Snout for trout

From the wires:

A pig in China has started to catch fish from a pond for its supper.

Han, the pig's owner, created a small pond for breeding tropical fish, at her home in Dahangou village, Zhenping. She gave up on the venture when the market price for the fish dropped - but found she still had one eager customer.

"I was amazed to see that the pig I raised is helping himself to fish from the pond," she told the Eastern Asia Trade and Economic News. "It steps into the shallow water, catches fish in its mouth and happily eats them on the spot."

Han said she was happy for the pig to help itself to the fish rather than let them go to waste. "Maybe it just decided it wanted a bit more protein in its diet," she added.

Dental treatment, artificial limbs and a hernia operation... all given to animals

A series of reports are emerging on the latest medical care being recieved by animals. While all attempts to undertake medical care on animals is of course welcome, perhaps most incredible of all is the hernia operation recently performed on Carla the angelfish.

Vets at the London Aquarium used anaesthetic, a scalpel, a needle and forceps to perform the operation, who is a 10-year veteran of the popular tourist attraction. Happily, Carla has now made a full recovery and is once again pleasing visitors in the Caribbean tropical fish display tank.

Another case of animal medicine to come to life is that of Riley the horse, who was lucky enough to receive a prosthetic leg in a pioneering operation that is being credited with saving her life.

In addition to general surgery, there have been significant advances in recent years in the field of animal dentistry. Henry the puffer fish was given an emergency tooth extraction after coming off worse in a fight with a stingray half his size. The stingray, named Clyde, has been relocated to another aquarium, while Henry is still contentedly passing out his days at the Sea Life Adventure centre in Southend, Essex.

Meanwhile, in India, a British dentist has been giving extensive dental treatment to tigers and bears living in a rescue centre run by International Animal Rescue.