Is city hall the purr-fect place for animals?
By HELEN WARRINER
The Daily Astorian (subscription), OR
http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=12681&SectionID=2&SubSectionID=398


Pamper your pet this holiday
RACHEL ARNHEITER , For The Saratogian
Humans won't be the only ones receiving Christmas gifts from family members this year.
[Excerpted]
For feline family members, the American Pet Products Manufacturer's Association recommends 'Panic Mouse' as one of this holiday's best gifts. The battery-operated plastic mouse toy swings a weighted feather around in arrhythmic patterns, entertaining cats for hours.
And the electronic vibrating 'Tail Wigglers' -- small, mouse-like toys in fluorescent colors -- are especially popular for the kitties, according to Wilson.
The Saratogian, NY
http://www.saratogian.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1169&dept_id=17776&newsid=10657925&PAG=461&rfi=9


Dave Barry's 2003 Holiday Gift Guide
By Dave Barry
[Dave Barry is a humor columnist for the Miami Herald.]
[Excerpted]
Soft Claws Colored Nail Caps for Cats
$17.99 plus shipping and handling from Doctors Foster & Smith, 2253 Air Park Road, P.O. Box 100, Rhinelander, WI 54501-0100, phone: 800-381-7179, Internet: www.drsfostersmith.com
— Suggested by LaDonna Jones of Overland Park, Kan.
Cats make ideal pets, except that they hate the entire human race. At least we assume that's why they periodically sink their claws deep into our arms, legs and leather furniture.
So if your holiday list includes cat owners — you can identify them by the scars — these nail caps will make the perfect gift. These are little plastic deals that come in a variety of unnatural colors; you simply fill them with the supplied adhesive, slip them over your cat's claws, and there you are! Bleeding profusely! Because we seriously doubt that you're going to get these things on a regulation cat without the help of a tranquilizer gun.
Deseret News, UT
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,575037765,00.html


Pets: Prepare for Your Cat's Delivery
Novinite, Bulgaria
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=29140


Birds put brakes on builders
Permits for homes in scrub jay habitat must pass state, federal review
By JAMIE MANFUSO
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031219/NEWS/312190643/1060


CATS PROTECTION SAYS WONFORD'S NO PLACE FOR A MOGGY
Exeter Express, UK
http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=101955&command=displayContent&sourceNode=99871&contentPK=8196620


Cats Try to Eat Incapacitated Owner
--LOS ANGELES
Indiana Gazette, PA
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1078&dept_id=151021&newsid=10687208&PAG=461&rfi=9


Woman May Have Been Attacked by Her Pet Cats
Los Angeles Times (subscription), CA
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cats19dec19,1,965699.story?coll=la-headlines-california


Australian animal lovers condemn cat and wild boar cull
By Nick Squires in Sydney
Telegraph.co.uk, UK
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/12/19/wcat19.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/12/19/ixworld.html