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."

It's a Saturday Night Live skit waiting to happen, right? Eternal Earth-Bound Pets: A service that promises to care for your pet after you have ascended to heaven to join The Almighty. Like the company's co-founder, Bart Centre, I laughed at first. Surely, this can't be for real. But after speaking with Bart, and a few close friends who believe in the Rapture, I stopped laughing and started thinking.

Beyond the dignity-defying costumes (oh, but so entertaining!), there are numerous seasonal dangers that threaten our animal friends. You may already know that chocolate won't jive with Fido's innards, but what about chewing gum or raisins? Bad (for) doggie. Furthermore, with the onset of winter, use of anti-depressants goes up and more than 50 percent of all pet poisonings involve human drugs. 

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?

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. 

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:

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.

While the late Leona Helmsley's number one beneficiary - her beloved Maltese, Trouble - naps quietly in Florida, a different trouble is brewing around the Queen of Mean's estate. Earlier this week, three of the country's largest animal welfare groups accused the trustees of Helmsley's estate of a "scheme to deprive dog welfare charities" of their slice of the real estate baroness' remaining pie.

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. 

Being Americans, we like to celebrate by blowing things up. This weekend, thousands of fireworks will explode in brilliant colors and high pitched squeals, bringing joy and wonder to everyone ... except pets, which is why animal shelters see a huge increase in strays around this holiday. Dogs and cats will panic and bolt through doors, windows - both open and closed - trying to escape the noise.