Pets
How many dogs are there in Britain?
Model hobbies Asked what he did to relax, Boris Johnson claimed that he liked to make model buses. Some others…
The middle-class cats that are ditching meat
As I write, my cats and a visitor from the next street are hammering into their food, at nearly £5…
A hell-cat in heaven
Over the weekend I officiated at a funeral. Earlier in the morning there had been lowering rain clouds, but by…
The dogs of peace
From ‘Food dictatorship’, The Spectator, 27 May 1916: Nobody would like to see the whole race of dogs exterminated, but…
My soppy, dopey, deadly predator
Leo, the Hungarian Vizsla my wife brought home unexpectedly last year, is approaching his first birthday and not getting any…
Clumber spaniels
For the first time in more than 30 years we have no Clumber spaniel. We have had five: Henry, Judith,…
Chips with everything
Compulsory microchipping of dogs will hurt caring pet owners – but help busybodies
Your problems solved
Q. My husband-to-be and I both work full time. We are getting married from his family HQ and his kind…
Send in the clones
The super-rich are already bringing beloved dogs and horses back to life. Soon the rest of us will be able to do it too
The Tooting poisoner
In my London neighbourhood, an argument about urban foxes is turning very nasty indeed
Dear Mary
Q. We enjoyed the Christmas University Challenge series featuring mature graduates, some of whom were more in the public eye than…
Letters
Why we need a free press Sir: As bereaved parents and (to borrow from some signatories of last week’s advertisement)…
Here come the dog police
Feral bureaucrats are banning dogs from places they’ve been walked for generations. But now owners are fighting back
Always keep a-hold of Nurse…
Soon after moving to London at the age of 20, Nina Stibbe wrote to her sister Vic saying, ‘Being a…
Be more tortoise
Five lessons from my new pet
