Pets’ Tails Wagging the Fashion Dog

Sinead and Baby O’ are not quite slaves of fashion. They’re more like pets.

But they do have a nose for it--two moist, cool noses, in fact.

The Weimaraner and the collie stepped out on their fashion careers when their human companion, Antonio Rendon, began posing live mannequins on a ramp near the entrance of his Venice shop, Titanic Boutique, some years back.

“People don’t know if they’re real or not,” he said of the weekend tableaux vivants. During the week, the pooches often pose with wire substitutes.

The dogs started to attract admirers of their own when they wandered up and cocked their heads inquisitively at the crowds that gathered on the boardwalk outside.

“They were wondering why there were so many people,” Rendon says. “Now the dogs go up on the ramp and get a lot of attention.”

Some fans have two feet and some have four.

“A lot of dogs come just to say hello to my dogs,” Rendon said.

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CLOSED SEASON: Hunters, pack your traps and rifles and head back to the hills. No more open season on mountain lions in West Hollywood.

Although the only wild beast indigenous to this densely populated city may be the party animal--and an occasional lost coyote--the City Council is about to take up a resolution opposing a state Senate bill that would allow sport hunting of mountain lions.

“We’ve been at the forefront of animal-related issues as a cruelty-free city,” explained Councilman Paul Koretz. “There’s no reason why cities that don’t have mountain lions shouldn’t have positions” on this bill, he said.

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BUMPER CARS: Imagine Car A crawling down Civic Center Drive at 5 m.p.h. Now imagine Car B rolling into it at the hair-raising speed of 4 m.p.h. Under current standards, which car will suffer significant damage if they crash?

The answer is . . . both. That’s because federal bumper regulations now protect cars at speeds of up to 2.5 m.p.h. and no faster. Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills), whose district includes parts of Malibu, recently introduced legislation to change that.

Beilenson’s idea is to require all new cars to be equipped with bumpers capable of withstanding damage at speeds of up to 5 m.p.h--a standard that was in effect from 1978 to 1982. It was reduced as part of the Reagan Administration’s effort to ease regulations on the auto industry.

The lower standard was meant to result in lower costs for new cars, lighter bumpers and better gasoline mileage. But data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety indicates otherwise.

“This experiment has been a total failure,” Beilenson said on the House floor. “None of the anticipated benefits of a weaker bumper standard has materialized.”

So, if Beilenson has his way, future models of Car A and Car B would emerge from similar mishaps with bumpers intact.

Now to get speeds down to 5 m.p.h. . . .