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RSPCA branches in and around Yorkshire have taken in more than 80 dogs which were rescued from a house in Doncaster where they had been living in squalid conditions.

When police officers and RSPCA staff entered the rural property in Tickhill on 17 April, they were met with "faeces, filth and, round every corner and room, more dogs".

Seventy-eight of the 82 dogs found were springer spaniels, with one pregnant, one needing major surgery and many with "sores all over their bodies", the charity said.

Sisters Megan and Katy were "frozen with fear, emotionally shattered, and terrified of every sound and movement" when they arrived, the Halifax district branch said.

"Megan's coat is stained with urine, it's covered in faeces, and she's completely shut down. It's going to be a very long road to recovery for both of the girls," the shelter's staff said.

After the rescue, the dogs were taken to a number of RSPCA shelters, including the South Yorkshire Animal Centre in nearby Bawtry.

Two of them have already been put into foster care in Sheffield, though RSPCA staff warned that the older dogs could be less adaptable to new situations.

One of the four non-spaniels discovered, a Patterdale terrier who has been named Pepsi, is also in the Sheffield shelter's care.

Five 10-month-old puppies being looked after by the Chesterfield branch have made recoveries "nothing short of miraculous", the shelter wrote on social media.

"Their sores are healing, they have gained weight, and they are learning the ropes of what it is to be puppies: to play, to trust, to love."

The Doncaster, Rotherham and District branch is caring for a mother and two puppies, as well as one dog in recovery from major surgery, it said.

"We have a long road ahead, requiring a great deal of tender loving care, treatment, and rehabilitation for these vulnerable animals," it added.

"Our only goal is to ensure that these dogs get the care, love and patience they so very deserve so that we can rehabilitate and rehome when the time is right."

The York, Harrogate and District Branch is preparing for the arrival of yet more spaniels, with "one brave girl" expecting puppies "very soon", it said.

It is holding a fundraiser to support the nine dogs currently in its care, charging £2 to enter a naming suggestion into a random draw.

"Now, as they begin their journey to recovery, we want to give these puppies something they've never had before – a name and a future filled with hope," it wrote on social media.

One spaniel's basic care costs about £400, according to the Halifax shelter, meaning more than £41,000 is needed across the local branches, which do not get funding from the central RSPCA.

South Yorkshire Police have now passed the investigation into the dogs' ordeal to the RSPCA's inspectors.

Residents of Tickhill have shared their shock on social media at the decrepit condition of the house, believed to be on an isolated lane, and questioned why the animals' living situation was not reported to authorities earlier.

The first flamingo egg of 2025 has been laid at Paradise Park in Cornwall.

It was found on Saturday and keeper Becky Waite said the team were "very happy".

Ms Waite said the park, in Hayle, was more "hopeful" this year after the expectant parents Penelope and Colin – named after the characters on Bridgerton – lost their chick in 2024.

"Colin and Penelope are our first flamingos to lay an egg this year but we also have Derek and a Doris and we're hoping in the next week they will also lay an egg," she said.

'Little mud nests'

She added: "They will both take turns in looking after the chick, which will hopefully hatch next month."

To stay up to date with the egg's progress, members of the public can watch a live webcam on Paradise Park's website.

Ms Waite said: "There's a lot happening and anyone can access that and see what they're up to.

"They're hilarious, watching them in their little pairs going around and sorting out their little mud nests."

Ms Waite described flamingo chicks as having a "white fluff ball" appearance because they are not naturally pink.

She said they then turn grey, before turning pink after their first birthday due to their diet.

A dog died after being shot with an air rifle near a public footpath, police said.

The incident took place between 16:00 BST and 16:30 in Undley, near Lakenheath, on Sunday.

Suffolk Police said the animal, a red Hungarian Vizsla, was attacked in the Undley Road area.

Officers have urged anyone with information to get in touch.

A man who was attacked in a pub in Leominster last week has died from his injuries, police have said.

The 63-year-old victim was left in a critical condition in the attack, at about 23:00 BST last Tuesday, at the Dukes Head pub on Corn Square.

Detectives arrested a 33-year-old woman on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and West Mercia Police said she had been released on bail while inquiries continued.

"This is a tragic incident and our thoughts remain with the family of the man who has died," Det Sgt Shelley Aplin said.

"We're working hard to understand the circumstances that led to the man's death and our investigation is ongoing."

The victim of the attack has not yet been identified.

First Minister John Swinney will host a summit in a bid to prevent knife crime less than a month after a teenager was murdered on a beach.

Kayden Moy, 16, died in hospital following the attack in Irvine, which came two months after Amen Teklay, 15, was fatally stabbed in Glasgow.

Police Scotland have made arrests in connection with both investigations.

Last week it was announced funding for the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) will rise by 7% to more than £1.2m – a reversal on earlier plans to cut its budget by £35,500.

On the same weekend Kayden was attacked there was also a stabbing at Portobello beach in Edinburgh, resulting in a 16-year-old being charged with attempted murder.

Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs said the incidents demonstrated the "tragic consequences" of carrying knives.

The summit, on Thursday, also comes ahead of a march against knife crime later this month.

It has been organised by the family of Kory McCrimmon, who was 16 when he was fatally stabbed in May last year in a park in the city's east end.

Last month a 14-year-old boy was locked up for five years for killing the teenager in fight over £50.

Despite the high-profile recent murders Police Scotland said that the total number of serious assaults by 11 to 18-year-olds fell 27% between 2019/20 and 2024/25 from 428 to 313.

An additional £82,000 funding for the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit was announced this week.

Medics Against Violence and the Mentors in Violence Prevention programme also received extra money for the new financial year.

The summit will include the justice and education secretaries, ministers for children and for victims and community safety, cross-party MSPs, youth workers and community programmes.

It follows discussions led by Swinney to hear young people and families' experiences and ideas on possible solutions.

The event will focus on education and community engagement with young people and possible strategies to prevent them from turning to anti-social behaviour or carrying a weapon.

'No place for violence'

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: "Scotland remains a safe place to live.

"But more needs to be done to change the attitudes and behaviours of some who are at risk of violence, or young people considering carrying a weapon.

"There is no place for violence in Scotland and anyone who commits a crime will face the consequences."

Ms Constance said it was vital to tackle the root causes of violence.

She added: "We all must work together to help young people feel safe and realise that carrying a knife is never the answer."

But Scottish Conservatives justice spokesman Liam Kerr called the summit a "talking shop" and said stronger action was needed.

He added: "The scale of this problem demands immediate attention before more young lives are lost.

"Warm words and empty platitudes simply won't cut it when young Scots are living in fear."

Three teenage boys – aged 14, 15, and 16 – have been arrested and charged in connection with the death of Amen, an Eritrean refugee, in Glasgow on 5 March.

Kayden Moy, of East Kilbride, was critically injured on Irvine Beach, North Ayrshire, on 17 May and died in hospital.

In recent weeks, three teenage boys – two aged 17 and a 14-year-old – have appeared in court charged with his murder.

About 170,000 meals have been donated to foodbanks, community kitchens and homeless shelters through a deer culling scheme in East Sussex.

In the most recent season, between November and March, 884 fallow doe were culled in Ashdown Forest, made famous by AA Milne's Winnie the Pooh and his fictional home 100-Acre-Wood.

SJ Thomas, chief executive of food poverty charity The Country Food Trust, said: "Protein is the most expensive food group, it's therefore the least likely to be donated to a foodbank."

Animal rights group Peta said the deer population did not need to be managed and that culling caused a "rebound" as it led to a spike in the food supply for the surviving animals.

The most recent season was the first time the meat had been donated through The Country Food Trust, with almost 70 foodbanks benefiting, the charity said.

It has already been agreed that the scheme will continue during the next culling season.

Deer are culled as over-grazing can prevent the regeneration of woodland, which can have a knock-on impact on other species – including dormice and butterflies, the charity added.

Ms Thomas said there were an estimated two million deer in the country and 750,000 needed to be culled every year in order to keep the population under control.

At the start of 2024, the deer population in Ashdown Forest was estimated to be three-times higher than what it should have been.

Ms Thomas said: "By us culling 884 fallow does, it's the equivalent of saving 40,000 deer being on the land in the next 10 years."

The charity has been in talks with other locations across the UK to see if similar food donation schemes can be put in place.

"I'm making sure that the food goes to people in need," Ms Thomas added.

A Peta spokesperson said: "If killing actually reduced animal populations, lethal methods wouldn't be proposed year after year.

"Humans owe it to these gentle animals, whose habitat has been taken from them, to find humane, sustainable methods of population control – and that doesn't mean gunning them down and using them as sandwich filler."

The Ashdown Forest Trust has been contacted for a comment.

The number of people who had contracted a parasitic infection after attending calf and lamb feeding sessions at a farm in south Wales has risen to 81.

Seven new cases of cryptosporidium have been confirmed since last week, all linked to visits to Cowbridge Farm Shop at Marlborough Grange Farm in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, during March and April.

Public Health Wales (PHW) said the infection has led to 16 people requiring hospital care for at least one night, including a four-year-old boy.

The farm shop, which the BBC has approached for comment, has voluntarily suspended its feeding and petting sessions on 29 April and is cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation, PHW said.

A sofa dumped by the side of a road in Gloucestershire has become an unlikely tourist attraction.

The two-seater settee was abandoned on wasteland in the middle of the village of Lydbrook at the beginning of April.

Despite fly-tipping being illegal and punishable by large fines or even prison time, more furniture has since been added and the site has become a popular resting spot.

Local photographer Alex Elton-Wall has now taken the portraits of more than 140 nearby residents at the "homely" site.

"It was just the sofa," he said. "But then a coffee table, hatstand, lampshade and a potted plant turned up, so now it's the Lydbrook Lounge."

Fly-tipping is illegal and so dumping waste in this way is a criminal offence. Anyone caught fly-tipping can receive an unlimited fine if prosecuted criminally, or up to five years in prison.