood. These blood cells decrease in number when a cat has contracted pancytopenia. Bone marrow produce these cells.

Is pet theft a crime in the UK?

Yes, pet theft is certainly a crime in the UK but sadly many people regard it as a minor, trivial crime. It is a crime which falls under the Theft Act 1968 and the maximum penalty is seven years imprisonment. But that maximum is misleading because almost always the punishment is much less. There is, however, a gradual awakening to the fact that pet theft is more than stealing an object. It is the breaking of a close bond between a person and their beloved companion animal who they regard as a member of the family. That aspect of the theft is factored in or should be nowadays.

There needs to be a unique crime of pet theft in the UK. Image: Pixabay.

However, there needs to be a specific crime of Pet Theft – rather than it falling under the Theft Act. It is, arguably, insulting to the relationship between pets and their owners to place this crime under the Theft Act because it equates a companion animal with an inanimate object. Times have moved on. That concept is out of date. A lot of emotional harm is caused by the callous criminals who ruthlessly and sometimes violently steal companion animals on the streets. There are many distressed people in the UK who have lost their companion animals this way.

Thankfully, Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, has written about this on the Mail on Sunday newspaper which is published online on Mail Online. He does not regard the theft of companion animals as a trivial matter for two reasons. Firstly, this kind of crime which is still regarded as very minor can lead to more serious crime. This is the "broken window theory". It's a theory which states that if there are broken windows in buildings it encourages crime.

"At present this crime is far too often dismissed as relatively trivial – on a par, say, with shoplifting....I don’t agree." - Boris Johson.

The police need to stamp on relatively minor crime in order to make an impact in reducing more serious crime. Secondly, there is, as mentioned, the emotional connection in pet thefts. It is a unique kind of crime in that regard. It is not simply the theft of an animal. The thieves are stealing the bond between person and animal. This is a loving, supportive bond upon which many people depend on for their contentment. The theft of companion animal can break people. I'm not sure that everyone realises how emotionally distressing it can be.

In this vein, Boris Johnson's government has set up the Pet Theft Task Force to try and make sure that the criminal justice system is dealing properly with pet theft. I believe that it is an attempt to focus more intently on this aspect of criminality. This is particularly important at this time because of the surge in pet thefts due to the coronavirus pandemic. I'm sure that pretty well everyone has read about the surge in mainly dog thefts because of their increased value as a consequence of many more people adopting dogs at this time for company during these long lockdowns.

So the coronavirus pandemic has brought into focus pet theft in the UK and the need to do something concrete about it rather than letting this aspect of criminality languish within the umbrella of the Theft Act which is highly unsuitable.

Yes, pet theft is a crime in the UK but it is not being dealt with properly and the callous criminals who participate in this activity are rarely caught and I suspect that the animals are also rarely reunited with their owners. Sometimes the stolen animals are used to breed more animals for sale, if they are not sterilised. So a charming female dog might end up in some grubby property constantly breeding puppies for the remainder of her life. The thought of that in the mind of her owner is highly distressing.

On other occasions the animal is sold on at an inflated price or they hold the animal as ransom for a large sum of money. In all cases these are callous acts of casual criminality. I am pleased that Boris Johnson has written about it. I suspect that he was encouraged to do so by his fiancée, Carrie Symonds, who we know is an animal advocate. I for one am pleased that she is and that she is his fiancée except for the cash for curtains fiasco which appears to be her doing as well.

'The Beast of Bodmin' or another big cat picture is a crude digital manipulation

This is a photograph which has been published today on news media as an example of a mysterious big cats roaming around the UK, often Cornwall, in the south-west of England. These so-called big cat sightings in the UK pop up from time to time and every time they are pathetically inadequate photographs which simply do not provide evidence and this is another example.

'The Beast of Bodmin' or another big cat is a crude digital manipulation. Image in public domain.

You can see that this is a black domestic cat with a tail added digitally and crudely. It just looks wrong. The tail is too long and there is a small gap between the body and the beginning of the tail or that is what it looks like.

It isn't just the tail which has been digitally added in, it is also the general body conformation. The big cats are quite stocky in their overall body confirmation. Their shoulders are strong and highly muscular. The legs are thick and also muscular as they must be to hang onto large prey animals. Looking at this cat you see typical domestic cat legs. They are quite fine and slender in complete contrast to what we see when looking at big cat pictures.

It is absurd to bandy around these sorts of pathetic images and argue that they are mysterious black panthers wandering around Cornwall. Please can we stop this and be sensible.

You need a license to keep a serval in the UK

I have just written about a young, one-year-old serval being taken away by the police from a man who was looking after her in Putney, London, UK. He didn't have a licence but he claimed that he was applying for one. He also claims that he wasn't trying to evade the requirement to have a licence. He is distraught because this serval, called Zena, was in a close friendship with his daughter. The man's name is James Brown. He appears to live with a female partner in a house but it might be a ground floor flat.

Zena a one year old pet serval who was confiscated from her owner because he did not have a licence (UK law for certain wild cat species). Photo: James Brown.

He says the cat is friendly and there were no problems. Although he adopted Zena from another person who gave her up because he hadn't realised how difficult it was to look after a serval. This proves my point made in a recent article I wrote on this website about the unsuitability of looking after a serval or any other wild cat species as a pet. In the UK some wild cat species require a licence in order to keep them and others don't. Personally I don't see the logic in the list which I have reproduced below. See below:

Law on keeping exotic wild cat species as pets - license required for some species.

Zena will be checked out medically and then relocated to a wildlife sanctuary for what appears to be the remainder of her life. James Brown will not see her again, I suspect. He has petitioned online to get her back but so far without success.

A neighbour ratted on him because they saw zena in the window looking out the window as cats do. It was a bit of cat television for the serval and a bit of anguish for the serval's owner. In the UK you apply for a licence from the local authority. In James Brown's case that would have been Wandsworth County Council.

I suspect that it isn't a pushover to get a licence because you will have to demonstrate that you have the means, time, education, skills, commitment and facilities to do a decent job of it. Not everybody can demonstrate that. You have to go into adopting and looking after a wild cat as a pet with your eyes wide open both to the commitment required and the legal requirements.

In this instance the man failed because he didn't go into it with enough preparation and knowledge. Although, as he claims, there appears to have been no real issues but we don't know the full story. As I mentioned in my previous article it can be difficult to look after a serval in the home. They sometimes spray urine which is very distressing and the amount of spaces well below that required emotionally for a serval (they need up to 10 square kilometres). This results in them trying to escape and not infrequently they succeed because they are very slippery and difficult to confine.

Once they get out of the home they are incredibly vulnerable to being hit by vehicles on the road or being injured by people. This last point particularly applies in America where there are a plethora of handguns and rifles inside homes. There have been cases of escaped servals being shot because the neighbours fear that they are dangerous and see them as an escaped wild animal perhaps from a zoo or something like that.

It looks likely that lynx will be re-introduced to England

The Eurasian lynx was exterminated from the UK in the Middle Ages about 1300 years ago. It was over-hunted to extinction. We have a moral duty to right that wrong although farmers do not want to see the lynx reintroduced into England or Scotland, for that matter, because they think this handsome wild cat will attack and eat their sheep. Despite the resistance from farmers, there is talk, again, of wolves and lynx being reintroduced into the UK because the project is being backed by the new head of Natural England, Tony Juniper. 

He became chairman of the organisation last year and is much more of a supporter of rewilding than his predecessor. Between wolves and lynx, he said that it is more likely that the lynx will be reintroduced into England at Thetford Forest which straddles the Norfolk-Suffolk border.

Mr Juniper said that he wanted to build on the success of the reintroduction of beavers in Devon and white-tailed Eagles on the Isle of Wight. In November 2018 Michael Gove the then environment secretary rejected an application for the reintroduction of lynx because at that time Natural England objected to it. But things have changed and Mr Juniper wants to study the feasibility of the project partly because it would help to control deer numbers. One of the prey animals of the Eurasian lynx is the deer although it is at the top end of the scale for size.

I've described this cat as the "Eurasian lynx" because I have to, I believe. I'm being more specific because often people refer to it as the "lynx" without specifying the subspecies. The Eurasian lynx is the largest of the three linked species: Canada lynx, Iberian lynx and Eurasian lynx. The bobcat is also within this family of cats. They are medium-sized cats. They aren't that large.

Another reason why there's more optimism about the project is the success in the Netherlands where wolves have crossed the border from Germany, taking up residence in Holland with minimal impact on people and farmers. The Netherlands is also a highly populated country like the UK and therefore there are bound to be concerns about medium-sized predators roaming around the wild freely but it works.

Another place where either or both wolves and lynx might be reduced is the Kielder Forest in Scotland. It would be a wonderful addition to the UK to have a genuine wild species of a decent size in the countryside. I can see tourism in Thetford Forest to see the lynx. Something like tourists visiting tiger reserves in India.

Britons prefer dogs to cats 2020

At 2020, Channel 5 surveyed 2,000 people to find the UK's favourite animal. 51% named the dog and 38% named the cat. The hedgehog, horse and robin were also in the top five.

Cat and dog lovers! Poster by Ruth aka Kattaddorra.

Channel 5 commissioned the survey to mark the airing of this week's episode of "All Creatures Great and Small". Callum Woodhouse, the actor who plays Tristan Farnon is a huge dog lover said. He adores the golden retriever who is also an actor in the series. 70% of companion animal guardians consider the animal to be part of the family. The best things about living with a companion animal were (1) company and (2) the affection they give you.

40% of those surveyed said they did not have a companion animal to live with and the main reason given was a lack of space for people living in London. Comment: this might apply more to cats than dogs because you can take a dog on a lead and therefore living in London should not be a big barrier although there is no countryside to enjoy. That said there are some great parks in London.

41% of citizens in Yorkshire who would like to adopt a companion animal said that they could not afford to look after an animal properly to ensure that they had a happy life.

27% of the participants wanted to be a veterinarian because they loved animals so much when they were children.

Comment: Statistica, the website concerned with statistics, tells me that at 2019/20, 23% of households have a dog living in the home and 16% of households have a cat. I find the percentage to be low in respect of cats in particular. Dogs are certainly more popular than cats on the basis of the statistics.

The General Social Survey which is run by social research organisation NORC at the University of Chicago found that 36% of dog owners report being very happy compared to 18% of cat owners. The survey was reported in The Washington Post. In the US, the dog appears to be more popular than the cat as well. I don't know how accurate these surveys are but there is a clear trend in the information that I have which, as stated, is that dogs are more popular than cats.