Thus The Independent today. “350,000 Britons a year are infected with pet-borne parasite linked with psychotic disturbances,” elaborates the newspaper. In other newspapers I read that the parasite is also linked with suicide. The story has even reached the Croatian newspapers. My first thought on reading such news quite surprised me. Croatian peasants would never allow a cat or a dog into the house. This is a household principle ingrained through untold generations. Cats take care of mice, and dogs take care of thieves. They are not pets, as a matter of fact. They are working animals pure and simple. Many an urbanite or foreigner has mocked such local attitudes. This I have witnessed many times over the years. As it turns out, the peasants have been right all along. Now it is their turn to mock the urbanites and foreigners. And especially the psychotics among them. God only knows what will be discovered about dog-borne parasites in the fullness of time. Homicide or suicide, anyone?