This soldier, I realized, must have had friends at home and in his regiment; yet he lay there deserted by all except his dog. I looked on, unmoved, at battles which decided the future of nations. Tearless, I had given orders which brought death to thousands. Yet here I was stirred, profoundly stirred, stirred to tears. And by what? By the grief of one dog.
— Napoleon Bonaparte, quoted in Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène by Cases De Las
Tag: dogs
Nipclub June 18, 2026: Sekurity Update
Nipclub, June 18th, 2026, Sekurity Update by Slinky, @Slinky_the_Cat, Sekurity Agent, Late Nite shift
Game and fish night? We’ve gone fishing!
I had a squad car, a nifty uniform, and I checked fishing licenses. Gator, Pearl, Jeego, and the usual crowd were there, and Moo had just finished her barktending shift, so she will return later.
I had to check Jeego’s fishing license as she had a huge golden fish. Is that legal? Pearl served Hamm’s beer and custom ‘gone fishing’ cookies while I questioned Jeego. She said, “No license,” so I blew my whistle and ran after her.
Jeego ran off while Gator asked if cats could fish without a license. I said, “Not in this park!” I wrote Jeego a ticket, but Jeego had disappeared! I figured she wouldn’t hide for very long, especially when we started grilling all the fish that we’d legally caught.
Pearl served up some salmon Gator made; butterflied, grilled and served with lemon slices and ocean-blue cocktails with candy fish floating in them.
Mizz Bassie showed up. Everyone was busily chatting; I couldn’t keep up as I had to go out and patrol the park.
Raven showed up and said something about her human rinsing hair dye out of her hair. Sounds like a typical human thing to do, dyeing their fur!
Jeego still lurked about, and Pearl served blackened fish with lemon and butter, with a selection of wines. TJS arrived and LATE NITE started on time. We drank wine and snarfed down buttery fish.
Bunty showed up; haven’t seen him for ages! He’s a major in the Zombie Squad, ZSHQ. Louis arrived and negotiated with Angus for DJ booth rights and playlists for LATE NITE.
Chefs in the Nipclub kitchens prepared a special dessert, maple pecan sourdough pudding cake à la mode! Wow meow! Oh, and flying fish-flavored beer. No, wait! Flying Fish brand lemon-flavored beer!
We danced to goth symphonic metal music (Nightwish), served up by Louis in the DJ booth! We all danced! However, Louis had a counterpoint music set with Jimmy Buffett songs! What a contrast! I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Louis found some techno with throat singing that was mind-blowing! I’m a new fan of Ummet Ozcan! Louis killed it with the more obscure music, such as Lacuna Coil, and in a total counterattack, Angus played Christopher Cross, “Sailing!” Then Nightwish vs. another Christopher Cross song. It was the weirdest musical combination I’d ever witnessed.
After Pearl went home, I made some blue drinks in fish-shaped tumblers and smoked salmon canapés. Then I caught Angus fishing illegally, so I wrote him a ticket. As I gave it to him, I mentioned paying a fine, and he asked what it was: Could he pay $5 or could he clean up the bar? Angus tried to get out of the fine and tried to convince me he could sing for his supper. No way; clean up or sign up for the 16-hour online course about fishing rules and etiquette. Gator asked if there was a test, and Angus considered his options.
Louis went back into the DJ booth and played a few rock songs by Ghost and Rob Zombie. He played a classic Rob Zombie tune, “Dracula,” to close out the night.
Moo showed up for a final nightcap and snack, and I escorted her to her car and closed down the bar. I never found Jeego again, so I’ll mail the ticket or save it until next week!
Until next week!
Slinky the Cat
We’re back!
Good evening everyone! It’s Bart from TJ and Bart! How are you?
Dis is TJ. We know it’s been a while since you heard from us. But we are back now!
Bart: Yeah, we were on vacation.
TJ, Bart, we’re dogs. Life is a vacation.
Bart: Yeah, but dis was an official one
TJ: Oh? What makes it an official one?
Bart: We sleep more!
TJ: Dat makes sense!
Bart: Anyway, Anipal Times readers, no more vacations! We will have a new column every week!
TJ: We got lots to say! About how humans like to put heartworm pills in dose pill pockets!
Bart: We know what dat’s about! That topic will wait for another time.
TJ: Also, we are going to talk about why we doggos don’t want to walk when it is wet outside.
Bart: We need to be patient with our humans, but stwange they can’t figure that one out
TJ: What else should we write about?
Bart: Well, July 4th is next month, so we can talk about how we hate fireworks.
TJ: Good idea! Fireworks suck!
Bart: Why do hoomans like loud things? No sense!
TJ: No sense at all. Anyway, Anipal Times readers, you can see we have great things to write about!
Bart: Yes! It’s good to be back. Tell us about something you wants us to write about!
TJ: Yes, we will read your ideas in between naps! Until next time!
Nipclub June 11, 2026: Sekurity Update
Nipclub Sekurity Report, Thursday, June 11, 2026, Late Shift
We were in Australia tonight for the historic gold rush! It’s a ye olde timey party with grainy, sepia-toned avatars. Harvey, K-Boi, and Pearl were here, as was chef and fashion designer Gator.
While spelunking near Lightning Ridge, prior to arriving, I discovered an opal, though no gold. Lightning Ridge produced the world’s best black opals. We were basically camping and having fun panning for bits of gold, and we had the best provisions.
Pearl made beautifully moist skillet brownies as our starter; sweet treats for the miners! Pearl mentioned she found one small opal some time ago.
Raven was lurking, and K-Boi mentioned horrendously windy weather where he is: 65 miles per hour winds! What? Pearl said that’s normal where she is. Whoa! That seemed like a hurricane to me.
Tiger Tommy, the NASCAR kitty, showed up! He’d been in the outback DJ booth and snuck out and surprised us. He’s filling in for Alfie tonight. Tiger Tommy played Australian bands like AC/DC, the Split Endz, and more. He’s usually here much earlier, so I rarely see him.
Pearls served some savories, such as Shepherd’s pie and sausage rolls. There was a delicious stew, too. Apparently, typical outback miner grub!
If this is what the miners were eating, then sign me up!
Mizz Bassie showed up just in time for our feast! Pearl showed us a cool, vintage advertisement from what looked like the 1950s that featured slices of Treat lunch meat with pineapple.
The colors and graphics were excellent. Treat is like Spam, but a unique brand; a Spam analogue. So we talked about Treat vs. Spam. Very exciting discussion!
Harvey’s human took a painting workshop, and he showed us a work in progress, a beautiful illustration of a frog prince. It looked like the artist used watercolor paints, and the vibrant colors included greens with purple and pink.
LATE NITE began with more Australian music!
Pearl served us some Aussie cheesecake jelly slices that were something new to a few of us. Its appearance was quite striking, featuring cookie crumbs at its foundation, cheesecake within, plus a vivid fruit gelatin layer crowning it.
It was superb!
Pearl and Mizz Bassie became too tired to stay any later, and then Raven left so it was the LATE LATE NITE crew, and I was behind the bar.
Moo arrived late, just in time for me to open a nice bottle of Australian Shiraz and pour 2 glasses as she sat at the bar.
LATE NITE turned into a music-sharing session again, with The Hu, Digeridoo music, Somelinez, etc. We listened to all kinds of cool music: throat singing, indigenous voices, heavy metal bagpipes, and shamisen!
Our fun was so great that we lost track of time and LATE NITE continued an hour later than planned.
I served mini Shepards pies, coffee and cognac for our nightcaps. The discussion and listening were rewarding, as we all learned some new musical influences.
Until next week!
Slinky_the_Cat, NipClub Sekurity
Midge Comic–Snow in May
Nipclub June 4, 2026: Sekurity Update
Nipclub, June 4th, 2026, Sekurity Update by Slinky, @Slinky_the_Cat, Sekurity Agent, Late Nite shift
It’s a psychedelic 60s pawty!
Everyone was excited because Gator was back! He made sekurity the grooviest uniforms; we wore tie-dye suits with matching sunglasses.
Harvey and Raven were there when I arrived. I hadn’t seen Raven for ages! She gave me a kiss on the cheek, which made me blush! Harvey’s mum had a cold, so I asked Pearl to send her a cup of hot tea.
Mizz Bassie showed up in her psychedelic vintage VW bug. Pearl was serving pink petit fours and lava lamp shots. So trippy! Harvey admired Mizz Bassie’s car.
Harvey, Mizz, and Raven talked about the weather, particularly rain, and Harvey said they have a garden where his humans planted round carrots. Gardens are always fun to explore.
Calm security meant no spammers emerged. Our JustGiving link worked great and didn’t attract unwanted spam zombies. I checked the cameras throughout the night, but there was not much to report.
Pearl served a cool cocktail that reminded me of a tiki drink, and I asked if we’d ever had a tiki-themed party? A retro-luau, Trader Vic’s style shindig? No one remembered such an event, and Gator thought it was a fun idea, so he added it to the July pawty lineup.
I’m excited about listening to surf rock, Latin jazz and drinking out of pineapples! Count me in!
Delicious pesto pizza, prepared by Pearl, awaited guests at the bar when TJS arrived promptly to greet attendees.
Gator really loves pesto! We talked about tiki and how to make pesto, including variations with different nuts and herbs, etc. Pearl wasn’t that familiar with it, so we helped her with suggestions and recipes. Pearl said pine nuts grow in her area, so that was a bonus!
After the pizza, she made fresh grilled trout with fruit salsa and more psychedelic cocktails.
LATE NITE crept in, and all the discussion about pesto made us lose track of time so that we forgot about the music! The DJ booth stood empty, prompting me to encourage Angus to play music for us.
While waiting for Angus to get ready, I jumped into the booth and started playing a few late 60s classic songs from The Kinks, Traffic, and The Doors, keeping it psychedelic. Then Angus stepped into the DJ booth and played The Turtles and Simon & Garfunkel. It was so fun tag-teaming the music.
After Pearl left, I made some snacks: violet-colored Aviation cocktails and empanadas. TJS showed up for a proper conversation while we wound it down.
We had a lot of fun towards the end when Angus wore a wreath of flowers on his head and bopped in the DJ booth. We compared tails: his nubby and mine twisted, so we decided we were both special kittehs.
I served a nightcap and then closed the bar. It was too late to stay up any longer!
Until next week!
Slinky the Cat
Nipclub May 26, 2026: Sekurity Update
Nipclub May 28th, 2026, Sekurity Update by Slinky, @Slinky_the_Cat, Sekurity Agent, Late Nite shift
We had a Blue Moon party at Nipclub! The Blue Moon was officially Sunday, May 31st, so the moon was almost full, waxing gibbous, and was quite luminous.
As Gator had no avatars ready that week, I put on an old space-themed android/replicant outfit in my ship prior to my arrival at the bar.
Pearl and K-Boi were there; and Miss Moo had just finished her barktending shift and handed it over to Pearl. Pearl started with the sweets, as was her custom. She served mason jars of Blue Line moonshine and blue macarons! The moonshine was very strong, so I only tasted it.
P and Jeego arrived talking about their coastal weather; they were having a heatwave. Pearl had cloudy, slightly cooler weather in the desert Southwest.
K-Boi mentioned that “da lady” had worked in the yard all day tackling big weeds and he needed to call it a night, so he didn’t stay late. Moo and I sat at the bar before I went on my sekurity rounds, and Pearl served everyone more blue cocktails.
Louis inquired about LATE NITE and noted K-Boi’s rumored DJ role and creation of a unique later playlist. I mentioned that “da lady” was tired, so not likely.
Alfie was in the DJ booth spinning the moon-themed classic music like Moonage Daydream by David Bowie. We love the classic music at Nipclub.
Alfie’s parents got a new rescue kitty; a fluffy brown tabby named Kirby, but his real name is Cerberus. We were excited to hear about Kiby’s story, and Alfie shared some cute photos of the cat.
Mizz Bassie and Harvey Button showed up; we hadn’t seen Harvey for a week! We all helped Alfie pick out a second name for Cerberus / Kirby. I suggested Hades, and then Heracles.
Alfie liked Hades, and there were a few other brilliant suggestions. He started a list of potential names and will review them before they decide on a second name.
Angus filled the tip jar for our charity of the month, Black Cat Rescue, also known as BCR, and helpfully suggested others add to their fund, which helped my security watch. There was not much spammer activity despite all the interest in BCR.
Shortly afterwards, Angus went into the DJ booth and played more moon-themed tunes for LATENITE, and Pearl made blue corn quesadillas with fresh pico de gallo.
We all had a great time eating and drinking spectacular blue-hued cocktails, and we talked about themed music playlists, blue corn, and the recipe for that great Russian Blue cocktail that Pearl made!
As usual, Pearl left after her shift and I carried on behind the bar for a while longer while Louis, Angus, Mizz Bassie, and I chatted about pet nicknames, and I served blue moon-themed snacks and a blueberry tartlet with catpurrccino in blue cups and saucers.
Mizz Bassie wanted tea instead of a coffee drink, so I obliged her with a nice cup of hot tea while I cleaned up. I distributed takeout containers after closing the bar for the evening.
Until next week!
Slinky the Cat
Midge Comic–SQUEEK!
LEAVE IT
Hello everyone!
I have received a rather interesting quandary from a pal. Let’s say their name is Fred. So let’s investigate this dilemma and try to help him.
So dear Fred tells me ….
“I am always finding interesting food stuffs whilst out and about, such as pavement sausage rolls, McD bags with leftovers, bread rolls etc. and although my human says LEAVE IT, the foodstuffs are telling me otherwise. I can hear them each calling me. EAT ME, I AM YUMMY, DO IT YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO. Obs that calling is much louder than any human and makes far more sense to me and so I don’t leave it and often take it. I receive reprimands or sulking, called a “Bad Boy,” when I know this isn’t true. I don’t understand. Can you help me, Uncle Bob?”
So let’s think about this: we know food found is food to eat, that smell is important, and that any pavement sausage rolls are merely a gift from the universe, right?
So morally, you Fred are merely acting with sincerity and enthusiasm.
Humans cannot grasp this idea, unfortunately. Still, we ought to contemplate their viewpoint, recognizing they might hold valid points.
Let us ponder these matters and investigate. Many, err “delicacies” we furs find outdoors can make us seriously ill — fur example, cooked bones, raisins, chocolate, mouldy food, onions, xylitol, wrappers, spoiled meat, and dog furbid intentional nasty things deliberately left out by evil hoos.
Humans ruin these exciting finds and adventures with phrases like “blockages” and “visit to the vet,” and “pooing and sicking like a wrong en” or similar words to the same effect – but they have a point. None of us really want to be poorly or go to the vet unnecessarily, do we?
So for us, I would say that the true quandary we ask ourselves is:
“Do I follow my instincts?””Or trust the anxious human holding the lead?”
One might wisely consider:
If the food is indoors and offered lovingly, eat immediately.If the food is outdoors and suspiciously available, perhaps consult the human oracle first.
Or, to put it more simply:
Dog logic: “Finders keepers.”
Human logic: “Please don’t eat bin food.”
Truth: the human is probably saving your stomach and your dignity (no fur wants to be seen pooing and frowing up, right)?
The hardest part for us furs is that “LEAVE IT” feels deeply unreasonable in the moment and often feels more like a challenge. That smell creates urgency and excitement and calls us to act fast.
We often struggle with impulse control outdoors since scavenging is instinctive, rewarding, and self-reinforcing.
So I say, is it:
Morally evil? Absolutely not.
Understandable? Entirely.
Wise? Regrettably, often not.
So, so take away let’s say that OUR GREATEST VIRTUE MAY BE TO LEARN THAT BOT EVERY INTERESTING SMELL OR FOUND FOOD STUFF IS A GOOD LIFE CHOICE AND TO PERHAPS TRUST OUR HUMANS ON THIS AS THEY HAVE OUR BEST INTERESTS.
What do you think, pals? Are you facing the same dilemma?
OTLFP May 2026 Wrap-Up
Hi everyone!
We kicked off the first show of May with Walnut. What an adventurous pal! It was so much fun listening to the adventures with pals cute chilli crab, green tomato and blue marshmallow.
Then on May 9th, it was a celebration show as it was the 400th show! Celebrating that occasion with a party seemed fitting. Lots of friends joined in the fun, wearing silly hats! Today’s Twitter news even featured us for 2 days!
Then, on 23rd May, we had Bailey, who shared about their friends online and in their neighbourhood. Also, fun chat about favourite snacks and eating with a fork!
We had Alfie on training his hooman on the 30th and shared all the fun and friendship he shares with lots of groups on Twitter.
We also had the exclusive Ruffriders reveal for the ride next month. Polish those bikes, everyone; the riders are off to Madagascar!
In the adoption segment, we also featured lots of pets in rescue needing homes, and hoping that the featured pets find their forever homes soon.
Good luck to Pistachio in Texas with Voice Rescue, Luna Jinxy in Tennessee with Russell Rescue, and several cats in Scotland with Lothian Cat Rescue.
We are also keeping our paws crossed for all the other pets in rescue centres who are all waiting patiently for someone to give them a second chance at a forever home.
We have a fun-filled diary of guests planned for June and beyond, so hopefully, we’ll see you there!
If you have any ideas on guests we could feature, please message @MillieOTLFP @Pixie_Tooth or @OfftheleashFP
So until next time, stay safe, and we look forward to seeing you all for the shows next month.
Love and hugs, Millie, Pixie, and the #OTLFP team
The Anipal Times 