Top 20 Largest Dog Breeds

Charity Scrambles To Save Dogs Amid Cull Fears

Happy Paws Puppy Rescue has rehomed around 1,600 strays over 10 years

An Eastbourne-based charity is working to save stray dogs in Turkey following fears of a possible government cull.

The Happy Paws Puppy Rescue shelter is cooperating with pounds inside the Middle Eastern country to rehome the animals in the UK.

Turkey passed a controversial law in July to get millions of dogs off the streets and into shelters, but critics claim it could lead to mass culling to save cost and space, with many facilities already overcrowded.

Lisa Smart, of the Happy Paws charity, said: "Its just staggering to think that these little souls, who are very trusting, very sweet, will be rounded up, taken away."

Ms Smart suggested a better approach would be to spay and neuter the animals, pointing out that a programme by run by her charity in the area had helped population control.

"Its not a quick fix, but it's the correct way," she said, adding that the current solution is "unnecessary and cruel".

Opposition lawmakers in Turkey have vowed to appeal the legislation in court

Ms Smart's rescue centre in Turkey has just had to find extra space to take in 21 dogs - all Golden Retrievers - on top of the 55 currently there.

She is concerned about the cost of looking after and rehoming so many animals.

In September, the charity is bringing 13 dogs to Lewes, East Sussex, where they will be given to new owners.

Adoption

Turkey's government estimates there are around four million stray dogs in the country.

Some locals are fond of the animals, which are largely tame, leaving out food and water. Others want them off the streets.

Turkish lawmakers say stray dogs are attacking people or causing serious traffic accidents.

Under the new rules, any dogs with untreatable diseases or are aggressive will be put down, though Turkey's government insists all healthy animals will be put up for adoption.

Missing dog found living in the wild in Sussex six years after disappearing

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Therapy dogs helping nervous flyers in Turkish airport

Rescue street dogs, or euthanise them? Turks split over its strays

A Charming Cat-alog Of John Craxton's Kittens

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The other day, I opened my front door, and a cat from up the street was sitting alone on my porch — a strange creature, just looking. Not everyone loves cats. Me, I think them charming because they are essentially wild creatures with alien intelligences that are small enough to live with. 

John Craxton — a figurative painter, gay man, one-time friend of Lucian Freud, and English philhellene who passed away in 2009 — was a fellow cat-appreciator who painted them throughout his life. He found that felines were the perfect models: Give them a little bit of fish and they'd pose. He would see the animal mid-action and think, that's another picture.

In Craxton's Cats (2024), written by Andrew Lambirth, we find shy cats and aggressive cats; dancing cats, happy and angry cats; cats asleep and cats fighting with other cats; cats with birds, with mice, and of course, with fish. His "Confrontational Cats" (1977), in which their two bodies are merged in a scrawl of dense black lines, is a small masterpiece, as is "Cats on a Ladder" (1984), in which one seems to help the other up. Craxton, like some cat-lovers, was an odd fellow: He was known to concoct bad puns in his invented language, "Anglo-Craxton," calling painter's block, for instance, "procraxtonation." So, of course, we find a panoply of strange cats: In "Marmalade Cat in Mirror" (1994–95), for instance, an orange-and-green spotted cat paws at itself in the mirror, only one eye visible. You might call the book a cat-alogue of Craxton's subjects. 

In The Order of Things: An Archeology of Human Sciences (1966), the French historian and philosopher Michel Foucault quotes Jorge Louis Borges's non-standard classification of different kinds of animals: "belonging to the Emperor, embalmed, tame, sucking pigs, sirens, fabulous …. [animals] that from a long way off look like flies." Categories of classification matter, Foucault argues, because they organize thinking. Craxton's Cats, therefore, suggests a defamiliarization of art history. Typical art historical writing hones in on visual analysis of specific works to place them within a social context, sometimes drawing on the artist's personality. By centering just one subject, Craxton's Cats offers a new way into the artist's oeuvre — as well as invites viewers to share in his obsession. 

Perhaps Craxton's Cats will inaugurate a sequence of innovative studies: Théodore Gericault's horses, Gustave Courbet's dogs, and Jean Siméon Chardin's monkeys. A history of Modernism told through felines would have to discuss the black cat in Edouard Manet's "Olympia" (1863), the seductive cats of Balthus, Andy Warhol's screenprinted cats, George Herriman's Krazy Kat (1913–44) — and, of course, Craxton's cats.

Craxton's Cats (2024), written by Andrew Lambirth and published by Thames & Hudson, is available for purchase online and in bookstores.

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'Talk Tuah Girl' Haliey Welch Reacts To Podcast Award After Viral Fame

The girl behind a viral internet moment has just marked a major career milestone thanks to her recent rise in fame.

Haliey Welch, otherwise known as the "Hawk Tuah Girl," became an online hit after making a risqué comment during a random street interview with YouTubers Tim & Dee TV. When asked how to please a partner, Welch replied that it involved "hawk tuah" while indicating a sex act.

Thanks to her viral fame, the 22-year-old launched her own podcast, called Talk Tuah, and it just celebrated a huge milestone— hitting 100,000 subscribers.

Welch reacted to her achievement on the podcast's official Instagram account, where she unboxed a silver-colored plaque sent from YouTube.

Haliey Welch appears at SiriusXM Studios on July 31, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. The viral sensation has jut marked 100,000 YouTube subscribers. Haliey Welch appears at SiriusXM Studios on July 31, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. The viral sensation has jut marked 100,000 YouTube subscribers. Michael Tullberg/Getty Images

"Just getting started ‼️" she captioned the Instagram post.

A video on it showed Welch opening the box and taking out the plaque where she reacted saying "oh s****," and when told what it was, the social media star said: "How do I get the gold one?"

An unseen person off-camera replied: "That's when you get to 1 million," to which Welch promised: "We'll get there at some point."

Welch has not only used her viral fame to build her own media career, but also as a force for good.

She revealed in August that her "lifelong dream" had come true by creating her own animal charity.

"I now have my animal foundation up and running! Paws Across America is here!!" Welch posted on social media. "Ever since my life changed so publicly, I realized there had to be a reason for it. Growing up, the one constant in my life was my pets and they helped me get through so much.

"By starting Paws Across America, my newfound financial blessings will be shared with the animals that need it most. So the first place I went was my hometown in Tennessee. Now get over there and adopt some doggies!"

In the video, Welch said: "Today I'm happy to announce the launch of my Paws Across America fund. Our mission is to bring awareness, advocacy and financial assistance to animal charities within the United States."

Welch's life has definitely taken a turn for the better since going viral, which she detailed in an op-ed for Newsweek.

"I've made money. Let's just say I don't have to eat at Taco Bell anymore. But I still do. I'm taking it day by day and I'm having a great time. But being away from my home for long periods of time sucks. Granny misses me," she wrote in September.

"I just plan to use this experience for doing good and making Belfast, Tennessee proud," Welch wrote of her hometown.

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