A1 Pet Search

Missing moggy appears on tv show

A cat which disappeared from its home in Cornwall turned up safe and well – on the set of popular UK TV show -Question Time.

Tango, a tom, had crept into Treviglas Community College’s hall in Newquay where BBC1’s political discussion programme was being filmed last week.

He padded out from under a table where David Dimbleby was chairing political discussions with a panel of guests.

The first owner Jackie Ellery knew of his surprise appearance was when a friend rang to say she had spotted him.

But she was not the only person to notice the furtive feline – panel guest Julia Goldsworthy, Lib Dem MP for Falmouth and Camborne, had also clocked him, as had many of the studio audience who erupted into laughter at his nonchalant air.

However, although his owner had been watching the programme in her living room, she missed his TV debut.

“I was watching Question Time but I didn’t notice him,” said Mrs Ellery, who works at the college as a dinner lady and lives next door to it.

“Then my friend rang up and said: ‘Your cat’s just been on the telly’.

Tango was spotted sauntering off to the right hand corner of the set

A cat which disappeared from its home in Cornwall turned up safe and well – on the set of Question Time.

Tango, a tom, had crept into Treviglas Community College’s hall in Newquay where BBC1’s political discussion programme was being filmed last week.

He padded out from under a table where David Dimbleby was chairing political discussions with a panel of guests.

The first owner Jackie Ellery knew of his surprise appearance was when a friend rang to say she had spotted him.

But she was not the only person to notice the furtive feline – panel guest Julia Goldsworthy, Lib Dem MP for Falmouth and Camborne, had also clocked him, as had many of the studio audience who erupted into laughter at his nonchalant air.

However, although his owner had been watching the programme in her living room, she missed his TV debut.

“I was watching Question Time but I didn’t notice him,” said Mrs Ellery, who works at the college as a dinner lady and lives next door to it.

“Then my friend rang up and said: ‘Your cat’s just been on the telly’.

“I told her not to be ridiculous but I had Sky Plus so I rewound it and there he was – just sauntering across.

“It didn’t surprise me in a way because he’s always in the school and always wandering about.

“He’s always been into mischief and we live right next to the school so this is his playground – all the kids love him.

“It didn’t faze him when he walked through with all those people.

“He actually got taken out five times but he still managed to get onto the television.”

Although his TV debut may have been fleeting, it seems that Tango’s screen appearance will go down as one of the more memorable events to happen on the show.

Gill Penlington, Question Time’s editor, said: “Tango is certainly the most unusual guest we’ve had in Question Time’s history.”

Missing Dog turns up over 800km away

A family say they are overwhelmed after their dog was returned to them – having travelled more than 800 kilometres.

Lucy, a 17-year-old Collie, vanished from the McKerron family home in Cornwall on February 6 this year and was found in East Lothian.

The McKerrons say they hunted everywhere for her, but had given up hope of seeing the dog again until they got a call from the Edinburgh Dog and Cat home.

Now, after making the long journey North to retrieve her, the family have been reunited with their pet.

The manager of the Dog and Cat home, Dave Ewing, got the family’s number after scanning the animal for a microchip.

He says he thinks Lucy was taken from her home, rather than simply going missing.

Cockatoo boogies to the Backstreet Boys beat

Two studies recently published in the ‘Current Biology’ journal suggest that some birds have a remarkable talent for dancing.

While it had been previously thought that only humans had the ability to get down and groove. Video footage reveals that some parrots have a near-perfect sense of rhythm; swaying their bodies, bobbing their heads and tapping their feet in time to a beat, in a display which puts many humans to shame.

Snowball, a sulphur-crested cockatoo, came to the researchers’ attention after YouTube footage suggested he might have a certain prowess for dance – especially when listening to his favourite dance number – Everybody by the Backstreet Boys.

Dr Aniruddh Patel, from The Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, said: “We found out that the previous owner usually listened to easy listening music, but he did have this one album, and he noticed Snowball bobbing his head to the Backstreet Boys.”

To test Snowball’s skill, the scientists filmed him as they played his favourite song at various tempos.

Dr Patel said “We analysed these videos frame by frame, and we found he did synchronise – he did slow down and speed up in time with the music…it was really surprising that he had this flexibility.”

Another group, led by Adena Schachner, from Harvard University, also looked at Snowball, as well as another bird, Alex, an African grey parrot

Dr Schachner said: “We brought some novel music that we knew Alex had never heard before – so there was no way he had been trained to dance to this music.

“We set up the camera and hit play, and we were shocked to see that Alex started dancing to the beat. He started to bob his head up and down.”

Cat burglar steals socks

Retail sales of socks are booming in Loughborough in the UK after a spate of burglaries by a crafty cat. The feline in question who we shall refer to as ‘Henry’, so as not to blow his cover, is known to have brazenly stolen at least 57 socks in a mini crime-wave. Police are unsure as to where the socks have been stolen from – possibly washing lines or even peoples houses. Eye witness’s have reported seeing this hardened criminal on a wall near his home, brandishing his stolen booty in his mouth.

His somewhat embarrassed owners have been leafleting neighbors houses in order to ascertain where the socks are coming from, but to date, they hadn’t managed to reunite the socks with there rightful owners.

Owner – Louise Brandon, said: “People must be going and replacing the socks because now he’s fetching new ones… there just seems to this endless supply of neighbourhood socks coming in and we don’t know where they’re coming from. So it’s a bit embarrassing.”

N.B. There is no truth in the scurrilous rumours that Henry is stealing to order and that the owners have recently opened a stall selling socks on Loughborough Market

Snakes on a plane

Australia: In a situation echoing the movie, 4 baby snakes grounded a Qantas plane in Melbourne after they made a failed escape attempt during a flight from Alice Springs.

The 4 baby Stimson’s pythons were found to be missing from their container on Tuesday when the flight arrived in Melbourne.

The 15cm snakes were among 12 pythons in a container in the Boeing 737-800’s cargo hold, a Qantas spokeswoman said.

2 flights had to be cancelled while staff searched for the missing snakes, but they could not be found.

The plane was fumigated and returned to service the following day, the spokeswoman said.

Stimson’s pythons, which can grow up to 1 metre long, are not venomous and live in western and central Australia.

Pet dog found living the life of a castaway

Australia: Amazingly, a pet dog which was washed overboard and believed drowned has been found 4 months later – as a castaway on a remote Australian island.

The dog – Sophie Tucker, disappeared as her owners -Jan and Dave Griffith sailed through stormy waters off the coast of Queensland in November last year.

However, unbeknown to the grieving owners, Sophie survived a long swim across shark-infested waters to an island. (St Bees)

She survived on the island, living on  a diet of baby goats until being found by visiting rangers.

The Griffiths were amazed to hear of the discovery and have now been reunited with their pet.

“She surprised us all,” said Jan Griffith.

“She was a house dog and look what she’s done, she has swum over five nautical miles, she has managed to live off the land all on her own. We wish she could talk, we truly do.”

The Griffiths had been on a sailing holiday off the north-east Queensland coast when Sophie Tucker – an Australian cattle dog – was lost overboard.

“We hit a rough patch and when we turned around the dog was gone,” explained Mrs Griffith.

“We were able to back-track to look for her, but because it was a grey day, we just couldn’t find her and we searched for well over an hour.

“We thought that once she had hit the water she would have been gone because the wake from the boat was so big.”

But the hardy dog had swum five nautical miles to be washed up on the largely uninhabited St Bees Island.

There, Sophie Tucker survived on a diet of baby goats until rangers, who patrol the island, spotted her.

They eventually captured her, believing her to be a wild dog until they were contacted by the Griffiths.

“She was seen on St Bees looking pretty poor and then all of a sudden she started to look good and that was when they discovered she was eating baby goats,” Mrs Griffith said.

“She had become quite wild and vicious. She wouldn’t let anyone go near her or touch her. She wouldn’t take food from anyone.”

There was an emotional reunion when the Griffiths met the rangers’ boat bringing Sophie Tucker to the mainland.

“We called the dog and she started whimpering and banging the cage and when they let her out she just about flattened us,” Mrs Griffith said.

Mrs Griffith added that Sophie Tucker had been quick to readjust to the comforts of home.

Labrador crowned best slimming pet in UK

A formerly porky Labrador has been crowned the UK’s best slimming pet by a veterinary charity after shedding 1st 6lbs (10kg).

Keano, from Plymouth, was so overweight at 7st 2lbs (46kg), he could not roll over on his back before joining the PDSA scheme.

But regular walks and proper dog food helped him find a new lease of life.

Five obese dogs and one cat completed PDSA’s 100 day diet and fitness programme, devised by vets.

The charity says canine obesity rose by 9% in the last year, which can cause potentially fatal conditions.

When Sarah James, 30, re-homed Keano last August, he weighed 8st 8lbs (56kg), which had dropped to 7st 2lbs (46kg) by the time they joined Pet Fit Club.

His weight problems were due to the classic combination of too much food and not enough movement, Mrs James explained.

“He never went out, he never exercised, which is a massive thing for a Labrador. He was just fed rubbish, human food and titbits, all the wrong things for a dog,” she said.

“He just had a very sedentary life. He was living the life of an old dog, he was so big he couldn’t do anything.”

Mrs James said they also have a retriever and the difference in what the two dogs had been able to do at first was “amazing”.

“It was so unfair, Keano couldn’t even roll on his back at one time, it was such a shame.”

Lots of exercise has been key to Keano’s slimming success, Mrs James said, and the hound has found a flair for swimming.

Keano has swapped lying around for three walks a day, taking the family’s children to school and back, plus a two-hour run.

“He’s a different dog. If you think he couldn’t lay on his back but now he’s running and swimming, it’s just like having a puppy in the family,” Mrs James said.

“He’s found out what life’s all about.”

PDSA Senior veterinary Surgeon, Sean Wensley, said: “All of the pets that took part in this year’s Pet Fit Club will reap the benefits of a healthier and happier life.

“PDSA’s data showed a worrying nine per cent rise in canine obesity last year. As with humans, obesity in pets is associated with diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and other potentially life-threatening conditions.

“It is an owner’s responsibility to ensure their pet gets a healthy diet and the right exercise; Keano and his owner are living proof that this can be done.”

Five dogs and one cat took part in the PDSA’s 100 day diet and fitness programme which began in November.

In second place was seven-year-old German Shepherd Alfie, from Edinburgh.

His owner Helen Smith said the dog would eat biscuits, toast, cheese and the family’s leftovers on top of his daily large tin of dog food.

When he enrolled in scheme he weighed 9st (57.2kg), making him around 55% overweight. He has now lost more than 1st 6lbs (9.1kg), 19% of his bodyweight and six inches from his waist.

Third place went to 13-year-old cat, Tinks, from Gillingham.

He used to weigh more than 1st 7lbs (10.4kg) making him around 96% overweight.

The stray was being fed by four different neighbours when he was adopted by Bruce Brine.

During his 100 day diet and exercise programme Tinks lost 2lbs (0.9kg) and two inches from his waist.