7th Heaven Animal
Rescue Trust

Our Newsletter is produced 3 times a year. You can be add be added onto our free mailing list. Please let us know by contacting us. The following are various extracts.

Last year the British spent over £11 billion on food and accessories for their pets and the figure is likely to rise this year. There are various reasons suggested for this. One is that, as we become more obsessed with style and more fashion conscious, we want our pets to be fashionable too so we are buying them all the latest toys and gadgets. As top celebrities are frequently photographed with their pets in tow, so the general public want to emulate these stars and buy their animals the latest ‘must have' accessories. Another reason for the increased expenditure on our pets is guilt. As more and more hours are spent at work, we are indulging our pets more and more when we finally get home to spend some quality time with them.

Japan is, unsurprisingly, at the forefront for pet products. Some the latest best sellers are electronic toys, mobile phones that can be clipped on to your dog's collar and a cat video recorder that is operated by a remote control that smells of fish – when activated it allows your cat to watch pictures of scampering mice whilst listening to a chorus of birdsong.

It's not just toys, though, that are popular with the pet-owning public. Just as we love to pamper ourselves so we enjoy nothing more than pampering our pets. Moisturisers, fragranced pet wipes and pet perfumes are all selling well. We are even treating our animals to aromatherapy. But the latest craze to sweep the country is dog yoga or ‘doga'. Yes, if your dog goes bananas at the sound of a postman or charges after cars as if it's barking mad, a trip to the gym for a spot of doga might be the very thing to calm it down and allow it to find its inner dog. 

From ancient times it has been believed that animals can predict earthquakes. In 373 B.C., days before the Greek city of Helice was destroyed by an earthquake, contemporary historians reported that rats, snakes and weasels all deserted the city and its environs. Similar reports of strange animal behaviour have been reported throughout the centuries.

Two main theories have been put forward to account for this. The first is that animals, whose senses are much more acute than ours, can hear or feel the vibrations in the earth long before the quake hits. The other is that they can detect electromagnetic anomalies in the atmosphere caused by the shifting of the planet's tectonic plates.

A study carried out in Japan suggested that erratic canine behaviour such as excessive barking could be successfully used to predict earthquakes. In China , too, they have been studying the phenomenon. It has been claimed that the successful evacuation of Haicheng in 1975, days before an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 struck, was based partly on strange animal behaviour noted at the time.

Some of the most common forms of erratic animal behaviour involve dogs howling, caged birds becoming very restless and cats acting nervously and hiding. However, there have also been cases of chickens stopping laying eggs and bees swarming from their hives.

After the terrible devastation of the Asian tsunami, reports have come out of animals acting very strangely beforehand. Eyewitness accounts tell of dogs refusing to go outdoors, elephants stampeding to higher ground, zoo animals hiding in their shelters and flamingos abandoning their low-lying feeding grounds. Bats were also seen to be taking flight hours before the tsunami hit the coast. The president of the Sri Lankan Wildlife Conservation Society visited Yala National Park after the event. The park was one of the most badly damaged areas in Sri Lanka . The president said that very few animal corpses of any kind were discovered there suggesting that they sensed the impending disaster and fled beforehand.

Meanwhile, reports of strange animal behaviour before earthquakes continues throughout the world. Perhaps if more attention is paid to them and more credit given to animals' intelligence, accurate prediction of earthquakes may someday be possible.

Little bundles of feline fur or little podgy packets of puppishness. That's what one usually envisages when contemplating getting a new kitten or puppy. And, of course, that's what they are. All cuddly cuteness and frolicking fur.

But they are also mischievous, little beasts that could leave your freshly-laundered curtains looking the victim of a Freddy Krueger tantrum or could pee a puddle the size of the Sargasso sea on to your recently purchased Axminster. Obviously, these should only be minor inconveniences and should be more than adequately compensated for by the pleasures of being the owner of a little canine companion or a feline friend. Nonetheless, it is something to consider when thinking about getting a pet. 

If you are not filled with joy at the prospect of your furniture being transformed into strips of spaghetti or you best pair of shoes being mistaken for a chew toy, perhaps you should think about giving a home to an older animal. This would prove to mutually beneficial to both parties.

Older animals are frequently overlooked in animal sanctuaries and can linger there for years. They are often overlooked by the public who see owning a younger animal as much more enjoyable. Yet older animals are frequently better behaved, easier house-trained and have as much love to give as their younger counterparts. And what could be more fulfilling that giving a home to an older cat or dog that would otherwise probably stay behind bars in a shelter for the rest of its life.

So instead of subjecting an animal to a life sentence, why not give it a new life. Not only would it bring you years of pleasure.