...it wasn't actually a list of tips on how to keep Fido and Fluffy's coats glossy.

Scenario:
Woman walks into friend's home.
Woman: I just love this area rug! It's so soft, and it's such a beautiful, buttery color.
Friend: Thanks! It's made from the hides of four golden retrievers.
Woman: Oh my God, that's disgusting!
Friend: Well, then, you better take off that coat you're wearing -- what, was it OK when you thought it was a rabbit? But, really... the best thing about this rug... it just doesn't show dog hair....

This press release doesn't really qualify as news, since it's been an issue for a very long time, but the European Union is currently working on the terms of ban on dog and cat skins. Talk about the least they could do.

P.S. Thanks to About.com for that incredibly heartless article (see "coats" link above) about people's allergies. Ugh.

P.P.S. And thanks, as always, to eBay, for offering items for sale that shouldn't exist, like this revenge-of-the-retriever "taxidermy replica" (simulacrum, anyone?) made out of goat fur. I'm tempted to find out what poor animal was killed to cover the fake dead goats.