This photograph of a Gannet was taken in Cardigan Bay a few years ago and was used in Animal Wild. See below for updates on the Guga hunt.
Dogs and their ‘owners’
Firstly though, dog ‘owners’ again. It’s always the owners. I have written previously about one in particular. Inbreeding can be an unfortunate accident but to bring it about deliberately seems to me an act of great cruelty belonging in the domain of puppy farmers. Yet my friend and pub regular had his dog produce five puppies from an inbred mother with fairly severe behavioural problems. He has kept one for himself (we don’t see the mother any more), the rest are scattered with I am sure mostly a complete lack of information as to what has transpired.
There was a major article in the Sunday Times about the terrible cruelty of breeding flat-faced dogs and many other breeds which suffer terribly for their owners’ weird predilections and other animals too, to the despair and sadness of vets everywhere.
There was also an article about etiquette by Sophie Money-Coutts (what a surname). Mostly pretty basic stuff, just a question of good manners and consideration for others: use poo bags and put them in bins, keep dogs off seats on public transport and restaurants, use a lead but give a dog space when passing another dog, apologise if your dog invades a picnic and takes food, teach your dog not to jump up at people, ask if you can bring your dog to someone else’s house, don’t assume, and so on.
In the case of the inbred puppy it is almost as though there is a comedy sketch waiting to be written. He is the most irresponsible and inconsiderate dog owner I have ever known, by a country mile, and I have known a few. Both she and another dog who is taken to the pub are regularly allowed onto chairs, barstools and tables and one constantly puts his paws on the bar itself. Only recently the poor little creature jumped out of the rucksack her owner was wearing whilst cycling and had to be taken to the vet – fortunately only bruising was sustained. Her lead is simply dropped to the ground at the pub for some reason and so there are regular chases both inside and outside. Not doing that is one rule I’d impose and here’s another I would introduce which really shouldn’t even need saying: if your puppy is not yet house-trained, don’t bring him or her to a place where food and drink are served.
She pees on the floor regularly but I would suggest not picking her up while she is doing so thus spraying several customers. And just the other day she peed all over my trousers whilst sitting on my lap (she was trying to jump down which since her lead was attached to the barstool would have choked her) in her excitement at seeing another dog. My friend said later that he had apologised but it can’t have been very effusive since I missed it completely. I would have been mortified. Another rule would be that if your dog inconveniences, annoys or pees over other people, don’t try to make it their fault. I remonstrated with the guy on Whatsapp. First he resorted to Kindergarten tactics, in effect saying that if I criticised him again he wouldn’t be my friend any more. Then that my love for animals was clearly merely conceptual and that I needed to acknowledge and embrace the reality. My extensive background volunteering in animal rescue mostly involved little else – I am used to dealing with animal pee and poo and I am hardly squeamish about it. It just isn’t what I want when I am trying to enjoy a pint. The next argument was that I was wrong to want to impose human boundaries on the dog’s free spirit. But that he would pay for my trousers to be cleaned which was as ridiculous as the rest of it. He mockingly referred to them as “safari trousers” – they are off-white chinos, far too bright to wear on safari, and just needed to go in the washing machine. So, don’t do any of this. Oh, and don’t emphasise that it’s “only wee” and won’t kill anyone.
As I have said, this is such an extreme form of bad manners and appalling animal ownership that I can just about see the funny side. I am extremely aware that criticising people for their dogs’ behaviour is not far removed from telling them how to bring up their children but sometimes a line has to be drawn somewhere.
Update.
I thought to dive a little deeper into the matter of dogs on pub furniture and weeing on customers (e.g. me but not only me). Was I being prissy as the dog owner implied? Wrong to be wanting to impose “human boundaries” (quoting Rousseau in a way that made no sense whatsoever) on his puppy’s free spirit, surely the most risible part of his entirely risible and childish response? No doubt if he had handled the matter better I wouldn’t still be writing about it now – accidents happen.
No. Far from it. Pathogens can easily transfer to surfaces via dogs’ fur, paws and skin and even dander which can be absorbed by soft furniture. If a customer then eats crisps or any other finger food contamination is direct.
A short list of examples from Gemini:
Faecal pathogens and parasites (as was pointed out in a follow-up letter to The Times, dogs no not wipe their bottoms): Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli and tapeworms.
From paws: soil-borne pathogens.
Salivary: “opportunistic bacteria like Capnocytophaga or Staphylococcus species which pose an infection risk—especially to immunocompromised patrons, young children, or anyone with open cuts on their hands.”
Fabric: absorbed allergens can be around for a considerable time and can cause hives, sneezing, breathlessness.
Contrary to the insistence of the owner of the dog who urinated on me, dog urine is not necessarily sterile and can contain extremely dangerous, potentially fatal Leptospirois* (Weil’s Disease), E. coli, Proteus, Enterococcus, Brucellosis. “Skin and clothing should be washed immediately and victims should monitor for symptoms.”
“It’s wee … No one dies from it.” as I was told rings rather hollow.
Venues are strongly advised to insist that dogs are kept on the floor (preferably on a short leash) and should sanitise affected floors and furniture with a strong or veterinary grade disinfectant (I am not suggesting that the venue where this happened does not do this).
The dog lives on a farm which hugely increases the number, likelihood and seriousness of potential risks to human health. These include zoonoses such as: severe Leptospira strains, Cryptosporidiosis, Giardiasis, Verotoxigenic E. coli, Salmonellosis, Toxoplasmosis and Neosporosis.
I don’t really get what the problem is – why is it such a big deal not to let dogs on furniture in public and not bring them to places where food and drink are served if they are not yet house-trained? Even setting aside the health risks, these would seem to me the most basic of good manners and consideration for others.
Greyhound racing
Racing Under the Radar: The Law, the Kennels, and the Dogs Paying the Price
The campaign to end this cruel ‘sport’ across the UK is gathering steam (Wales and Scotland have already moved to ban it), led by a coalition of Blue Cross, Dogs Trust, Hope Rescue and the RSPCA. Lawyers for Animals make the case. Trackside euthanasia was up 62% in 2025 compared to 2022 even though fewer races took place. “Between 2017 and 2025, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain’s (“GBGB”) own data records nearly 4,400 greyhounds that died or were put to sleep and over 38,000 injuries … specific recent incidents [include] contaminated hormone doses, cocaine metabolites, untreated bite wounds and a kennel housing more than 70 dogs, that illustrate where the system has fallen short of its own standards … The report identifies specific patterns behind these figures, including the use of non-pharmaceutical-grade drugs imported by vets, dogs fed meat from chemically euthanised animals, and deliberate overfeeding before a race to fix results by slowing a dog down.” Some kennel conditions have been found to be appalling. There is no independent monitoring – it’s a classic case of marking one’s own homework by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain.
Gannets
I have written quite extensively about the appalling Guga hunt:
They steal baby Gannets and eat them, don’t they? – Animal Wild
Secret Africa and wildlife and other animal news – Animal Wild
Protect the Wild continue to be very much on the case (they are also relentlessly pursuing their campaign to stop the bird shooting industry for good). NatureScot just needs to shut this down if they are to retain any credibility – at the moment they just seem not fit for purpose. The hunters had a licence last year to take 500 chicks. Now they have applied for an increase next year – they want to kill 2,000 of them. “There are around 10,200 nesting pairs on Sula Sgeir, the island where the hunt takes place. If every pair successfully raised a chick, that would mean almost one in five chicks born this year would be killed by the Guga hunters.” The colony is still recovering from avian flu. These numbers would send the population into freefall. Why are we even arguing about this?
Despite claiming that they treat the amber-listed birds with respect and cause minimum disturbance, the hunters recently posted this video on Youtube from 2021:
Laughing while baby Gannets flee in terror – new footage exposes the Guga hunters
They took it down pretty quickly – someone must have realised it wasn’t a good look – but not quickly enough to avoid the attention of Protect the Wild.
And then there’s this from BirdGuides:
Bird-flu impact could leave major gannet colonies depleted until 2041 – BirdGuides
The unfortunate necessity of removing invasive species from seabird sanctuaries is well explained by the RSPB here:
Here’s the model to save our islands
Sperm Whales
Still on subjects pelagic, this Youtube video is wonderful although ridiculously titled (they are anything but terrifying) and a timely reminder of the importance of these creatures to the wellbeing of the planet.
Why Sperm Whales Are The Most TERRIFYING Apex Predator On Earth
Chris Packham and Bill Oddie
I have found Chris Packham’s new BBC series, Evolution, beautifully made and an education, although I share some viewers’ irritation at the sometimes intrusive music.
He’s also written a moving tribute to Bill Oddie who died recently, “He loved birds and loathed those who harmed them. He was delightfully unpredictable, sparky, smart and at times a bit spiky.” Spiky is good. I did not know that Oddie was a patron and then president of the League Against Cruel Sports.
Miscellanea
Lawyers for Animals also report that the High Court has granted their judicial review permission to go ahead as a matter of public interest. This relates to their challenge to the government’s disgraceful decision to classify animal testing as key national infrastructure.
I wonder if is true and if so why it is that butterfly species seems to appear sequentially. Following the appearance of Gatekeepers in the garden, it is now alive with Peacocks.
I have been watching The Sentinels on the BBC too – a rather overblown but nonetheless gripping series in steampunk style set during the First World War. It reminded me, much as I love the English language, how much more mellifluous French is. The original title alone, Les Sentinelles, makes the point. My French used to be pretty good – for one short period I found myself actually thinking in French rather than translating the English thoughts in my head, and so although I now need the subtitles, I am able to enjoy the French dialogue at the same time.
I always loved A.A . Gill’s restaurant and television reviews, his novels and travel journalism. I did not know there was an autobiography chronicling his alcoholism, Pour Me: A Life and am reading it now. He was dyslexic but his way with the English language is perhaps uniquely brilliant, he writes dare I say deliciously. He talks about art a lot in the book and his descriptions of colours and their sources used by painters in the past are fantastic. I have always been particularly drawn to the beauty of lapis lazuli: “… mined in Afghanistan and ground gently because if treated with violence it shatters to white, making a blue so expensive, so beautiful, it could only be the colour of the Mother of God’s robe and of heaven …”
Another journalist I enjoy is Matt Rudd and in a very funny article about camping he reminded me of one of life’s inexplicable irritations: tent bags. They are big enough when the tent is folded at the manufacturer’s but never afterwards. I have finally given up the intense struggle to pack them and simply bought a very large (lime green) bag to accommodate my current tent, an octagonal example from Coleman which I can actually stand up in everywhere and I thought it was a bargain at around £150.
One more irritation to finish with: bird seed feeders. I have lost count of the number I have bought which are advertised as “easy clean”. They are mostly anything but that. Some do not come apart at all, others involve tiny nuts and bolts or a screwdriver with holes for the screws which quickly wear out. I have just ordered a new one (especially in view of the diseases risks highlighted by the RSPB and others from not cleaning the feeders thoroughly and regularly) by Jacobi Jayne which I hope will live up to the easy clean promise.
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