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https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/finland/finnish-hero-dogs-honored-for-life-saving-acts/

Finland

Finnish hero dogs honored for life-saving acts

Updated November 2, 2024, Published November 2, 2024 – By Editorial staff
“Man's best friend” often lives up to its name.
2 minute read
Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

This year, the Finnish Kennel Club recognizes 17 dogs as hero dogs. What the animals have in common is that they have saved the life of one or more people in some way.

Every year, the Finnish Kennel Club awards the title “Hero Dog” to dogs that have made a significant contribution to saving lives. This year, most of the awards go to dogs that found a person in distress, but also dogs that warned of fire and disease.

– Dogs are capable of many heroic deeds and are brave, loyal and understanding. These qualities make them unique companions and every dog is a hero to its owner, said Pirjo Onza, Executive Director of the Kennel Club in a press release.

Gaapo the German Shepherd woke up his owners in the morning by barking. When they didn't get up, the dog tore off their covers, which eventually made them get up. When they went through the house, they found the owner's elderly mother unconscious on the floor. The woman had suffered an epileptic seizure and had several more while waiting for an ambulance. The woman later recovered in hospital.

Mörri the Labrador Retriever was living in a foster home waiting for a family of his own. In the middle of the night, the dog started barking incessantly, the foster owner tried to go back to sleep but Mörri continued to bark. When the foster owner finally got up, he saw a fire in the neighbor's house and ran over to wake them up, while his wife called the emergency services. Help arrived in time and no one was injured by the fire.

Remarkable efforts

In the morning, the mixed-breed dogs Bella and Pablo woke up their master and stood staring at him. He then got up and felt his jaw hurt and vomited several times while the dogs followed and refused to leave his side. When he woke up his wife, they called an ambulance and found that the man had suffered a heart attack, which was detected in time thanks to the dogs.

Domi, a Dutch shepherd dog, woke up his owner in the middle of the night. Domi ran to the front door and the owner thought the dog urgently needed to go out, but when the owner opened the door there was an unconscious person outside. The person was unresponsive and the owner called the emergency services. Domi kept an eye on the person the whole time while waiting for the ambulance. The person was then helped at the hospital.

The other dogs receiving the award are Isla the Miniature Pinscher, Nella and Nemo the mixed breeds, Sisu the mixed breed, Pullan the mixed breed and Laila, a Border Collie, who warned her owners about fire. Sulo the Rottweiler, Nemo, a red Irish setter, Into, a golden retriever, Daisy the Labrador retriever and Ande the Belgian shepherd who found people in distress. Alvin the Havanese alerted when a person fell into the water and was drowning.

Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/finland/finland-to-allow-wolf-hunting-next-year/

Finland

Finland to allow wolf hunting next year

Published yesterday 8:42 am – By Editorial staff
1 minute read
Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The Finnish government presented new legislation on Thursday that will allow population management wolf hunting next year. 65 wolves are to be shot next year.

The Natural Resources Institute Finland estimated earlier this fall that there are approximately 430 wolves in Finland and that the population has increased by 46 percent in the past year. The sharp increase has prompted the government to allow hunting to reduce problems.

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah justifies the decision by noting that wolves are moving increasingly closer to populated areas.

— The goal is legislation that can sustainably and long-term reduce the problems caused by wolves, she tells Finnish national broadcaster Yle.

Martin Hägglund, chairman of the game council in Southwest Finland, welcomes the proposal.

— There are too many wolves in certain parts of Finland. Therefore, we have problems that we must address, he says.

But environmental organization Nature & Environment is critical. According to executive director Jonas Heikkilä, the wolf population is not sufficiently viable for hunting. He believes the wolf population should be around 500 individuals to be classified as viable.

— Now it just feels like the government is pushing through regional politics, he says.

The legislative changes are made possible by the EU Council of Ministers' decision this summer to downgrade the wolf's protection status from strictly protected to protected. The changes are set to take effect in January 2026 after being processed by the Finnish Parliament.

Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/finland/concerns-about-childrens-safety-at-finnish-daycare-centers/

Finland

Concerns about children’s safety at Finnish daycare centers

Welfare collapse

Published November 19, 2025 – By Editorial staff
2 minute read
Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

A large proportion of staff at Finnish Swedish-speaking daycare centers feel that the environment is unsafe for children. Staff shortages are identified as the main issue.

In April 2025, Finnish public broadcaster Yle sent out a survey to over a thousand employees in early childhood education in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kyrkslätt, and Kauniainen. A total of 324 people responded to the survey.

The results show that six out of ten employees feel that the environment is physically or emotionally unsafe for children. Staff shortages are identified as the recurring problem. Nearly 200 people describe in their open-ended responses situations where too few adults are responsible for too many children.

— Staff have been replaced in quite a short time, in several groups. It affects the children's safety and well-being greatly, says Marika, who works at a daycare center, to Yle.

Early morning hours and late afternoons are particularly critical. Marika reports that on one occasion she was solely responsible for thirteen children under three years old. According to Finnish law, there must be at least one qualified person per maximum of four children under three years old. However, by calculating an average for the entire day, daycare centers can meet the requirement statistically.

Only one-third of all respondents believe they will still be working at the same daycare center in five years.

Jenni Tirronen, head of early childhood education in Helsinki, confirms that burnout is a major problem.

— We are naturally very concerned about the burnout. Our own staff survey shows that approximately 60 percent of our employees feel that they do not recover sufficiently after the workday, says Tirronen.

Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/finland/more-finns-are-reporting-police-officers/

Finland

More Finns are reporting police officers

Published November 17, 2025 – By Editorial staff
1 minute read
Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

An increasing number of Finns are filing police reports against individual officers. Over 1,100 reports have already been filed this year – several hundred more than during all of last year.

The figures come from the Finnish newspaper group Uutissuomalainen. These are reports filed against individual police officers for suspected official misconduct, not complaints against the police authority as an organization.

Markus Laine, a police legal advisor at the Police Department in Southwest Finland, explains that the majority of reports stem from general dissatisfaction with police actions.

— It could be, for example, that someone is dissatisfied that a preliminary investigation was never initiated or that it was discontinued. It's also common for someone to feel they were wrongly detained in town, for instance when the person was under the influence, Laine tells Finnish national broadcaster Yle.

Issued fines can also sometimes result in the person fined filing a report against the police.

Despite the high number of reports, only about ten percent lead to prosecution review. Disciplinary actions such as suspension or dismissal are rare and involve only a few cases per year.

According to the Finnish Police Barometer, public trust in the police stands at 92 percent. However, certain groups deviate significantly from the average. Victims of sexual crimes or intimate partner violence, people subjected to human trafficking, and sexual minorities show considerably lower trust figures.

Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/finland/finlands-former-president-europe-should-speak-directly-with-putin/

Finland

Finland’s former president: Europe should speak directly with Putin

Published November 11, 2025 – By Editorial staff
Finnish former President Sauli Niinistö believes that Europe must remain European.
2 minute read
Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Finland's former president Sauli Niinistö believes that European leaders should engage in direct talks with Moscow instead of relying solely on information from Donald Trump. He also warns that Europe is losing its role as a global power.

Niinistö criticizes the current situation where European countries lack direct contact with Russian leaders, while US President Donald Trump negotiates with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukraine's future. Niinistö argues that Europe should instead initiate direct talks with Russia to influence the outcome of the war.

— French President Emmanuel Macron is likely the last one to have called, and before that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about a year ago. And he was criticized for it, Niinistö told Finnish public broadcaster Yle.

He defended Scholz's decision to contact the Kremlin and describes the current situation as absurd.

— I defended him and still think that it is in a way an absurd situation that Europeans say they won't talk to the war criminal Putin. But Trump does it, and then we go and hear what they talked about, he explained.

Niinistö points out the paradox that Europeans are simultaneously worried that Putin and Trump will discuss Europe's future over the heads of the European countries themselves.

Europe has lost its global position

Furthermore, Niinistö notes that Europe's significance has decreased markedly during the 21st century. Today, it is primarily the US, China, and Russia that make the decisive decisions on the global stage.

When Finland joined the EU in the 1990s, the union was a voice that the world listened to. The situation was similar even after the turn of the millennium. Now, however, Europe has disappeared from the power quadrangle, according to Niinistö. He particularly points to how the US and China compete economically and divide the world between them in what he describes as a struggle for nations' loyalty.

— Europe must keep Europe European and must absolutely not submit to becoming an object of division, so that someone belongs to one camp and someone else to another, he says.

Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com