#NationalPetMonth runs from April 1- May 1 2025

 It celebrates and raises awareness of responsible pet ownership, with educational campaigns and resources.   And the event celebrates pet ownership – there are so many benefits our pets bring us! 

During the month, #NationalPetMonth would love to hear of fundraisers and events you’ve got going to support many pet welfare organisations and charities – all sizes of events/fundraisers are welcome!

#NationalPetMonth has ten tips for responsible pet ownership – why not share them on social media?  You can find out where they are on social media on their “Join the Community” web pages here.

Here are the top ten tips for responsible pet ownership

For teachers, there’s a ‘Keeping Pets Healthy’ lesson plan will help children aged 4-7 (Reception and KS1) understand the importance of caring for animals and others.   It’s got all sorts of information, including help on “keeping a school pet”.

#NationalPetMonth is run by NOAH and UK Pet Food.   NOAH is the trade association representing the UK animal health industry, and you can find out about it here. 

UK Pet Food has its slogan as “Love them madly, feed them wisely”.  It provides advice on nutrition topics.  It sets the standards for the UK pet food manufacturing industry.    And it has a pet care advice hub for vets and owners for dogs, cats, small mammals, birds and fish here.  

Visit the National Pet Month website here.

Looking for something fun to do in April? 

Spring is a beautiful time of year to explore the outdoors, and the Wildlife Trusts are inviting everyone to join The Hedgehog Walk, and take on the challenges of walking 3km and fundraising for wildlife!

You can do this wherever you like, including your local park, a playing field or even in your garden – and if you’re of school age, you could also walk to school each day during the Hedgehog Walk.

The main thing is to enjoy some outdoor time and help hedgehogs, badgers and other animals by creating a safe world for them!

Sign up and get a fundraising pack, which has posters and factsheets – and activity sheets too!

The Trusts have joined up with Aardman Animations and some of your favourite characters from Timmy Time!  

You could do this as a family, or a group, or a class.   And you can create a fundraising page by following this link.  You can also raise funds via JustGiving or Facebook.  There’s a sponsorship form you can use, too.

Donations will support The Wildlife Trusts’ mission to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.  This is part of their 30 by 30 campaign.

You could also take a look at Wildlife Watch, the junior branch of the Wildlife Trusts.  There are lots of videos about the wildlife in the UK and activities too!  With 150,000 Wildlife Watch members around the UK, including the Isle of Man and the Channel Island of Alderney, there’s lots of fun to be had and things to do!   

The Hedgehog Walk takes place from 31^st March through to the 13^th April 2025.   Get walking!

Find out all about it here.

Are you fascinated by animal poo?

Head off to Chester Zoo!

From Friday 14th February to Sunday 16th March, from 10am to 4:30pm, you can enjoy a "poo-pendous adventure!"

The event has been inspired by Steve Smallman and Ada Grey’s hilarious and educational children’s book, and Chester Zoo say it's ideal for families looking to make the most of half-term.  And it's free with your admission or membership!

Poo in the Zoo was  written by Steve Smallman and illustrated by Ada Grey
You can find out about it here, buy a copy and support Chester Zoo!

This is a great chance to find out which animal's poo sparkles, to discover the minute world of bumblee droppings, and to find out the surprising ways that poo helps wildlife survive and thrive! 

There's plenty going on!  With interactive games and demonstrations, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.  You can find out what's going on here.  (You need to scroll down the page when you click through.) 

Find out more and book from Chester Zoo

The 3rd March is World Wildlife Day.   The day is held annually, to celebrate plants and animals (wild ones) on the planet and recognise their roles and the contributions people make to conservation and our natural world.  

Like many awareness days, the theme changes every year and this year in 2025, #WWD2025 has a theme of Wildlife Conservation Finance:  Investing in People and Planet.

You can find out all about it from their website    

We can all make a difference to the natural world around us.   The theme of World Wildlife Day is looking at innovative ways to finance conservation but we can also do a lot at home at very low cost such as:

• feeding the birds
• doing a litter pick so that wildlife don't eat it
• planting bee and butterfly friendly plants in our gardens
• leaving piles of logs in a corner of the garden
• putting out water for wildlife
• spreading awareness of the good things happening for nature, appeals from wildlife charities (e.g. the Devon Wildlife Trust has an appeal for a beaver project at the moment) and donating if we can
• sponsor an acre e.g. with the World Land Trust as a gift for a wildlife lover
• follow the hashtag #WWD2020 on social media and get sharing!

These are just a few examples.   Whatever you do today, please do one thing for nature.  The natural world needs us all to protect and care for her like never before.  

Visit the World Wildlife Day's website here.

Calling all cat owners!

We all know that cats have minds of their own - perhaps no more so than when it's necessary to have a pill.   And those wonderful people at Cats Protection have kindly produced a video which could help.   They have advice as well on their website - pounce on it here!

The video covers preparing to give your cat a pill, what is the required dose?  Should the medication be given with food - and can it be added to food.  

Find out more from Cats Protection.

They've also got lots of advice and information you can have a look at covering all sorts of areas of cat care and ownership.   Take a look here.

They've also got free online courses called Understanding Cats' Needs and Interactive House Plan.   You can do them any time online, and do them in one go or in chunks.  The Understanding Cats' Needs course is based on a course which is given to Cats Protection staff and volunteers - and it's suited to adults and older children who are interested in cat care.  

There are lots of ways to help cats with Cats Protection so find out about volunteering here - there are volunteer roles in their shops, their cat centres and their branches and you could also foster!  Help cats in need - check out the Support Us pages here.  

March is on the way fast, and with it, a HUGE event in the calendar for dogs!  Over 24,000 dogs are expected over the four days!  

The world's biggest dog show, Crufts, kicks off at the NEC, Birmingham, on the 6^th March starting the four day festival of all things WOOF!   It’s an absolutely amazing event, and if you can’t get there, make sure you tune in to both Channel 4 and More4 - there's lots to see.   Here's how to watch Crufts.    I’m glad the coverage is showing a good range of activities from the show – and there’s lots of advice and information.  And of course, this year Hero Dog of the Year is back!  Who will win and be Hero Dog of the Year and who will win Best in Show??   The International entry is at an all time high!  There are 51 countries with dogs entered in 2025! 

All dogs great and small will be at the show (you can’t just rock up with yours in the hope of taking them for a nice day out) and it’s a wonderful opportunity to meet lots of dog lovers and dogs and see plenty of action.  Agility, flyball, showing, musical dances, displays, junior handling and more!  Over 5,000 people are volunteering at Crufts this year! 

Visit Crufts' website here to buy tickets 

Visit Crufts' You Tube Channel here

Visit The Kennel Club's website here.   It's got lots of information about dogs and dog ownership, including everything you need to know about getting your first dog.  

Please don't forget to keep a good eye out for all the dog charities that are at Crufts.   Visit their stands, say hello, and see what you can do to help them and spread the word about the work they are doing.  Things are really, really tough for animal charities at the moment and every bit of help we can all give them will make a difference.  

Please Note:  No dogs, other than those that have been invited by The Kennel Club and Assistance Dogs, are permitted into the show.

Wag your tail and head off to the Crufts website to find out all about it! 

On the outskirts of Stafford at the Staffordshire County Showground, there's the National Shire Horse Society Show!  This runs on the  7th, 8th and 9th March at Staffordshire County Showground and if you love huge horses – or simply horses – this is the show for you!

The Shire Horse Society is dedicated "to the protection, promotion and improvement of the Shire Horse".  And the National show gives us a great chance to get an insight into the most wonderful of horses, the Shire.  

The National Show has lots of things going on, including...

• National Championships  
• Trade stands
• In-hand Classes
• Turnout Classes
• Ridden Shire Horse Classes
• Farriery Display
• Grand Parade 
• VIP Dining
• Evening Entertainment (Saturday)

This will be a wonderful chance to see some incredible horses! 

Find out all about the Show and book your tickets here.  And you can visit the Society's Facebook page here.

Well, I've just read a book called Twenty Wagging Tails, which actually a family friend passed on to me, knowing that I'd love it.

Twenty Wagging Tails:  One Year of Re-homing Orphan Dogs is by Barrie Hawkins, and I just absolutely loved it from start to finish.

The book was published in May 2009, and it is so very readable!   It's about a couple, Barrie and Dorothy, who decide to rescue large dogs, most notably German Shepherds.  The book takes us through the ups and downs of their first year, in which they take in 20 dogs and find homes for them.  I should say that the last three dogs arrive in the last chapter.   We meet various human characters who are beautifully interwoven into the story, such as vet Melissa, policeman Charlie and Cecelia, a friend two keeps pushing dogs their way and who is a bit nervous of that most fabulous breed, the German Shepherd.  And of course, there are the dogs themselves from Monty to Sabrina, Friend, Claude, “beautiful, white gentle Pearl” and Jess.   A wonderful year’s work, I’d say!

I just can't put this book down when I start to read it, however much I've read it, if you know what I mean.  It’s one of those books where you just want to keep turning each page to find out what happens next, and then, when you’ve reached the last one, you want to go back to the beginning and start again!

As someone who’s been involved in rescue – and German Shepherds particularly – I recognised so many of the things that happen, from people turning up early to collect dogs or late, or not at all, to promises made to send cheques to cover food and vet’s bills for dogs they’ve dropped off – said cheques never appear.  And of course that most wonderful bond which brings German Shepherd owners together in awe of and love for the breed.

The book encapsulates all the hights and lows of rescue;  the disbelief that fellow humans can treat dogs in thew ay they do;  they joy at the kindness shown, such as when one lady brings a Christmas tree as a gift – totally unexpectedly – and then meets and falls in love with Thor, a dog who has very little time left.  Needless to say, Thor and the lady fall in love.  The book has humour, gentleness, love – and yet it also deals with more awful ends of rescue which leaves those of us involved in rescue feeling so very angry and a few other feelings I can’t possibly type here.  And the love Barrie and Dorothy have for each other truly comes out throughout the book.   They take such care to find the right home for each dog.

So if you get a chance, have a read of it.  The stories of the dogs finding homes are wonderful – of course we all have our particular memories of  dogs who have made it into our hearts in rescue.   I did shed a tear when Monty went off to his new home.  And Friend.  And Claude.  And Pearl.  There many, many wonderful people involved in rescue all doing their bit for dogs and many, many wonderful owners who take them on and give them a new life and an opportunity to have a chance.  Bless them all.  And thank you all.

 You can buy this book from the publisher, Sommersdale, or on Amazon   You can get it on Kindle :-) 

If you want to know what animal a poo belongs to, you could take a look at this video from the Wildlife Trusts.  

There are 46 Wildlife Trusts in the UK, from Scotland to Alderney and North Wales to Norfolk, Cornwall to Cumbria.  They are all working hard to bring wildlife back, and to empower people to take action for nature.   You can find your nearest Wildlife Trust here. 

The Trust explains that signs animals are in an area can be a good start to discovering who has been visiting. 

Ecologistsi rely on animal signs - they help them understand the behaviour of many animals, and gives them an idea of the numbers in an area.   It all helps to build up a picture of what animals are where.

There's more information about animal poo here.

Animal poo can be fascinating stuff, and give you an idea of what animals are going through your garden or which ones lives in a wood.  

And did you know that animal poo can be made into products to be made as gifts? 

Elephant poo is an example.  The online Paper High has stationery which has been handcrafted from both elephant dung and recycled paper, so producing photo albums, notebooks, greeting cards and memo pads, all excellent examples of recycling! 

The products are handmade, so the colours and designs may vary, but what a lovely idea, to recycle elephant poo and paper! 

There are Colourful Elephant Dung Photo Albums for £12.95 each.



There are colourful Memo Blocks for £9.95 each.

There's an elephant dung writing set too for £9.95.
Just choose the colour you'd like.
It comes with a natural tea wood pencil too:

Made by skilled artisans, the elephant dung comes from the Maximus Elephant Conservation Trust in Sri Lanka!  Their workshops is located in the grounds of the Millennium Elephant Foundation;  the charity cares for sick, elderly and disaled elephants. 

The elephant poo is collected and boiled so that it's sterilised (you'll be glad to hear!) and then it's made into paper. 

The pieces of paper all differ, depending on the diet of the individual elephant.  

An initiative like this just shows how positive a local economy can be for elephants and a charity, and it also helps improve the relationship between the elephants and  local people as the elephants (or what comes out of them) is helping locals in their work. 

These are all available from Paper High.