Sniffing out the UK's best animal stories
From conservation cows on Hampstead Heath to sheep staging daring roundabout breakouts, Britain's city livestock have become unlikely local celebrities. We speak to the herders behind the grazing schemes and crown the farm animal with the best engagement rate in the group chat.
Armed with a Freedom of Information request, a strong cup of tea and far too much patience, we trawled the nation's council noise complaint records to find Britain's genuinely loudest animal neighbourhoods. The results range from a cockerel in Coventry to a parrot with opinions in Peckham.
From Brighton's chip-snatching hooligans to the suspiciously well-mannered gulls of the Outer Hebrides, Britain's coastal birds have wildly different vibes. We've profiled them all — and built a personality test so you can find out which town's gull you truly are.
Forget Tinder — Britain's rescue centres are running the country's most high-stakes matchmaking operation, one wagging tail at a time. We speak to the rehoming officers who've turned dog-people pairing into a genuine science, and hear about the matches that nearly didn't make it past the first date.
Every toppled wheelie bin and 3am screech on your street is quietly feeding one of the UK's biggest citizen science projects. We dig through the wheelie-bin forensics, the trail cameras and the nation's foxiest garden sightings to find out who really runs our streets after dark.
Forget coffee ratings and petrol prices — we asked the nation's drivers to score motorway services on the things that actually matter: grass quality, water bowls, and whether the staff coo at your collie. The results are barking.
From Portsea labradors with waistlines to rival the ferry terminal to cats who consider a stair climb a triathlon, Britain's pets are packing on the grams. We gathered real anonymised tales from vets and owners to build the definitive — and slightly shaming — pet weight-loss league table.
From radiator-hogging tabbies to Labradors who've decided your bedtime is now their bedtime, we asked vets and behaviourists who's really getting a good night's kip. Plus: score your own pet's Sleep Entitlement Rating and find out if your duvet was ever truly yours.
Blue tits in the B&Q sign, starlings under the Kop and a family of wagtails running the show at a Sheffield car wash — Britain's urban birds have expensive taste in property. We meet the businesses sharing their premises with some very feathered tenants.
That cheerful little red-breast warbling from your bird table? He's actually mid-tantrum, screaming threats at every rival within three gardens. We dig into the surprisingly brutal world of robin territorial warfare — and why Britain loves the feathered fury anyway.
From the drawn-out bays of Cornwall to the staccato yaps echoing around London tower blocks, Animail readers are convinced their dogs have accents. We asked a vet behaviourist, then we asked you — and the results are barking mad.
There was a time when a dog's only job was chasing sticks. Now British pets are signing sponsorship deals, hiring agents and out-earning their owners. We trace the strange history of the UK pet influencer economy — and do the maths on a sponsored cat post.
Dogs have been riding Britain's railways for free since the Victorian era — but the unwritten rules of the carriage have never been more contested. From rush-hour Labradors to the most dog-friendly routes in the country, here's everything you need to know before boarding.
We dug into Kennel Club registrations, microchip databases and vet waiting-room gossip to find out why half the country's Labradors answer to Bella — and why someone in Hull named their tortoise Greggs. The results are gloriously, uniquely British.
From cats strolling across news desks to dogs invading football pitches mid-match, British television has a proud tradition of being rudely interrupted by the animal kingdom. We look back at the unscripted moments viewers loved most — and why the out-takes outperform the news.
Forget the pubs that merely 'tolerate' dogs — these are the boozers where hounds get their own menus, lounge chairs and a standing order of sausages. We trek from Cornwall to the Highlands to find where man's best friend drinks free.
From a York pub landlord who answers to a tabby to Manchester's cat café empire, we speak to the owners whose businesses are technically run by felines. Cast your vote for Animail's Cat of the Year.
Retailers are quietly redesigning their packaging for a nation of gnawing, pawing, parcel-ambushing pets. We dig into the rise of pet-damaged deliveries — and ask whether the dog who greets the postman should be part of the design brief.
In honour of our name, we asked Animail readers to send in photos of their pets' ongoing love affairs with the morning post. The results range from adorable to frankly criminal. Plus, a vet explains why your cat has declared war on the Argos catalogue.
Messenger pigeons decorated for valour. Station cats who appeared on the official payroll. Britain's postal history is stuffed with animal heroes, and most of us have never heard a single one of their stories. Time to fix that.