why is it so funny...

...when animals die in freak accidents? I'm thinking of a 'Fish called Wanda' which was hugely unamusing until the little rat dogs die. I laughed so hard and so long that my then boyfriend put his jacket over my head to drown out the sound of my laughter a full five minutes after the scene had ended.

Now I don't consider myself a cruel person and was traumatised by 'Ring of Bright Water' as a child and sobbed for a whole day when my pet rat died. I also refused to go to the vet when our family cat was put down because I knew that I would end up snatching the poor creature and running out of the surgery. However, if I don't see the tragedy, or it isn't my pet, then I find animal death in freak accidents hysterically funny.

The tale I am going to tell is sad but true and I have Mrs Carrot Cake's permission to recount it. Mrs Carrot Cake is a cat fan despite her allergy to them. She had a long haired pedigree cat (the breed escapes me) which was good natured but not that bright. Some years ago she was in the kitchen putting a load of washing in to the machine when she was distracted for a moment by her son. Seizing the window of opportunity, the cat decided to climb into the machine. Mr Carrot Cake turned back and closed the door. You can imagine the rest. Well maybe you can't, you see she was washing sheets on a boil wash.

The poor creature did not survive this experience intact and unsurprisingly Mrs Carrot Cake was in a terrible state when she discovered what had happened. I recall hearing the news as some kind of JFK moment. I was visiting my parents and was in the kitchen with Gypsy Tart and another friend of ours. Single Cookie came round to tell us the news and we were deeply shocked, until she walked out. Gypsy Tart still had a sad look on her face, but the friend and I ended up holding on to each other as we became weak with laughter. I was going to repeat some of the (incredibly witty but evil) remarks we made, but I have restrained myself out of respect for dear Mrs Carrot Cake.

I say dear Mrs Carrot Cake, but she knows what's coming next. Recently Mrs Carrot Cake and I had a brief exchange of comments over the Dalek post that Mr McMuffin wrote. Mrs Carrot Cake's hamster was mentioned. This hamster bravely survived escaping from its cage and falling into a toilet. It swam all night and was only discovered after someone used the toilet. Thank goodness they turned round before they flushed, that's all I can say. This brave and intrepid hamster came to a sticky end though. It survived the water torture, but not the consequences of finding itself under Mrs Carrot Cake's foot in another bizarre accident.

I am reminded of Oscar Wilde's observations on loss and carelessness. That's all I'm saying.