A Michael Broad Blog
This is a 2-page infographic on the important topic of reading canine emotions. The infographic was created around an article in The Times newspaper (11th March 2025) which was itself based on research at the Arizona State University. The key to the research was in observing a dog’s reaction to something pleasant (going for …
Dog and cat breeders (and pet sellers on, for instance, social media) operate in the black economy in that most often they do not pay tax. They are cash dealers. As a consequence, they are not registered with HMRC in the UK. Things are going to change as the Treasury is all out of …
It is dawning on the UK government and I suspect other legislators that banning dog breeds because they are dangerous is impractical and unsuccessful. Any dog breed can be dangerous and any dog breed can be a wonderful pet. It is all down to selective breeding and training. The sad thing is that any …
The Welsh government commissioned a report on racism in the context of climate change, environment and rural affairs. And the devolved Labour administration in Cardiff, Wales, commissioned studies from five community groups which it funded with the objective of creating “an anti-racist nation” by 2030. One of these organisations is the North Wales Africa …
Left alone, nature operates natural selection, a process which leads to cleverer animals surviving more successfully. This led to the evolution of larger brained animals and ultimately to the dominance of humans over all animals. But for dogs selective breeding has interrupted this process with a research study deciding that dogs with smaller brains …
This is Nathan Winograd’s pet campaign and it is a good one. I think he hates the lack of science behind the banning of a dog breed because they are aggressive and dangerous. The title to this post sums up the issue. The recent banning of XL Bully dogs in the UK is a …
Following the tragic death of Natasha Johnston, 28, from Croydon, south London, after being attacked by the dogs that she was walking as a professional dog walker, a coroner has written to the Home Secretary in the UK to recommend restrictions on the number of dogs that can be walked together. Note: some UK …
NEWS AND OPINION: Adult human speak more slowly to babies, dogs and cats. I’m referring here to a recently published research paper on the Plos One website (PLOS BIOLOGY), which has been reported in The Times newspaper. The core conclusion is one that we readily recognise and find unsurprising namely that we speak more …
