Good week for

Dogs of war

The Kennel Club Charitable Trust’s appeal to support dogs and owners affected by the conflict in the Ukraine has reached new heights, with a $100,000 (£76,000) donation bringing the total to £228,000

Good dogs

Border collie Skye, a Lake District mountain-rescue dog, has been awarded the PDSA Order of Merit for ‘outstanding devotion to duty and service to society’ over her 11-year career

Thameside wildlife

An application to build a theme park at Swanscombe Peninsula in Kent has been withdrawn, leaving campaigners thrilled—however, new plans will be submitted this year

Farmers

Faced with almost quadrupled fertiliser costs, Defra hopes to ‘pioneer new technologies’ and alternatives, and will assist farmers this year by allowing autumn manure spreading, introducing slurry storage grants and delaying the proposed ban on urea fertiliser Bottoms up

The remains of a Roman malting oven and charred spelt grains, evidence of beer production, have been found off the A428 in Bedfordshire

Bad week for

Eggs

Many free-range egg producers are losing money on every single egg, due to higher feed costs—supermarket prices must increase by 40p per dozen to avert ‘a catastrophe in the sector’, they say

Suffolk ducks

New cases of bird flu are necessitating large-scale culls; 82,400 ducks last month at a Gressingham Foods site near Woodbridge and a further 13,500 will be culled at Tuddenham St Martin

Frog in your throat

A frog hopped out of bag of fresh mint imported from Ethiopia to a shop in Corbridge, Northumberland, and is now in the care of the RSPCA