December 10, 2020 – Why did the chicken cross the road? Well, to go to the dućan (store) with his owner, of course! Residents bewildered to see one man taking his pet chicken shopping in the city streets of Split.

Understanding Croatia is often like looking through a kaleidoscope – the closer you look, the more it shifts in and out of the focus of comprehension. Nowhere is that more true than in the seaside city of Split.

Visitors are not the only ones to see this. Split's inhabitants know it too. Despite its reputation for the unorthodox, happenings in Split are still capable of raising the eyebrows of those who live there. And, that was certainly the case a couple of days ago, when residents of the Gripe neighbourhood were bewildered to see one man going shopping accompanied by his pet chicken. Their casual walk to the shops, which sees the pet chicken being led on the kind of leash you'd more usually find on a dog, was captured on video. It is one of the more curious chick flicks TCN has seen this year.

Gripe in Split is a family neighbourhood, known for its sporting facilities and the old fortifications which lie on the hill after which it is named. Even in times of social distancing, it's not uncommon to find neighbours milling around, chatting to each other on a weekend morning. Their idle gossip was given egg-stra fuel on Saturday when the man and his pet chicken made their remarkable hen-trance.

As the weather across Croatia turns colder, this is the traditional time for pigs to be turned into the sausages and bacon that will last through the winter. The chickens and turkeys are safe for now, although only for another week or so. Perhaps this timing egg-splains the walking of the pet chicken? Maybe the owner didn't want to let the prize bird out of his sight so close to Christmas? Or perhaps, given that a camera seems to have been at the ready to film their exploits, the walking of the pet chicken was just a welcome moment of tomfoolery? Whichever it may be, the footage does have an endearing quality. Poultry in motion, if you will.

November 11, 2020 – Entrepreneur Ženja Moskaljov and his associate Iva Antolić turned a great idea into a good business move and set up the first pet food vending machine on Mainz Street in Zagreb.

As Večernji list / Mateja Ježovita reports, the owner of the vending machine with five food products, Ženja Moskaljov, and his associate Iva Antolić placed the machine in front of the Dog & Style store on Grada Mainza Street in Zagreb. After extensive research, they say, they are almost certain that it is the only such apparatus in Europe, as there is no record of any other.

Insert coins, treats come out – but for dogs!

Put in coins or banknotes, grab a juice, snacks, coffee, chocolate… And go. This is roughly how self-service vending machines work, which we can see at almost every turn in waiting rooms, various institutions, health care institutions, bakeries... They are simple and practical. Two colleagues came to the idea to put food and other things for animals inside them, and so the first self-service pet food vending machine in Croatia was created. Well, not only in Croatia.

"There is no such machine in Croatia or the region. The only thing I managed to find on the Internet is that similar models are found in China," Moskaljov points out.

He got the idea for the pet food vending machine at a business lunch in June, when he talked with a friend and business partner about vending machines, so the thought came that he could offer products for animals as well.

"Then he helped me to and connected me with the company Automatik servis from Buzet, which sold me the device," the entrepreneur says.

The vending machine has been in front of the store since August, it works from 0 to 24, and you can buy basic products such as daily meals, sweets, toys, garbage bags… That is, what every pet owner needs almost daily.

More pet food vending machines to come

"We have carefully studied which products are best sold when customers go for a walk with the dog or hang out in cafes where pets can have fun with their treats and while the store is not open. We left the prices the same as in the store, and they range from 10 to 25 kuna," says Moskaljov.

They plan to have two more locations this year where they would install the same vending machine, but they have not revealed the addresses yet. And in addition to the success of the vending machine, he is also satisfied with the work of the store he opened seven years ago.

"In the beginning, it was just one type of food and a very scarce supply of dog equipment in a much smaller store. As the need for new products and services grew, so did the range change and supplement, so that the crown of the five-year business would be the opening of a new store. And with the new ‘three in one’ concept, which includes a pet shop, a veterinary pharmacy, and a dog grooming salon. So that pet owners can get everything in one place. The company's revenues continue to grow from month to month, not at the rates from the beginning, but compared to 2019, they are certainly 60 percent higher," said the entrepreneur proudly.

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The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS) has become well known for its witty Facebook statuses over the past couple of years or so, but not everything can be looked back at with a giggle. An animal in danger is one of them.

From warning tourists and other would-be mountaineers to perhaps refrain from trying to tackle mountains in the summer sunshine with no water and wearing only flip flops, to letting those who fancy themselves as Olympic swimmers that that pretty little island over there is actually a lot further away than it looks from the mainland, the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, made up of generous volunteers from all types of jobs and walks of life, has been making us laugh in spite of the often ridiculous and downright dangerous scenarios they continually need to rescue people from.

Of course, not all of these stories and scenarios can have a funny spin put on them, and when it comes to abandoned animals suffering and in danger at the hands of careless humans, there can be no jokes. What there can be, however, is a very happy (and lucky) ending.

As Index writes on the 29th of December, 2018, as the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service reported, during the excavation of a cave in the area of Bratiškovci (Šibenik-Knin County), members of SOS HKP "Sveti Mihovil", which included four members of HGSS Šibenik who were the leaders of this expedition, heard the distressed barking and whining of a dog coming from somwhere in the dark and unwelcoming cave.

They immediately embarked on an action to locate and rescue the injured and underweight, clearly mistreated animal. Using specialist speleological techniques, the unlucky, unwell and frightened dog was located and pulled out of the cave to safety. Given the fact that when 112 was called, not one of the competent associations bothered to even respond, the dog was taken to safety and is currently being housed at the "Sea" (More) apothecary.

The members of HGSS Šibenik, as well as members of SOS "Sveti Mihovil", once again demonstrated their bravery, humanity and superior ability and talent to deal with serious situations in potentially dangerous caves.

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Have you ever wondered what Uhljebistan means? We use the word a lot here at TCN and often are quick to forget that not everyone will be aquainted with it (lucky them). In brief, the word encompasses uhljebs - those individuals typically working in Croatia's numerous state bodies who want nothing more than to make your life needlessly complicated, for no gain, and then hopefully charge you a few kuna along the way.

If you'd like to take a more in depth journey into the world of Uhljebistan, click here and get to know some of the apparently unstoppable yet totally useless, self-important and self-serving cogs of the Croatian state.

You'd think that in this day and age, where people often love animals more than they do other people, placing a few signs on the street letting the world know you've lost your beloved pet and would like to find them, would be no problem at all. In fact, you'd think it would be encouraged. Apparently not, at least not in Osijek.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 28th of November, 2018, after her seven-year-old Siamese cat disappeared, one Osijek resident decided to place some signs in her neighbourhood letting others know about the cat's disappearance, and offering a reward for anyone who finds the cat. Soon after, the woman's mother, whose phone number was placed as a contact number on the sign, received an unexpected call. Instead of it being someone with news of the cat's whereabouts on the other end of the line, it was a communal officer, writes Glas Slavonije.

"He told her [her mother] that we had two hours come and remove all the signs, because we'd otherwise have to pay 1,000 kuna for each sign. I have to admit that we'd put many signs up, and we mostly put them on bus stops, that is, at higher levels, on poles, etc. I saw a lot of ads put up in such places, so I didn't think that I wouldn't be permitted to put a poster up about my missing cat. As soon as we were cautioned, we went and removed all of them,'' said the woman, whose publication on Facebook has been shared a lot, namely by other rightly irritated animal lovers.

So, if you've lost your cat, make sure you're willing to pay a ridiculous amount of money to put up an innocent sign asking your fellow local residents for help, because God forbid someone goes without making money from your problems.

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Fines await those who fail to pick up their animals' faeces, those who let their animals wander and/or breed without control or supervision, and those keep their dogs on chains or outdoors.

The Animal Protection Association has stated that the first two blocks should have been opened in April last year, but everything was just done on a promise.

New, responsible rules for pet owners in Karlovac.

Remember that dream you always had as a kid about taking your pet to school with you? Well, the students might be a bit older than you were when that thought first struck you, but one faculty in Osijek is making it possible!

We've written about so many festivals and various manifestations this summer, we've lost track. With such an insane number of attractive events – be it music and film festivals, gourmet bonanzas and other pleasant activities people tend to enjoy, a certain audience group gets overlooked most of the time.