Latest news with #TurkishAngora
Boston Globe
31-05-2025
- Science
- Boston Globe
Your cat may or may not love you, but it knows your scent
Get Love Letters: The Newsletter A weekly dispatch with all the best relationship content and commentary – plus exclusive content for fans of Love Letters, Dinner With Cupid, weddings, therapy talk, and more. Enter Email Sign Up Through referrals from friends and colleagues, the researchers recruited 30 cats and their owners to participate in the study. The cats' owners captured their own scents by rubbing cotton swabs behind their ears, between their toes and under their armpits. Eight additional people who don't own pets and didn't know the cats' owners were recruited to be 'odor donors.' Advertisement Each of the study cats, in the comfort of its own home, was then presented with an array of test tubes containing the smelly cotton swabs from its owner, a stranger and a blank control. A camera mounted to the experimental setup recorded the cats' reactions to the test tubes. Advertisement The cats spent more time sniffing the samples from the strangers than from their owners -- an indication that the cats could recognize their owners' scents and devoted more time to exploring the ones they'd never smelled before. While this finding might seem like common sense, it's 'a very important piece of information,' said Dr. Carlo Siracusa, an associate professor of animal behavior at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine who was not involved with the study. 'This is how science works. You need to prove everything.' A Black Silver Turkish Angora relaxed between judging sessions at the Catsachusetts show in April. Uchiyama and his colleagues further analyzed video recordings of the cats sniffing the test tubes and observed the cats predominantly using their right nostrils to smell the strangers' test tubes, regardless of where the tube was placed within the array. These findings seemed to corroborate previous studies of other animals, including dogs, which also led with their right nostrils when exploring strange scents. 'The left nostril is used for familiar odors, and the right nostril is used for new and alarming odors, suggesting that scenting may be related to how the brain functions,' Uchiyama said. 'It is likely that the right brain is preferred for processing emotionally alarming odors.' Related : Siracusa urged caution in interpreting whether the cats' sniffing behavior relates to brain function. 'The study did not prove that the right side of the brain is activated,' he said. Proving that will require cats willing to cooperate with having their brains scanned while they sniff things. While further research is needed to confirm whether the nostril cats use to smell people is a window into the feline mind, Siracusa said that studies like Uchiyama's are important for furthering human understanding of feline behavior, which can help us provide better care for them. He also remarked on the logistical feat of designing a study protocol deemed acceptable by its feline participants. Advertisement 'I really commend this group of scientists for being successful in engaging 30 cats in doing this stuff,' Siracusa said. 'Most cats want nothing to do with your research.' This article originally appeared in .
Daily Mirror
19-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Elderly man arrested for 'abusing bloodied cat' and throwing it down drain
WARNING: GRAPHIC FOOTAGE AND IMAGES. An elderly man has been arrested after CCTV footage allegedly showed him torturing a cat until it was covered in blood An elderly man has been arrested after a neighbour discovered horror footage of him allegedly abusing her pet cat. The unnamed man, who is in his 70s, was nabbed after a woman in her 20s reported her Turkish Angora breed cat had gone missing - and alleged that her neighbour had taken the innocent moggy. When looking for the puss outside her home in the town of Segamat, Malaysia, the woman found her neighbour poking at something in a drain. When she checked inside the drain herself, she was horrified to find her bedraggled cat dumped down there, its fur matted with dirt and with smears of fresh blood on its muzzle. The woman lodged another report with the police when she later discovered CCTV footage that allegedly showed the man torturing her cat until it was covered in blood, according to Malaysian media. Segamat police chief Superintendent Ahmad Zamry Marinsah said stumbled upon the video footage that had already been posted on various social media sites. "Following that, the woman then came across her neighbour poking at something in the drain at her house. After checking, the woman then found her cat in the drain covered in blood and was believed to have been physically abused by the suspect," he said in a statement. According to the police chief, an investigation of the footage showed the suspect beating and throwing the cat into an unoccupied house. The man was arrested at his home just after midnight and reportedly told officers he was "annoyed" by the cat. "The suspect later admitted to abusing the cat because he felt disturbed after he was questioned by investigators," the chief added. A woman named Kak Yong uploaded footage of herself discovering the cat inside the drain on her Facebook page, telling followers that her neighbour "wants to kill my fur child". Sharing videos of the cat sitting in a cardboard box with blood on its face, the woman revealed her cat lives indoors and never goes out at all, and has "never" defecated or urinated in her neighbour's home. She described noticing her cat wasn't in his usual room and walking up the alley next to her house to look for him. On the walk back home, she saw an "apek" - an elderly man - "in the middle of sticking something in the gutter". "He saw me and went straight into the house but my instinct is strong to know what it is and I don't want to hope it's my child," she continued. "I included a video of me snorting and trembling when looking at the drain and what I found was my fur baby. I pulled him and his face was already bleeding .. Oh God, my heart is broken.." According to local media, police are now investigating the case under Section 428 of the Penal Code for animal mischief, Section 29(1) of the Animal Welfare Act 2015 for animal abuse and cruelty, and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. If convicted, the man could face up to three years in jail and a fine of RM100,000, or £17,400.
New Straits Times
14-05-2025
- New Straits Times
#NSTviral: Elderly man caught on CCTV torturing cat and throwing it into vacant house
SEGAMAT: A viral video showing a bloodied cat, believed to have been brutally beaten by an elderly man, has sparked public outrage and led to the arrest of a man in his 70s. The disturbing incident, which took place yesterday at Taman Yayasan in Buloh Kasap here, was captured on closed-circuit television footage and shared widely on social media. The cat, a Turkish Angora breed owned by a woman, was found injured and bleeding in a drain near the suspect's home. The woman filed a police report on the same day. District police chief Superintendent Ahmad Zamry Marinsah said the woman had been searching for her missing pet when she noticed her neighbour tampering with the drain. "She found her cat, bloodied and believed to have been struck and thrown into the drain by the suspect," he said in a statement today. The CCTV footage allegedly showed the suspect hitting the cat before throwing it into the compound of a vacant house. The man was arrested at 12.20am today and allegedly confessed to attacking the cat, claiming he was irritated by its presence. The case is being investigated under Section 428 of the Penal Code for mischief by killing or maiming animals, Section 29(1) of the Animal Welfare Act 2015, and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. If convicted, the suspect could face up to three years in prison, a fine of RM100,000, or both under the Animal Welfare Act alone.
