dogs Archives - Page 2 of 3

The dogs of La Rioja are turning industrial estates into Need For Speed. The Civil Guard has not been amused

April 13, 2026 by usatoday24

The Civil Guard has been dismantled in La Rioja a modified vehicle hangout whose drivers had a very clear intention: to organize illegal races and perform different illegal maneuvers (skidding, acceleration, etc.) as an exhibition. Although they enjoyed the plan for a few hours, the party ended with 120 people identified, 25 sanctions and crimes such as possession of weapons and driving under the influence of drugs. The Spanish Fast and Furious. A meeting spread through social networks, with the presence of influencers and with more than one hundred participants from several autonomous communities. The Civil Guard had been monitoring the call for weeks, articulating both an intervention operation and a preventive surveillance and control device in various industrial estates in the region. Real images of the meeting, broadcast on the internet. burning wheel. According to the authorities, the agents observed exhibition maneuvers such as skidding, sudden accelerationsburning tires, near the public parking lot of one of the shopping centers in La Rioja. In nearby industrial estates, drivers were detected carrying out illegal races, who are now being investigated for crimes against road safety. It’s not something new. This same weekend the Civil Guard has investigated three people for participating in an illegal vehicle race in the Villaluenga-Yuncler industrial estate, in the province of Toledo. The operation was part of an operation that is underway since Februaryand that has already claimed several arrests for illegal races in the area. Last March Traffic officers detained 33 drivers for the same reason, in the industrial estates of Lleida. Andalusia is not spared either, where recently A gathering was dismantled in one of the main avenues of the city. what’s happening. Nothing that hasn’t been happening for decades. Since the early 2000sillegal racing remains alive in Spain. Modified car hangouts are not a random crime: they are a subculture that has been outside the law for years and that, with the arrival of social networks and messaging apps, has it even easier to attract followers. What for decades was an invisible counterculture, confined to polygons and internet forums, is now announced on social networks, filmed live and exposed more than ever. And if not, tell that to the guy who asked his partner to marry him in the middle of a car meetup… and ended up seriously run over. In Xataka | Saudi Arabia believes the world deserves an F1 circuit on par with Mario Kart. So it’s being built

Thousands of people have fallen in love with seven dogs abandoned and on the run in the middle of China. It was just another AI video

March 28, 2026 by usatoday24

The image was undeniably powerful, almost cinematic. In the freezing darkness of the night, with temperatures below zero, a pack of seven dogs walked in formation on the shoulder of a highway. The video of just 11 seconds, published in chinese platform Douyinshowed a motley crew: a German shepherd, a golden retriever, a Labrador, a small corgi, and several mixed breed dogs. The clip went viral, quickly racking up more than 230 million views. The audience, saturated with news about wars and disastersfound an emotional balm in these animals. But what the network hailed as a miracle of loyalty and survival, the real version of the Disney movie Homeward Bound or the children’s series Paw Patrolturned out to be a completely prefabricated story. The birth of a viral myth. It didn’t take long for the internet machinery to build an epic narrative. From there, speculation became “truth.” Rumor spread that the seven dogs had escaped from a traffickers’ truck that was taking them to a dog meat slaughterhouse, and it was even claimed that they had walked 17 kilometers together. The anthropomorphization of the pack reached extraordinary levels. As illustrated by the comments of Internet userssocial networks assigned a role to each dog in this pack: the injured German shepherd was the “General” whom everyone protected; the golden retriever was the “guard” that was placed near traffic to shield them; Chinese rural dogs were the “guides” with a sense of direction; and the little corgi was the brave leader and “nurse” who walked 50,000 steps—twice as many as the rest—retracing his steps to make sure no one was left behind. The truth behind this story. The event, however, was much less romantic and lacked villains. Extensive field research carried out by reporters City Evening News dismantled the theory of the great escape. There were no meat traffickers, no kidnapping trucks, nor a 17-kilometer trip. Reporters located the village in Shuangyang district where the animals came from. Three of the most famous dogs belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Zhang: the corgi, affectionately called “Big Fatty” (Dapang); the German Shepherd, “Four Treasures” (Sibao); and the golden retriever, “Long Hair.” As the family explained, around March 13, the German shepherd simply went into heat. Since the dogs in the village usually roam freely, the males in the area were attracted to her and began to follow her, going just 4 or 5 kilometers away until they reached the highway. The rescue was not out of a movie either. Although volunteers from rescue bases such as Tong Tong or Bitter Coffee (led by Professor Liu) used drones to search for the herd, the resolution was purely customary. As detailed City Evening NewsMr. Zhang had a dream in which he was feeding his dogs. Convinced that they were alive, he went out to look for them in neighboring towns and found them safe and sound in the walled patio of a house where they had entered to take refuge. The other dogs in the video turned out to be pets of other neighbors in the area, such as Messrs. Guo and Jing, who returned home on their own. The engine of deception. If the story was so simple, how did it become a global phenomenon full of false details? The answer is in technology. According to an in-depth analysis of cnnalthough the original clip of the dogs walking on the highway was authentic, the story was hijacked and inflated using Artificial Intelligence. After the video went viral, AI-generated “spin-offs” proliferated: cinematic posters of the seven dogs, fake trailers showing their “exciting escape” and hyper-realistic images of the animals tearfully reunited with their supposed owners. The reason is purely economic, since “attention is money on the Internet”, as TJ Thomson explainsassociate professor of digital media at RMIT University. Content creators saw a golden opportunity to capitalize on a trend. As Tama Leaver, a professor at Curtin University, adds, inventing or embellishing these stories using AI is “a very effective way to increase an account’s numbers quickly.” The implications beyond. Although it may seem like an endearing and harmless anecdote, this viral hoax has tangible consequences. On the one hand, it perpetuates stigmas. Although since SCMP contextualizeciting the Dalian Animal Protection Association, that pet theft for meat is a real problem in some areas of northern China (which prompted genuine concern from many), in this specific case the false narrative fueled the fires of racism. As pointed out cnnthe invention of the “meat factory” fueled negative stereotypes against Chinese citizens, something especially dangerous in a climate of growing xenophobia. On the other hand, there is the damage to our information ecosystem. Chinese state media and the Jilin tourist office had to intervene to deny the rumor. as quote Guardianauthorities warned that this incident “reflects deficiencies in the dissemination of information online, where subjective speculation is easily taken as fact.” Professor Tama Leaver warns about danger of complacency: If we let our guard down and accept AI-generated images without questioning them because they are “cute dogs”, our critical skills will be atrophied when faced with false images about serious topics, such as war conflicts. @cnn A viral video showed a group of dogs in China who were purportedly captured to be eaten, escaped, and made the long journey home. The problem? The story’s not real. CNN’s Jessie Yeung explains how this kind of misinformation can spread. #cnn #news ♬ original sound – CNN The fragility of our eyes. The ending of “The Adventures of the Seven Dogs” in Changchun did not require an epic soundtrack, but a leash. Owners now leash their dogs during the mating season. However, the trail they leave on the network is deep. In an era dominated by AI and the desperate search for clicks, our need to consume happy endings it makes us deeply vulnerable to manipulation. The true story of the German shepherd or the corgi teaches us a hard journalistic and social lesson about the contemporary internet: as Professor Thomson … Read more

The largest data centers on the planet are guarded by dogs. By robot dogs

March 22, 2026 by usatoday24

The deployment of data centers to train the artificial intelligence It is a sign of technological power, but also economic power. This year alone, the big Americans are going to let themselves more money than NASA invested to take man to the Moon. More than $670 billion between Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and Google to create gigantic data centers. And within that investment, an important part is in safety with dogs. With robot dogs, specifically. It is the culmination of science fiction dystopia. In short. In the age of AI, data centers are the holy grail. We are continually seeing how companies sign contracts for thousands of million dollars with NVIDIA either amd (especially with NVIDIA) to provide them with the platforms with which to train their models. It’s only part of the equation, as there is another monumental investment in power, storage, RAM, dissipation and everything necessary to make these small cities work. Within the investment, there is security, and in BI They have published a report in which they detail that, within the budget, there are companies that are already including spending on robots that patrol both the perimeter and the internal corridors. The goal is security in every sense: patrol to detect threats, but also to identify any problems that occur with the equipment before they escalate and become something more serious. brand dogs. In the report, two companies are pointed out: Boston Dynamics and its dog Spot (with which we were able to play a few years ago) and Ghost Robotics with your Vision 60. Since Boston Dynamicsthe company owned by hyundai For a few years now, they have told the American media that they have been visiting data centers for some time because there is great interest. “We have seen an increase in interest in data centers in the last year, which is probably not surprising given the investment in that space,” Merry Frayne, the company’s senior director of product management, tells the outlet. For these companies, it is tremendous advertising, but also a potential customer in a “new” sector. Because it is possible that the police do not have the budget to get hold of many, but within the billions that are invested in data centers, dogs are just another sheet in the accounting excel. You can mount the sensor you want ‘Patrolling the center. And what is your task? Well… quite a task, really. The representative of Boston Dynamics, and other operators, point out that the dogs are not limited to acting as a “mobile surveillance camera”, but have other tasks: Patrol exterior perimeters to ensure that there are no problems with fences and accesses. Walk through server rooms, cooling rooms, and power rooms to look for anomalies such as water leaks, hot spots that may indicate a short circuit, or accumulations of moisture. Also sensors to detect gases, microphones to analyze noise and, ultimately, the sensor you want to put on it. Capture visual data from everything, such as analog pressure gauges or level indicators. Constantly, and as some robot vacuum cleaners do, map with LiDAR as they pass to see that there are no elements out of place. Some specific centers in which they are already being tested are Novva Data Centers in Utah or Oracle at the Industry Lab in Chicago. And dogs, in addition to cameras, have all kinds of thermal sensors and even conversational interfaces based on models like ChatGPT to interact with people. Measurement of noise levels Object identification Thermal sensors Compensate. It’s really nothing new. We have already seen robot dogs in other industrial sectors such as oil, mining or manufacturing. security forces. In China, in fact, there are deploying to assist firefighters in extreme situations or in institutesbut if in those scenarios they are seen as a tool, here they seem more like a substitute. Because there are those who have done the math and, in a market like the American one, a couple of full-time human guards can cost about $300,000 annually. The initial cost of a Spot ranges from $175,000 to $300,000, depending on the equipment. The cost of a Vision 60 is $165,000. And, as we see, they do much more than a security guard by being full of sensors. Frayne says, “Clients typically start to see a payback on their investment in about 18 months.” Michael Subhan, business director at Ghost Robotics, comments that “instead of having two human guards for $300,000, you can have one human guard and one robot.” A Spots battery charging. And it’s better, since it lasts less than two hours with the standard battery They also get tired. These robots also have their needs. They need to change batteries and install charging points and the environment must be well structured so that the routes are efficient and the sensors such as the LiDAR work well. They can climb stairs and avoid obstacles, but performance suffers in other environments and, in addition, the placement of fixed cameras and sensors in the building must be planned. That is to say, it seems that it is not as easy as saying “I build the center however I want, buy four robodogs and it will work”, but rather that you have to plan the traditional elements and the dogs to achieve a good integration. who are you HUGE Market. Although we have discussed two specific cases in which these robo-guardian dogs are being tested, both Boston Dynamics and Ghost Robotics have not gone into more details. In the end, it is security, and this falls within confidentiality agreements. Boston Dynamics points out that it is an “emerging market.” And Subhan has mentioned that “in the United States alone there are 5,000 data centers and 800 to 1,000 are currently being built, so we see it as a great market for us.” According to some estimatesthe market for robot dogs and industrial drones is currently around 500,000 units, but is expected to double by 2030, generating a market of 21 billion … Read more

an mRNA vaccine that reduced his dog’s cancer

March 18, 2026 by usatoday24

Paul Conyngham is not a biologist. He is not a veterinarian either. He is an engineer from Sydney with almost two decades of experience in the field of data science and AI. In 2024, her dog Rosie received a terrible diagnosis: she had mast cell cancer, the most common skin cancer in dogs and practically untreatable with conventional methods. After trying everything, Conyngham decided to take an alternative path: opened ChatGPT and started asking him questions. ChatGPT as a starting point. OpenAI’s AI model acted as Conyngham’s research assistant. It helped him make a plan in a field he knew absolutely nothing about, and it was the chatbot that suggested he explore immunotherapy treatments. He also pointed out the existence of the Ramaciotti Center for Genomics at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and there he began a fascinating journey. $3,000 to sequence a tumor. At that Conyngham research center got in touch with Associate Professor Martin Smith, one of its leaders. Conyngham paid $3,000 to sequence the DNA from Rosie’s tumor, which Smith found strange: They typically don’t support sequencing requested by individuals because interpreting the data is extraordinarily difficult. But Conyngham assured him that he had nothing to worry about and told him that he was a data analyst and that he would analyze them with the help of ChatGPT. From ChatGPT to AlphaFold. With that sequencing data in hand, Conyngham used a variety of AI tools—not just ChatGPT—to identify the relevant mutations. Then he went one step further and used AlphaFoldthe Google DeepMind program that predicts the three-dimensional structure of proteins. That allowed him to model which of those mutations could be driving the tumor. From this data he identified candidate drugs to help in the treatment of cancer and presented himself to the UNSW researchers with his homework done. First obstacle: bureaucracy. The research team identified an immunotherapy drug that seemed promising, but its manufacturer refused to supply it for this type of application. It was a hard blow for Conyngham, but then Smith told him about mRNA vaccines and asked him if he wanted to explore that avenue. Of course, said Conyngham. Actually manufacturing the vaccine was only half the problem, because administering it required ethical approval permission, which allows experiments involving living beings. After preparing a 100-page document over the next two months, Conyngham won that approval. Vaccines in two months. A division of UNSW led by Professor Pall Thordarson, manufactured the vaccine from the half-page formula that Conyngham had generated. They just needed to find someone to administer it, and that’s how Conyngham managed to contact Rachel Allavena, a professor of canine immunotherapy at the University of Queensland. He traveled ten hours with Rosie and showed up there for his first injection in December. The tumor reduced by half. Researchers from UNSW and the University of Queensland have confirmed that one of Rosie’s tumors had shrunk by half. Allavena explained how even the shine of her coat had also recovered and the dog seemed happier and healthier. Conyngham confirmed it: her dog was losing energy, but six weeks after treatment they were in a park and Rosie jumped the fence to chase a rabbit she had seen. But. Although the story is extraordinary, there is no total and miraculous cure here (at the moment). One of the tumors responded to the vaccine, but another larger one did not. Additionally there have been no controlled trials or sample size beyond one animal or long-term data. Conyngham himself commented how “I have no illusions that this is a cure, but I do believe that this treatment has bought Rosie significantly more time and quality of life.” And Conyngham is no ordinary. It is also important to note that Conyngham had a very special profile: his 17 years of experience in data science and machine learning (machine learning) were crucial for his research to move forward. His technical knowledge allowed AI to enter a field he didn’t know but could understand, and the chatbot and other tools accelerated the process. But those who finally made it possible were immunologists, RNA engineers and the veterinary oncologists who participated in the process. Does this work for other cases? Smith asked a logical question after this singular success. “Why aren’t we rolling this out for all humans with cancer?” The short answer is clear: clinical trials take years, cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and require clear evidence that in this case is simply null. One of his colleagues, David Thomas, is already working on similar treatments of mRNA for human patients, and believes that there is something revolutionary here: “what is striking is the idea of citizen science where someone from the street with a technical profile can use their skills in the scientific process.” The second vaccine is already underway. What this process has shown is that it is possible to dramatically compress the time between the idea and the experimental treatment. Thordarson noted that what Conyngham did—generating an mRNA formula without biology training—demonstrates that AI is helping to democratize this process. In fact, the work is not over: UNSW is already working on the genetic sequencing of the tumor that did not respond to treatment and the objective is to design a second vaccine aimed precisely at treating said tumor. Image | Ed Oswalt In Xataka | What the AI pioneers awarded today with the Nobel Prize say now about AI and its risks

Two decades ago, dogs flooded Spain with souped-up motorcycles. Today, they sell them for a fortune

March 5, 2026 by usatoday24

If you know what a Yamaha Joga Aerox or one Piaggio ZipI’m very sorry: you are already old. Between the 90s and 2000s, young Spaniards could obtain their moped license from the age of 14, and the 49cc scooter became an object of worship… and souped-up. With the tightening of European regulations, this type of motorcycle has practically stopped being sold. But there are those who are making a killing on second-hand platforms. The fall of the 49cc. The moped market has completely changed. At the end of the 2000s, nearly 200,000 units were sold per year. Two decades later, sales fell more than 90%. Currently, mopeds represent a minimal part of the market: in Spain there are barely more than 20,000 registrations per year, while 125 cc motorcycles dominate sales thanks to the fact that they can be driven with a car license. The fall of the 49cc coincided with key factors such as: The 49cc fever. The thunderous and (for many) unpleasant hum of this type of motorcycle was no coincidence. Preparations were the order of the day: exhaust, cylinder, variator… Mopeds with a tiny engine surpassed many of the current 125cc scooters in performance. In fact, the homologation regulations on paper prevented these mopeds from exceeding 45km/h. The reality? Even the slowest one could double this figure straight out of the factory. It was enough to remove some stops in a matter of minutes, and if we dared to carry out a simple preparation, it was easy to make them touch (or exceed) 100km/h. The pasta. A classic like the Yamaha Jog cost just over 2,000 euros in 2005. 20 years later, it is easy to find units in good condition on Wallapop from 1,200 euros to more than 2,500. Of course, prepared to the brim. In fact, it is practically impossible to find a moped of this style that is not souped up. A safer time. Between the 90s and 2000s, it was common to see minors driving this type of motorcycle. The accident rate per kilometer was very high, and the risk multiplied compared to adults on motorcycles with larger displacements. Today the panorama is very different. The 50 cc has been relegated to a niche, the 125 cc dominates the urban market and electric scooters are beginning to gain ground. But for an entire generation, the metallic sound of a Jog or an Aerox remains the soundtrack of adolescence. In Xataka | I was about to buy the best-selling Chinese motorcycle in Spain. Until I read the fine print

In Spain, getting a house has become an impossible mission. There are those who are receiving them as a donation in exchange for taking care of dogs

March 3, 2026 by usatoday24

It happened in Madrid. ‘Subject A’ barely has contact with his children but feels enormous affection for his dogs, so he decides to reach an agreement with ‘subject B’: he will donate his home in usufruct if he agrees to take care of his pets. If ‘Subject B’ complies, no problem. If the animals end up unattended, you risk having the donation revoked. That of ‘A’ and ‘B’ is just one case commented a few days ago to The Newspaper (EPE) by a lawyer with an office in the capital, but it reflects a larger phenomenon: the increase in donationsincluding conditional ones. And it makes sense. What has happened? that in full housing crisiswith rental prices and m2 climbing to levels that remember to those of the brick ‘boom’, each time is more common meet donation signatures in notarial offices. Money is donated. And homes are donated. It’s nothing new. The trend has been going on for some time now. some time and it is part of a broader phenomenon that we have been talking about for some time, the ‘Great transfer’. What is striking is that just revealed EPE: not only do donations in general skyrocket, so do ‘conditional’ donations, those in which the agreement is subject to a series of previously agreed upon requirements. Donations with conditions? Exactly. Tax authorities defines them as agreements by which the donation is conditioned to certain requirements. “For it to be valid, the donee must be able to execute the condition or it must be an event with a high probability of occurring,” clarify the Treasury, which thus differentiates it from other types such as ‘pure’ or ‘remunerative donation’. Its dynamic is therefore simple: donor and donee reach an agreement on which the donation is conditional. It is fulfilled, perfect. If not fulfilled, the good returns to the donor. That is the logic, although in practice there are certain nuances. For example, the donation does not always have to take place at the same time. The donated property can be delivered when the agreement is signed or left in suspense waiting for the agreed conditions to be met. What do people agree? EPE has spoken with several offices in the Community of Madrid and has come across agreements of all kinds. For example, a grandmother who donates her house to her granddaughter in exchange for her finishing her degree and studying a master’s degree, donations to caregivers or (probably the most striking of all) transfers that are conditional on the care of animals. “There are cases in which the house is donated with the condition that the recipient takes care of their pet for as long as it is alive,” clarifies Manuel Hernándezby Vilches Abogados. “This guarantees (the donor) that if they die, their pet will be taken care of. It can also be done by inheritance, with a conditional legacy.” Is it just theory? No. As an example, Hernández cites the case with which this report began: a man from Madrid decided to donate his home to a friend in exchange for her taking care of his three dogs. “She had little connection with her children and was very fond of animals, so she donated her house in usufruct to a younger friend, if she would take care of her dogs. If this condition was not met, the revocation procedure could be initiated,” says the expert. The phenomenon is increasingly common and part of the “humanization” of pets. Is that easy? In practice, the agreements have fine print. It I remembered recently in COPE the lawyer Carolina Florez de Quiñones, who recognizes this type of conditional transfers, just like those directed to caregivers of the elderly; but he warns: “No one can leave alive what he cannot leave dead.” What does that mean? That the will of the person who donates is one of the key factors to take into account, but not the only one. Another is forced heirs. A living donation that damages your ‘legitimate status’ may end up being considered ‘unhelpful’. Are there more formulas? Yes. Another formula that has become popular is the donation of housing in bare propertywhich basically consists of transferring ownership of an asset without the rights of use and enjoyment. If we are talking about an apartment, that means that the donor can pass it on to his children, grandchildren, nephews or whoever he considers, but without giving up the usufruct of the home for the rest of his life. That is, the donor continues to enjoy the apartment as if nothing had changed, which implies that he or she can live in it or even rent it. Have they increased that much? The donations, definitely. In October the General Council of Notaries (CGN) published a report which shows that between 2017 and 2024 housing donations skyrocketed by almost 68%: from 32,623 they went to 54,735. During the first half of 2025 alone, it counted 27,000 donations. At the same time, notaries recorded an increase in inherited homes. The backdrop is the rising cost of housing and the difficulties of access for young people, which partly explains why grandparents, parents, uncles… come to the ‘rescue’ of the new generations, facilitating their access to the market. What do the notaries say? “The data show a clear increase in donations and inheritances of homes from older people to the following generations,” confirms the CGN. In case there were any doubts about its growing weight, the group also remembers that the number of inherited and donated homes in 2024 would be equivalent, overall, at 64% of purchase and sale operations. Not only housing is donated. Money is also transferred from the pockets of grandparents or parents to grandchildren/children to make it easier for them to get a mortgage. The question remains as to how many of these donations come with conditions. Images | Pam Mene (Unsplash), Yen Vu (Unsplash) and General Council of Notaries In Xataka | There are rich people so bored with their … Read more

The United Kingdom has always been a country of pets, but fear has triggered a dangerous demand: dogs ready to attack

February 17, 2026 by usatoday24

The proverb says that the dog is man’s best friend. In United Kingdom more and more people He believes he can be something more: his best protector. At least that is the feeling conveyed by dog training companies, which have found a curious increase in demand thanks to the visibility that networks and networks are giving them. celebrities. They are not cheap, they carry many more responsibilities than a ‘conventional’ pet and they operate within a complex legal framework, but that does not prevent the fact that on the other side of the English Channel it is increasingly easier to come across dogs ready to jump at the command of their owners. There are those who prediction even that personal defense dogs are a billion-dollar market that is rapidly expanding in the United Kingdom. What has happened? That the training of defense dogs is becoming an increasingly profitable business in the United Kingdom. We know it thanks to Guardianwhich a few days ago published an extensive report in which he explains that this type of pets, ready to obey the orders of their owners and defend them with hooves and teeth (in the most literal sense of the expression) if necessary, is experiencing considerable growth. There are not many statistics or official data that corroborate the trend (Guardian does not provide them at least), but of course the message from the sector is clear. “Demand has increased, without a doubt,” confirms Alaster Bly, founder of K9 Guarda company specializing in “highly trained security guard dogs.” There are even trainers who offer special courses to train pets that people already have in their homes. Has demand increased that much? A quick search Google shows a good number of British companies and blogs dedicated to the same thing: selling or informing about defense dogs. And that’s not the only clue. There are even market reports that assure that it is a business in full expansion. A recent study published by AdAstra Solution estimated the size of the British protection dog market at 1.2 billion dollars in 2024. Its forecast is that in just a decade it will rise to 2.5 billion, with a growth rate CAGR of 9.2%. The key is not only that these pets arouse more interest, but that they are expanding their demand base. What does that mean? That dogs trained to serve as bodyguards seem to be ‘becoming popular’ in the United Kingdom. They are far from being a mass phenomenon, but something has changed: they are no longer a ‘whim’ of the wealthiest families or professionals in the security field. According to confirm Guardian After interviewing professionals in the sector, the panorama is changing little by little, as demand increases. Bly acknowledges that the majority of his clients are still wealthy people, but he has also seen growing interest from families who are not wealthy and simply want to “invest in security.” The reasons for this change? There are two that seem key. The first is concern about crime. Although official statistics can be contradictoryStatista tables reflect that the number of violent crimes against people recorded by the police in England and Wales have increased in recent decades. And clearly. In fact, although they have decreased in recent years, they continue to remain well above the snow levels of the beginning of the 21st century. Are there more reasons? Yes. The networks. British reporter Elle Hunt remember that the increase in demand has gone hand in hand with greater media exposure of this type of dogs through various means. One is celebrities. In recent years, personalities such as Rochelle and Marvin Humes, Molly-Mae Hague, Katie Price, J.Terry…actors, singers, footballers and television personalities with well-identifiable faces in the United Kingdom. In the sector, there are those who remember that the increase in demand coincides with greater visibility through Instagram or TikTok of defense dog exhibitions and competitions. Schuzthunda canine agility sport. And how much do they cost? Much more than a ‘conventional’ dog. A trained dog requires considerable work that, sometimes, begins even before the dog is born. Bly works, for example, with hybrids of German and Belgian shepherds, a “very specific genetic mix” that allows it to adapt to its function. Hence they are not cheap. They cost (at least) £32,000. However, price is only one of the factors that the owner must take into account. ¿Is there anything else? Yes. Another factor, even more important, is the care and responsibility that comes with having a dog specially trained for defense. Guardian remember that these personal protection dogs have a complex legal framework, since they are not under the Guard Dogs Law, which does regulate animals in charge of protecting premises or professionals. “They receive the same treatment as any other dog,” explains a criminal lawyer. The problem is that standard home insurance policies can leave them out of your coverage. An important factor in a country that has seen how in recent years attacks increased of dogs recorded by the police. Images | Bignsmall Paws317 (Unsplash) and Wikipedia Via | Guardian In Xataka | Asturias has been fighting for years to have a decent train connection. And now he is also fighting to include his dogs

bombs have turned dogs into other animals

February 13, 2026 by usatoday24

Wars were never limited to the front nor did they end when fighting ceased. Throughout history they have altered landscapes, cities, customs and even everyday behaviors in unexpected ways, leaving silent transformations that only become visible over time. Some of them do not appear in history books or official balance sheets, but they reveal the extent to which a conflict is capable of reordering life itself on its margins. Also from your animals. The war beyond humans. Various studies hrevealed in recent months that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has not only left a devastating mark on the civilian population, but is also quietly transforming to the animals who shared that human environment, especially domestic dogs, whose fate has changed radically since the beginning of the conflict. Many were abandoned during evacuations, others were trapped in occupied territories or combat zones, and in a very short time they went from being dependent pets. to forced survivors from an extreme environment, becoming a hybrid population between the domestic and the wild. A studio born on the front. The latest research, published in the journal Evolutionary Applicationsanalyzed data from 763 dogs in nine regions of Ukraine thanks to the joint work of shelters, veterinarians and volunteers, including dangerous areas near the front lines. A key part of the work was carried out by Ihor Dykyy, a zoologist at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, who collected observations while serving as a volunteer with the Ukrainian armed forces in Donetsk and near Kharkiv, where he lived with dogs injured, traumatized by explosions and dependent on the improvised care of soldiers. Abandonment and breaking of the human bond. According to the lead author of the study, Mariia Martsiv, from the University of Lviv, the start of the war caused a especially dramatic situation for pets: some owners managed to escape with them, but many animals were left at train stations or abandoned in occupied areas. Although the study focused on domestic dogs, a large part no longer living under the direct care of humans and had passed into what was closest to a wandering existence, marked by scarcity, constant danger and the need to adapt quickly. The brutal selection. The data reveals that, in a surprisingly short period, the front dogs began to look similar more to wild species such as wolves or dingoes than domestic breeds. Extreme snouts, heavier bodies, or light coats became less common, while specimens increased smaller in size, with erect ears, straight tails and fewer white spots. As the researchers explainwar has acted as a ruthless filter favoring traits that improve survival: lighter animals that set off fewer mines, hide better, and present a smaller target for shrapnel. It’s not evolution, it’s survival. Scientists emphasize that these changes do not represent accelerated biological evolution, since the time elapsed is insufficient for profound genetic alterations. In fact, what happens they say is more similar to an immediate selection: Dogs with less adapted characteristics simply do not survive. It was also detected that in combat zones there are fewer old, sick or injured animals, and that dogs they tend to group togethera typical strategy of wild species to increase the chances of resistance in hostile environments. Between feralization and dependency. The work indicates that, despite the increasingly “wild” appearance and behavior, the majority of dogs continue to depending in part of humans for food, supplementing their diet with plants, small animals or carrion, including remains of fallen soldiers, and many have been informally adopted by Ukrainian troops. However, the team from the University of Gdansk, led by Małgorzata Pilot, also observed clear cases of feralizationdogs that no longer depend on people and have returned to a completely independent life. War as an ecological disaster. Although the study focuses only on dogs, its conclusions point to a much larger problem. As ecologist Euan Ritchie, from Deakin University, warns, if a species as adaptable and mobile as the dog is being affected so profoundly, the consequences for less flexible animals can be devastating. War, beyond the brutal human tragedy, also emerges as an environmental disaster that reconfigures entire ecosystems and leaves invisible scars long after the guns fall silent. Even dogs stop being dogs. Image | Ivan Bandura, Jorge Franganillo In Xataka | If the question is what Russia is going to do after the war in Ukraine, Europe has found a disturbing clue: millions of projectiles In Xataka | We had seen everything in Ukraine, but this is unprecedented: Russia is not launching drones, it is launching “Frankensteins”

As Japan runs out of children, it’s starting to adopt some ceremonies for one group on the rise: dogs

December 13, 2025 by usatoday24

Does a few weeks Miki Toguchi, a 51-year-old Japanese woman, went to a temple in Tokyo so that little Kotora could participate in the Shichi-Go-Sanan ancient Shinto ritual during which we thank children for their birthdays and pray for their protection. The ceremony is usually performed by young people aged seven, five and three, which is why it is often called that: ‘7-5-3’. Kotora is now five years old, hence Toguchi’s determination to have him blessed. The funny thing is that Kotora is not a child. Not a girl. It’s a schanuzer miniature that upon arriving at the Tokyo sanctuary for the ‘7-5-3’ ritual, he met other poodles, pomeranians, chihuahuas, bichons… Together represent better than any statistics demographic drift from Japan. A different ‘7-5-3’ ritual. The story of Kotora (and others like it) has just been told The New York Times in an article in which he reveals how in the sanctuary Ichigaya Kamegaoka (Tokyo) dogs are slowly replacing humans in the Shichi-Go-Sana ceremony designed for children. The origins of the ritual date back to Heian period (794-1185 AD), a period with a high infant mortality rate, which explains why the country’s aristocrats celebrated when their children reached three, five and seven years of age. Parents came to the shrines with their little ones, showed gratitude and prayed that their offspring would enjoy long, prosperous and healthy lives. From children to dogs. The ‘7-5-3’ has maintained its spirit for generations, but as Japan ran out of babies Shrines like Ichigaya Kamegaok have had to make a living. The country may have fewer and fewer children, but their homes they have been filling of dogs and cats, so dozens of temples throughout Japan have chosen to adapt the ritual to animals. The idea is the same: the little ones are blessed, thanks are given for their lives and protection is prayed for… although in this case the little ones are not children, but poodles, Pomeranians, Chihuahuas, bichons or Akitas (among many other species), dogs that often appear before the priests with kimonos and amulets. For reference, TNYT remember that the Tokyo temple receives seven times more pets than infants every fall: about 50 children compared to 350 animals. “Obsolete shrines”. Kenji Kaji is a priest at Ichigaya Kamegaoka Temple and explains that he has had to tweak some sentences to fit the pets. It may not be an orthodox practice, but he himself acknowledges that there is a less attractive scenario: “The worst thing would be if both Shintoism and the shrines became obsolete.” So pray that families and their furry friends enjoy “happy” lives. For the ceremony they ask 5,000 yen ($32). In cases like Kotora, the temples have found two things: a new source of income and a way for young people to get closer to tradition. “People have gone from having children to having pets,” Toguchi confesses.. She doesn’t have children, but she wants her pet to participate in ‘7-5-3’. It is not an isolated case. Looking back. In 2023 Reuters spoke already from an ancient temple located 35 km from Tokyo, the Zama sanctuary, which had a special prayer area designed for pets and their families to participate in the Shichi-Go-San. At the time, Natsumi Aoki, a 33-year-old woman who had blessed her Pomeranians, lamented that there were not enough pet-friendly sanctuaries in Japan. Today The New York Times assures that in the country there are already “dozens” of sanctuaries willing to say prayers for dogs. Much more than a ceremony. That the ‘7-5-3’ is opening up to pets and there are temples in which more rituals are already celebrated for more dogs than children is more than a simple anecdote. It is a symptom of the social changes that Japan is facing, mired in a deep population crisis from which it cannot escape. In 2024 the country registered 686,061 birthsa disastrous fact for two big reasons. The first is that it marks a new historical low. Never since records began in 1899 has Japan received fewer babies. The second is that this rate of births was far below the rate of deaths. Last year they died in Japan about 1.6 million peopleso for every baby born, two deaths were recorded. The result is a vegetative balance in the red that cost the country the greatest population loss since at least the late 1960s, which is when records began. Fewer babies, but no pets. During the pandemic the country saw how they increased cats and dogs in homes, although at the beginning of 2024 the Japan Pet Food Association detected that this increase was slowing down. That does not mean that pets have become a business of millionaire with growth forecast. Images | Rosewoman (Flickr), Japanexperterna (Flickr), Radim Jaksik (Unsplash) In Xataka | Japan has been mired in a demographic catastrophe for years. Now you know the price to get out of it: foreign babies

Dogs are getting uglier and uglier. And science has several reasons to explain why we love that.

December 8, 2025 by usatoday24

In 1989, journalist Margo Kaufman reported in the Los Angeles Times how a stranger shouted “Hey, ugly!” upon seeing his two pugs walking down the street. It was not an isolated case, in his chronicle he commented that the derogatory comments accumulated day after day. At the time, these dogs were seen as comical anomalies, far removed from the prestige enjoyed by the German Shepherd or the Labrador. Three decades later, the world has turned upside down. What used to provoke ridicule today generates fascination. The networks have been filled with hairless Chihuahuas, toothless Chinese Cresteds, bulldogs that snort like locomotives and identical Brussels Griffons still Ewok. The phenomenon is as visible as it is undeniable: we are falling in love with ugly dogs. The rise of ugly dogs. The most compelling data It is contributed by The Wall Street Journal: As of 2022, the French bulldog is the most registered breed in the United States, displacing the Labrador retriever after 31 years of absolute reign. And it is not an isolated case: pugs, Brussels griffons, Chinese crested dogs and peculiar chihuahuas accumulate searches, followers and adoptions. Although Spain does not have a record as exhaustive as the United States, the trends point in the same direction. Industry platforms place the French bulldog, Chihuahua and other small and striking breeds among the most in demand in big cities, a symptom that aesthetics ugly-cute It is also gaining ground here. As explained by Elias Weiss Friedmancreator of The Dogist account, people look for dogs that stand out, animals whose appearance attracts attention and says something about the owner. Social networks as an amplifier. The aesthetics ugly-cute (translated as cute, but ugly or funny) is a fashion promoted by influencers and celebrities, who boast on Instagram of their pugs (either pugs) either french bulldog (either frenchies), contributing to normalize—and popularize—its extreme appearance. And contests also help: in 2025, the winner of the historic World’s Ugliest Dog Contest It was Petunia, a hairless French bulldog, rescued in Oregon. The contest may sound ridiculous, but its function is to make dogs from shelters and illegal breeders visible and facilitate their adoption. Ugly sells and moves. However, this trend is not sustained by virality alone. There are deep psychological mechanisms. But why? The general health psychologist Alejandra de Pedro González explains to Xataka that the fascination with the “rarest” dogs responds to a very human instinct: taking care of the vulnerable. “We associate certain traits—lameness, hairlessness, deformities—with a need for protection. That activates our most basic prosocial instinct,” he points out. This impulse is not exclusive to our species. Scientist Konrad Lorenz defined in 1943 the baby schema: a set of childhood traits (big eyes, round face, small nose) that trigger caring behaviors. Many “ugly animals” share these exaggerated traits: bulldogs and pugs with flattened snouts, Chinese crested dogs with prominent eyes, chihuahuas with disproportionate heads. The researcher Marta Borgi, in a study published by the scientific journal Frontiers in Psychologyexplains that these traits increase the willingness to protect and reduce aggressiveness towards the individual. Beyond tenderness. According to De Pedro, unusual dogs allow you to project an almost human personality: “With a strange dog you can almost invent a personality,” he details. This fits with what picks up The Wall Street Journal: owners who describe their dogs as elves, babies, literary characters, or even tragic souls. Crooked faces, prominent eyes or disproportionate bodies become emotional canvases. In addition, these breeds require special care—fold cleaning, respiratory medication, constant checkups—which strengthens the bond. For the psychologist, this emotional investment is a form of parentification: “In an individualistic society, people look for someone to take care of. An ugly dog is the ultimate expression of unconditional love, it doesn’t even have to be cute for you to love it.” The dark side of the trend. Brachycephalic breeds—pugs, French and English bulldogs, Boston terriers—suffer from severe respiratory problems, difficulties regulating temperature, eye diseases, and infected skin folds. Veterinarians cited by The Wall Street Journal They describe these extreme cases as “medical nightmares.” Countries clike Holland and Norway have banned the breeding of some breeds for violating the animal welfare law, by perpetuating characteristics that condemn the dog to a life of pain. In fact, studies from the Royal Veterinary College show that English bulldogs are more than twice as likely to suffer from diseases compared to other breeds and have a drastically shorter life expectancy. Even so, owners and breeders resist changes: some people They think it’s “funny” the snoring or noisy breathing of pugs, without understanding that they are clinical signs of suffering. The (im)perfect beauty. Petunia, the hairless bulldog crowned in California, doesn’t know that she has been on the front page of newspapers. Nor has it fueled a global debate on aesthetics, vulnerability or animal welfare. He only wags his tail when someone approaches him. And perhaps therein lies the true explanation of this contemporary obsession. In a time that demands perfection —symmetrical faces, ordered lives, polished bodies—, ugly dogs offer us the opposite: unconditional tenderness. It doesn’t matter if they have a crooked tusk, a milky eye or a snorting snout. His way of loving does not change. Perhaps that is why we look so much for these unlikely animals: because, when we look at them, we recognize that tenderness remains a basic human need that does not understand symmetries. Image | freepik and freepik Xataka | For the first time in thousands of years, we are seeing the domestication process of a species live and direct: that of raccoons.

Log In

Sign In

Forgot password?

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections