In This Issue
HOWND finalists in two categories at PetQuip Awards
Storm brews over the selling of puppies in pet shops
Lloyds Bank National Business Awards recognise Pooch & Mutt’s contributions to UK economy
Lily’s Kitchen launches new Natural Tray ranges for cats and dogs
Ancol donates 300 leads to help stray dogs in South East Asia
Man denies murder of pet shop worker in Northampton in 1993
£10,000 worth of dog food stolen in pet shop raid
ACANA Pork & Butternut Squash launched in UK
Meet Swiss, Serbian and Icelandic buyers at Pet Quip event
CSJ feeds Dutch winner at CLA Game Fair
Pet owner makes a wheelchair for her disabled rabbit
Campaign to save Madrid station terrapins
RSPCA appeal for help solving cat poisonings
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HOWND finalists in two categories at PetQuip Awards


HOWND
- the grooming brand for happy and healthy dogs - has been named as a finalist in two categories at next month’s PetQuip Awards. The Hertfordshire based company will be competing for ‘Pet Product Innovation of the Year’ and ‘Marketing Campaign of the Year’ - following the launch of two breakthrough grooming products and the company’s national Bring Your Dog To Work Day campaign...



HOWND
- the grooming brand for happy and healthy dogs - has been named as a finalist in two categories at next month’s PetQuip Awards.


The Hertfordshire based company will be competing for ‘Pet Product Innovation of the Year’ and ‘Marketing Campaign of the Year’ - following the launch of two breakthrough grooming products and the company’s national Bring Your Dog To Work Day campaign.

Certified by Cruelty Free International, HOWND Golden Oldies Conditioning Shampoo and Body Mist - along with HOWND Yup You Stink! Emergency Dog Wipes - are the products which have been shortlisted for ‘Pet Product Innovation of the Year’.

“The Golden Oldies formula provides a gentle and deep cleanse for older canines. It also relieves dry flakey skin and helps reduce shedding and scratching. Containing vitamin E and pro-vitamin B5, this conditioning shampoo helps lock in moisture while restoring volume and shine to dull ageing coats,” explains Jo Amit, co-founder of HOWND.

“Free from alcohol and parabens, HOWND Yup You Stink! Emergency Dog Wipes are available in packs of five. Each pack contains five jumbo size (30cm x 20cm) PH-balanced wipes. Designed to be gentle on a dog’s skin and coat, each wipe is infused with orange (insect-repelling), coriander (antioxidant) and bergamot (deodorising) essential oils, aloe vera juice, and gentle odour control agents.”

Bring Your Dog To Work Day is an annual initiative that has been shortlisted for ‘Marketing Campaign of the Year’. Created by HOWND, this year’s event raised money for All Dogs Matter - a charity that rescues and rehomes more than 300 dogs a year in London, Norfolk and the surrounding areas.

Britain’s most memorable day at the office was a huge marketing success. ITV’s Loose Women brought their four-legged friends live on air. There’s also been national coverage from The Times, The Independent, Metro, London Evening Standard, Mirror, Mashable, BT, Yahoo, AOL, BBC, Capital FM and many more.

The #BringYourDogToWorkDay hashtag also trended on Twitter in the UK. Thanks in part to awareness driven from a number of celebrities such as Ricky Gervais. In addition, Leona Lewis was interviewed with the HOWND team on BBC Radio London’s ‘The Barking Hour,’ which is hosted by Jo Good and Anna Webb.

The PetQuip Awards are now in their third year and have proved to be a popular addition to the pet industry calendar. Winners will be announced on September 27 at the PetQuip Awards’ official dinner and party, which is taking place in the Telford International Centre in association with PATS Telford.

Storm brews over the selling of puppies in pet shops


The Pet Industry Federation has hit back at claims by TV vet and founder of Pupaid, Marc Abraham, who suggested the organisation "was doing its level best to hinder the progress towards a ban on selling puppies in pet shops."

In a four-page response to the vet, PIF’s CEO Nigel Baker said: “Animal welfare is at the forefront of our organisation. We aim to raise standards and professionalism in the industry we cover and increase education and understanding amongst our members.”



The Pet Industry Federation has hit back at claims by TV vet and founder of Pupaid, Marc Abraham, who suggested the organisation was doing its level best to hinder the progress towards a ban on selling puppies in pet shops.

In a four-page response to the vet, PIF’s CEO Nigel Baker (left) said: “Animal welfare is at the forefront of our organisation. We aim to raise standards and professionalism in the industry we cover and increase education and understanding amongst our members.”

Marc Abraham (above) had made the claims in a blog on Huffington Post entitled "What Is The Pet Industry Federation (PIF) Hiding From Us - And Why?" You can read the blog by clicking here

Here is Nigel Baker's response Abraham's accusations...

Dear Mr Abraham, Ms Carr,

I feel it is time for the Pet Industry Federation (PIF) to engage with you in order to stop the unpleasant tactics you and your followers have employed against us and our members in recent months.

Our Twitter feed and Facebook page have been inundated with tweets and posts that are largely offensive and not conducive to producing anything like a positive and professional response. Much of what is said is simply nothing to do with PIF.

Let me explain why:

  1. The Pet Industry Federation is a membership trade body with six separate trade associations under its wing, covering a range of businesses and professionals operating in and around the pet industry in the UK. We support our members and their businesses by providing a variety of services. We do not represent businesses that are not our members!
  2. Animal welfare is at the forefront of our organisation. We aim to raise standards and professionalism in the industry we cover and increase education and understanding amongst our members
  3. We do not specifically represent dog breeders through any of our associations. Dog breeding, and issues associated with it, tend to be handled by the Kennel Club, Dogs Trust and other worthy charities and organisations
  4. We are, and always have been, against puppy farms and commercial breeding where welfare, as set out in the Animal Welfare Act 2006, is compromised
  5. We work, and advise our members to work, within the current legal frameworks. We agree that some of these are antiquated and need updating, but whilst they are still current law, our policy is to advise our members to operate within the law.

Please bear these points in mind whilst I continue.

In September 2014, you and Pupaid were successful in raising 110,000 signatures for your e- petition which stated that it set out to: “ban the sale of young puppies and kittens without their mothers being present”. This is what your signatories signed up to and at the time we commended you for the energy you put into this project.

However, by the time it came to be debated in Parliament you had changed the statement to: “ban the sale of puppies in kittens in pet shops”, which is an entirely different motion and I believe you justified this change by saying that this is what you meant all along! PIF wrote to MPs ahead of that parliamentary debate on 5 September 2014 stating clearly that whilst we welcomed the petition bringing the serious issues of animal welfare in battery puppy farms to the attention of the public and parliament, we believed that the issue was far wider than simply what the debate had now become. We explained that in the event of a ban, the demand for puppies would still exist and unscrupulous breeders and sellers would still find ways to make fast money, resulting in an increase in puppies brought in to the UK from overseas and the very real possibility of rabies and other zoonotic diseases entering the UK. I don't know if your followers understand the ramifications for all pets and animals if rabies entered the UK; as a vet, I am certain that you do.

In addition, you have yet to define what a ‘puppy farm’ is. I know you have been asked this question before and seemingly you avoided answering it, certainly you have when I have asked it. Is it a commercial breeder with two breeding bitches; or three, four, ten or more? Is large scale commercial breeding justified in your campaign, if animal welfare standards can be assured, or do you wish to solely rely on the home breeder with one breeding bitch, which in itself is no guarantee of high animal welfare standards? Please define your boundaries to us and your followers.

It gets more complicated when you consider that the UK population of dogs is currently estimated at 9 million, which means on average there is a demand for 900,000 puppies a year to maintain the canine population (when I say ‘maintain’, it has been a fairly static population for some years). The Kennel Club reports they register 250,000 puppies a year which means 650,000 puppies are supplied by other dog breeders. How is this to be governed and regulated?

So back to pet shops. Let me talk a bit about ‘squelching’ (i.e. issues you are trying to resolve re-appearing in another way because you stop one activity). In the USA, both retailer and breeder have to be inspected before a sale can take place. Out of 13,500 retailers in the USA, only 325 sell puppies but because of the ‘squelching’ effect on retail puppy sales and the continued demand for puppies, 30% of puppies are now supplied to the public via re-homing /rescue centres. ‘Excellent’ I hear you say, ‘what a great job’ - except that as neither the breeder nor the re-homing centres need to be inspected, you now have no regulation at all. Is that really good for animal welfare? Incidentally the ‘sale’ is via “donation” to both the breeder and to the public! Still money being transacted and presumably profit is made, except the point of sale has now shifted to something that is totally unregulated.

Here’s another example. In Austria in 2004, the government banned the sale of puppies in pet shops by law. This sounds great, except a few years later it was re-allowed because the sale of puppies, instead of being regulated and visible, had been driven to the internet and the layby sales of puppies from the back of vans, with serious compromises in animal welfare.

The Pet Animals Act 1951 is outdated and far from perfect. With little government appetite to amend current regulation (as demonstrated in parliament with your e-petition), we are forced to operate within the framework of existing and complex laws, whilst endeavouring all the time to raise standards and professionalism of our members.

Currently it is legal for puppies to be sold in pet shops. Whilst the Model Licence Conditions for Pet Vending published by the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health in 2013 are an excellent basis for protecting animal welfare, PIF and its membership have gone a step further. We have developed the criteria for an audit which our puppy selling retailers will now have to pass in order to remain in membership. These criteria are defined and measureable; participating retailers will be visited on an annual basis by independent, experienced auditors and there will be spot checks. We are therefore satisfied that within the current licensing laws, our members operate above the standard required. I would urge people to join with PIF in promoting and improving quality standards, rather than simply berating it.

Today, we have two member pet shops that sell puppies (they also breed puppies) and they have agreed to go through our new quality scheme. The remaining shops who sell puppies are not our members. One other point you might wish to remind yourself about is that the Model Licence Conditions which Local Authorities use to licence retailers including those selling puppies was written and endorsed by Dogs Trust, BVA, and International Cat Care with consultation from the RSPCA.

PIF constantly strives to ensure that our members raise standards within the pet industry with an ever-present focus on animal welfare – whatever their line of business. We have been instrumental in introducing a quality standard for dog groomers (a currently unregulated profession); we liaise and work with all the main companion animal organisations and charities on a range of initiatives and policy work and we are currently working on improved licensing for pet retailers, kennels, catteries, home-boarders and dog crèches. This alongside our suite of qualifications, online training opportunities, events and courses helps raise the standards of UK pet businesses.

Facebook posts and tweets to PIF members’ sites along the lines of “supporting any part of the pet shop puppies chain is disgusting Pet Industry Federation and its members should be ashamed of themselves #wheresmum”, are not simply unhelpful; they are counter- productive, defamatory and very unprofessional. I would ask you to cease and desist in making such statements and/or urging others to make such statements.

The government believes there is enough animal legislation to deal with the issue. Some organisations and senior vets believe we should increase puppy breeding by audited large scale UK breeders in order to meet market demand and to overcome the issue of battery puppy farms and imports. Would you support this?

PIF is a membership organisation that is happy to, and does, collaborate with a broad range of animal charities and welfare organisations. We have a charter and standards which is why businesses become members and if these are broken the business would be expelled from membership. We can only represent the interests of our members and do not represent non- members.

I believe you consider, incorrectly, that we represent the whole industry and can therefore bring pressure to bear on errant retailers who are not our members. If you know that puppies are being sold under age or are coming from commercial breeders that breach the Animal Welfare Act, why don’t you and your followers inform the RSPCA or report the errant outlet to the local authority? This would be better use of your time, and could yield a positive result.

Your cause is just, your engagement and communication is misaligned. Please contact my office and let me know when you would like to meet and engage on a professional face to face basis.

Yours sincerely

Nigel Baker
CEO
Pet industry Federation

 

Lloyds Bank National Business Awards recognise Pooch & Mutt’s contributions to UK economy


Pooch & Mutt has been named as a finalist in The Lloyds Bank National Business Awards UK. The award-winning pet nutrition company has been shortlisted in the Small to Medium-Sized Business category...



Pooch & Mutt has been named as a finalist in The Lloyds Bank National Business Awards UK. The award-winning pet nutrition company has been shortlisted in the Small to Medium-Sized Business category.

This particular award celebrates the contribution of small to medium-sized businesses to the UK economy. Pooch & Mutt has been recognised for its maintained consistent growth and strong financial performance, understanding its customer base, having an engaged workforce with effective leadership and continually innovating to support future growth.


Taking place on the evening of Tuesday, November 10, at the Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London, the Awards ceremony promises to be a night to remember, showcasing the best of British business. Guy Blaskey, Pooch & Mutt founder, and Nathan Perry, Head of Sales, will be in attendance while representing the pet industry at the national level.

Guy Blaskey (pictured) states: “We are so pleased to be recognised by Lloyd’s Bank National Business Awards for our constant growth and future prospects while representing the UK pet industry. As a company who has experienced 100% year on year growth for past three years, we are very excited for the future of Pooch & Mutt."

Pooch & Mutt has welcomed new staff members to its growing team, across sales, marketing, production and stock departments. 

With a growing concern among British dog owners to feed premium foods, Pooch & Mutt aims to make its labelling as transparent as possible.

Lily’s Kitchen launches new Natural Tray ranges for cats and dogs

Lily’s Kitchen is extending its range with a new Natural Range of complete recipes for cats and dogs to complement its award-winning, organic line-up of nutritious food for pets...


Lily’s Kitchen is extending its range with a new Natural Range of complete recipes for cats and dogs to complement its award-winning, organic line-up of nutritious food for pets.
 
The pioneering London-based brand known for leading innovation in a market long dominated by mass-produced pet food has created the range of 10 recipes to offer more choice within its popular single-serve tray format.
 
Unlike pet food pouches, trays are much easier to recycle and the 99p (150g) and 89p (100g) price points will provide an appealing access point for customers wishing to trial Lily’s Kitchen or who like to buy across many recipes for variety. The range of five dog food and five cat food recipes will be available later this month at Ocado, Tesco and independents, and provide an ideal single-serve, complete meal for cats and small to medium-sized dogs.  
 
Until now, only Lily’s Kitchen’s 100% organic recipes have been available in the tray format but, recognising that not everyone wants to buy into organic ranges nor pay the extra for organic ingredients, the company has developed the new Natural Range to sit alongside its organic offer, delivering a more keenly priced range for discerning shoppers who still want a delicious, natural, freshly prepared and high quality meal for their pet.
 
Lily’s Kitchen has experienced huge year on year growth as increased focus on pet food ingredients drives consumers to seek out more honest, traceable and natural ingredients. The new Natural Range applies the same principles as the rest of the range; unique grain-free and meat meal-free recipes and 100% freshly prepared meat, fruits and vegetables, with no unnecessary additives or flavours, rendered meats, animal or vegetable derivatives, fillers or fibrous leftovers. The Natural Range recipes also contain selected herbs chosen for their special health benefits.
 

 
The Lily’s Kitchen Natural Range will be stocked in over 700 independent pet shops, health food shops and is available to all Lily’s Kitchen stockists from late August. The range will be supported with below the line advertising and direct mail from late summer. Supporting leaflets will be available for customers and stockists.

Ancol donates 300 leads to help stray dogs in South East Asia



Ancol has donated 300 nylon rope slip leads to help train stray dogs at three dog charities in Thailand and Myanmar in South East Asia...




Ancol has donated 300 nylon rope slip leads to help train stray dogs at three dog charities in Thailand and Myanmar in South East Asia.

Ian Clarke, a behaviour and emotional support worker at Wood Green, The Animals Charity in Cambridgeshire, will be taking the leads with him in October when he will spend six months volunteering for three dog shelters – Care for Dogs in Chiang Mei, Thailand; Yangon Animal Shelter in Myanmar and Soi Dog Foundation in Phuket, Thailand.

Ian comments: “I have worked at Wood Green, The Animals Charity for four years and I’m still using the same Ancol slip lead I had on my first day. I’ve used it on well over 1,000 dogs and I’m pleased to say it’s still as good as new. When the shelters asked if I could bring some leads with me, I knew the slip leads would be perfect. I’m so grateful to Ancol for donating 100 to each shelter as it will make a huge difference to them.”

“The leads will be a perfect introduction for stray dogs that have never been on a lead and will help to transform them from semi-feral street dog into a domesticated companion.”

Sarah Lane, Sales Director of Ancol adds: “We were so impressed when we heard that Ian is taking six months out to volunteer at these dog charities. We’re also really pleased that Ian is so complimentary about our slip leads and were only too happy to donate 100 to each shelter. We wish Ian all the best with his trip and look forward to tracking his progress.”

During Ian’s time at the shelters, he will be looking after ‘soi’ (street) dogs, getting them used to human contact, helping them to overcome any fears and preparing them for being rehomed. In addition he will be supporting the shelters’ vaccination programmes, helping to educate communities about looking after dogs and supporting their campaigns against the dog meat trade.

Worth a total of £2,500, the nylon rope slip leads are designed to be easily put on and taken off and will fit most dogs. They are well suited to a kennel environment where handlers are exercising and trying to bond with a lot of different dogs each day. For more information about this and Ancol’s full range of leads visit www.ancol.co.uk

You can check up on Ian’s progress at www.facebook.com/ancolpetproducts

 
Man denies murder of pet shop worker in Northampton in 1993
A 39-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to murdering a pet shop worker in Northampton 22 years ago...
A 39-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to murdering a pet shop worker in Northampton 22 years ago.

Stuart Jenkins, aged 39, of Ryecroft Street, Ossett, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Monday after he was charged with the murder of 76-year-old Arthur Brumhill at the Paul Denton Pet and Garden Centre in Wellingborough Road between January 20 and January 23, 1993.

Jenkins, wearing a suit, spoke only to enter his not guilty plea.

Judge Rupert Mayo adjourned the case until a pre-trial review in December. The trial is likely to take place in May next year.

Jenkins was remanded in custody.
 
£10,000 worth of dog food stolen in pet shop raid
Police are appealing for information after ‘Jurassic Bark’, a popular pet supplies store on the outskirts of Downham Market in Norfolk, was targeted by thieves at the weekend...


Police are appealing for information after ‘Jurassic Bark’, a popular pet supplies store on the outskirts of Downham Market in Norfolk, was targeted by thieves at the weekend.

Doors and windows were smashed and the shelves cleared of stock including specialist pet food and accessories. Cash was also stolen.

The industrial warehouse in St Johns Way on the St Johns Business Estate in Downham Market was broken into some time between 5.30pm on Friday evening and 7am on Saturday morning.

Among the items taken was £10,000 worth of dog food by brands James Wellbeloved, Royal Canin, Acana, Orijen, Simpsons and Lilys Kitchen. There were also Lexi extendable leads, Hunter leads and collars and Kong toys.

Officers are keen to hear from anyone who may have seen or heard anything suspicious in the area or has been offered cheap dog food for sale.

Anyone with information, or who saw anything suspicious, should contact Det Con Carl Ritchie at King’s Lynn CID on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.




 
ACANA Pork & Butternut Squash launched in UK
ACANA Pork & Butternut Squash dog food is another biologically appropriate™ limited ingredient formula from the kitchens of Champion Petfoods. It features Alberta pork as a single animal protein perfectly suited for diet sensitive dogs of all breeds and life stages...

ACANA Pork & Butternut Squash dog food is another biologically appropriate™ limited ingredient formula from the kitchens of Champion Petfoods. It features Alberta pork as a single animal protein perfectly suited for diet sensitive dogs of all breeds and life stages.

Loaded with 50% pork in whole prey ratios ACANA Pork & Butternut Squash includes nourishing meats, organs and cartilage which provide nutrients naturally so few synthetic ingredients or additives are required.  Infusions of freeze-dried pork liver naturally increase palatability making ACANA Pork & Butternut Squash a perfect choice for fussy eaters.  All the pork ingredients are sourced from Alberta Farms local to the kitchens of Champion Petfoods and are produced exclusively from pork passed fit for human consumption.

ACANA Pork & Butternut Squash is bursting with a full 50% of healthy fruits and vegetables including Butternut squash, Bartlett pears, spinach greens and Red Delicious apples – all delivered fresh, (never frozen, no preservatives) from Canada’s rich prairie soils and the sun-drenched Okanagan valleys.  The Butternut Squash is rich in soluble fibre, which absorbs water from the digestive tract to regulate stool consistency

ACANA Singles contain no fish ingredients.  Instead Marine Algae is included in the ingredients which provide a natural source of DHA and EPA.

ACANA Pork & Butternut Squash is available in 340g, 2kg, 6kg and 11.4kg bags with SRP £3.79, £14.49, £32.99 and £57.99 respectively.

Bern Pet Foods are the exclusive importers and distributors of ACANA dog and cat foods. For trade enquiries, telephone 01737 767679 or email sales@bernpetfoods.co.uk.

 
Meet Swiss, Serbian and Icelandic buyers at Pet Quip event
The latest opportunity to meet with influential buyers from across Europe is now open to manufacturers of gardening and pet care products...
The latest opportunity to meet with influential buyers from across Europe is now open to manufacturers of gardening and pet care products.

Buyers recruited so far for the ‘Meet the Buyers’ event, organised by the Gardenex and PetQuip associations, include two distributors of pet care products from Serbia and Switzerland.  Looking to source garden products will be a distributor from Iceland and a Swiss retailer.


The Federation is still recruiting further overseas buyers for the business networking day, which is to be held on Wednesday 21 October 2015 at its offices in Brasted, Kent. 

The Federation holds a series of ‘Meet the Buyers’ events each year that have resulted in British garden, leisure and pet product firms securing significant initial and repeat international sales in a wide variety of overseas markets.  The one-to-one meetings formula of the events has been applauded by UK suppliers and overseas buyers as being a cost-effective and proven way of creating positive and lasting business relationships.

If you are interested in the ‘Meet the Buyers’ event on 21 October, UK suppliers are encouraged to contact the Federation as quickly as possible as meeting places fill up fast.  Full details of how to register for the individual buyer meetings will be available soon but you can register interest by emailing Emma Lewis on email:  emma@gardenex.com or emma@petquip.com

Gardenex and PetQuip are divisions of The Federation of Garden and Leisure Manufacturers Ltd, the trade association that works on behalf of British companies to help its members increase sales worldwide.

www.gardenex.com  www.petquip.com

 
CSJ feeds Dutch winner at CLA Game Fair
CSJ has once again proved it is the food chosen by owners of prize-winning gundogs when Dutch competitor Gerda Companjen with Hanrebor Sir Patrick won the European Individual competition at the CLA Game Fair held at Harewood House...


CSJ has once again proved it is the food chosen by owners of prize-winning gundogs when Dutch competitor Gerda Companjen with Hanrebor Sir Patrick won the European Individual competition at the CLA Game Fair held at Harewood House.

Gerda later posted her comments on Facebook...

“Many, many thanks to CSJ for sponsoring this happy Dutch team at the CLA Game Fair at Harewood House!

"So pleased that Labrador Hanrebor Sir Patrick was the winner of the Individual Working Test for the second year with handler Gerda Companjen.

"Also delighted about the result of Golden Retriever Gleen Mhor's Jewel, who gained best Golden Retriever with 5th place, handler Henk Hoogenkamp.

"Our third team member Annemarijn Bierenga with GLP Flocke did a great job as well.

"We are delighted about feeding CSJ dog food, really a food for champions in every field!”

Pictured: The Dutch Team  with Gerda Companjen in the centre.

 
Pet owner makes a wheelchair for her disabled rabbit
An injured rabbit has been given her own wheelchair – after her owner snubbed the advice of vets to put her down...


An injured rabbit has been given her own wheelchair – after her owner snubbed the advice of vets to put her down.

Melanie James refused to give up on the four-year-old and designed her a chariot.

And Melanie, who runs an animal charity, said her pethas been given a new lease of life.

She said: “When the vet said the nicest thing to do would be to put her down, she still had so much life.

“I’ve actually seen dogs in wheelchairs and I thought ‘if it works for a dog, then why not a rabbit?’

“It took her two days to take to the wheelchair but it’s given her so much independence.

Bertha was injured when a fracture to her back leg went unnoticed.

She needed daily treatment to avoid getting an infection and a vet decided she should be put down.

But Melanie, from Silloth on Solway, Cumbria, was determined to give her a second chance.

She added: “The vet and myself can’t believe how well the wheelchair is actually working so we’ve got everything crossed that it will go to plan.

“The majority, maybe 98% of people, think I’m doing really well and that it’s great how she’s adapted but you still get the odd one saying she’d be better off put down.

“My answer to that is that wherever there is still life, everything deserves a chance.”
 
Campaign to save Madrid station terrapins
Campaigners in Madrid are trying to stop people dumping their unwanted pet terrapins in a train station pond...


Campaigners in Madrid are trying to stop people dumping their unwanted pet terrapins in a train station pond.

There are currently about 250 terrapins living in the city's Atocha station, which features a huge central tropical plant display surrounded by water.

They have become something of a tourist attraction, but the space has become so overcrowded that some of the reptiles are dying, El Pais reports. The problem has been caused by people abandoning pet terrapins in the water over the course of two decades, the report says.

Luckily for the terrapins, campaigners on social media took up their cause, launching a petition on Change.org in July which has now garnered nearly 9,000 signatures. The campaign calls on the state-owned company which runs Spain's stations, Adif, to do more to look after the turtles.

The two people behind the campaign, Yolanda Sanchez and Antonio Manas, say the publicity prompted a long-awaited meeting with Adif, at which the company committed to improving the filtration of the water within the the next three months.

But the campaigners want to keep pressure on the company to allow re-homing and prevent more terrapins being dumped in the station. "The most important thing is to stop the entry of animals in the pond," they said in a recent interview. "We understand that is not possible in the short term, but it also cannot be postponed for too long."
RSPCA appeal for help solving cat poisonings
Animal welfare charity RSPCA Cymru is appealing for information and warning pet owners to be cautious following further reports of cats being poisoned...
Animal welfare charity RSPCA Cymru is appealing for information and warning pet owners to be cautious following further reports of cats being poisoned.

The charity was contacted last week after a male tabby cat returned to his home in Church Village, Rhondda Cynon Taf extremely unwell and showing symptoms of poisoning. He was taken to the vet's and put to sleep.

A second report of suspected cat poisoning in the same village has also come in.

The callers both took their cats to a vets where it was confirmed they had been poisoned. Sadly both cats were put to sleep on veterinary advice.

Meanwhile suspected cat poisonings are also being investigated in Risca, Newport. A cat owner lost two cats to suspected poisoning. A five-year-old tabby and tan eight-year-old ginger cat returned home on different days unable to stand and very well. Both were taken to the vet's and sadly had to be put down.

Last week five cats, all belonging to the same owner in Wrexham, had to be put down after suspected poisoning. And last month seven cats in Cardiffdied from similar symptoms.

Poisoning a cat deliberately is a criminal offence. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, the maximum penalty for those found guilty is up to six months imprisonment and a fine of up to £20,000.
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