Ukraine counts ‘catastrophic’ environmental costs after dam blast

KYIV, Ukraine — A woman who braved checkpoints and dodged shelling to care for abandoned pets during Russia’s occupation of her hometown is now warning about the recent flooding’s devastating impact on the region’s animals. Iryna Tutyun said it was “difficult to cope” with the number of animals in need of help after huge swaths of the southern city of Kherson and its surrounding area were inundated following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam Tuesday. “I still have about 30 dogs and a dozen cats in my care. Every morning I go to them, feed them and see if everything…

Why do dogs eat grass? And when is it not safe for them? | Dogs

Have you ever wondered why your dog is eating your beautifully cropped lawn or nibbling on the grass in the dog park? Eating grass is a common behavior in pet dogs. Some surveys show up to 80% of guardians notice their dogs regularly snacking on the grass. Grass eating isn’t a new behavior either, or only done by our new designer dog breeds. Studies in Yellowstone national park show plant matter (mostly grass) is found in up to 74% of wolf spots, suggesting the behavior is possibly inherited from the beginning of doggy time. So why do dogs eat grass?…

A new start after 60: I embraced being single and became an international pet-sitter | Life and style

When Bernadine Swale’s marriage ended after 36 years, when she was 57, her first instinct – once she had recovered from the shock – was that she couldn’t manage alone. “The standard, cookie-cutter way you have to be in your 60s is man and woman, and you travel together,” he says. It took her a few years to realize: “Actually, no.” Now 68, Swale, a retired pharmacist, travels the world as a pet-sitter. Last year, she spent only 23 nights in her own bed, in a loft that looks out over downtown Denver. Pet-sitting stops have included London, New York,…

Having a pet may take a toll on your sleep, study suggests

Your beloved pet may be hurting your sleep, research published Thursday finds. Although pets can have many positive effects on health, pet ownership is linked to poorer sleep, according to a study published in the journal Human-Animal Interactions. The researchers looked at data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which asked questions on a variety of health topics. They adjusted for factors that could affect sleep, including race and income, as well as age, gender and BMI, and focused on whether a person had a sleep disorder and whether a person had a cat or a dog. Sleep…