ZSL London Zoo are celebrating the arrival of a black-capped squirrel monkey baby, which was born in the middle of the night, just under three weeks ago. Zoo keepers discovered the tiny bundle clinging tightly on to its mum during their morning rounds.

The baby monkey, which measures just three inches tall, was born after a six-month gestation period in the zoo's Meet the Monkey's exhibit.

Zookeeper Andrea Dempsey said: "Squirrel monkeys have an approximate gestation period of five to six months, and we'd been closely monitoring mum throughout her pregnancy - we knew she was due to give birth as her bump was huge!"

Threatened in their native South American homes of Bolivia, Peru and Brazil, the black-capped squirrel monkey's status in the wild is threatened from use in biomedical research and as pets, bait and food.

The Dog Rescue Federation is asking local authorities to adopt a consistent approach towards dealing with stray dogs and is urging them to be more proactive in tackling irresponsible dog breeding and ownership.

The Federation made the recommendation in a report it has published after conducting a national survey of local authority dog wardens, which 96 per cent of councils in the UK took part in.

The report has been presented to Rob Flello MP, who is a soon to be appointed as chair of an all party group in parliament dealing with dog issues.

The survey findings have also been sent to all local authorities in the UK, DEFRA, MP's, the Local Government Association, the National Dog Wardens' Association, the Dogs Trust and other interested animal welfare organisations and professional bodies.

The report can be viewed at www.dogrescuefederation.org

The British Horse Racing Authority has announced that today's fixture at Hamilton Park will showcase the track's support for the high standards of horse welfare in British Racing using the raceway theme of 'The Horse Comes First'.

'The Horse Comes First' is an industry-wide backed initiative aimed at both promoting and increasing awareness of racing's commitment to horse welfare. At Hamilton Park there will be a range of activities and demonstrations designed to entertain as well as inform racegoers about the level of care the sport provides for its horses, both during and after their racing careers.

Paul Bittar, Chief Executive of the British Horseracing Authority, said:

"We very much welcome Hamilton Park's support for The Horse Comes First. One of the key aims of the initiative is to promote British Racing's commitment to upholding the highest standards of welfare throughout the year. The raceday will provide a great platform from which to educate and engage racegoers on the subject."

The RSPCA are urging members of the public to tidy away their nets.

Each year around 2000 reports are made to the RSPCA about wild birds and other wildlife trapped in or behind netting.

Discarded fishing nets, unkempt bird-deterrent nets and goal nets that have been left up are just some of the hazards posed to wildlife, especially in the summer months.

RSPCA wildlife scientific officer Llewelyn Lowen said: "Netting is of a nature that when it is blown away it can quickly entangle animals, particularly wildlife, causing them distress and injury.

"There is a really simple way to prevent this from happening and that is for nets to be removed after use and safely stored away.'

The RSPCA ask people who use deterrent netting on buildings to ensure that it is maintained and that netting in goals or elsewhere is rolled away properly when not in use.

They add that members of the public can also help by safely disposing of litter such as netting that they find littering both rural and urban areas.

The Dachshund Breed Council have announced that their Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD) DNA project is now underway.

Researchers at the Animal Health Trust (AHT) are first of all investigating the region on chromosome 12 that the Danish Group has previously associated with disc calcification. They will then investigate the whole genome if that seems appropriate, depending on the findings from the chromosome 12 study.

The team is currently in the process of selecting markers, which are variable points in the DNA, from chromosome 12 so that they can be used to distinguish between different dachshund chromosomes.

The Dachshund Breed Council say: "This is an in silico exercise at this stage, involving searching sequence databases for markers that are in the right place and that are likely to be variable (and therefore useful) in the dachshund."

The plan is to move the project from the computer and into the lab by the end of August. The first preliminary results will be available by the end of September.

As part of a kennel enrichment programme, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home is calling for votes to win 50k to update its kennel sound systems.

The London and Old Windsor centres are currently undergoing renovation work to rebuild their oldest kennels. The resident canines desperately need new sound systems, as the current ones are old and crackly, and the radio signal cuts in and out.

Although the staff do all they can to provide a positive, relaxing and mentally stimulating environment, the centres are surrounded by noisy train lines and flight paths.

Click here to watch the video that Battersea has released, to illustrate why they urgently need your help.