hmmm Gb, bacon? No...here's a funny story, which is absolutely true. I did some work for an exhibition at a nature center where one of the beloved animals was a Vietnamese pot bellied pig named "Galobki" (galumpke? I'm not Polish and this is the word for cabbage roll). This was in New Britain, CT which has a LARGE Polish population, hence the name for the pig. Every year, the nature center had periogi supper, and sold perogis. About two months after the periogi supper, someone called and asked if they still had periogi. The director said, no. The caller asked what happened to Periogi. The director responded," Well, it's all been eaten." There was dead silence on the other end. It turned out the caller was asking about the pig, Galobki, and got the other Polish food confused....

We are responsible for our pets lives & sometimes for their death. We tell people not to hold on to your pet for you when they do not have a good quality of life. They do not know a tomorrow & that what they are doing through will not last forever. How would you like to think you would be in pain forever? Animals can hurt a lot & not show it because they don't want to appear weak to something stronger. It is very hard but staying with your faithful friend at the end is one of the last kind things you can do for them. Most vets will let you stay with & hold & comfort your pet after the final shot has been administered. In most cases, they just go to quietly to sleep & don't wake up again (but there are exceptions). I have bawled & blubbered over my animals (& my vet who is a sweetie) many times. Go ahead & cry if you feel like it, it's nothing to be embarrassed about when you love your pet that much. My Newf Abby is almost 11 & I am dreading the day I will have to make a difficult decision about her. It really sucks that your sister has a whole box of her own problems to worry about too. Linda

very cute, thanks for that; the last picture is a dog that was rescued from Vicks, nice to see he's fine. Here is a link that might be useful: watch and smile

Our border collie has recently put on a lot of weight, not sure if it is the weather, lack of exercise or perhaps the grands feeding her Christmas snacks of cheese, but she has begun having trouble waddling and getting in the van. Our most precious tuxedo cat died, at 19 years of age, not a long time ago and our 18-year-old highly bred blue Persian was euthanized a few months back secondary to arthritis, debilitation, kidney failure and seizure activity, all taking a toll on the two of us. I am sort of having the waddling trouble too but I refuse, at my age, to allow exercise classes and food to control my life. As long as I hear from all my doctors how sharp my mind is, I am not going to join an exercise regimen and fear losing my mind in a gym to someone not worthy. Yes! also eccentric.