„ Booze hounds

A bar in London is serving up drinks to a new breed of booze hounds, offering “puptails” such as a Bloodhound Mary or Barkarita to dogs brought along by their owners for a drink.

“I think everyone wants to have a life. When you are a dog carer, dog parent, you do feel quite bad if you leave them alone,” said Jamie Swan, who opened the “After Bark” bar and cafe in June.

It serves plant-based refreshments and snacks to those for whom man’s best friend can also be a drinking partner.

The dog drinks skip the alcohol, but the canines can enjoy a “Howlapaw Sling” of raw carrot juice or a “Great Expawlor” tray full of shots of apple and raw beet juices.

Owners and their pets can also share Lick & Mix treats.

“You can have them yourself. You could share them with your dog,” Swan said.

Sharing a social life as well as home time with pets is a way to ease the anxiety some families are feeling after the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, she said.

“Especially with problems at the moment, with separation anxiety being an issue for people who have welcomed dogs into their lives.”

After Bark is the latest venture from the “Barkney Wick” dog and human community centre in the capital’s Hackney Wick area.

On Thursday evening, many customers were new owners who had adopted their pets during lockdown.

Abigail Davis adopted Coco the pug after working from home left her feeling she could give the dog the attention it needed. Labrador Bertie was picked up by owners

Tom and Laurence in February for the same reason.

“I’m a huge fan of cocktails ... so love to come down here Thursday, Friday, and also it’s so nice to be able to bring him along and know that he can enjoy himself in a relaxed atmosphere,” Dom Moore said.

For those who think wining and dining together is a step too far, the centre also offers dog day-care services and a cafe in the daytime until the doors to After Bark open. — Reuters.

„ Quarantine escape

A man in the Australian city of Perth escaped mandatory quarantine in a hotel by scaling down a rope made of tied together bedsheets from a fourth-floor window, police said last week.

After arriving in the West Coast city on an interstate flight from Brisbane, the man had his application for entry refused under the state’s tough border entry rules intended to stop the virus entering from elsewhere in the country.

The man was told to leave the state within 48 hours and taken to a hotel for temporary quarantine, but just before 1am last Tuesday “he climbed out a window of the fourth floor room using a rope made of bed sheets and fled the area”, Western Australia Police said in a Facebook post.

They also posted photos the makeshift rope hanging from a window on the brick building’s top floor down to the street.

Police arrested the man across town about eight hours later and charged him with failing to comply with a direction and providing “false/misleading information”. They did not disclose the man’s identity except to say that he was aged 39 and tested negative to the virus, nor did they give a reason for his alleged actions. — Reuters.