[New York, December 13. Image via Getty]

NEW YORK - DECEMBER 13: Rocco the cat and Cassie the Golden Retriever share a moment at the ASPCA Holiday blessing for the animals at Christ Church on December 13, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images)

• Does Anna Wintour love Amy Winehouse even more than Karl Lagerfeld does? Word on the street is that the singer who wouldn't go to rehab only to go to rehab has been offered $1 million to play at the Wintour-hosted Costume Institute Gala. But a rep says that can't be true since the Costume Institute Gala is supposed to be, you know, a benefit. For the children probably! [WWD, 1st item]
  
• Some outfit called the New Enthusiasm is spoofing Marc Jacobs and Juergen Teller, the guy who shoots all those ads of his, with John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, and now everyone is wondering what could possibly be the motive behind such a peculiar stunt. We have no earthly idea! That is why we present you with this hyperlink, so you can further ponder what it all means. [Sassybella]
  
• Anya Hindmarch's London flagship was burgled last night, the second robbery the store has experienced in the past year. Can you think of a handbag designer whose inventory you would covet less than Anya's? Because I'm having trouble. [Vogue UK]
  
• Oh god, you know, just when this industry's political statements could not get any more absurd: Agent Provacateur's "Fair Trial My Arse" underwear. [Sassybella]
  
• Also, the rumors aren't true: Katie Homes is not designing for Armani. [E!]

• Model Lauren Bush's most trauma-ramatic moment? "[O]ne Passover when we were on Coney Island, New York, where lots of conservative Jews live. It was a swimwear shoot, but luckily the theme was Fifties so nothing was too scandalous. Anyway, a crowd of Hasidic teenagers surrounded the camera. I was so embarrassed, I felt like I was corrupting them on a religious holiday." [Times of London]
• Nordstrom is going green. And if you thought this wouldn't somehow involve a "collaboration" with a fancy designer you'd never heard of to design a reusable (and collectible!) shopping tote, well you would be wrong. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Alexander McQueen, hellbent on world domination, is showing not only in Paris, but in a mini-show in New York next week. [Vogue UK]
• Designer Adam Lippes is turning his Meatpacking District NYC store into an outpost for the ASPCA April 4-6, when the only thing you'll be able to do in the store is adopt a pooch who needs a good home. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Lululemon, the yogawear line that got into all that trouble when they said their garments were made of seaweed and, then, er, they weren't, is now issuing a line of running clothes which they claim contain sensors built into the garment that serve as a heart rate monitor. [WWD, 3rd item]
• Banana Republic is doing a limited edition eco-friendly collection of clothes in honor of Earth Day, on sale during the month of April. Um, what about the 11 other months in a year? [WWD, 1st item]
• And Club Monaco is issuing its first-ever swimwear collection, but it has absolutely nothing to do with Earth Day. [WWD, 2nd item]
• Philip Lim: Doing a trench coat for Coach. Yawn. [WWD, 2nd item]
• Designer Jasper Conran is moving on up: The Queen has tapped him to become an Officer of the British Empire. [Vogue UK]
• Expensive shit alert: A diamond-bedecked faucet! [Chic Report]
• And, um, Gmail: The Soap? [Chic Report]

Forensic veterinary medicine is a field just begging for its own Law & Order spin-off: People such as Dr. Melinda Merck, the forensic veterinarian for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) — and no relation to the author of the pet manual — are tracking down the evil bastards who hurt animals using a keen mixture of science and, well, telepathy: "It is always an enigma that comes to us with these cases. We don't know what happened, and it's all trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. I have to be the voice of the animal. It is very much just like 'CSI,' except our victims can not testify... Animals shed, so whoever has contact with that animal, fur is going to end up on them. Evidence doesn't lie."

Also giving a voice to the animals — and unafraid of troublesome foreign policy issues surrounding negotiating with dictatorship governments — is zoologist Alan Rabinowitz. Rabinowitz focuses specifically on saving and providing safe, natural environments for big cats on their home turf: "People love big cats. If I go to a government and say, "If you don't do something quickly, you're going to lose your tigers," they listen. If I say, "You're about to lose all your wolves," they won't care. But leopards, tigers, jaguars — people have a huge admiration for them." Most recently, Rabinowitz spent time in Burma/Myanmar to set up a preserve for tigers and now he's in talks with the North Korean government to do the same. Why so dedicated to the critters? Rabinowitz says:

As a child, I had this horrific stutter... From the second grade on, I stopped talking, except to the little green turtle and the chameleon I kept at home... I thought if these animals had a voice, people wouldn't be able to crush them and throw them away. When I was a child, I promised the animals that if I ever got my voice back, I'd be their voice. It makes me feel whole, knowing that I'm allowing more animals to live in this world. Every time I set up a protected area, I feel I'm paying them back for helping me speak.

Pet Ferret Hit By An Arrow? Here's A Book For You [NY Times]
"Animal CSI" Helps Catch Abusers [CBS News]
Zoologist Gives a Voice to Big Cats in the Wilderness [NY Times]

Related: NY Times In Iraq: Blackwater Shot Our Dog [Reuters]

Earlier: Huckabee's Minor Sun Was Still A Major Asshole

Also interesting: Right after the segment ended, this very apt and always-heartbreaking ASPCA commercial came on. Lets hope young David was watching; maybe he learned a thing or two!

Sarah McLachlan Asks You To Help Animals [YouTube]

Related: Romney's Cruel Canine Vacation [Time]
Son's Past Could Come Back To Bite Huckabee [Newsweek]
Whoopi Goldberg Defends Vick's Dog-Fighting Role [Reuters]
Fact Sheet: Boy Scout Oath, Law, Motto And Slogan [Boy Scouts of America]