Sssh.. Clarissa Has Some News..

Pet Fashion Week 2 is a week away. Britney swaps her Chihuahuas for a Yorkie. Pet Style News dresses a bumble-bee up like a dog. And, as Dogs Trust publishes its annual report on abandoned canines, Clarissa Baldwin tells us: 'we are living in a throwaway society.'

We are irresponsible. Yes. We are, and haven't you been telling us this for a very long time now. Dogs Trust, reports 105,068 stray dogs in the UK last year. Roughly the same number was picked up the previous year, (101,586) and the year before that, and the year before that.

But its not my dog that is out on the street. And it's probably not yours. It's theirs, those other people. The one's who have never heard of Clarissa Baldwin or, dare I say, of the Dogs Trust itself.

And even if they have heard of you. Even if they have managed a glance at your latest press release on page six - past the blow-up headline with Paris Hilton and her latest pup spread-eagled across the front page, it won't do you any good. Paris wins. Hands down. Every time.

Sssh.. The NDWA has some news

The National Dog Wardens Association, (NDWA) has called for a system of compulsory pet insurance rather like compulsory motor insurance. This, it believes, would force the registration of most dogs and greatly assist with our ability to trace strays, back to their registered owners. And it will spread the word.

Give the pet insurers a reason to get a message across - and they will be very good at it. Funding for advertising, prime-time, high-profile, anywhere and everywhere, it will no longer be a problem. Then, hopefully, in the way of 'Clunk. Click. Every trip,' the irresponsible among us may finally discover collars and leads - and stop booting dogs out onto the street.