TOP 100 SCIENCE SITES
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| Clinton: No binding climate deal at Denmark talks MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Next month's climate change summit in Copenhagen is not likely to produce a legally binding treaty to cut the greenhouse gas emissions that are widely blamed for global warming, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday.... hosted.ap.org |
Glacier threat Bolivia's urban sprawl threatens water supplies news.bbc.co.uk |
Letters: Dignity at Life’s End (1 Letter) To the Editor:. feeds.nytimes.com |
In memory of Sam | Antony Lerman Things haven't been the same since our 15-year-old dog died – and our cat has as much reason to miss him as any of usSam, our 15-year-old golden retriever, died in July and the house has never quite been the same again since. A barely touched sack of dog food still stands under a counter in the kitchen. The tin of dog biscuits sits on a shelf in a corner by the garden doors. A plastic bottle, three-quarters full of the Metacam which eased the arthritis in his back legs and kept him mobile for the last few years, nestles among other redundant jars and tubes on the medicine shelf in the cupboard. And when we were making space on Christmas Day for visitors' coats on the rack in the hallway, there, hanging from a hook but hidden from view, was Sam's lead. For a while it lay on the floor waiting to be bundled away upstairs with the old macs and jackets. Hardly a moment passed before Bella, our five-year old female tortoiseshell cat, was standing over the black lead, sniffing it intensely. Was she recognising his smell?She, as much as any of us, has reason to miss him. Practically every day since she was two, Bella would be sitting on the doormat outside the front door, waiting to join me and Sam for our early morning walk. Standing on her hind legs she greeted him with a nuzzle under his chin and then led the way down the garden path and onto the pavement. Slight, delicate and cautious, Bella was like a scout, keeping just ahead, ever alert and watchful, almost as if she was more concerned with Sam's welfare than her own. She waited for him when we crossed the road. If she got too far ahead she would double back, twist herself between Sam's legs and lead him on. Sam, imperious, increasingly absent-minded and awkwardly dragging his back paws, trundled along.Until about nine months before Sam died, the three of us would walk all the way around the block together. Bella would usually be there for the early afternoon circuit too and the short walk last thing at night. The round trips only came to an end when Sam's back legs started to collapse under him and getting back up on all fours was difficult. He still had the stamina to go the distance, but his laboured breathing and the constant worry that he would buckle 200 yards from home and not be able to get up meant walks had to be confined to short strolls up the road and back. Occasionally, Bella's boisterous and playful twin brother Luca came part of the way with us. Bella walked on, focused and disciplined. Luca bounced along, scrambling up and down trees, jumping on and off car roofs.I was constantly reminded of what it meant to passers-by to see the three of them crossing the road in a neat line, or standing around together on the pavement while Sam cocked his leg, as far as he was able, by a tree. A few took no notice whatsoever. But most either slowed and smiled, or stopped and stared in delighted amazement, or asked me, incredulously: "Are all of these yours?" Neighbours expected to see Sam and Bella together at certain times of the day, and on the rare occasion when the cat wasn't with us, they would ask me where she was.I always stopped myself reading too much into the relationship between Sam and Bella, never wanting to slip into anthropomorphism. Whatever they meant to each other was unique to them. I could observe it, but not fathom it. Some kind of bond had developed between them. In the house she would parade close to him while he sniffed and licked her. At times she would lie between his legs and fall asleep.Sometime in June I was standing with Sam and Bella on the street corner, when his back legs locked and then buckled. He fell to the ground and didn't even struggle to lift himself; he just looked helplessly up at me. With difficulty, I helped him up. But we had been wondering for weeks whether it would fall to us to make a decision about ending his life. He could barely get in and out of the house and was becoming increasingly incontinent.At that moment, a terrible feeling of emptiness overcame me as I thought of his death, of the demise of his relationship with Bella, of the end of our walks. I had arrogantly imagined myself as somehow a better person for the fact that this animal partnership could only have come about because of me. In truth, during those increasingly brief, uncontrived and seemingly natural encounters, when the three of us walked up the road together, I was simply made more at ease with myself. Human cares and conflicts momentarily set aside.And the lead still hangs in the hallway.AnimalsAnimal behaviourPetsAntony Lermanguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
New Rule Allows Use of Partial DNA Matches New York has become the latest jurisdiction to permit a controversial use of DNA evidence that gives law enforcement authorities a sophisticated means to track down criminals. feeds.nytimes.com |