dog

93% of owners believe that sleeping with their dog improves their rest. Science has just proven that it is self-deception

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Night comes, you get into bed and, almost out of inertia, your dog or cat jumps on the mattress to curl up at your feet. For many people, pets are full members of the family and even share the sheets. According to a report from the platform Sleep Foundation56% of people say they sleep with a pet in their room. The bond is so strong that the mere idea of ​​changing this habit generates rejection. Sleep psychologist Shelby Harris recounts in an interview for The New York Times that when caring for patients with insomnia problems, the first reaction is usually almost defensive: “I have a dog. You’re going to tell me not to sleep with him.” And, although sleeping with our animals gives us an immense feeling of peace, the scientific community has begun to empirically measure what happens in our body and brain during the night. The bad news is that, objectively, your rest could be suffering much more than you realize. Data under the microscope. An exhaustive study published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports decided to put exact figures on this phenomenon. Researcher Brian N. Chin and his team analyzed the habits of a representative sample of more than 1,500 adults in the United States. The results revealed that sleeping with pets is directly associated with poorer perceived sleep quality and greater severity of insomnia symptoms. Interestingly, the impact is not identical with all animals. Research analyzes showed that this negative effect on human sleep is strongly associated with dog owners, but no evidence was found that the same damage occurs when sleeping with cats. This difference may be due to the fact that dogs have greater sensitivity to external stimuli, waking up more easily to the noise of cars or barking in the neighborhood. The main problem lies in the sleeper’s self-deception. The author of the study highlights a surprising fact: 93% of people who slept with their pets firmly believed that their pets had a positive or neutral effect on their sleep. This disconnection between perception and biological reality is also supported In another study carried out on 12 women; Although the monitoring devices showed that the dogs constantly interrupted their rest, they rarely reported these interruptions the next morning. Why do we rest worse if we feel good? Dr. Vsevolod Polotsky, a sleep researcher at Johns Hopkins University, explains that the sleep of dogs and cats is not continuous; They inevitably move, bark, scratch or walk on the bed and on us. All this nocturnal activity causes what experts call “microawakenings.” Neurology professor Kristen Knutson details that these brief interruptions, which we are often not even aware of, are extremely disruptive because they abruptly take us out of the deep sleep phase. Worse yet, they have been associated with the release of the stress hormone cortisol, which significantly worsens overall rest. Furthermore, the investigation of Scientific Reports demolished one of the most widespread beliefs: the myth that the pet acts as a protective shield against anxiety before sleeping. Although high levels of life stress were associated with worse sleep, the scientists found no evidence that sleeping with the animal had a “buffering” effect that would protect the person from the ravages of stress. However, purely emotional logic has an undeniable weight in this equation. Sleeping with a pet, especially one with whom you have a close bond, can reduce the sense of perceived vulnerability and dramatically increase the feeling of security. We are faced with a complex exchange: our physical body experiences fragmented and less efficient sleep, but the animal’s mere presence helps emotional regulation by making us feel happy and protected. The verdict of the specialists. For animals, the experience of sharing sheets is undoubtedly positive. Dr. Dana Varble, veterinary director of the North American Veterinary Community, points out that animals Those who sleep with their owners experience higher levels of trust, as well as an increase in beneficial neurotransmitters such as oxytocin and dopamine, known as the feel-good hormones. However, in the case of humans, medical specialists warn about certain risk profiles: Respiratory problems: People with allergies or asthma are at risk of seeing their symptoms activated by being exposed to allergens such as animal dander for multiple hours in a closed space. Persistent allergens: Dr. Raj Dasgupta, pulmonologist, warns that allergens They also reside in the animal’s saliva and skin, which can cause watery eyes and continued nasal congestion throughout the night. Previous disorders: For those who suffer from chronic problems such as insomnia or sleep apnea, Dr. Polotsky is very clear when stating that bed sharing “is particularly harmful” and will prevent the patient from falling asleep again when they wake up. There are, of course, medical exceptions where the balance tips in favor of the animal. Service dogs trained for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are of great help by knowing how to identify physical symptoms and wake their owners to interrupt nocturnal nightmares. Dr. Dasgupta also recognizes that, For people dealing with depression or anxiety, the pet can act as a comforting “big blanket” that effectively decreases distress. The unwanted companions. Beyond sleep quality, hygiene adds another layer of risk to nighttime living. A revealing pilot study published in the scientific journal Pathogens investigated what exact bacteria and parasites we take to bed. Of the 50 animals analyzed, 30% literally slept in bed, under the blankets with their humans. The most striking thing about this research was the great contradiction of the owner: although 42% of all respondents cited lack of hygiene as the main reason why pets should not be allowed into the bedroom, in practice, many ignored the risk and allowed them to sleep there. Microscopic measurements of the fur were surprising. The aerobic colony count (ACC) on the dogs’ hair exceeded the maximum limits of bacteria tolerated on hospital surfaces or in food preparation areas by 4 to 43 times. Even more graphic is that 64% of the dogs tested positive for … Read more

leave the dog on the terrace

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The Animal Welfare Law (LBA) was approved in March 2023 and came into force ago almost three yearsbut even so there are still details of the rule that remain unclear among dog and cat owners. Specifically there is a doubt that has circulated in recent weeks, coinciding with the arrival of good weather: Can I leave my dog ​​on the terrace or balcony? If I have a yard, does the law allow the dog to spend there every day and night? The LAB is clear about this. One fact: 6.9 million. If you go to a park in your city (it doesn’t matter which one) and sit on a bench to observe, you are more likely to encounter more dogs than children. I’m not saying it. They say it the statistics. In 2025, the INE had around 1.7 million of people under five years of age. The data does not attract attention only because of how it has been reducing over the years (in 2015 there were 1.9 million), it also does so because it confirms that in Spanish homes there are many more pets than babies. According to the estimates According to ANFAAC, the industry dedicated to producing pet food, in Spain there are almost seven million dogs and 5.9 million cats registered. The ‘photography’ offered by the Spanish Network for the Identification of Pet Animals (REIAC) is somewhat different, but just as forceful: in our country there are between 9.2 and 10.1 million dogs, between 968,000 and 1.2 million cats and thousands of ferrets, just over 50,000. How should we treat them? Taking these figures into account, it is better understood that the guidelines on how to treat and care for them have become a priority. Not only for the safety of the animal. Contravene the rules contained in the Animal Welfare Law (LBA), the rule that has regulated the care of pets since 2023, can also lead to significant sanctions. As a reference, the text contemplates three types of infractions, according to their relevance: minor ones can lead to a simple warning or fines of between 500 and 10,000 euros, serious ones extend that range up to 50,000 and the most serious ones carry sanctions of between 51,000 and 200,000 euros. Pets and terraces. With the arrival of good weather there is a question about pet care that has begun to circulate on the Internet: Can a dog live on a terrace or balcony? Can we put a shed there and make it your permanent ‘home’? And in a patio, in case we have one? Can our pet stay there all the time? The truth is that the LBA is clear on this issue. In your article 27 (section ‘e’), in which it lists the “specific prohibitions” on pets, cites as a prohibited practice “habitually keeping dogs and cats on terraces, balconies, rooftops, storage rooms, basements, patios and similar or vehicles.” And in case it is not clear, later, in article 74, it states that installing an animal “permanently” in any of these spaces will be considered a serious infraction, just like stealing. Does it say anything else? Yes. That is not the only indication that the LBA gives about how and where our pets should live. The LBA expressly prohibits and categorically “intentionally abandon them in closed or open spaces” and remember that the owners must “keep them integrated into the family nucleus, whenever possible due to their species.” When this is not possible due to the type of pet or its size, the animal must have “adequate accommodation, with rooms in accordance with its dimensions and that protect it from inclement weather.” Again, and in case there were any doubts, the LBA insist in which pets that live outdoors must have a prepared place to hide. The other warning. With the summer holidays (almost) knocking at the door there is another guideline of the LBA that should be kept in mind: if you have dogs or cats, the law does not allow you to go on vacation for days and days and ignore the animals. It is not enough to leave the water bowls full and the feeders overflowing. In article 25, the same one in which it talks about terraces, the law prohibits “leaving any pet animal unsupervised for more than three consecutive days.” What’s more, if we talk about dogs, that period cannot exceed 24 hours. Much more than a law. That the LBA goes into such detail and regulates such basic issues may seem exaggerated, but the reality is that today they can still be found. without much effort news about dogs that their owners confine on terraces, sometimes no food or wateror even in window sills. Veterinarians also warn often of the serious risks involved in leaving animals exposed to the hot sun. Above all if we talk about closed and small spaces, like cars. Images | Jakub Flis (Unsplash) and Beth Macdonald (Unsplash) In Xataka | In Alicante, the Animal Welfare Law has put associations on a war footing over an issue: feline colonies

If you feel guilty every time you leave your dog home alone, science has an explanation (and a couple of solutions)

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Anyone who has a dog as a pet has probably faced a big problem when they grab their keys and coat and head out the door. This is nothing more than the whining and nervous pacing of an animal behind its owner that can end up barking or even destroying some object in the home due to the stress they feel when they are left alone and ‘abandoned’ under their conscience. However, science suggests that This separation anxiety is a bidirectional phenomenon. In two senses. As stated in different texts, leaving our pet alone not only triggers a peak of stress in the animal, but also generates a deep burden of guilt and anxiety in the human. And no, it is not that we are excessively humanizing our dogs, it is that our brains and theirs have developed an attachment bond that is comparable to that of interpersonal relationships. It’s not parenting. One idea we have in mind is that when a dog has anxiety when its owner leaves, for example, for work, it is the result of having had a very permissive childhood in which no animal restrictions were imposed. But today this has changed with important data. We can find these data in a large study published in 2020 on the canine population in Finland that revealed that between 14% and 20% Of dogs suffer from separation anxiety, they often have a strong fear of other stressors, such as loud noise. Why do they do it? Neither revenge nor general anger at having been left alone come into play here, but rather this behavior is linked to patterns of frustration and panic. Besides, there are some factors that predispose animals to have these problems, such as being male, coming from a shelter, having suffered early weaning or facing an environment that lacks predictability. In the human. Staying with only the reaction that the animal has, the truth is that it is a very short understatement. And here science has seen that owners also experience stress, difficulty concentrating at work or even cancel social plans to avoid the distress of leaving their pet alone. And here the bond that is generated between the human and the animal comes into play, being an attachment bond like that of a father with his newborn. And the people who develop an “anxious attachment” to their pets are precisely those who experience higher levels of anxiety when separating from them, as well as much more serious depressive and somatic symptoms when the animal dies or is not present. The solution. One of the important points in this case lies in teaching the dog’s brain that “exit signals” such as taking the keys or putting on the shoes, do not necessarily mean the end of the world, doing them without leaving the house. But also, we must keep in mind that when we return home we do not have to ‘throw a party’ to compensate for the guilt, since we only confirm to the dog that our absence was a terrible state of exception that has finally ended. This is why reunion should be normalized when we talk about a few hours of separation. Images | Wade Austin Ellis In Xataka | We have been using our pets to relieve our anxiety. And now the stress is on them

abandoned dog poop

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In Spain there are more pets what children Quite a few more. That is why it is not strange that more and more city councils pay attention to one of the problems derived from this ‘boom’ of domestic animals: the poop abandoned in parks, sidewalks, streets… at the mercy of clueless pedestrians who end up carrying it on the soles of their shoes. Recently Pablo Muñoz Gabilondothe creator of ‘Pipper on Tour’did the math and verified that in Spain there are already 87 municipalities who have opted for the DNA censuses to fine uncivil pet owners. and the number keeps growing. What has happened? That in Spain there are town councils that have declared war to abandoned dog poop is not nothing new. Nor that many of these consistories have found an unexpected ally in science. What is striking is the extent to which this measure has spread throughout the Spanish geography in a matter of a decade, reaching dozens of cities. Since 2018 Malaga started to create a bank of dog DNA samples to identify which animals the abandoned feces belonged to and (most importantly) fine their ownersmore and more cities have opted for a similar measure. One of the latest has been Tarragona, which in February launched an information campaign six months to raise awareness among dog owners. One figure: 87. Recently Pablo Muñoz, creator of ‘Pipper on Tour’did a search and came to the conclusion that in Spain there are already 87 towns that have opted for DNA censuses to put an end to abandoned dog poop. Not all of them are at the same point. 68 of those 87 municipalities have implemented genetic control systems to improve the cleanliness of their streets. The remaining 19 are working on it and have it more or less advanced. There are very different cases on the list. Malaga is included, for example, which already applied fines in 2018and others like Tarragona, which last October still I was looking companies capable of carrying out genetic analysis of canine excrement and is still in an initial phase. The overall ‘photo’ is interesting because it shows that the measure continues to spread throughout the country. In fact, in recent months, localities such as Alcala either Three Songs. An uneven map. The study de Muñoz leaves another conclusion: not all regions of Spain have been equally interested in canine DNA censuses. The 87 cities and towns identified by the expert are basically concentrated in 15 provinces. To be more precise, the majority are gathered in Barcelona (19) and Valencia (43), followed by Marid (5) and Málaga (3). There are regions where no locality has joined the measure, although that could change soon. For example, on the map drawn by Muñoz there is no council of the Basque Country, but the proposal already sounds in Donostia. What exactly does it consist of? The system is basically divided into two phases. Both equally important. The first consists of creating a database: pet owners take them to the veterinarian to have saliva samples taken that will then be included in a census that includes the animal, its data, a contact and the human responsible for caring for it. Normally, participating in the census is mandatory (just like the chipped), so failure to provide a sample of the pet entails fines. In any case, it is not unusual for councils to subsidize all or part of the analysis. Question of censuses… and something else. The genetic registry is an important piece, but it only works if it is accompanied by periodic controls in the parks, streets, gardens… of the cities. The agents are in charge of collecting samples of abandoned poop, detailing where and when they were removed and sending them to specialized laboratories where these depositions are analyzed. The goal: identify your DNA and search for matches with the profiles archived in the first stage. Muñoz explains that between 5 and 20% of the samples end up being discarded because they are contaminated, but in the rest of the cases reliable conclusions are obtained that allow the authorities to identify the pets to whom the excrement belongs and (most importantly) who their owners are. Once “hunted” they face fines that can vary from one location to another but usually range from between 60 and 600 euros. If the analysis of the feces does not yield any match with the registry (that is, the poop belongs to a dog that is not ‘registered’) the laboratory also prepares a report in which it details the data of the animal: color, size, shape, sex… a kind of ‘robot portrait’ that helps the authorities identify it. Lights and shadows. Muñoz’s study confirms that the canine DNA census convinces more and more municipalities, however the system also faces its own challenges. To begin with, and as the journalist acknowledges, whether it works or not depends largely on whether the census is representative and whether excrement collection campaigns are carried out frequently. On occasions the implementation of the system has also been frustrated by changes in local governments. There are also those who question whether it is an effective (or at least profitable) solution to put an end to abandoned poop. In an article on the topicelDiario.es specifically cites Gonzalo Moreno, current president of the General Council of Colleges of the Veterinary Profession. In 2018, before taking office, he prepared a critical report in which he threw out several ideas. The first, the profitability of the measure. Do the results justify the cost of conducting the census and collecting and studying samples? The second is that some of the analyzes may be frustrated by the degradation and contamination of the samples or simply because the animals are not registered. After all, in a town not only ‘signed’ dogs walk. There are also animals that arrive from outside, such as stray dogs or that belong to people passing through. Images | Jay Wennington (Unsplash), Kyleburning (Flickr) and Anna Dudkova (Unsplash) Via | … Read more

After 20 years of works and 4,000 million euros, Asturians demand one last thing for the AVE: traveling with their dog

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“Our dogs are family. They are not an extra suitcase, they are an essential part of the trip. Europe is already ahead of us by allowing dogs of all sizes on trains. Why can’t Renfe be just as modern and empathetic?” With these words and the support of more than 5,000 signatories, Isa Díaz Yusta, who promotes a petition on Change.org, summarizes the feelings of Renfe travelers in the north of the country as stated The New Spain. And the train company does not allow the access of dogs weighing more than 10 kg on the routes that go to Galicia, Asturias or the Basque Country. That impossibility has open a wound in northern Spain. The aforementioned request is not the only one. With almost 5,000 supports, another user of the same platform also has a petition open for Renfe to allow dogs weighing more than 10 kg to travel on these routes. “We can’t always drive or leave them with someone. Many of us need the train to go see family or for work, and leaving our colleagues behind is not an option,” says the promoter on this occasion. Arancha Gómez, again another Change.org user, asks that the possibility of carrying accompanying dogs be expanded on all lines operated by Renfe. It is the same thing that Laura Serena asks for, whose request has already been collected more than 26,000 signatures. I don’t have a driving license, so I depend entirely on public transportation. And, although I have been waiting for a change for years, Renfe only allows traveling with dogs weighing more than 10 kg on four routes. FOUR!!. The rest of the country remains inaccessible for those of us who travel with large dogs. Not without my dog Indeed, as noted in the last petition, Renfe only allows traveling with dogs weighing more than 10 kg on limited routes. Since the petition was launched, Renfe has been expanding the destinations in which you can travel accompanied by large dogs but, for now, the only AVE available are still the following: Madrid-Barcelona Madrid-Zaragoza Madrid-Alicante Madrid-Valencia Madrid-Seville Madrid-Málaga Madrid-Granada However, the company The possibility of traveling with dogs is not enabled between 10 and 40 kg on all high-speed and long-distance lines. On the contrary, dogs of this size and any other can ride on Cercanías trains. If we want to travel with a dog weighing less than 10 kg, Renfe allows us to do so on all AVE, long-distance, AVLO, medium-distance and metric gauge trains. Except in the latter, the pet can travel in a carrier that does not exceed 60x35x35 cm for a surcharge. On those trains that have places specifically reserved for dogs to travel, you can pay 35 euros so that the pet does not travel in the carrier. However, as we say, only on selected routes you can travel with dogs weighing more than 10 kg. In this case, it is mandatory to fill out a document discharging the company’s responsibilities and another to confirm that we are aware of the regulations. The dog will travel in the adjacent seat and this cannot be chosen because there are pre-established places for this purpose. Furthermore, in these cases, the company provides a travel kit and has a series of standards and recommendations that are summarized in this document. In the delivered kit there is a seat cover and a mat to place on the window seat. The dog must be on a leash of a maximum of 1.5 meters and with a muzzle. In all cases, only one pet is allowed per traveler, but in the particular case of dogs weighing more than 10 kg, no more than two pets are allowed per car on the same train. Furthermore, on the Madrid-Málaga and Madrid-Granada corridors, only one pet of this size is allowed per train. Asturian users, as we have seen, complain about this type of restrictions for a line that It opened in 2023 after 20 years of work (13 years late) and a investment of 4,000 million euros. Even on lines that do allow it, some travelers also complain that the purchasing process can be too complicated. They explain in the blog Pipperontour that not all trains on the enabled lines allow traveling with dogs and, furthermore, this possibility only appears to be added in the last step of the purchase process, which makes it difficult to get a ticket. To try to make everything clearer, Renfe has a space where all frequencies can be consulted that allow large dogs but the aforementioned blog states that this list is not always updated. To all of the above we must add that it is no coincidence that some of the popular petitions requested through the Change.org platform come from northern Spain. In one of them it is remembered that Gijón is one of the cities in our country with the most registered dogs and Asturias is the Autonomous Community with the most dogs per inhabitant of our country. Photo | john crozier and Phil Richards In Xataka | “In 1961 it took Bilbao three hours and five minutes. Now it takes three and ten”: Cantabria and Spain’s drama with the train

In Tres Cantos they are analyzing the DNA of uncollected dog poop and fining the owners

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The landscape, the species of trees, the flowers in the flowerbeds, the design of the paths or the games for children may vary, but in the parks of Spain (and many other countries) there are certain “basics” that are not usually missing: there are benches, there are fountains… and there is dog poopan annoying reminder that citizens do not always comply with the obligations that come with having pets. In recent years some city councils have tried to solve it creating DNA bases that allow them to locate the owners of the dogs and punish them if they do not take care of their feces. For a while, receiving one of those fines sounded like a distant threat, but in Spain there are already town councils passing from theory to practice. The last example Tres Cantos leaves it, in Madrid. What has happened? That the Tres Cantos City Council said goodbye to 2025 by activating its machinery to fine people who breaks its regulations. So far nothing out of the ordinary. The curious thing is the offense that is being pursued and above all how the City Council hunts down the offenders. What it has done is use the “canine DNA detection service” to fine those neighbors who ignore the excrement that their pets leave on sidewalks, parks and gardens. The ordinance makes it clear that people who walk pets through the municipality must collect “immediately” (and throw in the trash) the poop they leave in any area where pedestrians pass. Failure to do so is considered an infraction that, according to TeleMadrid specifiescarries fines of several hundred euros: between 300 and 600, depending on whether or not the offender is a repeat offender. Is it something new? Tres Cantos announced a year and a half ago his intention to create a “canine genetic census” to have the municipality’s dogs ‘registered’ and thus be able to identify excrement abandoned in the streets. In 2024 even launched a campaign baptized ‘I’m from Tres Cantos, it’s in my DNA’ in which it asked neighbors to register their pets in the following months. The idea was that people would take their animals to an authorized clinic to perform a simple test (basically taking a saliva sample) that would allow them to be registered. The procedure costs about 40 eurosbut the Consistory recalled that it is mandatory. Failure to do so also carries a penalty. The measure did not remain on paper and throughout the last few months the City Council has intensified their efforts to put it into practice, even with collection days of excrement. The surprise (and this is new) came on December 30, when the local government advertisement that the canine DNA system has already allowed him to identify “several owners” of dogs who do not pick up their pets’ feces. And he warned: “He will be punished” But… Is it that important? Yes it is. And not only because the measure wants to once and for all solve the problem of dog poop in cities. As remember from Tres Cantosthe canine registry is obtained in a “simple and harmless” way for the animal and serves many more purposes than sanctioning. “The genetic census is a reliable tool that protects animals, since it allows them to be located if they are lost, mistreated or abandoned, providing scientific certainty in possible judicial processes, claims and complaints,” claimed in July 2024 the Councilor for Public Health. In fact, the canine genetic census has already helped to resolve cases of puppy abandonment. Does it only happen in Tres Cantos? No. The idea of ​​canine DNA censuses has permeated more municipalities in Spain. In December 2024, Pipper on Tour estimated that 81 locations They already require pet owners to take them to clinics to have blood or saliva samples taken to carry out a census. In recent years the idea has attracted municipalities such as Malaga, Collado Villalba, Santa Eularia, Cornellà either Alcala de Henaresamong others. The latter in fact has a “canine CSI” for offenders who risk fines of between 300 and 3,000 euros. In its first year the program made it possible about 200 disciplinary proceedings, although many were directed at owners who still did not register their pets. In July Santa Eulària celebrated also that canine DNA has reduced fecal alerts by half. Images | Bruce Warrington (Unsplash) and Monika Simeonova (Unsplash) In Xataka | Rats are growing by 300% in some cities around the world. And the problem is that we have no idea how to avoid it.

A dog was lost in 2021 in the United States. Five years later it has appeared 3,700 kilometers from his home

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In recent years we have seen how the algorithm has taken over Christmasand Netflix to the head of the film industry competes to offer the most emotional miracle of the year, stories designed to reconcile us with chance, hope and those impossible endings. But this time, the story that best fits that mold does not come from a script or a streaming platform, but from real life, far from the screens and without special effects. The loss. The story has been collected by US media this weekend. Apparently, during almost five yearsPatricia Orozco lived with an unanswered question. Since Choco, the dachshund mix dog that he had adopted in 2016, disappeared in May 2021, his memory remained present in our daily lives. The uncertainty was constant: if he was still alive, if someone cared for him, if he had suffered. After months of posters, calls to shelters and no clues, the disappearance turned into mourning and a silent renunciation of having a dog again, as if accepting another company meant admitting that Choco would not return. The impossible message. Everything changed with an unexpected message from a microchip company. Choco had appeared, but not near Sacramento, where Orozco lived, but rather more than 3,700 kilometersin Lincoln, Michigan. At first, the woman thought it was Lincoln, California, just half an hour from her home. Surprise turned to disbelief when he realized that his dog had crossed practically the entire United States without anyone knowing how or when. Choco had been found tied to a fence in front of to a shelterand the photos confirmed what seemed like a mistake: it was him. The problem of bringing him back. The initial joy gave way to logistical anguish. With two small children, one of them barely four months old, Orozco saw no way to travel to pick him up. A message on social networks It activated an unexpected chain of solidarity. Volunteers, protectors and anonymous people began to look for solutions, from affordable flights to km donations (miles in USA). The possibility of someone traveling in his place took shape when Penny Scotta volunteer accustomed to complicated rescues, offered to make the trip. Orozco with his dog Choco, almost five years after he disappeared from his home in May 2021 A silent journey. The Washington Post told that Choco’s return was a small aerial odyssey. Scott flew from California to Detroit with stops and delays, picked up the dog thanks to the help of local volunteers and crossed the country again with the. A missed connection forced him to spend almost fourteen hours at the Chicago airport, where Choco, calm and docile, walked on his leash among travelers without a single complaint. For those who accompanied him, that behavior seemed to confirm that, despite everything, he was still the same calm and affectionate dog. The mystery of time. In the background of this most “Christmas” story, the great question: Nobody knows how the hell Choco ended up in Michigan or who he lived with during that time. The only thing that is clear is that he traveled through an entire country, far from the sunny climate that he had always known and that, according to its ownerI hated to leave. Now, at eleven years old, the dog had aged, but he had not lost his curious and affectionate character, the same one that led him to run away every time he found an open door. Return home. Finally, on December 3rd Choco came back to Sacramento. The reunion was immediate and left no doubt: when he got out of the car, he walked directly towards Patricia, as if he had never left. The same home from which he escaped years ago became his refuge again, yes, now withwith more precautions: a double door and the determination not to repeat history. For Orozco, the moment was unreal, a mixture of disbelief and relief that he still finds difficult to assimilate. A network and an idea. Beyond the happy ending, the story left a clear lesson. The microchip was the key piece that allowed us to close a circle that seemed broken forever, but so was the network of people who, without knowing each other, decided to act. Rescuers, donors and volunteers demonstrated that even after years and thousands of kilometers, a loss can be transformed into a reunion. For Patricia Orozco, there are not enough words to describe it: what happened, insistcan only be called “Christmas miracle”. A story with a happy ending that could be perpetuated on the big screen. The story of Choco and Orozco has all the ingredients to make the next Christmas list… in the home of the algorithms. Image | PexelsHelping Paws and Claws In Xataka | In 2019, Iberia lost a dog before flying. Now the European Justice says that it is worth the same as a suitcase In Xataka | The science behind your dog being able to find you 12 years after being lost

Paris Hilton lost her dog, so she cloned it

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Paris Hilton lost her dog, so she cloned him not once, but twice. And he is not the only public figure who has done so. Barbra Streisand was one of the first to clone petsbut the cases of Javier Milei or the American football player Tom Brady are also known. That’s how it is the pet cloning market. A nail clone pulls out another nail The loss of a pet is a very painful experiencefor many people as hard as losing a family member. Science is already looking for ways to extend the life of dogsbut at the moment living as long as humans seems far away. Nor you can make your dog or cat live foreverbut if you have money you can resort to cloning. This is what Barbra Streisand did when her dog Samantha died in 2017. And if one clone was not enough, she asked for two to be made. Paris Hilton also resorted to cloning after her chihuahua Diamond was lost in 2022. Like Streisand, she also cloned her twice. If we look only at the number of clones, Javier Milei, current president of Argentina, has gone too far. In 2017 he cloned his English mastiff Conan not one, but five timesalthough one of the puppies died shortly after. The most recent case involved Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who confessed in the magazine People Magazine that his current dog Junie is a clone of Lua, his previous dog who died in 2023. ELON MUSK VS JEFF BEZOS: STAR WARS Personality is not cloned There are several companies that are dedicated to cloning pets. The most famous is the American Travel Petswho was in charge of making clones for Paris Hilton, Barbra Streisand and Javier Milei. Tom Brady did it through the startup Colossal Biosciencesdedicated to “de-extinction.” And be careful, because In Marbella there is also a clinic that is dedicated to cloning dogs and cats. The cover of the Viagen website The process begins with the pet tissue collectionwhich should be done either while the pet is still alive or immediately after its death. Using these cells, they create embryos that are implanted in a surrogate mother. The resulting animals are genetically identical to the original, but that does not mean they will behave the same. Barbra Streisand admitted in an interview in Varietythat The clones had different personalities to that of his dog Samantha. On its website, Viagen says the result “shares your dog’s DNA and often the same intelligence, temperament and appearance.” Emphasis on that “often.” How much does this cost You’ve probably been wondering since you read the headline. Travel Cobra $50,000 to clone dogs or cats and $85,000 in the case of horses. These are high figures for most people, but a few years ago it cost twice as much. There are no figures, but in this report from The Atlantic They assured that companies like Viagen they have a waiting list and thousands of clones of pets, but also horses or cattle, have already been produced. A striking example is that of polo player Adolfo Cambiasowho has more than 100 clones of his best mare. Although feasible, animal cloning raises ethical questions, mainly about the well-being of the animals involved in the processboth the clones themselves and the mothers in whom they implant the embryos. It is well known that purebred females, both dogs and cats, are often exploited and subjected to continuous pregnancies and then sell the puppies. The difference here is that they create clones from implanted embryos. On the other hand, there is the question of purchasing animals, in this case clones, when the shelters are saturated with animals waiting for an adoption. Only in Spain it is estimated that 33 pets are abandoned per hour. Finally, a personal contribution, it will be a year soon since my kitten Piñón died. We had a very special bond and his loss was very traumatic because he was still very young. I miss it as if it were the first day, but it would never occur to me to put my grief above the well-being of other animals. Image | Paris Hilton, Instagram In Xataka | We have been thinking for years that cats are exquisite eaters. They actually have neophobia

In 2019, Iberia lost a dog before flying. Now the European Justice says that it is worth the same as a suitcase

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After six years of trials, the Court of Justice of the European Union has issued its verdict: a dog is a suitcase. The question that the European court had to resolve is whether the loss of a pet should entail greater compensation than that contemplated for a suitcase. And the response has been blunt. October 22, 2019. That was the day an Argentine family lost their dog Mona. That day, the family was at the Ezeiza airport, next to Buenos Aires, to travel to Barcelona. Given the company’s regulations, Mona had to travel in a carrier in the hold of the plane, but during the loading operation, the dog escaped from the control of the operators and, scared, ran towards the runway. They explained those days in The Vanguard that Grisel, its owner, was completely sure that she had closed the cage properly. However, once they were seated, a flight attendant approached to notify them of what had happened and confirm that the dog had escaped. The mother, who was accompanying Grisel, then claimed to have seen her dog running away and the workers trying to catch her but they were not allowed to get off the plane. Loss. After this first moment of anguish had passed, the family claimed that the Iberia workers confirmed that the dog had been trapped and that they had to give them a telephone number so that a contact could come get the animal at the airport. However, when Christian, the owner’s brother, went to the airport, they told him that the dog had escaped again and that they had not been able to catch her. Since then, the family did everything possible to investigate in the vicinity of the airport if the animal was nearby but with no luck. Iberia’s response. Then, the family was already indicating that they were unhappy with how Iberia had handled the situation. “We do not have any type of response from the airline. Iberia tells us that as happened in Argentina, nothing can be done from Spain,” they explained to the Catalan newspaper at the time. For its part, from Iberia in Argentina, the company assured Clarion that they were very sorry for what happened and that both Iberia and the airport manager kept the search active. According to her version, the animal “broke one of the sides of the cage and escaped. Before shipping any cage with an animal inside, we always seal the opening doors to prevent the animal from opening it and escaping. However, Mona broke the opposite side of the cage and that’s why she got out.” They confirm that the workers managed to recover Mona but she bit the worker’s arms and face, fleeing again. “Non-material damage”. Given the animal was lost, the family decided to report Iberia to claim compensation for what happened. Given the seriousness of the matter, the family requested that the company pay 5,000 euros for “non-material damages”, which Iberia refused, they explain in Guardian. They explain in the English newspaper that Iberia agreed to compensate for the loss of the animal since it had escaped under the responsibility of its workers. However, they were not willing to pay more than would be paid for the loss of any luggage. That is, they would pay but the same amount that they would pay for the loss of a suitcase. Europe agrees… with Iberia. During a process that has lasted six years, since the Madrid game they escalated the debate in 2024 to the Court of Justice of the European Union who, finally, ruled in favor of Iberia. The company will compensate the family as if they had lost a suitcase. That is to say, just under 1,600 euros which is the maximum amount contemplated for these cases. When the issue was brought to the European court, Iberia defended itself, arguing that “It makes no sense to equate animals with people. The owner, the only one who fully understands the animal, is the one who chooses to expose it to the often stressful and challenging experience of traveling by plane.” And he stressed that “it is his responsibility to prepare it for the trip, assume the risk of exposing it to an inhospitable environment and guarantee its veterinary aptitude. But the most important thing is that only he can assess the deep emotional bond with his pet and, therefore, the moral damage he would suffer if something happened to him during transport.” How is a pet valued? According to the Court of Justice of the European Unionvery simply: a special declaration of the value of the pet. This is what, in the opinion of the European court, the family should have signed and the company accepted. When this agreement is reached, the company agrees to pay a higher compensation if something happens but the passenger also pays a surcharge for the transportation of the animal. This is, in the opinion of Carlos Villa Corta, the family’s lawyer, a “missed opportunity to continue raising awareness about the rights of animals and the people who care for them. The Court of Justice of the European Union considers that pets do not deserve special or improved legal protection compared to a simple suitcase,” in words reported by Guardian. What the European court alleges is that the Montreal Convention that regulates these cases speaks of “people and luggage” and that, therefore, the term people would cover the damages to the “passenger” and that everything else must be considered as luggage. And they emphasize: “the fact that the protection of animal welfare is an objective of general interest recognized by the European Union does not prevent animals from being transported as ‘baggage’ and being considered as such for the purposes of liability resulting from the loss of an animal.” Photo | TA-WEI LIN and Miguel Angel Sanz In Xataka | What the law says about breaking a car window when a dog is suffering from heat stroke

50 years ago, a man won the ‘US Dakar’ with an unusual co -pilot: his dog

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Dogs have been evolving thousands of years to become our best friends and They have a special memory When it comes to remembering our pampering. Other memories have a very short life in their head, but the safest thing is that Kookie, a mestizo dog, will remember throughout his life the adventures he had with John McCown, his owner. Because they did not give normal walks through the park: they toured the motorcycle desert competing in official tests. And Kookie was not the package: it was the co -pilot. The strange couple. Imagine The scenetoday impossible due to so straight regulations, the era of telemetrías, the absolute control of each extra gram in a competition vehicle and the most absolute technification: a dog uploaded on the deposit of a motorcycle, which competed in official tests and was moving based on the land they were going through. In the 60s, the carnicero by profession John McCown liked to walk with his bike. He did it accompanied by Kookie, his dog, who placed a back basket. At one point, John was going to go one step further: he bought an off -road motorcycle and began to get into his head that could compete in Cross competitions. He did so, and did not leave Kookie behind. My dog ​​knows how to wear the motorcycle. Instead of a basket, John improvised a “seat” with a blanket on the gas tank of his Husky 400 and OSSA 175 SDRand that is where Kookie felt like fish in the water. I imagine that the dog would be waiting for good doses of bones at the end of the day and that was the motivation, but the truth is that I was not there to make bulk: John and Kookie trusted each other to wear the motorcycle. During about 300 tests, the couple ate hundreds of potholes, swallowed dust and crossed puddles while both adapted their position on the vehicle to tame it in the best possible way. In This article From the American Motorcyclist magazine, McCown’s wife, McCown Describe That Kookie bowed to the curves, leaned on the deposit in the rugged field and stood up when potholes came. A bomb. Both executed a choreography on the motorcycle, and although at first they did not do it as an advertising maneuver, it is evident that it caught the attention of many. They appeared in the documentary movie ‘On Any Sunday‘, Kookie starred in children’s books such as’ Kookie the Motorcycle Racing Dog’ and ‘Kookie Rides Again’ and even brands like Ossa, Can-Am and Kawasaki the They sponsored. Kookie Junior. When Kookie got on the motorcycle, she was 10 years old. Hundreds of races later, and with 13, after a check, McCown preferred that his compi would limit to some shorter and less demanding races. Until 14, when John decided that Kookie should hang the helmet and live on the couch. He died at age 16, but as John remembers in the 1981 article, before leaving he left a litter. One of them was baptized as Kookie Junior, and for 10 years, he ran with John as Kookie had done before. They got some off-road championship (such as the 175cc class championship) and, although some wondered if it was not crazy, it was a friendship that benefited both of them for fun and for the company in the long and hard careers for the western American deserts. To the hall of fame. Such was the legend of McCown and Kookie (s) that were included In the Hot Shoe Hall of Fame, an organization and museum dedicated to preserving the history of motorcycle races in ‘Flat Track’ and ‘Speedway’, recognizing both the pilots and the mechanics, personalities and influential journalists in that world. “Kookie learned to read the terrain, leaning back in the rugged and standing at the most smooth. John could always know what came ahead because of the way Kookie moved.” – Description of the “plaque” of the Hot Shoe Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, that recognition is something that John did not live. McCown He died In 2011 due to complications after cardiac operation. On the other side, surely Kookie and KJ were waiting for him, with the engine on and ready for one more adventure. Images | McCown, Race DezertAmerican Motorcyclist In Xataka | “With head, we would all go on motorcycles of 20 hp”: there is a bud debate about how much power is too much power for a motorcycle

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