Give Us The Money - Or Fluffy Gets It NZ 'Insurance is now the fastest growing insurance market in britain but insurers warn the trend is turning nasty with pets being held to ransom by criminals hoping to cash in on the insurance money.' Up to 40% of missing pets are stolen (according to More Than, a pet insurer) and what's worse, pets are now being stolen to order... Give Us The Money - Or Fluffy Gets It [Xtra MSN Features]

Man bites dog; goes into frenzy  Germany 'A German man has been reprimanded for biting his pet dog on the nose police have said. The 36-year-old man repeatedly kicked and shouted at the whining animal before seizing it by the head and biting it said a police spokesman on Thursday in the north German town of Braunschweig.' The man got arrested; the dog gets a new owner... Man bites dog [Reuters UK] (What kind of reprimand did he receive?: a 'no, no, bad man, baaad man; okay, you can go now' ?)

When the electric toothbrush was invented, it was first tested on dogs. 'They reportedly enjoyed the sensation, and the brush went on to big commercial success with humans, too....' Fun facts: toothbrushing dogs [Fun facts: Star Tribune]

Tango, the perfect K-9 partner and the perfect dog... TX Ed Nicks, the sergeant in charge of K-9 special operations, described his partner Tango: 'He is the best partner I'll ever have. He's not prejudiced. Doesn't have any marital problems, doesn't drink, likes to come to work, doesn't tell me how bad I drive. I tell him my deepest, darkest secrets and he's never told anyone.'  Tango is one of several dogs who works in the Midland Police department as a narcotics dog, as well as patrol and tracking dog... On the scent of drugs: MPD uses dogs to track down narcotics [Midland Reporter Telegram]

Mystery of the 'Black Dog' apparition UK The famous Black Dog of Bungay has allegedly haunted Bungay residents for centuries...  'Simon Sherwood, a lecturer at University College, Northampton, is compiling a database of information about black hound apparitions and has set up a website, The Black Dog, dedicated to his research. Alleged sightings of the evil dog have for centuries been an East Anglian phenomena in particular in the town of Bungay and surrounding villages... Mr Sherwood said the hound has now gone global with reported sightings in America, Canada France, Croatia and Scandinavia.'  Mr. Sherwood allegedly encountered the black dog in his early childhood and remains fascinated with the legend to this day... Research focusses on Black Shuck [Norfolk Eastern Daily Press]

Researcher says dogs can warn diabetics of falling blood sugar levels AU Anecdotal evidence had previously identified that dogs react to their owner's oncoming low blood sugar attack. Now a researcher physician 'has identified a likely trigger for dogs to pick up on their owners' falling blood sugars before they reach critical levels. Dr Alan Stock compared the sweat produced during exercise with that produced during insulin-induced hypoglycaemic attacks. The latter contained large quantities of chemicals called catecholamines, including adrenalin. 'The implication is that firstly the dogs can react to this sort of stimuli and secondly it should be possible to train dogs that don't react to do so.'... '  Max has an instinct for nightwatch  [Courier Mail]

Dog-napped dog returned to owner after 3 1/2 year hiatus OH 'Three and a half years ago, someone severed a tie-out chain and apparently snatched Timmy, the doughnut-munching Siberian husky, from the porch of Bill Kohl's workshop.' After exhaustive searches the dog's family finally resigned themselve to never seeing their husky dog again. 'But around 7 a.m. Thursday — about 1,250 days later — there, on the workshop porch, was Timmy....' The mystery of who took him and who returned him may never be solved. Dognapped husky returns after 3 1/2-year absence [Cincinnati Enquirer]

Plot-o-matic your way to a best selling screen script Canada With all the strange events occuring the news these days, you might as well make something useful out of it. Our dog isn't getting nearly as much walking lately and he's watching more television... and usually it's pretty boring. (we've cut down our walking to 30 minutes a day instead of 2 hours a day; it's eery, we're the only ones walking around the area parks now (in Montgomery County, MD.) So, turning to the news on the web, we found this great site, where you can make a best selling plot out of the weird news. The ad pitch for Plot-o-matic follows:

'Have you ever sat in the movie theater and thought, "Hey, I can write a better movie than this!"? Well, it's true. And it's easier than you think! Now, thanks to the brand new PLOT-O-MATIC™, you can come up with plots just like the big boys do.  Just pick out the characters and plot elements you want to include in your movie. When you're happy with your choices, hit SUBMIT and voila! A plot pitch you can take to the bank' Plot your way to screenwriting fortune [maddogproductions.com via The Star] (be sure to add your dog into the plot; we need some good movies... )

Does your dog see ghosts?  CA The ghost-busters on the net might want to know. The ghost-busters are two San Francisco Bay area web site designers and another friend who also investigate paranormal sightings for clients who contact them at their Bay Area Paranormal website 'Bay Area Paranormal Investigations was born when Boccuzzi met Tina McGarty and Scott Mosbaugh, who shared his lifelong fascination with the supernatural.' They receive several unsolicited clients each week, but they haven't started charging for their services yet, because they 'don't feel comfortable charging $500 or $600 to say that we don't understand why something is happening..." In the meantime, they may subsidize the cost of their expensive hobby with selling video merchandise on their website...  Ghostbuster snares clients on Net [San Francisco Chronicle]