Just two days after a wonderful, slobbery visit with my favorite dog, Murray, a black lab belonging to friends, I got an upsetting phone call from one of them yesterday. "Are you sitting down?" asked Beanie. "Murray has cancer."

Maybe it's the fact that I've been spending a lot of time with our cat this week, or because I've been trying out a bunch of recipes from my Veganomicon cookbook, but I've been thinking a lot about animals lately.Do we want a second pet? Would I enjoy being a vegetarian, or vegan again? How long will polar bears be around?

A new AP poll reveals that 63 percent of dog owners would give CPR to their pet in case of medical emergency. My initial thought, 'What's wrong with that other 37 percent?' Too queasy?' Even worse, only 53 percent of cat owners would do the same. Shame on the other 47 percent. Pussies. Though I've never been called into CPR action myself, the poll brings to mind a special story - when my dinky little personal blog managed to save a life.

Better sit your furry 'tocks down for this one. Introduced on July 31, a proposed bill (HR 3501), Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years, or 'HAPPY Act,' would give pet owners a sizable tax break. The primary sponsor, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich), reasons that the economic crisis has negatively affected all Americans and pets should not be excluded in tax relief solutions. 

After reading Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma and seeing the film, Food Inc., I added "Visit farms and ranches where my food comes from" to my ongoing, never-ending "To Do" list. And the task sat there. And sat there. Until a couple of incidents spurred me to get serious. First, reading about the very sad fate of male chicks to which I have been inadvertently contributing even though I buy Certified Humane eggs and second, seeing how much fun Colin Beavan had visiting a local farm in the film No Impact Man. How many of us really understand how our food is produced? Labels on meat and dairy products are full of pictures of happy animals in beautiful rustic settings with plenty of space to roam and be free. But is that the truth? And how can we make decisions about what food products are healthy, sustainable, and in line with our values if we don't have complete information and may not even know what our values are?

Some of my friends have animals, and they love them. They post pictures of their dogs and cats on their blogs, and on Facebook, and Twitter. And, you know, I think that's great. I certainly don't dislike animals. It's just that I have no desire to own one myself. I'm perfectly fine with busting the myth of the single cat lady. (I'm not going to call it "crazy cat lady," because, you know, whatever. The majority of single female cat-owners I know are perfectly rational and lovely.)

The official "Feast Day" of St. Francis in the Catholic church is October 4th. This Sunday in many Catholic, Lutheran and Episcopal churches -- and some other congregations who enjoy and honor the tradition, animals are welcomed and will get a special blessing from the clergy.

Rather than an overall theme this month, I find that my short list of posts from the Sex and Relationships BlogHer Blogs comes in pairs. And so I bring you: Two darling dogs, Two Facebook friends, and Man Hair... times two. Did she rescue him, or did he rescue her? BlogHer kdsalyer writes about her dog Bear in her post, Rescued:

The recent spate of fires in Southern California (eight, at last count) has created an especially hard challenge for numerous wildlife sanctuaries. In any natural disaster (except tsunamis, evidently), animals face a disadvantage of not knowing what the hell is going on.

One of my many guilty pleasures is entertainment news and celebrity gossip. While reading one of my guilty pleasure blogs, Ecorazzi: The Latest in Green Gossip, I learned about a fun way to help dogs and cats get adopted in their post, Celebrities Sign up to Twitter a Critter.

When I moved to Colorado, I was warned by my pet sitter not to let my cat outside. "I've lost more clients to foxes around here," he said. The thought of my best friend getting eaten freaked me out but Mother Nature is not always the best babysitter. Ask Ozzy Osbourne who lost his beloved Pomeranian, Little Bit, to a coyote as he and Sharon watched the Michael Jackson tribute on TV. 

As I started reading the post, All In a Name..., by Shinyung from Kimchi Mamas, I found it all too familiar. Shinyung tells the story of when she was a girl and her family moved from a high-rise apartment in Flushing, Queens to a Houston suburb. Shinyung sees it as a chance for a fresh start, and a real opportunity to live a life like those lived in Judy Blume books. Including...