A woman says she feared she would never see her missing dog again after a vet sent him to a dog pound, incorrectly claiming he was not microchipped.

Tanya Tennant said she eventually had to pay a £65 charge to get Luca back, after he went missing from Dymock, Gloucestershire, on 14 January.

She said she was contacted by a woman who had found him on a road and taken him to a vet, but when Tenant called them, they told her he had been collected by Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS), who deal with stray dogs.

A Vets Now spokesperson said it empathised with the distress caused to Tenant, and its teams follow “established procedures” for unaccompanied pets.

“The woman meant well,” Tenant said. “But the people at fault are the vets.”

“I was crying my little eyes out. I thought I would never see him again.

“If that woman hadn’t phoned me to say where she’d taken him, I might have never got him back.”

She said she is not happy with how she was spoken to by customer service at WRS, and does not know why she was charged.

She was reunited with Luca at Malvern Police Station on 16 January.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said it had seen paperwork to confirm Luca is registered with Petlog, the UK’s largest government-compliant microchip database.

‘Best interests’

The Vets Now spokesperson said: “Our teams always aim to act in the best interests of animals brought into our care, following established procedures when a pet appears to be unaccompanied.

“This includes checking for a microchip using approved scanners and, where no chip is detected, or the chip hasn’t been registered, ensuring the animal is transferred safely to the appropriate local authority so it can be reunited with its owner as quickly as possible.”

WRS provide the dog warden service for Malvern Hills District Council, a spokesperson for the council said: “The [£65] charge is set based upon the government’s statutory fine, and additional fees cover the cost of boarding and looking after stray dogs.”

They added that the welfare of dogs was the “top priority” of the WRS team.

“Within an hour of seizing the dog from the vets, our wardens were able to identify the dog, notify its owner and start the usual procedure of returning the pet,” the spokesperson said.

“We understand the distress that comes with losing a dog, and our WRS customer services team always endeavour to respond to calls with the utmost professionalism and consideration for the situation.”

A survey of 2,000 dog and cat owners found that they spare no expense when it comes to their furry friends, splurging on high-quality food (66%), new toys (40%), and grooming sessions (24%).

Conducted by Talker Research for MetLife Pet Insurance, the annual survey found that you can’t put a price on these pets’ love: 85% said their pet has been their main source of happiness throughout 2025.

Thinking back on the year, pet parents recall their companion being around through tough times like financial struggles (31%), mental health challenges (30%), and losing a loved one (24%).

Nine in 10 said their pet gives them something positive to focus on when things aren’t going their way (91%).

Knowing how much their furry friend means to them, 71% said that even when they have other things on their mind, their pet’s future is constantly up there with their concerns.

To ensure their pet’s wellness over time, pet owners are most keen on staying up to date on vaccinations (48%) and purchasing high-quality food (46%).

Others ensure their pet gets regular exercise (45%) and regularly grooms them (42%).

Regular vet visits are key to staying on top of their furry friends’ health, with a majority of pet parents saying their pet visits the doctor just as, if not more often than they do (61%).

More of these visits tend to be preventative to maintain their pet’s health (60%), while 40% are reactive when something is wrong.

This care has proved critical for more than a third (37%) of pet owners who were able to catch a health concern early on by taking their pet in for a checkup.

“Preventive veterinary care can dramatically change health outcomes. These findings tell a clear story: regular checkups, vaccinations, and dental exams help keep small problems from becoming emergencies,” said Brian Jorgensen, CEO of MetLife Pet Insurance. “The guidance and protection offered by pet insurance can help families stay current with their pet’s care. Doing so may identify issues early, which may mean simpler, less expensive treatments, resulting in less financial strain and stress for families.”

Although important, the cost of care continues to rise, along with other pet expenses.

Pet parents spent $1,135 on health-related expenses for their furry friend in 2025, with $472 of that spent on insurance and the remaining $663 on vet visits.

This total is up from $998 in 2024 ($348 on insurance and $650 on vet visits).

Rising costs have led to more pet owners taking control of their finances by creating budgets for what they spend on their pet. This year, nearly half have a budget when it comes to how much they aim to spend on their pet (48%), compared to 42% last year.

While 2024’s average monthly budget was $115, that guideline saw a 20% increase to $138 in 2025.

Pet owners were able to save on food (down to $470 in 2025 from $506 in 2024) but saw increases in how much they spend on toys ($247, up from $198), clothes ($223, up from $150), and treats ($285, up from $234).

This brings the average pet parent’s total cost of a pet to $2,360 in 2025 — up from $2,086 in 2024.

And with the state of the economy, 37% anticipate spending more money on their pet in 2026 — an expectation that pet owners have had since 2024 (36%).

Pet parents are trying their best to plan ahead, especially since one in five have had a pet undergo a major unexpected health event in 2025 (22%), nearly double the percentage from 2024 (13%).

While pet parents were more prepared for the cost this time around (71% vs. 52%), the bill still averaged a hefty $555.

“Pet emergencies are unpredictable and expensive. It’s encouraging that 71% of pet parents now feel financially prepared for a medical emergency, up from 52% in 2024, but nearly a quarter still aren’t confident,” said Jorgensen. “Families can take practical steps to strengthen their safety net: talk with their veterinarian about potential costs and consider pet insurance to help manage their expenses and surprise bills. Preparing now means pet owners can take action quickly when it matters most, focusing on their pet’s care, not their wallet.”39

DEAR ABBY: I lost my beloved puppy, “Truffle,” nine months ago. She was almost 15. I had to euthanize her because she was ill and suffering. I cannot begin to describe the depth of grief I’m experiencing. Her loss has been harder for me than any human loss. We had a connection that words cannot express. Truffle captured my soul. I work from home, and we spent every day together. I’m thankful that I had a lot more time with her because of this. 

My husband doesn’t understand my grief and can’t wrap his mind around my affection for an animal. He has tried to be understanding, but now he says he can no longer be supportive because it’s senseless for me to grieve this way. He said that life should be about him now, and my grieving is taking away from the attention he should have. 

I have learned to silence my pain in his presence, and this just feels wrong and unfair. To be completely transparent, I am far more broken than what he has ever known. I’m getting grief counseling he is not aware of, I keep journals and I am compiling a memory book for my precious Truffle puppy. 

I feel like I can’t win, because if he knows I am not being honest about how I feel, he’ll be upset (rightfully so). But he will also be upset if he knows the depth of grief I am dealing with. Any advice on how to handle this? — SUFFERING IN SILENCE

DEAR SUFFERING: Please accept my sympathy for the loss of your beloved furry family member. Truffle was your companion and confidant for a long time. That you miss her companionship is understandable. 

What you said about your husband is revealing. Is it possible you doted so much on Truffle that he felt jealous, and now that she’s gone, he is relieved that he will finally have his wife fully back? If that’s the case, you may have work to do. 

That you are receiving grief counseling is wonderful. I think the memory book is a great idea, if it helps you through the process and doesn’t hold you back. At this point, I don’t think you need to hide anything from your husband. You both could benefit from talking about all of this with a licensed marriage and family therapist.

DEAR ABBY: A man in a Facebook group has been rude and unpleasant to me, as well as to others. I blocked him, and life has been more pleasant since. My wife refuses to block him and encourages a Facebook relationship, which brings him back into my life. Am I wrong to feel she should be more supportive of me? I would absolutely support her if she were in a similar situation. — WANTS PEACE IN GEORGIA

DEAR WANTS PEACE: Does your wife discuss this unpleasant person’s posts with you? If she does, tell her to cut it out because it upsets you. Apart from that, let her make her own communication choices because they are her decision and not yours.

A Manhattan dog having a ruff time attempting to walk in his new snow boots went viral on Instagram — with close to 1 million views.

Greg the Italian Greyhound of NoMad tried on his new boots for the first time as he prepared to head out to Madison Square Park — and his mom captured the adorable clip of him awkwardly and gingerly hobbling in them, captioning it: “Snow day in NYC … send help.”

“He was just trying his very best to walk in those boots and it looked so cute and funny, we had to take a video,” Greg’s mother, Andrea Liu, told The Post.

She initially just posted it on her personal Instagram page, but once her friends saw it, they pushed her to share it on Greg’s account, @gregtheig — where he boasts over 7,700 followers. And it quickly went viral.

The fur baby, who is just 2 years old, has only owned two pairs of boots so far.

“He’s been through two winters. His first winter, we had another pair of boots that wouldn’t really stay on, and he didn’t really like to wear them,” Liu explained.

So this year, his parents bought him a pair from HunnyBoots Australia, which creates clothing and accessories with greyhounds in mind.

“These stay on better, but he also doesn’t really like to wear them,” she added.

Greg, who was born in Georgia, does love wearing his Bongoof puffer coat though — which gets him through winters in the Big Apple.

“But he doesn’t like putting it on, but it’s needed because he has such short fur,” she said.

This is not the pup’s first time going viral.

NEW YORK — Dogs are great at learning action commands like “sit” and “stay.”

They’re less good at remembering the names of things, like what their squeaky or stuffed toys are called.

Only an elite group of gifted word-learner dogs can retain the names of hundreds of toys. Scientists know of about 50 such pooches, but they aren’t yet sure what’s behind their wordy skills.

Now, new research is pushing the limits of what the dogs can do.

In the latest study, they discovered that the pups can also understand new names by eavesdropping.

Ten gifted dogs — including a Border collie named Basket and a Labrador named Augie — watched their owners hold a new toy and talk to another person about it. Then the pups were told to go to another room and retrieve that specific toy from a pile of many others.

Seven out of the ten dogs successfully learned the names of their new toy stingrays and armadillos from passively listening to their owners.

“This is the first time that we see a specific group of dogs that are able to learn labels from overhearing interactions,” said study author Shany Dror with Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary and the University of Veterinary Medicine in Austria.

The pups even succeeded when the owners put the toy in an opaque box and then spoke to another person about it, creating a disconnect between seeing the object and hearing its name.

Only a few other animals, like parrots and apes, have demonstrated a knack for this kind of eavesdropping.

It’s also essential to human development: Children under age 2 can pick up new words from listening, including ones their parents may not have intended.

However, these special dogs are fully grown, so the brain mechanisms enabling them to eavesdrop are likely different from those of humans, Dror said.

The new work shows how “animals have a lot more going on cognitively than maybe you think they do,” said animal cognition expert Heidi Lyn with the University of South Alabama.

She had no role in the study, which was published Thursday in the journal Science.

Not all dogs pick things up like this, so it’s unlikely your furry friend is learning names while snacking on leftovers under the dinner table.

Dror hopes to keep studying the gifted pooches and figuring out what cues they’re picking up on. They’re some of her most enthusiastic — and messy — research subjects.

“We do have dogs coming to the lab sometimes, which is really nice,” she said, “but then often someone pees on the couch. So that does happen.”

Motherhood is hard work, and nothing demonstrates that fact more than this hilarious TikTok of a cat and her kittens. Just after settling into bed for the night, TikTok user @joining_the_jones was surprised to be called upon by their cat to scooch over and make room for her and her kittens.

In the 20-second video (which now has over 3 million views), we see the resident cat—let’s call her Mama Cat—walk into the humans’ bedroom and hop onto the bed while carrying one of her kittens in her mouth.

But wait, there’s more. Mama Cat then proceeds to make her way under the covers to where multiple additional kittens have already been carefully carried and placed before filming began. The video’s overlayed text reads, “Excuse me, ma’am, I just put my kids to bed and I don’t want yours.”

The caption adds “Mama just needed a little break, I guess.”

Can we blame Mama Cat? Everyone needs a little help sometimes, so why not ask Grandma to watch the kids for a bit? After all, kittens can be a handful—incredibly cuddly and cute, but a handful—especially while they’re teething and learning to use a litter box.

Regardless, we think this incredibly sweet cat TikTok was posted just in time for Mother’s Day this weekend. Send it to your favorite motherly figure (or fellow cat parent) to say “Thank you!” or “Good job!”

Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard, Somerset, issued several redundancies in 2024 in order to future-proof itself going forward, but despite that, it says costs have increased further in 2025 and some of the savings made had since been eroded.

“In one year, our core operating costs have increased by about 15%,” said Emma Purnell, the charity’s CEO.

“Just utilities alone have gone up by 20%, so we really feel it.

“We’ve seen a sharp rise in the number of animals looking to be rehomed and we’ve seen an increase in the number of people having to surrender because they can’t afford to look after their pets anymore.”

The charity receives frequent calls from dog pounds, asking if they can take animals off their hands immediately.

Almost always at capacity, the charity often has to turn down the requests.

“We currently have a waiting list for every species we hold, 107 dogs on our waiting list, 72 cats, 43 horses, and we’ve only got so much space and so much resources, ” said Nikki Haddock, the charity’s animal care manager.

“Competition for income is really fierce and the economy has changed a lot and people have less disposable income.”

The feelings are echoed by Tracey Bryant, owner of Little Paws, a charity based in Clevedon, North Somerset, which takes in and rehomes cats.

“Every year is getting harder and harder and harder,” she said.

“The numbers are a lot higher and the cost for each [animal] is a lot higher.

“There’s a misconception that vet treatment is free for rescues.

“We’re also seeing a large increase in cats not being neutered and vet bills that are going up very quickly, which means more cost for us.”

Some shelters, like Little Paws and Bristol Animal Rescue Centre (BARC), are asking people to foster animals that would otherwise be in their care, because it means they have room to look after more pets.

BARC provides food, bedding and bears the brunt of medical costs for the animal, but keeps a space free in its shelter for pets that need more stringent care.

This has proved essential in a year where more animals have been brought to the charity than ever before.

Erin Stow, individual giving officer at BARC, said: “29% of our admissions come from people making the organising decision to part with their beloved pets due to the rising cost of living, behavioural changes or personal crisis.

“These pressures have contributed to a record-breaking year, with almost 950 animals expected to enter our care.”

A Lincolnshire pensioner is celebrating 50 years of caring for unwanted animals – big and small. Pam Mansfield runs Exotic Pet Refuge, a registered charity, in Lincolnshire, which is home to more than 500 creatures, ranging from fish to monkeys and even an alligator.

“When we got him he was 18 inches long,” says Pam Mansfield, 75. “George is now 7ft. He is pretty placid – except at dinnertime when you have to be so careful because he jumps up.”

Mrs Mansfield is referring to the alligator basking in a heated enclosure, next to a pond, which is flanked by what appear to be mangroves.

But she is not in the Florida Everglades. Rather, the cooler climes of rural Lincolnshire.

George’s favourite meal is six whole trout, I’m told. But he also has a penchant for deer, beef and the occasional chicken.

Mrs Mansfield tells me how, in 2002, she and her late husband Mel received a call from a couple whose son had been involved in a serious road accident.

“We were told he had a number of lizards in his bathroom,” she recalls. “But we weren’t told anything about the blimming alligator!”

Like George, Mrs Mansfield also has a remarkable backstory going back decades.

Her love for animals began in childhood, I discover.

“My grandfather was a farmer,” she says. “There were always lots of animals about the place.

“Then I met my husband.”

Mrs Mansfield’s voice softens. Mr Mansfield died in 2004. Today, she co-owns the refuge with their son Darren, who tends to the more needy – and dangerous – residents, such as George.

“My husband was a big animal lover too,” she says, with joy returning to her voice.

“Well, put us together and it wasn’t the best combination really!”

The couple were living in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, when they started taking in injured birds and other small creatures.

It quickly grew – and so did the size of the animals they began nursing back to health.

“After a while we moved to a village called Etton, and then, 29 years ago, we moved to our current home in Deeping St James in Lincolnshire. The house is literally in the middle of all the animals.”

Mrs Mansfield tells how, in the early days, she had worked as a cleaner in a local pub, while her husband was an engineer.

“His wage would go on keeping us,” she says. “Mine would all go on the animals. Often, at 10 o’clock at night, Mel and I would be in the garden putting up a new enclosure.

“We didn’t have holidays – we couldn’t leave the animals.”

Currently, the refuge is home to more than 500 animals including about 200 fish.

Mrs Mansfield says: “We used to get animals come to us from zoos and councils all over the country, but these days the animals tend to come from the public.

“We’ve got all sorts – monkeys, tegus, snakes, tortoises, caiman you name it. We’re overrun with lizards at the moment.”

The animals cannot be rehomed, explains Mrs Mansfield, with many requiring licences to keep them under the auspices of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act.

Usually, animals have been given up because owners failed to do their homework, says Mrs Mansfield.

“People really need to know what they are letting themselves in for before buying an exotic pet. Come and speak to people like us, or staff at zoos – find out what it entails.”

Life for Mrs Mansfield remains hectic, although she is assisted now by her son, who also lives on the site with his wife and their two children.

The pair also employ a manager and have a team of 30 volunteers.

Mrs Mansfield says: “Unfortunately, my legs have gone and I can’t do as much as I used to but I still do a fair bit.”

When some of the rarer creatures require a health check or treatment, it is not a case of taking them along to the local vet.

“The vets often end up having to ring London Zoo for advice,” she says.

Running the refuge is not cheap, either – especially when creatures like George need energy-guzzling heat lamps.

“Our electricity bills are going up and up,” says Mrs Mansfield. “Our electricity bill is about £3,000 per month. This time a year ago, we were paying about £2,300 per month.”

The monthly food bill alone is about £5,000 a month.

“A lot of the food is frozen,” says Mrs Mansfield. “Some comes straight from the slaughterhouse.”

The increase in food banks, fuelled by the recent cost of living crisis, has caused additional pressures.

“The food we used to get free from supermarkets is now donated to food banks,” says Mrs Mansfield. “We tend to get what’s left, but we also have to buy a fair amount of food.”

To make ends meet, Exotic Pet Refuge holds several open days throughout the year, requesting a small fee from visitors.

“We also rely a lot on legacies,” says Mrs Mansfield.

She has no intention of stopping.

“I love animals,” she says. “Looking after them is all I have ever known. I can’t stand the thought of them suffering.”

Returning to George, who has his own spacious enclosure, Mrs Mansfield – though always cautious around him – clearly has a soft spot for the reptile.

“George’s name was chosen by a group of schoolchildren,” she says. “He is a big old boy. But he is a good boy. He’s certainly popular!”

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An animal rescue centre said less people have been adopting its dogs due to animals’ behavioural issues.

Gables Cats and Dogs Home in Plymouth said some dogs in its care were “difficult” and had certain requirements, making it harder to find their forever homes.

General manager Claire Sparkes said a lot of the rescue dogs were brought in during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown and had not been socialised or trained.

She added that some dogs also suffered from separation anxiety, or were unable to be around other dogs and cats, or were unsafe around children.

‘Has to be right’

She asked potential adopters to be more focused on the personality of the animals rather than what they looked like.

“We have recently taken in a lot of greyhounds who have retired from racing.

“They’re dogs we can rehome to first-time dog owners, or with children and other dogs,” Ms Sparkes added.

“We’ve always had problems with rehoming black cats and kittens, but it’s actually transferring into black and white now.”

Ms Sparkes, who said the facility had rehomed roughly 60 fewer cats and 30 fewer dogs than usual over the past two years, added that such conditions meant it was “restrictive” who it could allow to take on the animals.

She said the rescue centre received a lot of negative comments and abuse online because people thought it was the rescue being “fussy or difficult”.

“We’ve got to be sensible because we are a responsible organisation and we match animals to the people,” Ms Sparkes said.

“It’s not just a case of picking one you like the look of. It has to be the right dog for you and your family.”

She said adoption rates had also declined across the country, and other animal centres had difficult dogs and people could no longer afford vet bills.

Ms Sparkes said: “There’s a lot of reasons why it’s going down, but we are full of difficult and traumatised dogs as well; and we take a lot of dogs from the RSPCA that are from abuse cases.

“It’s really tough at the moment, and it’s even tougher when we read the horrible comments online when staff and volunteers work so hard.”

The team behind an animal rescue centre which says it is at full capacity has warned the situation is “going to get so much worse”.

Second Chance Animal Rescue in Southampton is currently looking after about 50 cats and 20 dogs and wants to extend to nearby land.

But Rose Milne, who set up the centre 40 years ago, said it was not getting a response from the council.

A Southampton City Council spokesperson said the land was currently under a 10-year lease and had a “very restricted range of uses”.

Ms Milne said the centre had an influx of animals every year between September and Christmas.

She added: “When the children go back to school then what you have is the dogs are causing a pain or the cats who just need more attention, so they are abandoned because they start wrecking the house.”

Lola Glide, who also works at the centre, said having more space would be “perfect”.

She has adopted a puppy called Luna who was left with the team after her elderly owner tripped over her.

Ms Glide said the situation would get “so much worse” as people would just abandon pets if they could not find space at a rescue centre.

A Southampton City Council spokesperson said: “We understand the desire of Second Chance Animal Rescue to expand its premises and Southampton City Council is grateful for the excellent charity work it does.

“The land we believe they are interested in is currently under a lease for a period of 10 years.

“Additionally, the proximity of the nearby land to Southampton Airport runway means that it can only be used for a very restricted range of land uses.”