#// in which I reveal Dain likes cats //

[fragmented-tales]

Anonymous sent: “Meeeew! Mreeeew!” If Dainsleif looks down at his feet, he’ll find a small orange and white kitten looking up at him and nuzzling his leg!

The blonde paused when he heard the little kitten, slowly sitting down the cup he had been drinking from. "Well hello little one," he spoke quietly, leaning to carefully pick the kitten up, "a little thing like you shouldn't be wandering alone, don't you agree?" A small smile cracked his face, one blue finger brushing under furry chin.

[ann7av]

Idk about you but an issue I have with IF is that Violet doesn’t really think that hard about any criticism directed at her family.

Cat asks if Violet wants to talk about the heinous atrocities her family committed after Vi accuses her of being a shallow Pick Me, but this is never really explored. She posts a list of every flier Mira killed and it’s mentioned in such an offhand flippant way, it makes me wonder if Violet actually cares about her sister being a war criminal. I was hoping she’d have a talk with Brennan about his feelings on being “sacrificed” for basically nothing because it’s a sentiment I’ve seen some veterans express irl but they never actually talk on screen and it’s so frustrating.

What are your thoughts on this?

Oh my friend I'm so happy you asked because I have a lot to say about this.

(This is a list of scattered thoughts, please let me know if it makes sense and please know this is a critique of RY's writing and not Violet's moral compass as a character, I love my girl very much)

I had this issue from way back in FW when Lilith pushed Violet into the riders, It would be natural for a child to try and understand why their parent suddenly decided to risk their life in a war college but alas she never thinks about it and we are left with this gigantic "this makes no sense" feeling that progressively gets worse as the story goes.

Then there's rain when she crosses Parapet and yet... no thought on it, Vi? Your mother controls storms? Why aren't you thinking about this?

Lilith asking about her father's research while Aetos asks if Andarna could be used as a study subject and Vi doesn't stop to think WHY would they need it and HOW does it fit with her mother's previous actions?

The GODDAM NOTE inside the book of fables? That later on is revealed to be true? Brennan says he doesn't believe their father knew about Navarre's corruption and Violet never thinks about it or considers it? HOW?

My girl just found out her mother executed a bunch of people who were trying to help another kingdom and she doesn't feel conflicted about it? I was waiting for them to have a screaming match after Athebyne

Cat puts up a list of the fliers Mira killed and I was expecting a line like "It's not like my sister knew she was fighting for the wrong side at the time, she was doing what she was trained to do" but NO.

What also throws me off about this is that, up until this point, Violet is shown being a very empathetic person who really cares about people in general, but she doesn't stop to consider those were Cat's people who died, it was the flier's school that fell and it is their kingdom being attacked (maybe she got desensitized but that feels an easy way out of developing the story)

I could be happy with Violet trying to justify her family's actions to herself because at least it would feel like a natural reaction to have but you're right, the lack of reaction feels like she doesn't care.

She also never stops to have an actual conversation with Mira about any of this for some reason (she barely talks to her sister at all actually), and besides that one talk with Brennan at the beginning of IF there's nothing else that stands out enough for me to remember, which wouldn't be a problem if she had some inner dialogue every now and then, not only about her family and the war crimes but how she feels bout them too.

There are many times when we (the readers) ask questions to try and understand these characters and how they interact with each other, so when those very natural questions like "how do you feel about this?" or "but why would they do that?" are not answered, the entire thing just feels off, and that's not an issue only with the Sorrengails but with most of Violet's relationships.

In FW that's not as big a problem, she has her issues with Dain and is getting to know her squad (Liam specifically) but in IF I was questioning if Xaden dying was that bad of a thing if it meant she would think about literally anything else

To summarize: Violet's family drama could've been a Keeping Up with the Sorrengails level of drama if RY actually did the work to flesh out the dynamic but she didn't bother and chose to rewrite the same Xaden/Violet argument five times

[randomnameless]

On the Alois/Noble post (not that anon btw) voted for the guy getting fired‚ so I don't have to give a serious answer (lol). However‚ correct me if I'm wrong the Noble and Commoner classes have 0 differences gameplay-wise? Maybe he had an altered backstory that wasn't updated for gameplay‚ maybe it was a mistake that was low priority that they forgot to change it (though Idk why you wouldn't change it immediately‚ not a game dev or programmer). [Or maybe it's 10k years of lore(!) and he descends from an ancient Embarr family! His parents would've told him about how they fell from nobility‚ and how they will reclaim their ancient status‚ land‚ and power (through the help of the dubstep wizards)! /j]

Yeah they don't have any difference, save for some fluff that was "more or less" tied to the subplot "commoners vs nobles" etc etc

But since this never went anywhere... I mean, you can get harmless fluff, look I'm nerding and being amazed at Unicorn Overlord changing banners depending on which leader you pick in an unit - it's harmless fluff.

And then you have this supposed "harmless" fluff the basically spells out how the devs didn't finish their game, nor had enough care about it to iron out the details for the playable cast - sure Alois wasn't as marketed as Linhardt, but damn. This thing - giving him the "noble" background class when his support and story reveal he should have been in the "commoner" class is... reminiscent of Hilda's sudden major Dain Blood in FE4's last chapter.

I'm willing to give FE4 some slack because it feels like a coding error and it's just one (a glaring one!) little blooper, but for a game delayed for at least a year released in 2019 it's... I mean, they had time to add a trillion cats and add Anna - who doesn't bring anything to the table as a character - in a DLC, but couldn't edit this background changing detail about Alois?

It makes me think of the outcry FEH had when they released Harmonic!Leanne'n'Azura, with people rightfully pointing out that Leanne's ears were round when, as a bird laguz, it should pointy

"who cares it's just an ear lol" "they basically changed her race, and in her game, it's supposed to be something really really important"

Oh well, enough negativity.

10k years of lore will reveal that Alois was sekritly a descendant of Willy's 120 children, the main Hresvelg branch tried to weed out their family line but those things never totally work (hell it's the plot of FE4!) and thus Alois and Supreme Leader are totes related because they shared a common ancestor 750 years ago.

Borrowing your hc, his parents knew - somehow - they were supposed to be more than mere merchants living in Faerghus, but they were attacked by a Giant Wolf and thus young Alois became an orphan. The nun who registered him recognised his family somehow, and knew he was a "noble" but decided to never reveal him the truth. This nun would sekritly be a cardinal, and reported to Rhea that a "Hresvelg" popped up at the Monastery, which prompted her to check and give a young Alois an extra candy for his birthday, in Willy's memory.

[trisanachandlers]

other thoughts on lioness rampant:

it is far and away THE BEST book in this quartet in terms of writing

it also strikes me as the most cinematic, in that it has the most moments that like... filled me with childlike glee at the idea of getting to see it adapted for tv? I guess we still don’t really know what exactly is getting adapted or how it will be done but god I want to see the whole coronation day battle sequence so badly! it may be because I specifically turned that part of my brain on at some point in this book like I hadn’t for the others but throughout almost all of it I had really clear mental images of everything and everyone. of course I’m tempering my expectations because even if it does get adapted everything could be so different from how I imagine it, but you know, all any of us really wants in life is the experience my mom had with the movie of the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe where in the theater we got to the sweeping shot of the tents in aslan’s camp and she gasped and went “oh my god this is EXACTLY how I always pictured it” anyway that’s what I want from literally every scene starting with the ordeal of kings and ending with alanna v roger

it’s also the best alanna and jonathan book, even more so now that I’m like an adult who can relate to/fully delight in the relationship between people who used to be in love and therefore know each other really really well and are amicable enough to use that fact to just roast each other constantly, with affection

seriously there is not a single moment in this book where they’re in the same room and it doesn’t quickly become the funniest fucking thing i’ve ever read. “jon, do i really have to say ‘awesome artifact’? oh well, guess I’m too old to put a frog in his bed”

I reblogged someone’s john mulaney quotes as sotl characters post a while back and the only one I was like “huh?” about was gary as “it’s a grid system, motherfucker!” because I had largely forgotten the details of what happened in these books until this reread since it’d been like 11-12 years, so when I got to the part where gary is like “actually the practical work of running a kingdom is really interesting! grain prices and farmers and” my brain went “IT’S A GRID SYSTEM, MOTHERFUCKER” and I fully burst out laughing on an airplane and startled my seatmates

more (gay) thoughts below

“love you. always have. always will. never know how he did it”

don’t have much else to say about that i’ve just been lying on the floor weeping softly for days

the thing is I’ve reread protector of the small at least once, some books several times, and I’ve reread trickster at least twice, and I haven’t reread all of immortals but I’ve read wild magic and emperor mage at least twice each, but I really hadn’t reread song of the lioness because I was always like “I love these books in spirit but they really weren’t as good in terms of the writing and also the problematic white savior stuff so I’d rather reread the better work she’s done later in her career & the development of this world,” and as a result I think I’d forgotten how major a character thom actually is? (had also highkey forgotten this about coram, gary, and alex because in the intervening decade my brain had simplified it down to “these books are about alanna, her cat, her three big love interests, thayet and buri in the last book, and of course roger, and also raoul is there I guess”) but the thing is I think that also happened because like alanna and george and raoul and jonathan and thayet and buri all get to keep being, like, obviously not major characters but important secondary characters, because some of them are important to kel, and sometimes to daine, and obviously to aly. but even though liam is right about it being meaningful to die for something important, alanna also has a point in that argument because a character can’t continue being important to the story if they’re dead! anyway I’m sad

I know this has been commented on before but they’re all so freakin’ young! which I did not understand when I was 12 but now jonathan is ascending the throne and he is literally my age! what the fuck!

another thing about being older is I’ve gotten over the thing I had as a kid where I never wanted to love the main characters best because I felt like I was supposed to and I didn’t want to do what I was supposed to do or something, and wow, I love alanna so deeply, she is so perfect, she is so flawed, I adore her so much. She is such a badass! She is such a good friend! She is such a good sister! She is such a good daughter (to myles, to be clear)! She is such a complicated and evolving partner who learns so much about how to be a better one over time! She and george are SO GOOD TOGETHER in the end

I know tammy kind of sidestepped saying whether she’s bisexual (or misinterpreted the question, was my impression?) and talked about her being genderqueer instead but also I get such a bi vibe from like every part with thayet. there is a compelling argument that it really is alanna, as a person attracted to men, negotiating femininity and male attraction and her feelings around it through her friendship with thayet, who is very conventionally feminine and beautiful! but also “she is so beautiful, I think I want to... be her” is such a classic confused baby sapphic thing at least among gays now that like.... also for a scene involving three people who are all ostensibly heterosexual, the part where alanna refuses to wear a dress to present the princess she rescued to the king, who is her ex-lover, who she was in a secret relationship with while presenting to everyone else as a guy, feels very, very queer to me

anyway alanna and jonathan are both bi

(my read of first adventure was also that jonathan totally had a crush on page alan well before he knew about alanna but anyway)

also I had fully forgotten about the part where she gets misgendered (basically?) in the tavern in maren and people think she’s a twink and liam’s boyfriend/a guy who is in love with him in a gay way, which then doesn’t really go further than confusion and the vague sense that being mistaken for gay = danger in this universe. but if alanna + gender gets to be more nuanced in the 21st century, as I would hope from that tammy tweet, then I would be interested to see if there’s more things like that adapted into a tv version.

I would think also SURELY alanna and jon were not THAT subtle like once ~her secret is revealed~ everyone back home seems to figure out they were lovers like by the time jonathan goes to visit the bloody hawk but like that part in maren suggests to me there is NO WAY the heterosexuals of the eastern lands are SO clueless that the court wouldn’t have noticed prince jonathan and squire alan were definitely fucking behind their backs

can katherine have little a trebond twins talking about queerness, as a treat? but anyway

since alanna is myles’ heir now and she is alanna of pirate’s swoop and olau then why isn’t thom of pirate’s swoop named thom of pirate’s swoop and olau

also george and alanna’s conversation at the end about settling down and getting married and having children after roaming together is much funnier now that I know, from having read all of the tortall wiki, that thom of pirate’s swoop is born while they are on a mission

that’s it I guess it’s a good book and I love it and I’m excited to start rereading immortals and see just what the fuck adult me thinks of THAT

[alittlebitofjessicah]

Following the lead - why all dogs deserve more rights.

Last October an officer and his police dog were stabbed whilst chasing a suspect. As a result of the attack, Finn’s Law – a campaign to give police animals more rights whilst on duty – was set up. Jessica Hay investigates the aims of Finn’s Law and looks at the rights of other breeds labelled as dangerous.

It began like any other day in the Wardell house. Quite crazy and lots of dog walks. PC David Wardell, 40 and his dog Finn, 7, were called to an incident later that night. He got his three children, Jaymee, 10, Tia, 7 and India, 4, ready for bed and kissed them goodnight before heading off to a job that unbeknown to them, would end dramatically with PC Wardell running into the vets carrying Finn covered in blood.

PC Wardell lives with his wife Gemma, 34, and their children in North East Hertfordshire. He explains how he had a feeling it was going to be a busy night, something himself, the team and the dogs really enjoyed. What he could never imagine was that he would be chasing a suspect with what he says: “was the biggest knife I have ever seen”.

Composing himself, PC Wardell recollects the fear and worry that consumed him while he and Finn were attacked and how veterinary surgeons operated on Finn to save his life.

He recalls: “That night I used Finn’s nose to help me track a suspect. We were both in the same garden and the lad appeared from his hiding place, only six feet away from us, and jumped up at the fence, so Finn pulled him off the fence and when he landed he thrust out at us.”

“Blood was pouring from Finn’s head and chest and we knew we had to get to the vets as quick as possible.”

PC Wardell was stabbed in the hand, but wanted to make sure Finn was treated first. Suffering stab wounds to his head and chest, Finn underwent four hours of surgery to save his life.

He says: “I needed to be by his side, as I always am.

“We have a special bond and he will protect me until his very last breath, which is what we nearly saw.”

The current legal position with respect to injured police animals, classes them as ‘damaged property’ if injured on duty. This doesn’t sit right with PC Wardell, as he believes that police animals deserve more recognition for the work they do.

He continues: “It doesn’t fit right with me. There are other offences but even still, the maximum offence anyone can be charged with if they attack a police dog is criminal damage.

“If I smash a window, I agree that I should get charged with criminal damage, but to a living, breathing, feeling animal it should not be classed as property. Finn is an entity, a living being, criminal damage is for inanimate objects.”

Finn’s Law petition aims to give status to police dogs and horses as ‘officers’ and received 127,729 signatures, resulting in a parliamentary debate, which took place on November 14, 2016. The Government responded with: “Attacks on police support animals are unacceptable and should be dealt with under the criminal law which allows for penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment for those who carry out such attacks.”

PC Wardell joined the police 14 years ago and worked his way up to becoming a dog handler for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. After four unsuccessful attempts he was finally accepted and was partnered with Finn, a nine-month-old German Shepherd puppy.

He says: “I’ve wanted to be a police dog handler since I was 12 years old. I was so pleased when I got accepted, after having to apply five times.”

Today, the pair remain inseparable. Finn is now retired after a long, successful career.

“Work just isn’t the same without Finn and I miss him immensely.

“The bond I have with Finn now is immense, it has taken seven years to build but it is huge. I’ve leant on him emotionally since October and it’s like he’s become my therapy dog.

“I spend more time with Finn than I do with anyone in my family, even more than my wife and kids, so you can’t help but have a huge bond and when something goes wrong it’s heart-breaking.”

However, not everyone agrees with the concept of Finn’s Law. The Home Office has argued that additional legislation regarding police dogs is unnecessary, as an additional and separate offence may not result in more prosecutions or increased sentences.

PC Wardell adds: “If I ruled the world they would have something a lot more similar to America where they are classed as officers and have better rights and protection.

“That’s never going to happen here. What I want is some recognition for animals, not just police dogs and horses but other working dogs too, because they are so vital to what we do.

“A good friend of mine, and his wife are blind and both have services dogs and those dogs opened up their world and enabled them to go and work in the city and live a normal life. Surely an animal with an important job like that should have some recognition?”

Due to the serious and dangerous situations police officers can find themselves in, having a police dog as extra protection can really make a difference.

“I haven’t ever sent Finn into a fight I wasn’t prepared to help with and I didn’t know the boy had a knife.

“Finn is used for intimidation and some of the people we come up against are horrible people, so we tend to work a lot with the firearms teams and the reason is that these horrible people need to do something very wrong in order to get shot but you can’t reason with an animal and the likelihood of being bitten is much higher.”

PC Wardell explains how being a police dog handler is more than just a job and with the world becoming a much scarier place and the government cutting back police powers, such as stop and search procedures, it is important to have that special bond.

Nottinghamshire Police Dog Section, agree that police dogs are vital to the force and that they should get more credit for the work they do if they are injured.

PC Matthew Rogers, a dog handler with East Midlands Operational Support Service (EMOpSS) and his police dog Nibble have a very close relationship and he emphasises that it is important to be able to work as a team.

He says: “It is important that there is a close bond as I ask him to do important things for me and we have spent years training together so we understand each other.”

PC Rogers agrees with the concept of Finn’s Law and says that police dogs deserve more recognition for the hard work they do.

“There should be more serious consequences for people that attack animals and working dogs, such as police dogs.

“It is important that there is that close bond and they are a working tool but equally, because of what he is capable of and the work he has done for me in the past, I am very close with him.”

PC Rogers explains that there is a financial side to be taken into consideration, the time and money invested into these dogs should reflect how they are treated and there should be a law, which offers them as great a protection as possible.

He adds: “If we have a law which acts as a deterrent that can only be a good thing.

“I spend hours with Nibble and really rely on him, he is a part of the family.”

It is clear that these dogs provide a valuable service to society and should therefore have more rights, similar to America, where police dogs are classed as ‘officers’ of the law. A more debatable extension of the argument, relates to those dogs labelled as ‘dangerous’.

Under Section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, states that the following dog breeds are illegal: Pitt Bull Terriers /Pit Bull type dogs, as well as the Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Braziliero.

For many, the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is considered to be ineffective and does not stop dangerous dog attacks. Statistics from Battersea Dogs and Cats home revealed that at least 71% of the 91 Pit Bull Terriers they took in last year could have been rehomed as family pets, due to their “friendly and affectionate nature.”

Jenna Wiffen, 29 lives in Shropshire with her husband, three children and five Staffordshire Bull Terrier-mixed dogs. She is completely against the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, especially Breed Specific Legislation (BSL).

She says: “The Act is outdated and disgusting. It is wrong to judge a dog by its looks and sentencing them to death is awful.

“So many studies have shown BSL doesn’t work and banning something will only make it more desirable to the wrong kind of people. Pit-types are one of the most sweetest, loving dogs and you should never judge a dog by its breed, all dogs are individual, just like people.”

Jenna has always adopted and fostered the dogs that come into her care. Additionally, she has protested against BSL three times outside of the Houses of Parliament.

She adds: “I have five loving dogs called Kci, 13, Lexi, 12, Loki, 5, Bonnie, 5 and Akira, 3.

“They get on so well with my young children and we all have a great love and interest in dogs. There is nothing more rewarding than saving a life and watching the change you can make.”

Jenna spoke about how the Act needs to be changed and that specific dog breeds shouldn’t be banned solely on their appearance, but instead they should be judged as individuals.

She says: “I believe there is always a reason and I never blame the dog. I believe that there should be a full investigation into any dog bites, including the history of the dog and its owner before it is sentenced to death.”

The DDA Watch (The Dangerous Dogs Act Watch), a not-for profit organisation run entirely by volunteers, believe that no dog is inherently dangerous, and instead ownership of these dogs should be taken into account, to resolve the underlying issue.

They assist pet owners facing legal proceedings concerning the Dangerous Dogs Act and advise and help dog owners in preparation for court hearings, by communicating with legal defence teams, police forces and other parties involved in the circumstances.

Maria Daines, 53, from Cambridgeshire, has been a volunteer at the DDA Watch for eight years. When she is not helping the DDA Watch she is a singer songwriter.

She also agrees that the Dangerous Dogs Act is inadequate and needs to be improved and believes more education is needed on how to treat dogs.

She says: “It is known that Pit Bull-type dogs are strong but their behaviour is more to do with socialising them from a young age and treating them with positive reinforcement and kindness.”

Maria doesn’t believe that dogs are inherently dangerous and suggests other factors play a big part in their behaviour.

She says: “Dogs are the same as people, if we aren’t kept in a nice environment then we aren’t going to thrive.

“I don’t believe that any dog is inherently dangerous and nurture definitely plays a huge role in how a dog acts. I accept that some traits are inherited but dangerous is not one of them.”

There have been hundreds of reports over the past few years regarding dog attacks, predominately featuring Pit Bull-types or banned breeds. However it is not uncommon for other dogs to bite someone.

Ed Sirkett, a 23-year-old from Essex, was staying at a friend’s house for the weekend when the family dog, a German Shepherd that he had known for eight years, suddenly bit him on the knee and elbow.

He says: “I was climbing the stairs and out of nowhere it jumped at me biting my leg dragging me to the bottom of the stairs, I elbowed it in the head which got it off my leg but it managed to get a bite on my arm too. I managed to kick the dog far enough away so I could run up the stairs and shut myself in a room.”

Five years later, Ed still has scars on his leg from a cut, which was about four inches long, as well as four or five puncture wounds where its teeth sank in. His arm had three cuts, which measured one inch long.

Ed adds: “I had known the dog since it was a puppy but now I am definitely more cautious around dogs and all dogs are capable of causing harm, no matter what breed.”

“I think it is wrong for certain dogs to be treated differently than others.”

PC David Hikin, a dog legislation officer at Nottinghamshire Police, explains that legislation exists and the public must abide by it. He outlines how the Act helps identify banned breeds and assists with the containment of dogs.

The 34-year-old has been a police officer for 11 years and has recently progressed to the role of dog legislation officer. PC Hikin believes that the Act is subjective rather than effective and is a poorly written piece of legislation, hurriedly enacted by parliament, but it is still the law.

He says: “The Dangerous Dogs Act is not the best piece of legislation to work with but it is what it is.

“The worst part about the job is having to put the dogs to sleep, no matter what they have done. The nature of the dogs themselves varies and some of them are incredibly friendly despite them being a banned breed, they shouldn’t be tarred with that same brush of being a nasty dog.”

PC Hikin believes that no dog is born wanting to kill or hurt anyone but sadly these types of dogs are often used as status dogs and turned into killing machines, through no fault of their own.

Even though scientific research exists, proving that no dog is inherently dangerous, this doesn’t stop these types of dogs receiving this label. Yet, Pit Bull-types aren’t the only dogs portrayed as ‘dangerous’.

Gwen Marsland, a 45-year-old personal assistant from Bredbury, Manchester, spoke about how she has been shouted at, had bottles thrown at her and once even spat on for walking her 11-year-old Rottweiler Duke.

She says: “The public avoids me whilst out walking Duke, and other dog owners will pick their little dogs up. I have had 25 years of breed ignorance, so it no longer affects me, and I normally remove Duke out of situations for his own safety rather than anyone else’s.”

In her spare time, Gwen works alongside her local RSPCA and Rottweiler Welfare Rescue, who Gwen says: “rehabilitate this amazing breed.”

A particularly troubling incident for Gwen was in April 2016, when her dad was verbally and physically attacked whilst out walking Duke. He was kicked to the ground and the abuser proceeded to attack him, as well as bite his face.

She says: “By this time, someone had reported the attack on my dad but the Police thought it was a dog attack and actually closed down the area my dad was in as they thought a Rottweiler was loose. When the police finally got to my dad, they found him being comforted by Duke.”

“In one breath, I was so grateful he did not attack my dad’s attacker as Duke would have come off worse in the eyes of the law but in the next breath, I wished he had protected my Dad as it took about a year for him to deal with the fear of going out again.”

For Gwen, she believes that all dogs should be treated the same and each individual case should be judged fairly and correctly, yet, like David Wardell, she agrees that police dogs deserve more recognition.

“Police Dogs are a working breed and trained to be a faster pair of legs in catching criminals. So regarding rights, I think they should have more rights than a normal dog whilst in a working environment. They have been specially trained to deal with criminals and deserve to be honoured for the work they do.”

“There needs to be a bigger deterrent and a punishment that matches the crime for harming any enforcement animals.”

PC Wardell deals with dangerous dogs on a daily basis and as a result of being on the dog section, he is sent out to collect these dogs, which he describes as “heartbreaking.”

He says: “It is really sad because some of these dogs are family pets and haven’t necessarily done anything wrong.

“I go to the park and when I see little dogs going mad at my dog, I think if that was my dog, you’d be asking for it to be put down but because they are small and fluffy it’s deemed acceptable.

“We do take these dogs away sometimes and some of them are not going to go home and it’s because of the way they look rather than what they have done which is wrong.”

According to the law, dogs are property, similar to a piece of furniture. Yet, many dog owners around the UK and the world consider their dogs to be a member of the family.

In a line from PC Wardell’s blog he says: “Would a piece of property help you open the Christmas presents and then help you polish off the Christmas turkey?

“I don’t think so.”