Pet radio station latest thing to hit LA

There are radio stations for gun collectors. Radio stations for collectors of obscure sports trivia. And now the internet has spawned a new line in media - a radio station aimed not at people, but at pets.

DogCatRadio.com, run out of a caravan in the hills above Los Angeles, is designed to keep pets engaged and amused while owners are at work all day (or night).

The announcers convince themselves they are communicating with four-legged creatures and play a panoply of songs that seem suitable for the pet audience - Elvis Presley's Hound Dog being a big favourite.

Morning host Jane Harris adopts a slightly infantile tone and enunciates as though addressing an elderly relative with hearing problems.

She urges pets to be kind to the postman, not to chew on anything they're not supposed to, while spinning a Shania Twain tune with the chorus: "You're still the one I run to, still the one I belong to."

Anyone with an internet connection and media player software in can tune in - even in New Zealand.

"The radio station all pets enjoy," is its logo. Plus, one suspects, a few lonely pet owners.

Pet sounds

Hound Dog - Elvis Presley
Love Cats - The Cure
When Doves Cry - Prince
What's New Pussycat -Tom Jones
Who Let the Dogs Out? - Baha Men

- INDEPENDENT