A man walking his dog witnesses a police shootout. Rescued hikers are greeted by their wives and dogs. Lurking behind many of the news headlines of the day’s biggest stories is a dog. Yesterday, one of the biggest stories was the announcement by NBA player Jason Collins that he is gay. Collins is the first active player in a U.S. professional male team sport to come out publically. It is a courageous act, a historic moment that is being compared to Jackie Robinson breaking the color line in major league baseball. But was there a dog angle?

Many neighborhoods provide bags for dog waste and receptacles for discarding them. People with dogs generally appreciate this service. It’s wonderful to have a bag available if you’ve forgotten one. It’s also helpful if your dog has a three-poop walk, and you brought two bags, which is usually enough considering he rarely goes more than once. People with dogs, and those without, appreciate that this type of service presumably helps keep an area cleaner.

I know that this tip is a little late for tax day this year, but this is something definitely to consider for next year. A friend passed along this article about how a landmark 2011 U.S. tax court decision allows deductions for fostering dogs and cats.

“In Jan Van Dusen v. Commissioner, an Oakland-based cat lady successfully argued that the expense of caring for dozens of stray felines for a local rescue group should be deductible as a charitable contribution.

I recognized the name on the memo and my heart caught in my throat. Michelle Rowe. Her family had been in the news after her 4 year old son Christopher was struck in a crosswalk by an unlicensed, hit and run driver. Michelle and her 6 year old daughter and 4 year old twins had been crossing when a driver whipped around the stopped cars, hitting Christopher and knocking him 80 feet onto the pavement. He succumbed to his injuries the next day.