The RSPCA today (Tuesday May 28) launches its annual competition for budding young snappers to showcase their best images of animals.

The Young Photographer Awards 2013 (YPA13) welcomes all kinds of pictures from cheeky portraits of family pets to imaginative photos of wildlife and even close-ups of insects in a mix of categories open to young people under 19.

The competition is sponsored by Warners Midlands, supported by Olympus and Natures Images, and judged by a mix of photography professionals including presenter and wildlife expert Chris Packham.

Peddling to save working dogs

Steve Blakemore comes across as a regular guy. He works as an Operational Support Manager for 1st Reaction Security Ltd and has a normal family life. So it came as a bit of a surprise when he volunteered out of the blue to cycle around Pitsford Reservoir to raise money for the company’s chosen charity for 2013, Bravo Working Dog Rescue Centre. Particularly when his work colleagues knew that he hadn’t been on a bike for years!

Steve said: ‘Each year, 1st Reaction Security chooses a good cause to raise money for and this year, Bravo

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home is launching ‘behind the screens’ tours of the world famous charity, as the resounding success of ITVs Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs continues to draw in high numbers of visitors to the Home.

Visitors can experience the inner workings of Battersea’s London centre and willenjoy a guided tour of the Home,hearing about the history of Battersea and the vital work it does. The tours will give visitors a behind the scenes experience with the opportunity to see key areas where ITV filmed for the hit second series.

Yes, the dog did eat my homework, but also my phone, shoe, earrings, net curtains…
Battersea reveals the strangest things that dogs have swallowed

A 20 pound note, a mobile phone, and a pair of earrings are things you would expect to find inside a handbag, not your pet dog. But a new survey by Battersea Dogs & Cats Home reveals some of the more unusual objects our four-legged friends have accidentally consumed.

A family from Sittingbourne, Kent have given a loving new home to Battersea Dogs & Cats Home’s 1000th dog of 2013.

The nine week old Staffordshire Bull Terrier pup named Emerald arrived at the world famous animal charity along with his six littermates because their owner could no longer care for them.

But it wasn’t long before precious little Emerald caught the eye of a new family, and was at Battersea for just eight days before finding a new home in Kent.

Walkers and their waggy-tailed friends are being encouraged to put their best paws forward in the world’s largest dog walk this summer to raise money for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.

Thousands of fundraisers and canine companions are set to bound around the coastline on The Leas, South Shields, on Sunday 9 June, in the Great North Dog Walk, which has broken the Guinness World Record for the largest dog walk 17 times since starting in 1990. Organisers are hoping to smash last year’s total of more than 23,000 walkers and 185 breeds of dog taking part in the event.