The year's best animal stories
Britain is said to be a nation of animal lovers, and our readers are constantly proving this, with stories about animals always doing well and prompting lots of debate.
Back in May dog owners were warned to be vigilant when walking their pet pooches at a Midlands beauty spot, after Nushka, a two-year-old husky, was bitten twice in just 10 days by an adder. Luckily Nushka survived the near-fatal attacks, but her vets bills cost her owners a whopping £1,500.
It wasn't such a lucky escape for a Willenhall woman who claimed £16,000 worth of benefits, claiming that she had difficulty walking. However, footage showing Susan Malpas parading her dog at a show suggested otherwise.
A Staffordshire inventor paid a bit more thought to his idea when he came up with a bright new invention: miniature cameras attached to horses' tails to capture abuse riders face on the roads. It was a success and within a week of the launch inventor David Daley had already received 50 orders.
Emma Thickbroom thought she had a leak in her home when she started hearing a tickling sound in the wall. So the mother-of-one was in for a shock when she heard a loud crack and the living room of her home in Wolverhampton was filled with wasps. Pictures from Ms Thickbroom's house showed her floor coated with dead wasps.
Back in September the Cannock Chase cat made an alleged appearance and was captured on camera. Sadly the reader who took the photograph wasn't able to get close enough to verify if it indeed was the moggy of legend, meaning that the mystery remains unsolved...
