A pet food company is on the hunt for someone to taste test its new dog food, and is willing to pay them a huge sum for the pleasure.
You may have wondered what your dog’s food tastes like. Hell, you may have even had a cheeky nibble in the past. They say that curiosity killed the cat, after all, but everyone forgets the other half of the saying – that satisfaction brought it back.
Fun story – I once accidentally ate one of my dog’s peanut butter cookies, having mistaken it for a focaccia crisp. It actually wasn’t that bad. So as bizarre as this is, I would probably give it a go.
£5,000 is certainly enough to sway me. Oh, and the dog food is all vegan, so you’re not going to find any cheap and nasty animal by-products in there.
To get that £5,000, the successful dog food taster will be required to eat an all-vegan dog food diet for five days.
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They’ll also be expected to keep a daily record of their experience, reporting back – not just on the food’s taste, but also on their mood, energy levels, and bowel movements.
The dog food, created by company OMNI, is entirely plant-based and made up of a mix of sweet potatoes, lentils, brown rice, pumpkin, blueberries, peas and cranberries. It actually sounds pretty tasty.
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The founders have eaten it themselves, and they’re super proud of using human-grade ingredients that are not just ‘good enough’ but actually desirable.
Shiv Sivakumar, co-founder of OMNI, said: “OMNI is a clean label, meaning that it doesn’t have any mysterious ingredients.
“While all dog food has to use human grade ingredients by law, many brands use cheap animal by-products and unwanted leftovers that humans would definitely not want to eat themselves given the choice.
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“We firmly believe that OMNI is good enough for even humans to eat, and more importantly enjoy, that we’re going to put our money where our mouth is.
Image: Omni Pet Food
“We decided to recruit a human taste tester to prove just how tasty and healthy plant-based dog food can be.
“Me and the other founder of OMNI would even eat our products – and we’re sure many other dog food brand producers wouldn’t.
“So, if you are looking to try out a new diet change and earn a little extra on the side, please sign up!”
The successful taste tester will have access to a registered dietician and will be sent a number of recipes over the week. Expenses will be covered on the food, and once the five days of testing is complete the £5,000 payment will be made.
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If you’d like to apply, you can do so here before 31 May. Applicants must be over the age of 18 and live in the UK.
Body of woman found in River Mersey last year finally identified after ‘extensive’ investigation
Emily Sergeant
The body of woman who was found in the River Mersey last year has finally been identified.
Following what has been described as an ‘extensive investigation’ by Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Major Incident Team to determine the identity of the body, which was sadly discovered in the river adjacent to Chorlton Water Park on 21 March 2024, the family of the victim has now been informed and supported by specialist officers.
The victim has been formally named as 38-year-old Laura Stanley, who was originally from Derbyshire but was living in Stockport.
After the body was discovered, and ‘exhaustive and determined’ investigation by GMP officers began to identify here, including detailed checks of both national and international databases.
The Major Incident Team (MIT) also closely worked in collaboration with specialist forensic service providers to create an anthropological profile, which eventually culminated in the creation of a facial reconstruction image.
Following several media appeals, a relative of Laura contacted officers and then a DNA match was confirmed through a familial link.
“Laura was a kind and gentle person with a great sense of fun and adventure,” Laura’s family said in a heartbreaking tribute to her.
“She was generous, thoughtful, caring and always keen to volunteer within the community. Laura was a proud and loving mum and she will be greatly missed by her girls and all of her friends and family who loved her dearly.”
The River Mersey, across from Chorlton Water Park, where Laura’s body was discovered / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
While Laura has now been identified, police say further investigations will take place to understand her last movements, the events that led to her death, and her discovery in the river.
Additionally, as is standard practice, GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate is also reviewing a previous missing report relating to Laura in the time before the discovery of her body, which will determine prior contact relating to Laura, and whether the appropriate measures were enacted.
#UPDATE | A woman who was discovered in the River Mersey last year has been identified following an extensive investigation by officers in GMP’s Major Incident Team.
Thank you to those of you who have shared our appeals over the last year.
Anyone who knew Laura and thinks they may be able to assist with the investigation is asked to contact police by calling 101, or by using the Live Chat Service at gmp.police.uk, quoting log number 1191 of 21 March 2024.
Alternatively, you can contact the Major Incident Team Syndicate 3 directly on 0161 856 9479, or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
It is currently believed that Laura was last seen around January 2024.
Featured Image – GMP
News
More than 70,000 home buyers set to pay thousands after missing stamp duty relief deadline
Emily Sergeant
More than 70,000 home buyers across England are estimated to have missed the stamp duty relief deadline.
This sadly means they’ll be required to fork out thousands of pounds extra.
In case you hadn’t heard, up until yesterday (31 March 2025), anyone who was moving and had bought a home in the past was not required to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax, better-known as just stamp duty, on the portion of the property price up to £250,000.
But from today (1 April), this threshold has now fallen back to £125,000, which unfortunately means that property purchasers are facing an extra £2,500 in moving costs, on average.
While the end of the stamp duty relief will mostly affect those Greater Manchester buyers who had already previously purchased properties, first time buyers are sadly not exempt from the deadline changes too, as their current stamp duty threshold of £425,000 has now fallen back to £300,000 as of today.
Person holding the keys to a new house in their hand / Credit: Maria Ziegler (via Unsplash)
Given that the average property price for a first time buyer-type home is currently around £227,965, according to Rightmove, the new £300,000 threshold may hit those purchasing properties in more expensive areas – particularly the South East.
A third of those estimated 70,000 home buyers who have missed the deadline are thought to be first time buyers.
Leading property platform Rightmove published an analysis in February into just how much of an impact the end of the stamp duty relief would have on home buyers, all while calling on the UK Government to announce a short extension to the deadline to help people in the middle of the property purchasing process avoid potentially thousands of pounds in extra moving costs.
But despite these calls from industry leaders, there was no extension to the deadline announced in the last week’s latest Spring Statement.
“It’s extremely disappointing that the Government has not used the Spring Statement as an opportunity to extend the impending stamp duty deadline for those currently going through the home-moving process,” commented Rightmove’s property expert Colleen Babcock.
“We estimate over 70,000 people are going to miss the deadline and complete in April instead, and a third of those are first time buyers.”
Georgina Pellant -
20th May 2022 
