DEAR ABBY: "Liz in California" expressed her concern that pets in motor vehicles should be secured (buckled up) similar to small children. Well, here's another one for your "Now I've Heard Everything" file:

As I was driving along a Twin Cities freeway, I passed a man on a motorcycle doing no less than 60 miles an hour. Abby, he had a full-grown black Labrador dog perched behind him on the passenger seat of the motorcycle! The poor animal looked paralyzed with fear.

When I called the Minnesota Highway Patrol to report the cycle license number, I was told they could do nothing because the guy wasn't breaking any laws.

Abby, how about cruelty to animals? That terrified dog could jump or fall from the motorcycle and shatter all four legs on the concrete! Or, startled motorists could swerve out of control or be rear-ended slamming on their brakes, with a dog that size rolling down the pavement.

To me, it's just another indication that there is no shortage of idiots on the road in Minnesota. -- SANDY IN MAPLE GROVE

DEAR SANDY: Why pick on Minnesota? There's no shortage of idiots on the road in any other state that has no law to protect man's best friend from this kind of brutality.

As a concerned citizen and animal lover, why don't you write a letter to the editor of your newspaper and cite this blatant cruelty? It might spur a state legislator to action.

DEAR ABBY: I fully agree with your response to the woman of good character in Anchorage, Alaska, who had bought a secondhand car and found $42 in the glove compartment. Her husband said that inasmuch as they had purchased the car "as is," she should keep the $42. You told her to return it.

Your advice was similar to the story told by Rabbi Simeon, whose students bought a donkey from a merchant to assist their teacher in his livelihood of selling flax. His students found a costly pearl attached to the neck of the donkey, and they said, "Rabbi, you will not have to labor any more -- we found this precious gem on the donkey!"

Rabbi Simeon responded, "Does the seller know of this pearl?" They answered, "No."

The sage then said, "I bought a donkey, not a pearl." The jewel was returned.

As a rabbi concerned that people don't simply tell themselves, "Business is business," I am pleased you chose to print that woman's letter.

The great writer Macaulay wrote: "The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out." -- RABBI GEOFFREY BOTNICK, WILMETTE, ILL.

DEAR ABBY: I got a chuckle out of some of the messages left on telephone answering machines by people who had obviously misdialed. Add this one:

A female voice left this message on my machine: "Honey, I just came back from the doctor's office, and he says I'm pregnant."

Abby, I am a single man, living alone. I'm also ... 68 YEARS OLD

Abby's family recipes are included in her cookbooklet. Send a long, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby, Cookbooklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, Ill. 61054. (Postage is included.)

DEAR ABBY: I have been happily and faithfully married to my husband for 14 years. The problem is with our family doctor. Recently, my husband thought he had a bladder infection, so he went to our doctor, who ran one urine test that turned out negative. Then the doctor informed my husband that he had a sexually transmitted disease!

My husband asked if it was possible to have had this "sexually transmitted disease" for 14 years -- or was there some other way of getting it? Also, wouldn't it be wise to run another test just to make sure?

The doctor insisted that his diagnosis was correct, then with a smirk he added, "I'm not suggesting that you run home and beat your wife, but you obviously got it from her."

Abby, no wife could be more faithful than I. I never even looked at another man in more than 14 years. My husband says he believes me, yet he's been having bad dreams ever since. I know I'd be accused of "protesting too much" if I confronted the doctor. This is a small town, and it could make matters even worse. Besides, I hear that this doctor thinks all non-churchgoers (like my husband and myself) are pretty much "scum" anyway. What can I do? I'm not taking this lightly. -- BRISTLING IN ARIZONA

DEAR BRISTLING: First, change doctors -- even if it means getting your checkups in a nearby town.

According to Dr. Willard Cates Jr., director of the Sexually Transmitted Disease Division of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta: "No diagnostic test is 100 percent accurate. Your husband should be retested to confirm the original test result." (Some sexually transmitted diseases can lie dormant for long periods of time; also you failed to mention which one your husband allegedly has.)

The doctor who accused you unjustly is guilty of unprofessional behavior. He was also in error in refusing to perform more definitive tests. Report him to your county medical society.

DEAR ABBY: This letter is in response to the letter from "Illinois Victim," the girl who -- while being beaten by her boyfriend at a trailer park -- yelled loudly for help from her neighbors, to no avail.

A young man also living in a trailer park in Illinois heard a muffled cry for help. He went outside and saw a man on top of a woman with his hands around her neck. He yelled, and the assailant tried to escape on a bicycle. But the young man chased him for almost a mile over gravel terrain in his bare feet. The man who was caught was wanted by the police for previous rapes.

When the police asked the young man who caught the alleged rapist what his motivation was, he replied (with bruised and bloodied feet), "What if that girl had been my sister? I would hope someone else would do the same thing!"

So, have faith, Abby. Good people are still out there. He even returned to Illinois after moving to California to appear in court for the prosecution, and was awarded four plaques for heroism. His name is Tyler Smith. -- HIS PROUD SISTER, JENNIFER, IN ALBANY, N.Y.

Everything you'll need to know about planning a wedding can be found in Abby's booklet, "How to Have a Lovely Wedding." To order, send a long, business-size, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby, Wedding Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, Ill. 61054. (Postage is included.)

DEAR ABBY: Your letter concerning handshakes and what they signified interested me.

I am currently retired, after spending 37 years with a well-known public relations firm for whom I traveled around the country to set up press conferences for major events. In doing so, I worked with Gen. Eisenhower when he was campaigning in Denver for his second term as president. I worked with Walter Cronkite while he was at the NASA space center in Houston, and Nikita Krushchev when he was in Des Moines touring farms in the Midwest. I also helped set up the press center in Dallas the day President Kennedy was killed there.

There were other celebrities I met personally, and whose hands I shook. One was Richard Nixon when he was campaigning in Houston. When I shook his hand, I was surprised to find it was very small, sweaty and limp!

In the mid-'60s, I helped set up the press center for Billy Graham's Crusade in the Houston Astrodome. I met Billy Graham, a large, impressive fellow whose handshake was amazingly almost identical to Nixon's -- weak and very limp.

I had always believed that a person's handshake revealed his character. I later learned it wasn't true. Now I never judge a person entirely by his handshake. -- EARL ROTH, SARGENT, TEXAS

DEAR MR. ROTH: Thank you for an enlightening letter. I cannot leave the subject of handshakes without adding this personal comment: It is generally accepted that a firm and resolute handshake conveys an "I'm sincerely glad to meet you" message. But one should never use it when greeting a woman who's wearing a ring on her hand.

DEAR ABBY: I have two brothers who are married. (So am I.) One brother lives in Minnesota and the other one lives in Louisiana. The Minnesota brother always sends birthday and anniversary cards, and promptly, too. The brother who lives down South never sends birthday or an�niversary greetings. (He doesn't even acknowledge the cards I send him.)

I made up my mind that unless I hear from my thoughtless brother down South, I am going to quit remembering him on special occasions.

I talked to my parents about this, and they said, "Do as you please, but don't involve us." I don't see why I should be so prompt and thoughtful to people who ignore me, do you? -- MIDWEST SISTER

DEAR SISTER: In every family, there are some who are more thoughtful than others. You may feel that by ignoring those who always forget you, you are "getting even," but you are actually widening the gap, until eventually there will be no communication at all.

Remember them anyway. Families need each other. Don't wait for a funeral to communicate.

DEAR ABBY: After reading your column, "Only in America," in which you poked fun at Americans who buy everything they wear and use from some foreign country, I had to write to share the following:

A number of years ago, I saw a display of merchandise bearing labels reading "MADE IN USA."

It seems that on Shikoku -- the smallest of Japan's four islands -- there is a city named "Usa." All the products made there are marked "MADE IN USA."

Would you say that the purpose of those labels was to intentionally mislead the buyer? I think so.-- C.C. IN FLORIDA

DEAR C.C.: Si, Si, so do I.

To get Abby's booklet "How to Write Letters for All Occasions," send a long, business-size, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby, Letter Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, Ill. 61054. (Postage is included.)