Melanie Charlton writes about innovative ways to satisfy her children’s desire for a pet (particularly at Christmas) without bearing all the responsibility of owning one. It was a rainy Saturday afternoon, and the kids were agitated at being stuck indoors, so I suggested we go to...
Research hints children under 5 can easily confuse dog emotions, Melissa Starling finds. To most of us, a dog showing its teeth is a pretty clear signal of a threat. In 1872, Charles Darwin first suggested animals showed emotions similar to ours in their body language,...
The arrival of two guinea pigs marks the end of Jodie McEwen’s pet procrastination. I’m just not an animal person; love of creatures is not in my nature. My dad tried to pass on his love of animals, so we had rabbits, guinea pigs, fish, birds,...
New research finds Australia is doing well in the desexing arena. But the age of desexing needs to be brought forward from six months to four months to close a "pregnancy gap" and prevent unwanted litters of kittens. Reports Elissa Blake Australians are being urged to...
Wouldn’t it be great to know what your pet is thinking? Pei-Yun Sun, Professor Uwe Aickelin, Rio Susanto and Yunjie Jia look at a new App that may help! And, yes, dogs are easier to read than cats. The new app uses artificial intelligence to analyse...
The concept of a dog as "man’s best friend" is nothing new. Sigmund Freud wrote about personal accounts with his pet dog, a red chow named Jofi, who became his late-life and therapy companion. On account of a series of mouth operations he endured, he said...
RSPCA Victoria has launched Animal Wellbeing: Awareness, Responsibility, and Education. 'AWARE', is a free online education program for students and teachers that improves animal welfare knowledge while supporting learning outcomes outlined in the Victorian Curriculum. The aim of AWARE is to help young people develop...
The term being ‘cooped up’ has taken a whole new meaning for Aussies during the COVID- 19 pandemic as chickens become a family favourite in the pets department. In fact, Google reported that search terms for ‘live chickens’ were at an all-time high over the...
A highly trained dog is best therapy and best friend for Clare Timmins’ son, Liam, who has autism....
How to bring the true meaning of Christmas back into your life....
