Animal Advocates

Howard County is organizing an expanded deer hunt this fall in the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area -- despite objections from animal advocates -- as part of a countywide effort to control a burgeoning population that is causing major damage, officials say.According to estimates in a Howard County Deer Task Force Study conducted from 1996 and released late last week -- but due two years ago -- the animals are causing more than 1,000 traffic accidents a...

Area dogs may get a park of their own if a group of citizens, with help from the Department of Recreation and Parks, accomplishes its goal of establishing Howard County's first dog park.John Priest, a dog owner and former member of the Kings Contrivance Village Board, invited a core group of interested dog owners in May to discuss a dog park. They want a fenced area where dogs could exercise off the leash, roam freely and socialize with other canines.Today, the group will meet again to organize support and to gather ideas about what the park should include.

It is possible to love deer and to kill them, says Joe Webster, who will take his lifelong passion for hunting today to a place normally off limits: the 1,000-acre Middle Patuxent Environmental Area in Columbia."

After canceling a deer hunt in January in Howard County's Middle Patuxent Environmental Area, County Executive James N. Robey will allow hunting to resume on the 1,000-acre preserve this winter.The decision -- welcomed by hunters and beleaguered suburbanites, but scorned by animal advocates -- comes as a long-awaited report on the county's deer population and ways to control it is due.Robey revealed his plan this week without waiting for the report, but refused yesterday to explain his reasons until meeting with animal advocates and other interested parties.

Why make developers scapegoats?Why is it that every election season the press and public begin a feeding frenzy on homebuilders and developers? These are responsible men and women who make major contributions to our community and quality of life.Developers and homebuilders undertake a project with considerable risk. They invest a great amount of energy and financial resources to create a quality product. Often, they put their own homes at risk, securing the financing to enhance their visions for better communities.

In the crowd was a man wearing a bright orange hunting cap, another sporting a Dale Earnhardt NASCAR T-shirt, the president of Animal Advocates of Howard County and a nurse worried about treating hunting accident victims.So it came as little surprise they expressed widely differing views at a meeting of the county Department of Recreation and Parks Board last night on a much-talked about proposal that Howard County park managers officially made public: A plan to usher a small group of hunters into a large west Columbia park in two months to cut down a growing and bothersome deer herd.

In Howard County, there are suburbanites, and there are farmers. There are those who would save the earth, and those who work it. Those who name their cats, and those who barely count them.So when the County Council votes tomorrownight on whether to require that cats be licensed as dogs are, they face an issue split along a divide more cultural than political.The two worlds of Howard county meet in people like Rebecca Tacchetti, a Lisbon mother and former teacher. She is not the suburban picture of a cat owner, with Fluffy happily purring beside the hearth, an easy target for a cat license.

EMORY UNITED Methodist Church invites the community to celebrate its new pipe organ during worship at 10: 30 a.m. Sunday. The celebration will continue with a 4 p.m. organ concert.The instrument replaces a 95-year-old pipe organ, which "groaned and moaned," says church member Lee Davis.Guest organist for the 10: 30 a.m. service will be Peter Luley, president of Luley & Associates, the company that built the organ.The guest organist at 4 p.m. will be Gordon Turk, a professor of music at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

The Maryland Chiropractic Association has named Dr. Scott Lawrence, who practices in Elkridge, as its 1995 Chiropractor of the Year.The award was given to Dr. Lawrence at the association's convention last month."

Animal Advocates of Howard County will sponsor a candlelight vigil for homeless animals at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 20 at the Animal Control Facility, 8576 Davis Road, Village of Long Reach.The event is part of a national observance commemorating the dogs, cats and other animals killed in shelters and animal control facilities in the past year because of animal overpopulation.The purpose of the event is to make the public aware that the mass killing can be prevented by spaying and neutering pets, and educating the public.

Howard Bank opens Ellicott City branch Howard Bank, Howard County's locally owned and managed community bank, has opened a new Centennial Place branch at Centennial Lane and Route 40 in Ellicott City. Bank Vice President Daphne A. Dressler is manager of the new branch. The Eldersburg resident was an assistant vice president and manager of Bank of America's West Friendship office before joining Howard Bank in 2007. Howard Bank, which opened in August 2004, has branches in the Hickory Ridge Village Center, on Snowden River Parkway and on Johns Hopkins Road in Maple Lawn.

Benefit auction, golf set Saturday at Turf Valley The Mia Sutphin Foundation will hold its sixth benefit auction and golf event Saturday at Turf Valley Resort and Conference Center in Ellicott City. Golf is to begin at 11 a.m.; the auction and celebration, with dinner, drinks and a short program, will be held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The featured guest will be Sister Mary Owens, director of Nyumbani Children's Home, an orphanage in Kenya for children with HIV/AIDS. Tickets are $100. Proceeds will benefit the foundation, which works to help children and families around the world with their medical, emotional and financial needs.

Town center plans The League of Women Voters of Howard County will meet from 6:45 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday in the Great Room of the Ellicott City Senior Center, 9401 Frederick Road, Ellicott City. Columbia General Manager Greg Hamm of General Growth Properties will speak about the company's plans for Columbia Town Center. Moderators for the meeting are league co-presidents Grace Kubofcik and Barbara Schnackenberg. Everyone is invited. Light refreshments will be served. Information: 410-730-0142 or www.howardlwvmd.

Dia de la Familia to be held Sunday The Columbia Association will hold its sixth Dia de la Familia from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Columbia SportsPark. The family event, held each year in commemoration of Hispanic Heritage Month, will feature disc jockey Bobby Nyk and catering by Zapata's restaurant in Harper's Choice. Miniature golf, batting cages, a Moon Bounce, a balloon sculptor and face painter, door prizes, dance demonstrations and a Salsa dancing competition are planned. Admission is free.

Despite strong objections from animal advocates, county officials are planning to continue managed deer hunts in a half-dozen undeveloped parks this fall, based on the results of a new public opinion survey. The 10-minute telephone survey of random respondents was conducted in April, and the results were released this week. "We wanted to find out in general what attitudes were," said Gary J. Arthur, director of the county Department of Recreation and Parks. If the survey had revealed a swing to overwhelming public opposition to hunting, the county would have revisited the plans, he said.

When comedian Ellen DeGeneres recently gave her adopted dog to her hairstylist's family, she triggered a major kerfuffle among animal advocates - and a national debate about what's best for a pet. After learning that DeGeneres had given Iggy to a family she thought would be more suited to it, the California dog rescue organization that handled the adoption reclaimed the Brussels Griffon terrier mix. Mutts & Moms said that its celebrity client had no...

Animal Advocates of Howard County is planning its Walk For Paws for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Lake Elkhorn. Contests ("Biggest Ears, Best Tail Wagger"), activities, and demonstrations for dogs and people are planned. Dogs are welcome, as are people without dogs. Homeless pets looking for permanent homes will be available. Proceeds from the walk will help saves the lives of cats and dogs. Information: 410-880-2488, Ext. 4. Columbia Clippers set swim clinic The Columbia Clippers, the swim team of the Columbia Aquatics Association, will be hosts for a "Mutual of Omaha Breakout!

Somewhere in Baltimore this weekend, men will probably herd two pit bulls, both heavily muscled from weight training and both driven mad by recent starvation, into an abandoned field or the cellar of a vacant rowhouse. They'll toss another, weaker animal - a cat, rabbit or maybe a blinded dog - in between the canine gladiators and then set them loose to tear one another apart. The dog that inflicts more puncture wounds might win hundreds of dollars for supporters and be hailed as a champion.

With twice its former space to house and nurture homeless animals, the Howard County Animal Shelter appears to be thriving in its newly renovated building in Columbia. Having launched new programs that encourage strong bonds between owners and their animals, shelter officials want to make Howard County a pet-safe environment. Recently, Kristen and Reese Emery adopted their third dog, Nina, from the shelter. As volunteers, they got to know the 75-pound, 7-year-old rottweiler-chow mix who was left an orphan after her owner died in a car accident.

CA governance panel is to meet tonight in Columbia A revised schedule has been issued by the Columbia Association's Governance Committee for its public discussions on proposals that have been submitted to the board to recommend changes in the town's governance structure. Meetings will be held at 7:30 p.m. today in the boardroom at Columbia Association headquarters; Sept. 8 in the MIS (management information services) conference room; and Sept. 15 and 22 in the small conference room. Proposals to be discussed are available at www.columbia association.