Animal welfare

While showcasing cats and dogs for sale in pet shops is banned under regulations in the Animal Protection Law, the increase in sales over the internet has caused controversy.

A woman providing shelter to 54 dogs was handed a 2,000-euro fine for not securing a hygienic environment and not ensuring the well-being of the animals.

The woman hosted 16 dogs in her house, while she took care of another 38 on an adjacent plot in the area of Litis, near Thessaloniki in northern Greece.

Vets throughout Greece have called a 24-hour strike for Wednesday, in protest against the mandatory sterilization of pets.

The Panhellenic Veterinary Association considers the measure unscientific and ineffective and has expressed concerns about possible negative effects on the health and welfare of animals.

Israel's Ministries of Agriculture and Health have issued a stark advisory, urging citizens to refrain from adopting dogs and cats originating from territories under Palestinian Authority rule, including Gaza, as well as from areas along the northern border. The move comes amidst growing concerns over the potential health risks associated with unregulated pet importation.

“We tend to think about great apes as quite different from ourselves but we have really seen these animals as possessing cognitive mechanisms that are very similar to our own”

An adult female bear was freed from an illegal trap thanks to the joint efforts of Greek and Albanian authorities and wildlife organizations.

Weighing approximately 90 kilograms, the five year old bear managed to survive deep in the woods for an entire week, caught in the grips of a steel wire noose, an illegal trap often used by poachers. 

More than 200 dogs live in terrible conditions in the shelter in the Vrabnitsa district in Sofia. This is actually adjacent to the clinic building where they send neutered dogs with post-surgery wounds to recover from anesthesia. They are crammed into 30 cells, dirty, without water, light and space.

The Sofia District Court released the accused Zahari Shulev from criminal liability for the beating of the dog Mecho and imposed a fine of BGN 3,000 on him, as well as to pay BGN 998 for costs in the case.

When members of the marine mammal team from the International Fund for Animal Welfare rush to a Cape Cod beach to help a stranded dolphin or porpoise, they have no choice but to treat the endangered animal on site and then immediately release it.

That is about to change.

A pair of Siberian tigers pant incessantly beside a pond at their zoo enclosure in the scorching summer heat of the Iraqi capital.

Temperatures on Monday breached 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in Baghdad for the second day in a row, making life outdoors unbearable for both humans and animals.