A BBC investigation has found networks of dog breeders are offering to mutilate puppies to follow a social media trend.

Cutting or "cropping" ears involves removing part of the ear flap for cosmetic reasons. The procedure is illegal in the UK, but breeders are offering fraudulent pet passports to imply it was done abroad.

The UK government has said the proposed Kept Animals Bill would restrict the importation of dogs with cropped ears and puppies under six months old. A Welsh government spokesman said it had a five year Animal Welfare Plan for Wales to tackle illegal dog breeding, including new regulation and was monitoring developments closely.

Courtesy of HKALPO

Pet food is estimated to be responsible for a quarter of the environmental impacts of meat production in terms of the use of land, water, fossil fuels, phosphates and pesticides. However, with pet parents becoming more aware of the environmental impacts of pet food, the sales of eco-friendly pet food in the UK have soared.

Courtesy of Michelle Cheung

France has recently approved a bill to “fight animal abuse”, which prohibits the sale of young dogs and cats in pet shops and banning the presence of wild animals in circuses. As of 1 January 2024, sales of dogs and cats in pet stores will be prohibited.

Shifting attitudes towards animal captivity in France have also resulted in plans to discontinue circuses with wild animals all together. There are also plans to end the display of marine mammals in French aquariums.

Courtesy of Arial Ng.

The UK government is set to introduce new rules saying that all pet cats in the UK must be microchipped by the time they are 20 weeks old - the equivalent of five months. It will mean lost or stray pet cats are more likely to be reunited with their owners and returned home safely.

The change comes after people were invited to give evidence and discuss the matter, with 99% of people giving their support for the measure. Owners found not to have microchipped their cat will have 21 days to have one implanted, or could face a fine of up to £500.

Courtesy of Kat Mak.

A Spanish court has handed down what's being hailed as a pioneering ruling, in a case looking at how a couple should share custody of their dog after they got divorced. A judge in Spain has granted joint custody of a dog to a separated couple who went to court to determine who the pet should live with.

The Judge considered both owners to be co-caretakers, rather than co-owners and were thus jointly responsible for the dog. The Court ruled that the dog would alternate between the two partners for a month at a time.

Courtesy of HKALPO

An Auckland couple who have campaigned to change the law in an effort to save their condemned husky, Aspen, have now argued their case before the New Zealand High Court as well.

In April, a district court judge found Alexandra and Graham Johnston guilty of owning a dog that killed a chicken and a pet guinea pig named Bert while not on a lead. They were ordered to pay reparations to the other animal owners and a fine. But the Dog Control Act also requires that Aspen, who was rescued by the couple and their son four years ago, be destroyed.

Justice Edwin Wylie - who heard the couple's appeal against conviction, sentence and dog destruction via an audio-video feed at the High Court at Auckland - said he will issue his decision at a later date.

Courtesy of Kt Dallison

A 27-year-old Mainland man, who claimed to be from a wealthy family and operating billions’ worth of business has been remanded in custody having been found guilty of cruelty to animals contrary to section 3 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance, Cap 169.

The Defendant, Lan Tianqi, had thrown his 4-month-old kitten against the wall causing multiple injuries, because the kitten had not been using its toilet properly. The kitten suffered from injuries including but not limited to vigorously blinking, different sizes of pupils and swelling of its body and neck.

Courtesy of Karen Leung.

A New Zealand animal welfare organisation, Helping You Help Animals (HUHA) has refused to return 24 dogs to an alleged puppy mill, where they lived in cages or a barn and were suffering from chronic conditions including dislocated knees, periodontal disease, hydrocephalus and dwarfism, despite the New Zealand Police requiring them to.

Courtesy of Kt Dallison.

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With the passing of the Housing Legislation Amendment Bill, Queensland landlords will no longer be able to reject tenants for having pets in the rental properties without a reason deemed valid by the state government.

The Queensland Government recognises that pets provide companionship and security, and contribute to many people’s health and wellbeing and said that the changes would modernise the laws for 34% of the Queenslanders living in rental properties.

Courtesy of Arial Ng.

The UK government has confirmed that that the scope of the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill will be extended to all decapod crustaceans and cephalopod molluscs.

This move follows the findings of a government-commissioned independent review led by Dr Jonathan Birch, Associate Professor at The London School of Economics’s Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science and Principal Investigator on the Foundations of Animal Sentience Project. The review drew on over 300 existing scientific studies to evaluate evidence of sentience in cephalopods (including octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) and decapods (including crabs, lobsters and crayfish).

Courtesy of Kt Dallison

Hong Kong authorities will now regularly capture wild boars and put them down in a major policy shift for controlling the most commonly seen wild animals in the city.

The change in approach follows a rising number of sightings of the animals in densely populated areas in recent years, with injuries to residents occasionally reported, sparking heated debate on how best to handle the nuisance.

However, several animal rights groups in Hong Kong have petitioned wildlife officials to drop a plan to capture and cull wild boars, arguing innocent creatures will suffer for merely responding naturally to changes in their habitat.

Courtesy of Kat Mak

The UK recently launched the second Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill to protect pets, farmed and kept wild animals. There are five key areas raised in the Bill to improve animal welfare standards:

• Puppy smuggling - The number of pets that can travel under pet travel rules will be reduced in order to tackle the unethical trade of puppy smuggling.

• Live exports - The export of live animals for slaughter and fattening may be banned, since excessively long journeys during export may cause distress and injury.

• Banning keeping primates as pets - Since primates are highly intelligent animals with complex needs and require specialist care, there will be a ban implemented on keeping them as pets.

• Livestock worrying - Police will be given new powers to provide greater protection to livestock, llamas, ostriches and game birds from dangerous and out of control dogs.

• Zoos - In order to improve zoo regulations and ensure zoos are working hard to contribute to conservation, the Zoo Licensing Act will be amended.

The Road Traffic (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 came into effect on November 7, requiring drivers to stop the vehicle if they hit any cat or dog. The definition of animal currently covers any horse, cattle, ass, mule, sheep, pig or goat, but will now include cats and dogs after the amended ordinance came into effect.

The Food & Health Bureau said the number of cats and dogs kept by the public was on the rise in recent years, adding that traffic accidents involving injuries or deaths of these animals have occurred from time to time.

Courtesy of HKALPO

Australia’s iconic koala could be one of the 75 per cent of Australia’s animals, birds and other species that fall victim to a coming “extinction event that’s equivalent to the loss of the dinosaurs,” a scientist has warned. And it’s an extinction event blamed on humans.

Koalas, whose numbers have dropped dramatically, are just one of the most obvious potential Australian victims of climate change in the animal kingdom.

Already one mammal has been declared extinct, felled by the changing climate. Plenty others are at risk of going the same way.

Courtesy of Arial Ng.