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Top Marks For Clever Collie
RSPCA staff have taught an old dog new tricks by teaching a Polish pooch to understand English.

Cent the Border Collie was brought to the RSPCA centre in Oldham, Greater Manchester in September when his Polish owners could no longer look after him.
 
Staff initially thought that he may be deaf but after testing his hearing, they realised there was language barrier.
 
Animal care assistant Luke Johnson said: “At first, we were baffled because Cent couldn’t understand what anyone was saying to him. It was only a few days later when it dawned on us that he must be used to hearing commands in Polish.”
 
Staff at the centre searched on the Internet for some basic translations and also asked the former owner’s family for assistance. Four months later, after using a reward-based training method, Cent is now bilingual and responds to commands in both English and Polish.
 
This is not the first time staff at the Oldham branch have come across a bilingual pet as they previously had to retrain a cat, which had Asian owners and only responded to commands in their native tongue.

(Photo courtesy of RSPA.)


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Birmingham Dogs Home makes urgent appeal

News Story 1
 Birmingham Dogs Home has issued an urgent winter appeal as it faces more challenges over the Christmas period.

The rescue centre has seen a dramatic increase in dogs coming into its care, and is currently caring for over 200 dogs. With rising costs and dropping temperatures, the charity is calling for urgent support.

It costs the charity £6,000 per day to continue its work.

Fi Harrison, head of fundraising and communications, said: "It's heart-breaking for our team to see the conditions some dogs arrive in. We really are their last chance and hope of survival."

More information about the appeal can be found here. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
Avian flu confirmed at premises in Cornwall

A case of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 has been detected in commercial poultry at a premises near Rosudgeon, Cornwall.

All poultry on the infected site will be humanely culled, and a 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone have been put in place. Poultry and other captive birds in the 3km protection zone must be housed.

The case is the second avian flu case confirmed in commercial poultry this month. The H5N5 strain was detected in a premises near Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, in early November. Before then, the disease had not been confirmed in captive birds in England since February.

The UK chief veterinary officer has urged bird keepers to remain alert and practise robust biosecurity.

A map of the disease control zones can be found here.