Everybody knows it’s not a dog’s life to be rich, but no one knows this better than a rich person’s dog.

Leona Helmsley, dubbed the “Queen of Mean” for personifying the 1980s stereotype of greed and excess, made her pet Maltese, Trouble, her biggest heir, leaving a $12 million trust fund for the pet in a will that disinherits two grandchildren and doesn’t even mention great-grandchildren.

Helmsley, who died recently, put contingencies on the inheritances of the two grandchildren who will actually get some money: They have to visit their father’s grave site once a year. No such demands are made of Trouble. Read more…

They modeled the latest fashions on two and four feet.

Almost 300 people packed into the Matterhorn Restaurant in Elkhart for the Furry Friends Fashion Fair Thursday afternoon.

The luncheon featured models showing off the latest fall fashions and many of their dogs dressed up for the occasion, too.

There were hundreds of items up for auction. Read more…

Move over coyotes. Some northwest Florida residents are worried because they believe hawks are swooping down from the sky and attacking their small dogs.

Gulf Breeze residents have seen their pets fall victim to coyotes before, and the city even sets traps to control their population.

Martha Powers said she began yelling after seeing a large bird flying down toward her dog. The bird turned away. And Caren Gardner believes that her 3-pound Pomeranian was taken by a hawk last year ‘within minutes’ after she let her out to play. Read more…

Women who take birth control pills are more likely to develop cancer of the womb, though the benefits of contraceptive use in preventing other cancers may outweigh the risks, researchers report.

Taking birth control for at least five years led to a doubling of the risk of cancer of the cervix, the lower, neck- like part of the womb, compared with those who never used the pills, researchers reported in the U.K. medical journal The Lancet today. Other studies have found the drugs, made by companies including Germany’s Bayer AG, lower the risk of tumors in the ovaries and the endometrial lining of the womb. Read more…

Got a fetish for 1950s tiki art?

Like vintage pin-up posters, or the mid-century modern aesthetic?

Or perhaps you’re more into tattoo art, hot-rod culture or Warhol-inspired pop?

Since 1994, Melbourne’s Outre Gallery on Elizabeth Street has been the place to go to get your fix of cult, trash and kitsch art.

Now the Outre Invasion is coming to Perth, with an exhibition curated by Perth-born pop artist Gemma Jones opening at the Breadbox on November 16 as part of the Artrage Festival. Read more…

“Star Trek” fans familiar with the “Holodeck” onboard the space ship Enterprise would have felt right at home Wednesday at a fashion show in New York City where the models were holograms and the runway was “virtual.”

The two-day show at Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall put on by Target stores displayed men’s, women’s, bridal and maternity collections.

“This is the first time a fashion show will be completely produced with hologram technology, without models, without a runway and easily accessible to all fashion fans,” said Trish Adams, the company’s senior vice president. Read more…

Tattoo parlor owner Tom Preston and those who support him, including the conservative Goldwater Institute, believe that he is the victim of discrimination by the Tempe City Council.

All that they ask is for Preston to be judged by the content of his character and not by the colors of his skin.

“These people are going after me because of a perception that isn’t true,” Preston told me. “That’s not how we’re supposed to do things.” Read more…

A vaccine aimed at helping people quit smoking by blunting the effects of nicotine doubled the number who could kick the habit but overall success remained small, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (NABI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said 16 percent of volunteers vaccinated with the highest dose were able to quit smoking for 12 months, compared with 6 percent of those who got a placebo shot.

Fourteen percent who got a lower dose stopped smoking for at least a year, compared with 6 percent on the placebo, said Dr. Stephen Rennard of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Read more…

Increasing the dietary intake of Omega 3 fatty acids, found in certain kinds of fish, nuts and vegetable oils, may protect one from blindness, suggests a study conducted on mice.

Scientists in Boston found that they have a protective effect against blindness resulting from abnormal blood vessel growth in the eye, according to the study published in the online journal Nature Medicine.

Human clinical trials will soon begin at a children’s hospital in Boston to test the effects of Omega 3 supplementation in premature babies who are at risk for vision loss, the researchers were quoted as saying by science portal EurekAlert. Read more…

The obesity epidemic continues to grow at an alarming rate with 30 percent of adults and 15.5 percent of children in the U.S. effected by the disease(1). Now, obesity is trickling down to our pets. An astounding 35 percent of the total pet population, 48 million cats and dogs in the U.S., are considered overweight. With proper nutrition and exercise it’s not too late to help the pet population fight obesity.

Hill’s Pet Nutrition has teamed up with celebrity fitness trainer and multiple dog owner Gunnar Peterson to kick-off the 2007 Hill’s PetFit(TM) Challenge, a comprehensive weight loss program developed for cats and dogs. To get started, pet owners can visit http://www.petfit.com/ and pledge to work with their veterinarian to develop a tailored weight management program built on a balance of proper nutrition and exercise. Read more…