- The Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Country Life - France’s equivalent of the UK’s DEFRA - has launched a campaign to make pet owners more responsible in their attitude to their animals. They’re targeting particularly those who abandon dogs when they become inconvenient to the household (some 100,000 canines a year suffer this fate); they’re also concerned with obesity in dogs (mentioned recently in this column) by urging owners to take advice from their vets on how to feed their pets., etc

According to the animal welfare organisation SPA the Alpes-Maritimes is a relatively pet-friendly area though canine obesity is a problem and so is the lax attitude towards dogs’ fouling the streets. One interesting initiative in Cannes: elderly people who hesitate to replace a deceased dog because they fear for its future after their death can enter into a contract with someone who will undertake to care for the animal. Such arrangements can be made through the Centre communal d’Action Sociale (CCAS).

- More evidence that having a pet is good for its owner’s health: a study at the University of Missouri-Columbia has shown that walking a dog three times a day for from 10 to 20 minutes each outing is an effective means of weight control for both the walker and the pooch.`

- Reluctant to have a cat because you don’t want to have hairs all over the sofa? Well, the solution is to buy a Sphinx, an entirely hairless breed which, frankly, with its look of a feline ET would give me the creeps to have around. They’re not cheap: a kitten would cost you some €1500. And a note of caution from Dr Gittins: “The absence of fur doesn’t mean this cat won’t bring on allergic reactions in some people. In certain cases it’s the cat’s sweat that triggers the reaction rather than its fur.”

- It’s often said that dogs come to resemble their owners in appearance. A recent UK study claims that pooches from different areas have regional accents based on imitating their Masters’ voices. Liverpool dogs were vocally the most distinctive, “with a higher pitch and tone which resembles the Scouse accent”. 

- Time was when dog owners were anxious to make it known that their pet was a class animal, equipped with proof of pedigree to satisfy the Kennel Club. Mongrels were regarded as very much second-class pooches.

That’s changing, at least in the US and the UK. There’s a spreading fashion for specially engineered crosses designed to combine the best qualities of two breeds. So the Labradoodle - favoured by Sly Stallone -  which is half Lab, half poodle. Other recent creations are the Bullmatian and the Cockapoo. But what if it’s the negative features that come out in combination?  

From Reporter 115 - June/July 2006

- According to an estimate from city hall Cannes has a dog population of 35,000. Across the year they deposit 20,000 tons of excrement on the city’s streets – and it costs €340,000 to clean up the mess. Owners are liable to a fine of €11 ... but who has time to police the pooches? Few people are called upon to pay. Top dogs for the cannois are the Labrador, the Jack Russell, the poodle and, increasingly favoured, the chihuahua.

- Those who welcomed the UK government’s Travel Scheme (PETS) were often disillusioned to find how difficult it turned out to be to take their dogs and cats across the Channel. They could manage the formalities but then found that means of travel were limited. Low-cost airlines like easyJet and Ryanair don’t accept animals, explaining that any problem with a travelling pet could lengthen the turn-round time of a flight. Eurostar refuses to allow dogs and cats on their trains, claiming that many passengers would find their presence disagreeable. You can, though, fly your animal with BA, usually in the hold. But it’s expensive: dogs are charged by the kilo and on top there’s a handling fee of £85. One reader told me it cost him £360 to bring a Labrador from Heathrow to Nice. Animals travelling unaccompanied are charged extra. Incidentally, I learn from the BAM newsletter that Jilly Parker is lobbying Eurostar to relax its rules. She can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

- Every year a million tons of pet food are sold in France. According to a Vatican document such expenditure on domestic animals is “immoral” since they have neither souls nor rights. This weird outburst – which won’t win many friends for the Pope – ignores the vast amount of evidence that the presence of a pet can have a very positive effect on its owner’s health, both physical and mental. Recent studies have shown that living with a cat or dog can relieve conditions as various as high blood pressure and depression. At the Heliomer Institute at Hyères in the Var giving a dog to a group of handicapped children led to a marked improvement in their responsiveness. He’s earning his biscuits, Father ...

- There’s more than one way to stroke a cat ... and your moggy doesn’t react well to all of them. According to feline psychologist Joel Delhasse most cats dislike being touched on the back or stomach; best place to caress them is on the cheeks. Actually, what they prefer is to initiate physical contact of their own choosing ... for example, by rubbing themselves against your legs.

- Worried about your cat and bird flu? See www.defra.gov.uk and click on Avian Influenza. Here you’ll find “Can Cats Catch Avian Flu?” – in English.

From Reporter 114 - Apr/May 2006 

- Did you know this? If your dog bites someone and you can’t produce a valid rabies vaccination within three days your dog can be seized, put down and its brain sent for analysis for signs of rabies.

- Last time’s news item about the village mayor who is establishing a data bank of local dogs’ DNA so that they can be identified from their excrement and their owners fined for incivisme was greeted sceptically by several readers. Dog owners living in Antibes should note that they can pick up free pinces à crottes – “turd tongs” – at city hall to help them clear up after their pooch.

- Last issue I mentioned the growing problem of canine obesity. Now UK doggy psychotherapist Roger Mugford says more and more animals he sees are suffering from stress. He explains: “More women are going out to work, more people are living alone, working hours are longer. The result is that dogs aren’t walked enough and are locked up at home for long periods. Nine out ten dogs I treat do not have enough contact with people.” Meanwhile, Turin city council has introduced fines for owners who don’t walk their dogs three times a day.

From Reporter 113 - Feb/Mar 2006

- Last year it's estimated Brits spent £240 million on Christmas presents for their animals. One in three offered their cat or dog a special festive meal.

- As Dr Nigel Gittins tells us this time, you have to keep an eye on what your dog, especially, eats over this period. Another factor is canine obesity, a condition vets are finding more and more, both in Europe and the US. Owners - often overweight themselves - are feeding their mutts with too much fat, sugar and salt and allowing them too little exercise. - Travelling outside of France with your pet during the upcoming holiday? It's a good idea to make sure your insurance covers any damage he or she may cause. With cats, though, you don't have to worry in the UK. English law supposes that felines "have their own mind", and so their owners cannot be held responsible for any havoc they may cause.

- Rabies is moving this way from Eastern Europe. Biscuits containing vaccine are being dropped in several German states and in bordering areas of France. This is for the benefit of foxes who carry the disease. To find out places where there's a real risk see the (English) travel health website at www.nomadtravel.co.uk. And get yourself and your dog vaccinated.

- For an elderly dog or cat the outlook can be bleak when his or her owner dies. Not many people want to adopt a half-blind airedale with chronic flatulence. Locally there's a solution: the SPA refuge in Mougins has opened a special section which is virtually a retirement home for unwanted senior dogs and cats. A good cause, I'd say.

From Reporter 112 - Dec 2005

- If you've got a cat, watch out for lilies if you've got them in the garden or in your home. The SPA has issued a warning that if a feline ingests any part of a lily (leaf, petal, pollen) it's in for a nasty death, with symptoms including vomiting, blindness and paralysis. Humans and dogs would get nausea and vomiting but that's all. Myra Schorr, one of our American readers to whom we mentioned this, told us that "in the U.S. this problem has had immense coverage". Well, we've just heard of it for the first time.

- Elsewhere in this issue Phil Heinlein writes about franchises. If you like dogs, have a decent sized property and want to make money you could open a Camp Bow Wow, a holiday home for dogs where, says founder Wendy Caldwell "they can have fun". Wendy's company is doing very well and she's looking to expand outside her Canadian base. To find out more log on to www.campbowwowusa.com.

From Reporter 111 - Oct 2005

- At the last count France had 9.7 million cats and 8.3 million dogs. Not all of them are looked after as well as they should be. A lot of miscreant owners are ignorant rather than ill-intentioned. The Ministry of Agriculture has aimed to tackle this problem by bringing out a 44-page booklet Chien, chat, mode d’emploi which offers sound advice on every aspect of caring for a four-legged friend from diet and training to medical and even legal problems. It will soon be available in vets’ offices. We’ll be looking at it in more detail later.

- Losing a beloved pet is a hard experience. One California woman has pioneered a new solution: she’s had her late cat Nicky who died aged 17, cloned using DNA from his dead body … at a cost of $50,000. The company which offered her this service hopes the idea will catch on and they’ll soon be cloning dogs. Reports of this have aroused ethical concerns and also doubts about the whole procedure. Harry Griffin of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute – where Dolly the sheep was created – has said bluntly, “it’s an illusion … a clone might be 99.5% genetically identical to the original but it will grow up with a personality and behaviour all of its own.”

- We’ve all read fantasies about cloning Beethoven, Einstein, Hitler or Benny Hill … so what about Rico? This 10-year old Border Collie (pictured) has emerged as the world’s most intelligent dog. German researchers have reported that this gifted pooch has learned 250 words, readily acquires new words and can recall them over time. His passive linguistic ability is, they say, “equivalent to that of a child of three” (though he can’t speak).

- Is Rico a genius or has he revealed a hitherto unsuspected canine verbal intelligence? The Herr Doktors are working on it. Meanwhile, Stanley Corsen, another animal researcher at the University of British Columbia, has offered a list of the brightest dogs. Top six: Border collie (natch!), poodle, Alsatian, golden retriever, Doberman, Labrador. Among the dumbest … the bulldog (makes you wonder about that motor insurance).

From Reporter 108 - Apr/May 2005

 - Why, asks Madge Waller, don’t you talk more about cats? Okay, note this then: Canadian researchers have identified seven positive factors making for a long and healthy life. These range from a happy marriage and a healthy diet … to keeping a cat. The presence of puss, it seems, leads to “enhanced self-esteem and confidence”. But a word of caution: British journalist Bernard Levin, who died recently at a respectable 73 and who was a great cat man, wrote that “unlike a dog, no cat will give you total love and loyalty. Just don’t expect it”.

From Reporter 106 - Dec 2004

- Don’t forget that on October 1, 2004, it becomes obligatory for dogs, cats and ferrets (!) travelling within the EU to have their “pet’s passport” with them. This replaces the currently required veterinary certificate indicating the animal has been vaccinated against rabies.

- There’s a downside to animal travel. British vets are finding dogs back from vacation in Europe, including France, are suffering from such fatal conditions as leishmaniasis and babesiosis. We heard just recently of a Highland Terrier who picked up the latter insect-born disease almost certainly during a stay in Hyères. Local animals are likely to be more resistant. We’re asking Dr Gittins to comment on this subject in our next issue.
Dogs eat the darnedest things! When Mike Ward of Didsbury near Manchester noticed Libby, his Alsatian bitch, was off her food he took her to the vet. An x-ray showed she’d eaten 28 golf balls. They were removed surgically. Said Mike, a keen player, “They’re a funny colour now but okay for practice.”

- The Zurich Tagesanzeiger has become the world’s first newspaper to run a regular obituary column for dead dogs. “We’ve had a huge response,” says the management. In this dog-crazy region — Cannes has more pooches per head of population than anywhere else in France — can Nice-Matin be far behind? Meanwhile, if you want to publicly mourn your departed mutt remember this magazine has very reasonable rates for classified.  

From Reporter 105 - Oct/Nov 2004

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