Weekender Alicante North Issue 118

32 FRIDAY 22ND NOVEMBER 2019
www.weekender.news
Pets
It’s love at
first sight!
IT takes pet lovers just
two minutes and seven
seconds before they know
that a dog is ‘the one’
for them, according to a
new study.
Its research involved more
than 2,000 would-be dog
owners looking at photos
of potential pets. The dogs
were a mix of breeds, sizes
and ages.
expressions, in determining
whether we like them and
they like us.
“Studies with pet owners
have shown that gazing into
our dog’s eyes releases levels
of oxytocin in the brain and
this plays an important role
how dog owners bond and
form attachments with their
dogs, much in the same way
parents and children do.”
Professor Sir Cary Cooper,
The research was led
an expert in psychology by dog adoption website
and wellbeing at the University
dogsblog.com and Animal
of Manchester, says the Friends Insurance, who
study reveals a lot about our
relationship with our fourlegged
friends.
Scientists lay our emotions
to dogs firmly at the
door of the ‘love hormone’
want to debunk the myths
about adopting dogs and encourage
people to consider
taking that route.
Celebrities including Pete
Wicks, Charlotte Hawkins,
oxytocin, which is released Sarah Jayne Dunn and
into the brain and is elevated
when humans gaze into a
potential pet pooch’s eyes.
Prof Cooper says: “There
is a relatively close bond
between dogs and humans,
and it is certainly the case
that humans look for nonverbal
signs from dogs, such
as eye contact and facial
Beverley Knight have been
involved in the campaign.
Beverley and her husband
James O’Keefe were searching
for a dog to adopt last
year and found their perfect
pet in Spain. The soul
singer explained the instant
connection she felt to Zain
through a web browser.
She says: “My husband
James happened to be looking
through dogsblog.com
one day, he kind of did it
all the time, he was always
looking through and he had
left the page up.
“Out of curiosity I started
to look and I came across a
video of a black and white
dog playing with a white dog.
“I just thought ‘oh this
dog is so cute, look at his
little face’ and I found myself
reading the blurb about the
little black and white dog.
“He was described as a
dude and said his name
was Zain and he was about
nine-months-old. There was
something about the way
he was playing, just something
about him and I said
to James ‘come and have a
look, I think this might be
our dog’.
“We didn’t know what
breed he was but we started
to make enquiries with his
rescue, Angel’s Kiss. The
next thing was we were accepted
and he was winging
his way to us from Spain.”
The campaign also hopes
to help new dog owners understand
what lies ahead by
sharing the many fantastic
benefits of adopting a dog.
Another great donation to
the Albergue, Torrevieja
TWO very generous Rojales
ladies, Sofie and
Kelly, El Cubo Cleaning
Services, donated a variety
of light and heavy
blankets, beds and igloos
for our cats.
These igloos are fantastic.
Not only do they help keep
the cats warm during a cold
winter evening but also provides
a hidey hole for those
cats that are shy or just want
a bit of peace time. Thank
you very much ladies.
If you care to know more
about the shelter and
animals, or indeed like to
help in any way, contact
alberguecats@gmail.com
Since
1977