BABY ANIMAL ALERT!! I just saw a fawn today. Tiny thing with long, spindly legs standing by his Mom. PLEASE, PLEASE drive carefully and slow down at this fragile time of the year.

* * * Now to the Gulf of Mexico disaster caused by the sloppy, irresponsible BP oil company. Since the mega million dollar oil company and our government doesn't seem to be able to get off their duffs, I guess the American people have to do what we can and we should since we consume all that oil. To this end, you can send clean human hair and animal fur, but you need to go to Matter of Trust website (matteroftrust.org) and follow the instructions. When it gets to the Gulf distribution center, people will pack it in pantyhose and use it to sop up the oil. I know it sounds like a boy with his finger in the dike, but it is better than nothing.

* * * I have a continuing argument about feeding dogs raw meat. I am against it. I went to a holistic veterinary website from England, and I argued that raw meat might have parasites in it. The English vet at least backs me up as far as pork goes. He says not to feed dogs pig meat. He also said to be careful of raw chicken, especially for cats. However, he did believe in raw, or as he calls it fresh, meat.

From Dr. Christopher Day, Alternative Veterinary Medicine Centre, Chinham House, High Street, Stanford in the Vale, Nr Faringdon, Oxfordshire SN7 8NQ (UK).

"Fresh meat - (not pork, bacon, ham or other pig product) preferably raw, including chicken, rabbit, white fish (should be cooked), oily fish, bone (raw), beef, lamb, pigeon, pheasant, venison etc. In the case of chicken, feeding it raw may incur the risk of salmonella (very dangerous to cats but usually much less so to most dogs) unless you know the source to be reliable. Frozen meat that has been thawed carefully and not re-frozen is a practical alternative to fresh meat. Even if cooking meat, it is advisable to feed some large chunks of tough, raw meat that has to be chewed. Feeding raw meat from wild animals can incur the risk of intestinal worms. This can be monitored satisfactorily by having feces samples checked in a veterinary laboratory."

I have had ten dogs, three lived to be 15 to 17, four had cancer, one had heart disease, one is 13 and fine and one is 11 with no ill health at all. They all ate canned dog food, Purina dry, marrow bones, biscuits and scraps, so who knows. I just realized that out of 30 cats, not one had cancer and they ate canned fish and dry food. But they did eat mice in the wild. So I was wrong about some raw meats, but not about all and I still maintain the modern dog can live a long, healthy life on canned and dry food.