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Billy Loughnane, on track to become Britain's youngest champion jockey on the Flat since 1909, has had his bid hit by a 21-day ban imposed by stewards at Southwell. The ban was for riding a horse back to the unsaddling enclosure after it had been scratched from a race on vets' orders.Loughnane's mount, Beelzebub, was deemed lame following a veterinary examination after being kicked at the start. Loughnane has appealed against both the finding and the penalty. If his appeal is unsuccessful, he will be sidelined from April 9 to April 30, missing key meetings like the Craven meeting at Newmarket and the Greenham Stakes at Newbury.The 20-year-old jockey, currently 6-4 to take the 2026 jockeys' championship, aims to win the title. A three-week absence early in the turf campaign will be frustrating for Loughnane. The current market sees Oisin Murphy, the reigning champion, at 4-6, with Rossa Ryan at 10-1 and others at 12-1.In other racing news, Eternal Force is a strong contender for the Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster, with trainer William Haggas having a strong record in the race. Haggas has won the Lincoln a record five times, with four of those successes coming since 2007.

A second set of mountain gorilla twins has been born in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), marking what conservationists are calling an extraordinary event for these endangered primates.Just two months after twin mountain gorillas were discovered by rangers in the Virunga massif in eastern DRC, another rare twin birth has been found by park wardens. This time, an infant male and female have been spotted in the Baraka family, a troop of 19 mountain gorillas that roam the region's high-altitude rainforests.Park rangers have placed the young primates under additional monitoring to help them through the critical initial months, as the infants face significant challenges to becoming fully grown adults. Twins are extremely rare in mountain gorillas, accounting for less than 1% of births, and place extra demands on the mother.The gorilla subspecies, found in only two isolated pockets of the Virunga massif and the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in southwest Uganda, has high rates of infant mortality, with about a quarter falling victim to disease, trauma or infanticide.In January, Virunga National Park announced that a female mountain gorilla called Mafuko had given birth to twins. The infant males are now 11 weeks old and said to be thriving, with other gorillas in the troop taking extra care of the mother to support her caregiving, according to rangers. Park authorities believe that twin births are more likely when females are in particularly good physical condition.Jacques Katutu, the head of gorilla monitoring at Virunga, said: "Two instances of twin births within three months is an extraordinary event and provides another vital indicator that dedicated conservation efforts, which have continued despite the current instability in eastern Congo, continue to support the growth of the endangered mountain gorilla population within Virunga National Park."Specialist veterinary care has played a leading role in the revival of the subspecies. In Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC, organizations such as the Gorilla Doctors have prevented dozens of deaths by helping animals affected by human behavior, such as by releasing gorillas accidentally caught in poachers' traps. One study attributes half of the mountain gorillas' population increase to the vets.Barely 250 mountain gorillas were left in the 1970s, and many thought the animals faced extinction. Decades of intense conservation work helped population numbers surpass 1,000 in 2018, and conservation authorities have since downgraded the subspecies' status from critically endangered to endangered.The DRC section of the Virunga mountain range remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for wildlife rangers. Over the past 20 years, more than 220 rangers have been killed in the park, where rebel groups such as M23 and other militias, as well as bandits, operate with impunity.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has concluded its investigation into vet chains, finding that pet owners have overpaid roughly £1bn in fees over five years. This significant finding has led to the implementation of new rules aimed at making the market work better for consumers.The veterinary sector has undergone a rapid transformation, with 60% of vet practices now wholly or partly owned by one of six large groups, three of which are owned by private equity investors. This shift has resulted in higher prices for pet owners, with large veterinary groups (LVGs) charging more for their services.The CMA's investigation revealed that pet owners are willing to pay more for services at LVGs, despite a strong preference for independent vets. The new rules will require vets to publish prices, itemize bills, and clearly indicate when a practice is part of a chain. Additionally, the fee for writing a prescription will be capped at £21, and complaints processes will be strengthened.The Veterinary Surgeons Act of 1966 is set to be updated, with proposals including the creation of a new regulator with powers over businesses and individuals, as well as protection of the job title 'veterinary nurse'. These changes aim to address the lack of transparency and accountability in the veterinary sector.The overhaul of the UK veterinary market serves as a lesson in how an old-fashioned market can be swallowed up by larger, more profit-oriented businesses. The CMA's review of the veterinary sector is part of a broader effort to examine private dentistry and other markets.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has taken a significant step to address concerns over the rising costs of veterinary services. Following a two-and-a-half-year investigation, the CMA has found that the £6.7bn market lacks strong competition, with large chains dominating the industry. As a result, pet owners have faced huge price rises and been left in the dark about bills.The CMA has ordered vets to cap prescription fees at £21 for the first medicine and £12.50 for any additional drugs. This move is expected to save pet owners hundreds of pounds. Additionally, vets must now inform pet owners that medicines may be cheaper online and provide a written estimate in advance for any treatment expected to cost £500 or more.Public satisfaction with the cost of services was found to be low, with the CMA noting that average prices of vet services had risen sharply, by 63%, between 2016 and 2023. The watchdog also found internal documents from some large veterinary groups that linked price increases to an expectation that pet owners would not react by purchasing less or switching away.The CMA has also proposed a cost comparison website to increase competition and drive down costs. Large groups will be required to make clear that individual vet practices are part of a chain, and pet owners can expect to see changes before Christmas, including standard price lists.The measures have been welcomed by some in the industry, with CVS and Vets for Pets expressing their support for the changes. However, the British Veterinary Association president, Rob Williams, noted that delivering highly skilled veterinary medicine is costly and that prices have risen sharply in recent years due to various factors, including higher costs experienced by all businesses.

The United Kingdom's growing fascination with doodle breeds may require reconsideration following new research indicating that certain designer crossbreed dogs display more behavioral problems than their purebred ancestors.Crossbreeds between poodles and other canine varieties have surged in popularity across the UK, driven by the belief that these dogs will be hypoallergenic, healthy, and child-friendly.However, the study published in Plos One has discovered that cockapoos (cockerspaniel-poodle mixes) and cavapoos (cavalier king charles spaniel-poodle mixes) demonstrate more undesirable behaviors than their respective purebred parent breeds.The research team, led by scientists at the Royal Veterinary College, analyzed comprehensive data from 3,424 crossbreed and 5,978 purebred dogs through owner questionnaires focusing on cockapoo, labradoodle, cavapoo, cocker spaniel, labrador retriever, cavalier king charles spaniel, and poodle owners.The questionnaire assessed owner demographics, expectations, training methods, and included 73 behavioral questions that generated ratings across 12 different behavior scales.Cockapoos exhibited significantly more problematic behaviors than poodles on six different scales, including owner-directed aggression, stranger-directed aggression, dog rivalry, non-social fear, separation-related problems, and excitability.When compared to cocker spaniels, cockapoos additionally showed increased undesirable behaviors in dog-directed aggression, stranger-directed fear, dog-directed fear, and trainability.Cavapoos demonstrated different behavioral patterns compared to poodles on three scales and performed worse than cavalier king charles spaniels on eight of the nine scales where differences were observed.Labradoodles showed better behavioral scores than poodles across all six differing scales but performed worse than labradors on all five scales where differences were found.Professor Daniel Mills of the University of Lincoln, not involved in the study, emphasized that behavior results from the complex interaction between genetics and environment. He noted that cultural factors, including differences in owner behavior and training approaches between breeds, likely contribute significantly to the observed variations.The study authors recommend that potential dog owners should thoroughly investigate breed characteristics during pre-purchase research to avoid making uninformed decisions about breed selection.