The frozen slush and hard packed snow has turned to an undulating sheet of ice outside my home. On a downhill pavement, it's fairly lethal. Looks like I'm going to have to break my back and shovel my way to the shops to prevent broken bones. What a choice.

Choices of the Week

Every year you see the same adverts. Lovable pets in help center cages looking mournful. The message is always "A pet is not just for Christmas" and I agree wholeheartedly. Not everyonme does it seems, and in the papers was a report of a puppy left in a sealed box by the roadside.

The callousness of its last owners is obvious, but it also strikes me that a suprise gift of a pet is the daftest idea for pet you could possibly consider. It may be that someones dog has had puppies unintentionally and they're trying to rid themselves of the unwanted animals by handing them as gifts to friends and so forth, but you can't help wondering how thoughtless the gift was, never mind the death sentence meted out by the recipients.

In this case the dog was rescued. There's no guarantee it will find responsible owners. As for the irresponsible ones, a part of me wants to seal them up in a container and let them freeze. The other part wants them named and shamed. then again, with all these pro-animal sentiments and responsible attitudes, why is there is no clear cut procedure for passing on unwanted animals? Because, much like human children born to unmarried teenagers, they simply get in the way and cost money.