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 …
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 …
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 …
PETA has written to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner suggesting that police dogs should be phased out and they cite four reasons which are summarised in the infographic below. 3 reasons why polic dogs should be phased out by Michael Broad The first point is an obvious one that is sometimes overlooked: consent. Dogs don’t …
This story made me smile because there are some nice aspects to it but also some slightly worrying ones. It follows a recent article I wrote about research from China which indicated that people who own cats and dogs spend more money because their companion animal enhances their well-being. They feel good and when …
This is an interesting study. It’s about dogs but I believe that it could just as well be about dogs and cats. Or indeed many other companion animals. In earlier studies the researchers found that the smell of a stressed person can subconsciously affect the state of mind of people nearby (emotional contagion). This …
Intro: There are many thousands (over 4,000) of excellent animal shelters in the US saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of animals each year but there are some who are failing through sloppy management. The presence of animal shelters in the US is a wonderful thing when you think about it. They indicate …
A 2-inch diameter rubber ball dog toy is too small for big dogs playing fetch. I am referring to the small red KONG Signature ball which you can buy in a 2-pack pack on Amazon. They are 5.08 cm in diameter which is about 2 inches (1.96 inches to be exact). One of these …
