Dogs with the bow wow factor can show off their home-grown talent at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home’s Annual Reunion next month.

The world-renowned rescue centre is inviting dog lovers to bring their clever canines to Battersea Park on Sunday 8 September to showcase their four-legged skills and practiced tricks in a new Battersea’s Got Talent competition. After three heats, the talent contest’s winner will be crowned in front of the thousands of spectators in the main ring at the annual family fun day sponsored by Petplan.

Prime Minister David Cameron visited Battersea Dogs & Cats Home today to mark an historic milestone for the 152 year old animal charity, so synonymous with the mighty chimneys of Battersea Power Station - a celebration of its one thousand volunteers.

I know many of you enjoy Ted Kerasote's books as much as I do, so here's the latest news from Ted and Pukka, and some great news about how you can buy e-book versions at a bargain price over the summer:

Dear Friends and Readers,

I hope you're having a good summer. Pukka and I have been working on new books, riding bikes, hiking, and running rivers. You can check out photos from these adventures on our Facebook page.

Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Lily, made a dash for the outdoors, only to leave her owners frantically worried as to her whereabouts. Luckily she was reunited with her owner from Pimlico at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home because she was microchipped.

The six year old Staffie was found at Pimlico Station and brought into Battersea where staff carried out a routine microchip scan that showed up her owner’s details.

Lily’s owner Karen Viera said: “Because the weather was so hot we had the door open with the baby gate closed, but we just didn’t realise how easy it would be for her to escape. Our other dog accompanied us as we searched the area and I put out updates on my Facebook and Twitter so people could help me search for her. We are so grateful to Battersea for looking after her and contacting us. I’m so glad we had her microchipped, we might never have seen her again if we hadn’t.”

Karen and her mum noticed Lily wasn’t in the dog bed where she was last seen and began searching in and around their home. It soon became clear that Lily had jumped over the baby gate that was locked by the open door and made a leap for outside.

As the warm weather continues across the UK, Battersea urges pet owners to be extra vigilant when doors and windows are left open in case their pets go missing. More than 65 per cent of all dogs arriving at Battersea are not microchipped with their owner’s details, making it difficult and sometimes impossible to successfully reunite lost pets with their worried owners.

Liz McWalter, Head of Intake at Battersea said: “It was fantastic to be able to reunite Lily and Karen so soon after she went missing and really highlights the importance of microchipping. Battersea offers free microchipping for dog owners at our three centres in London, Kent, and Windsor, and if you haven’t already got your dog chipped we’d urge you to take this simple step to ensure you can be reunited with your pet should you get parted.”