Houndini in dog house...

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COCKER spaniel Hugo has been branded “Houndini” after escaping his family home more than 200 times.

The 18-month-old has ripped up wire, dug under fences and even eaten £300 cash. ★

Owner Kelly Coombs, from Essex, said: “Hugo has escaped every other day since he was a puppy.”

SEAGULLS get addicted to junk food just like humans and will attack to get their fix.

Birds in towns and cities are ditching insects, grubs and berries for leftover burgers, pizza, chicken nuggets and chips, scientists found.

Expert Aimeric Teyssier said it was endangering their health and leading to more assaults on people.

He said: “Our study suggests the westernisation of human diets may also have negative impacts on animals.”

High-fat diets are known to hurt good gut bacteria in humans – causing health problems.

Now the same phenomenon has been identified in the gulls for the first time.

Tests on 114 birds showed those fed urban diets had less good bacteria in their gut than those on natural, high-fibre food.

Dr Teyssier, of Ghent

University in Belgium, said: “Overall, the rural diet caused an increase in microbiota diversity whereas the urban diet led to reductions.

“Our results provide new insights on possible fitness consequences of reduced diversity in urban settings.”

The findings suggest that people’s appetite for junk food is harming the health of birds and other animals that share our neighbourhoods.

Dr Teyssier added: “By providing urban dwellers access to processed, lowfibre food, the industrialisation and westernisation of human diets could induce collateral negative effects on other species.”

Seagull attacks have increased dramatically in recent years as addicted birds desperate for their junk food fix have become more brazen.