Police: argument over dog led to  man's murder CO Police recovered a man's body from a refrigerator 'A Colorado Springs woman was arrested Friday after police found a body stuffed in a refrigerator at a dump in Castle Rock... ' Police say she had argued with the man who threatened to shoot her dog on December 24... [Rocky Mountain News]

Condolences with claws from PETA DC 'People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has canceled its plans, announced January 7, to use Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman's dog, Coors, in a billboard campaign against animal testing...' Whitman recently euthanized Coors, who was dying of cancer. PETA's condolances:

'Would that the millions of animals deliberately poisoned in EPA laboratories were as lucky,' Newkirk continued. 'Rather than bury your head in the sand and imagine that . . . Coors might have been saved [with] more animal experiments,' how about maybe taking known carcinogens off the market instead of "kowtowing" to industry?' (more vitriolic rhetoric follows...) [Washington Post]

The embracing crystalline silence of snowfall DC [Washington Post] The beautiful sound of snow falling...

This morning we bundled our dog up for his morning walk. Over his doggy objections I ensconced his feet in 'paw protectors' (little rubber booties). He stumbled around until he managed to slip out of them one by one... and we didn't have the heart to force them on him again. (another great idea that doesn't work... these expensive paw protectors aren't comfortable enough for any dog... oh well, we can't return them to the store.) After walking three blocks, his little paws were encrusted with icy snow which made it difficult for him to walk... we both picked out the impacted snow and he resumed walking without impairment and we quickly returned home. In 12 degree to 18 degree weather, you can't take chances with your pets. Even I got frostbite on every single toe (just a little, but it's annoying) from working in the yard two days ago (the dog was safely inside). I had not doublesocked and my shoes weren't insulated; imagine how hard it must be on a pet in this kind of weather.