Contribute Or Leave

I’m thinking Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson:

Like his laidoff owner, Louie the 5-pound wonder dog is waiting for work.

Deborah Chusid, 46, lost her advertising job on Sept. 26, another New York casualty of the economic downturn.

If that wasn’t bad enough, when she phoned her ex to ask him to put their 14-year-old son, Jonah, on his health plan, there was another blow. He had lost his job the same day.

Now what?

. . .

Why not put the dog to work? Surely everyone would think Louie — a friendly black-and-white Mi-Ki named after Louis Armstrong — is as adorable as she and Jonah do.

. . .

Like people showbiz, it’s a dog-eat-dog world for animals trying to break in. [Linda Hanrahan, the president of Advertising for Animals and owner of the now departed Toonces the Cat of “Saturday Night Live” fame] advised that Louie not get his hind legs up too high, as the reality is often disappointing.

“I’ll try to get that poor little dog a week’s worth of dog food,” added Hanrahan, noting that most pet owners should not plan on their pooch becoming a meal ticket. Then in a whispered tone, she confided, “If she had a Jack Russell, it’s so much easier.”

The Small Nocturnal Insect In The Room

If there are rats and roaches on city buses, does that mean there are other things to worry about as well? It’s concerning:

Some Brooklyn buses are roach coaches with creepy crawlies joining riders — and one driver had a run-in with a rat.

Drivers and riders said they’re bugged out about conditions on the big rigs pulling out of the East New York depot and urged NYC Transit, which is planning a fare hike next summer, to do something.

“It would bother anyone,” one driver said.

A B45 driver said she had a rodent encounter on her bus Nov. 12 at Livingston and Court Sts. in downtown Brooklyn.

She said she had completed a run and was about to turn around and start picking up passengers in the opposite direction when the cat-sized vermin charged.

“He came from the back of the bus and ran straight at me,” the driver said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I got out of there as fast as I could. He got so close I’m still jumpy about it.”

The roaches are much more prevalent and just as bold, drivers and riders said.

“It’s not uncommon to see roaches on the buses,” another driver said. “It seems like they’re attracted to the warmth of the engine. I’ve had them crawl on my shoes. It can freak you out.”

Yes The Bronx (Mowgli)!

No, we were kidding earlier! We didn’t think anyone would actually do it:

Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and husband Pete Wentz welcomed a son Thursday night, according to a posting on his Web site.

Bronx Mowgli Wentz weighed 7 lbs., 11 oz., and was 20 1/2 inches long.

“Ashlee, Pete and baby Bronx are all healthy and happy, and thank everyone for their well wishes!” a spokesman said, according to People magazine.

. . .

The Web site says Mowgli is a character who originally appeared in Rudyard Kipling’s short story “In the Rukh” and then went on to become the most prominent and memorable character in “The Jungle Book.”

When Lobbying For More Money In Tight Financial Times . . .

. . . just say you’re thinking about cutting funding for libraries.

Or the school band. No one ever wants to cut funding for the school band. The public eats up this stuff.

Tony Avella For Mayor

So if it’s just Tony Avella running against Bloomberg, maybe we should take a closer look at the Councilmember. Here’s what we know:

• He’s obsessed with animals, perhaps to the exclusion of other, uh, more pressing issues
• His public profile sometimes rises to a level of grandstanding, but perhaps not overly so . . .
• . . . in part because the grandstanding is often principled, or at least principled sounding
• That said, anyone who is against foie gras is kind of weird, and it would be stupid to have that become part of the Avella bully pulpit
• And yet . . . there’s something I like about someone who is willing to crack down on unwanted fliers and menus; that’s problem solving!
• And he does seem willing to take on the mayor when it’s appropriate . . .

OK. I’m sold. Tony Avella for Mayor. Go Tony, go! (But note that this is not a mandate! If you try to take away our foie gras, know that we may have to pull a Jesse Jackson on your ass.) (And a note to other potential candidates: following the mayor’s recent behavior, there are probably a lot of us who can become cheap dates.)