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When Patricia Noble had to make the decision to end her dog’s life just hours after he fell ill, the grief was almost unbearable.

“When my dad died, I grieved for him, but he wasn’t in my life regularly,” she says. “Dougie felt like a support dog… it was like my world had crashed.”

Dougie, a 10-year-old miniature dachshund, seized up while on a walk near their home in Aberdeenshire on New Year’s Day 2020. “He was paralysed – alive and running one minute, by the end of the day he wasn’t there.”

Blue Cross volunteer Patricia Noble lost her dog Dougie in 2020
Image:
Blue Cross volunteer Patricia Noble lost her dog Dougie in 2020

The little dog had been a source of comfort for Patricia, who has struggled with depression throughout her life. After his death, she found herself in a “dark place, thinking, is it worth it? Would I have gone down that line?” she reflects. “Who knows?”

Searching for help, she came across a pet loss support service. Too emotional to speak on the phone, she got in touch and was soon exchanging regular emails with the same volunteer at the service run by Blue Cross, an animal welfare charity, over nine months. “It gave me a sense that I’m not the only one in the world that suffers this,” she says. “I felt I was being given my life back.”

Almost four years on, Patricia is now able to speak with a smile, her eyes twinkling, as she remembers Dougie, recalling how he was “utterly untrainable” but “a real sweetheart”.

“Boy, did he love barking – at the postie, visitors, for treats, especially if he was being ignored. But he was very loving. If I felt low he would jump against my legs, a signal to say, ‘lift me up – you need a cuddle!'”

She will always miss him. Grateful for the help she received, the 58-year-old is now one of 300 volunteers with Blue Cross’s pet loss support service, who offer “a listening ear”, pointing in the direction of counselling or other services if needed.

Pet loss and disenfranchised grief

Blue Cross figures for the number of people using their support services
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Blue Cross figures for the number of people using their support services

In the last 10 years, the number of people getting in touch has almost trebled, from 6,240 in 2013 to 17,367 in 2022. The figures so far for 2023 are currently 22% up on last year, while a private Facebook group set up by the charity in 2022, one of many such support groups on the site, now has more than 16,000 members.

But it’s a kind of grief that society doesn’t always understand. According to psychologists, pet owners can feel embarrassed when talking about the emotional impact the death of an animal has had on them, making it tricky to process their grief.

“People’s understanding in the past 10 years has grown but disenfranchised grief – where other people don’t understand – is still something we see a lot,” says Diane James, the head of pet bereavement support services at Blue Cross.

Dr Katie Lawlor, a pet loss psychologist based in San Francisco, California, was training to be a clinical psychologist before she realised there was very little, if any, support networks for those suffering due to the loss of a pet. After moving into the field and later setting up an Instagram account in March 2020, she now has almost 75,000 followers.

“For those who don’t have animals or don’t have that bond, they say, ‘oh, it’s just a dog, go get another one’,” she says. “But you would never tell somebody who’d lost a parent, ‘oh just go get a new dad’. For some of us, that bond is just as rich and as deep.”

‘My heart is absolutely broken’

Kate Beckinsale shared this picture on Instagram, commemorating her cat, Clive. Photo courtesy of Kate Beckinsale
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‘How can a light that burned so brightly, suddenly burn so pale’: Kate Beckinsale commemorated her cat, Clive, with this tattoo. Photo courtesy of Kate Beckinsale

Search for #petloss on Instagram and hundreds of thousands of posts pop up, while on TikTok the top videos have millions of views. A growing number of influencers and celebrities including Miley Cyrus, Seth Rogen and Kate Beckinsale have also shared their stories of loss online – as well as tattoos dedicated to their late pets.

“Every single part of my house feels like he should be in it,” Beckinsale wrote on Instagram as she announced Clive’s death in June. “My heart is absolutely and totally broken.”

Broadcaster and author Dawn O’Porter, who tackles the subject of navigating grief for an animal in her latest best-selling novel, Cat Lady, posted a poignant tribute following the death of her dog Potato at the beginning of 2022, telling followers how he was the ring-bearer at her wedding and there when she gave birth. “It was one of the great joys of my life to be his mum,” she wrote.

And there are many pet owners, like Patricia, who admit losing their animals has affected them as much if not more than the deaths of some relatives.

‘Everyone knew what he meant to me’

Leanne Freeman, 33, from Dartford, lost her house rabbit, Thumper, unexpectedly in February. When she realised he was dying, she cuddled him and tried to make sure he was as comfortable as possible. “I wanted to give him his favourite food so I ordered parsley on Deliveroo. I didn’t want to leave him.”

Thumper, a Netherland dwarf rabbit, who was almost five, had been with Leanne since he was eight weeks old. She says his death felt like losing a limb.

“It was a good 48 hours before I stopped randomly crying.” she says. “He was free to roam around the flat… if I went for a shower, he’d come and sit in the bathroom with me. He was happy to be carried over my shoulder like a baby and I would take him to my parents’ – we’d joke that it was ‘nanny and granddad’s house’.”

Luckily, colleagues at work were supportive after his death. “Some people have pictures of their kids on their desks, I had a picture of my rabbit. Everyone knew what he meant to me.”

Leanne Freeman's house rabbit Thumper died after suffering from the effects of a parasite called E cuniculi. She had him created at Cherry Tree Pet Crematorium in Kent
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Leanne Freeman’s house rabbit Thumper died earlier in 2023. She had him cremated at the Cherry Tree Pet Crematorium in Kent, and also kept a cutting of his fur (pictured below)

Leanne Freeman's house rabbit Thumper died after suffering from the effects of a parasite called E cuniculi. She had him created at Cherry Tree Pet Crematorium in Kent

One feeling that comes from the specific grief of losing a pet is the question of whether they understand how much they mean to you. Brad Webber, 35, and his partner Natalie lost their beloved chow chow, Kia, and have experienced this feeling. “You can tell a grandparent you’re going to miss them but animals… you can cuddle them and say comforting things but you can’t be satisfied that they know how much you care,” he says. “That’s hard.”

The couple now have two spaniels, and Brad says he sees parallels between the love he has for his pets and his toddler son.

“You see them grow and share first experiences,” he says. “You’re there when they’re scared, when they’re hurt and you build a mutual understanding. You recognise each other’s likes, dislikes and emotional qualities.”

Brad Webber's chow chow Kia died in 2021
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Brad Webber and his partner Natalie lost their chow chow Kia in 2021

Leanne and Brad are among many pet owners living in and around Kent who sought support from Cherry Tree Pet Crematorium, which offers keepsakes such as pawprints, jewellery and hair cuttings, as well as cremation services and euthanasia.

Another is Chloe Harding, 37, from Rochester, whose horses and dogs helped her deal with anxiety throughout her life, following the death of her father in a car accident when she was seven.

Just before the COVID lockdown in 2020, Chloe lost her three-year-old German shepherd, Maverick. Ten days later, her pony, Harry, also died suddenly; this all came in a period in which she had also lost her job.

“It was really tough because the next morning, you don’t have a horse to look after, a dog to walk… everything that I defined myself by had been stripped away.”

Chloe Harding and her horse, Annie
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Chloe Harding and her horse, Annie, and below with her husband and dog, Maverick

Chloe Harding and her husband with their dog, Maverick

‘I told my boss I’d lost a family member when my rabbit died’

Dr Lawlor cites statistics from studies on pet bereavement: 85% of pet guardians report loss and grief symptoms comparable to loss of family members, and a third of pet guardians have continued to grieve at six months, and almost a quarter still after a year.

When her rabbit Gem died in 2000, she requested time off work. “I wrote to my boss, who was not an animal person, and told her I’d lost a family member. For me, that’s true, and I stand by it. But I think there’s such a stigma around mourning an animal, sadly, that continues.”

Now, she posts on social media several times a week, sharing her own advice or kind words from others. “I was getting messages [when I started] saying, ‘thank you for normalising this’,” she says. “For so many of us, our primary and our preferred sources of love do come from animals.”

For many pet owners, the hardest part is making the decision to say goodbye. Dr Lawlor says she is asked most about euthanasia and guilt; according to a Royal Veterinary College (RVC) study published in 2021, looking into the deaths of 29,163 dogs in the UK over a one-year period, the vast majority – 26,676 (91.5%) – involved euthanasia, while just 2,487 (8.5%) were unassisted.

‘We know we’ll have to say goodbye – but we still do it’

Karen Barnard's dog Ruby lived until she was 15 - pic sent by Karen Barnard
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Karen Barnard’s dog Ruby lived until she was 15

Karen Barnard, who has 17 pets, including three dogs currently, and offers boarding for guinea pigs and other small animals at her home near Tunbridge, made the difficult decision to put her dog Ruby down at the age of 15. The King Charles cavalier spaniel’s kidneys had starting failing, and Karen didn’t want her to suffer.

She made sure Ruby was comfortable on her last day. “She had a whole box of Maltesers. And then she went to sleep with my other little dog by her side… I feel a lot of peace at being able to give her the goodbye she deserved.”

Animal bereavement specialist and author Angela Garner, who works with the Ease animal charity in the UK, agrees the emotions that come with this decision should not be underestimated. “It’s a big thing for people to cope with, to make that decision – to prevent unnecessary suffering and make the end of life as easy as possible for an animal who has become integral in their lives, part of the family. Finding the right time to actually say goodbye.”

Angela says the issue of pet grief is becoming more recognised, thanks to wider awareness about mental health over the past few years, but there is still work to be done.

“There’s such a highlight now in terms of mental health in this country that it is bound to create more awareness of what people have been suffering, probably silently,” she says. “We take our pets on knowing we are going to have to say goodbye at some point. But we still do it, because we care.”

For Patricia, volunteering has helped her get through the “dark tunnel of pet loss”. In the two-and-a-half years since she started, she has been there for almost 500 conversations over the phone or on webchat.

“It almost feels like a calling now. It means a lot to people to know we understand. It hurts. And every grief experience is valid.”

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The Magic Circle’s first female member fooled them into believing she was a man – how did she do it?

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The Magic Circle's first female member fooled them into believing she was a man - how did she do it?

How did one woman fool the most famous magic society on the planet?

Back in 1991, Sophie Lloyd pulled off the ultimate illusion, tricking the Magic Circle into thinking she was a man.

But over 30 years after being unceremoniously kicked out, the Circle has tracked down the former actress to apologise and reinstate her membership.

She told Sky News how returning feels like the society has “made good on something that was wrong”.

Sophie Lloyd, who tricked the Magic Circle into believing she was a man
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Sophie Lloyd, who tricked the Magic Circle into believing she was a man

How did she infiltrate that exclusive group that nowadays counts the likes of David Copperfield and Dynamo as members?

In March of that year, she took her entry exam posing as a teenage boy, creating an alter-ego called Raymond Lloyd.

“I’d played a boy before,” she explained, but “it took months of preparation” to secretly infiltrate the Circle’s ranks half a year before it would officially vote to let women in.

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“Really, going back 30 years, men’s clubs were like, you know, just something you accepted.”

The men-only rule had been in place since the Circle was formed in 1905. The thinking behind it being that women just couldn’t keep secrets.

Aware of the frustration of female magicians at the time, Lloyd felt she was up for the challenge of proving women could be as good at magic as the men.

The idea was, in fact, born out of a double act, thought up by a successful magician called Jenny Winstanley who’d wanted to join herself but wasn’t allowed.

She recognised the hoax would probably only work with a much younger woman posing as a teenage boy, and met Lloyd through an acting class.

Sophie Lloyd as teenage magician Raymond Lloyd. Pic: Sophie Lloyd
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Sophie Lloyd as teenage magician Raymond Lloyd. Pic: Sophie Lloyd

Lloyd said: “We had to have a wig made… the main thing was my face, I had plumpers made on a brace to bring his jawline down.”

To hide her feminine hands, she did the magic in gloves, which she says “was so hard to do, especially sleight of hand.”

The biggest test came when she was invited for a drink with her examiner, where she had to fake having laryngitis.

“After the exam, which was 20 minutes, he invited Jenny and I – she played my manager – and I sat there for one hour and three quarters and had to say ‘sorry, I’ve got a bad voice’.”

Raymond Lloyd passed the test, and his membership certificate was sent through to Sophie.

Then, in October of the same year, when whispers started circulating that the society was going to open its membership to both sexes, she and Jenny decided to reveal all. It didn’t go down well.

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Rather than praise her performance, members were incandescent about the deception and, somewhat ironically, Raymond Lloyd was kicked out just before women members were let in.

Lloyd said: “We got a letter… Jenny was hurt… she was snubbed by people she actually knew, that was hurtful. However, things have really changed now…”

Three decades later the Magic Circle put out a nationwide appeal stating they wanted to apologise and Lloyd was recently tracked down in Spain.

While Jenny Winstanley died 20 years ago in a car crash, as well as Sophie receiving her certificate on Thursday, her mentor’s contribution to magic is being recognised at the special show that’s being held in both their honour at the Magic Circle.

Lloyd says: “Jenny was a wonderful, passionate person. She would have loved to be here. It’s for her really.”

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Counter terror police assessing Kneecap concert video

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Counter terror police assessing Kneecap concert video

Counter terror police are assessing a video reported to be from a concert by Irish rappers Kneecap.

A social media clip of the hip hop trio on stage appeared to show one member of the group shout “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.

The footage was posted online by Danny Morris from the Jewish security charity, the Community Security Trust.

He said it was from a gig last November at London’s Kentish Town Forum.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “We have been made aware of the video and it has been referred to the counter terrorism internet referral unit for assessment and to determine whether any further police investigation may be required.”

Hamas and Hezbollah are both proscribed as terrorist groups in the UK. Under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000, it is an offence to express “an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation”.

Sky News has contacted Kneecap’s management for comment.

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It comes after TV personality Sharon Osbourne called for Kneecap’s US work visas to be revoked after accusing them of making “aggressive political statements” including “projections of anti-Israel messages and hate speech” at Coachella Music and Arts Festival.

In November last year, Kneecap won a discrimination case against the UK government after former business secretary Kemi Badenoch refused them funding.

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Harvey Weinstein retrial: ‘He had all the power,’ prosecutor tells court as opening statements begin

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Harvey Weinstein retrial: 'He had all the power,' prosecutor tells court as opening statements begin

The retrial of Harvey Weinstein has begun in New York – with a prosecutor telling the court the former Hollywood mogul used “dream opportunities as weapons” to prey on the three women accusing him of sexual abuse.

The case is being retried five years after the landmark #MeToo case against the producer, who was once one of the industry’s most powerful figures, after the appeals court last year overturned his conviction.

Weinstein, who is now 73, is charged with raping one woman and forcing oral sex on two others. He has strenuously denied the allegations.

Following a lengthy jury selection process due to the high-profile nature of the retrial, the prosecution has now opened its case at the same courthouse in Manhattan.

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Why is Weinstein getting a retrial?

Attorney Shannon Lucey told the court the Oscar-winning producer and studio boss used “dream opportunities as weapons” against the female accusers.

“The defendant wanted their bodies, and the more they resisted, the more forceful he got,” she said.

Weinstein had “enormous control over those working in TV and film because he decided who was in and who was out,” the court heard. “He had all the power. They had none.”

Dressed in a dark suit and navy tie, Weinstein listened to the prosecution’s statement after arriving in court in a wheelchair, as he has done for his recent appearances.

His lawyers are expected to outline their case later on Wednesday.

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan in his retrial on Wednesday, April 23, 2025 in New York. (Steven Hirsch /New York Post via AP, Pool)
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Steven Hirsch/ New York Post via AP/ pool

The opening statements got under way after the last jurors were finally picked on Tuesday, more than a week after the selection process began.

Prospective jurors were questioned about their backgrounds, life experiences and various other points that could potentially impact their ability to be fair and impartial about a case that has been so highly publicised. They have also been asked privately about their knowledge of the case and opinions on Weinstein.

Seven men and five women have been chosen to hear the trial.

Why is there a retrial?

In 2020, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being found guilty of charges of sexual assault in 2006 and rape in 2013, relating to two women.

But in April 2024, New York’s highest court overturned the convictions due to concerns of prejudicial testimony and that the judge in the original trial had made improper rulings.

Prosecutors announced a retrial last year and a separate charge concerning a third woman, who was not part of the original trial, has since been added to the case. She alleges the producer forced oral sex on her at a hotel in 2006.

Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies raping or sexually assaulting anyone.

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At a preliminary court hearing in January, he begged for the retrial to be held as quickly as possible due to his deteriorating health, telling the judge: “I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.”

Weinstein was also sentenced in February 2023 after being convicted of rape during a separate trial in LA – which means that even if the retrial ends in not guilty verdicts on all three counts, he will remain behind bars.

His lawyers are also appealing this sentence.

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