Animal Cruelty

As the physicians quoted in your article on the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine's use of animals for surgical training, we were disappointed that the school's only response was from a spokesperson, and that neither the dean nor the chair of the surgery department provided comment ("Johns Hopkins under fire for using animals in doctor training," Feb. 24). We requested that Baltimore City State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein look into whether Hopkins' use of animals violates Maryland's animal cruelty laws.

Travers Johnson, one of two brothers recently acquitted of animal cruelty in a Baltimore dog-burning case, pleaded guilty Monday in city Circuit Court to attempted second-degree murder and use of a handgun in a crime of violence. He was sentenced to 25 years, with all but eight years of the term suspended, and is expected to receive about 14 months' credit for time already served. The 20-year-old has been in custody since his arrest on the attempted-murder charges in December 2010.

In the fight against animal cruelty in Baltimore, people have cursed, cried and written letters, protested and formed committees. But on Saturday, cycle enthusiasts will rev their engines in the name of treating animals better. The Peacekeepers Motorcycle Club is joining the Mayor's Anti-Animal Abuse Advisory Commission, for a day dedicated to raising awareness about animal cruelty and domestic violence in Baltimore. They're calling it a "peace ride and rally against animal cruelty.

The father of twins acquitted of animal cruelty charges Wednesday criticized the investigation that left the young men behind bars for nearly three years, but the state's attorney's office said there were no regrets in retrying the dog-burning case. "The police are supposed to be protecting," Charles Johnson said Thursday. He reiterated arguments from defense lawyers that the brothers were wrongfully identified as suspects. But a spokesman for State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein said the decision was made to retry the case in part because all but one juror agreed to convict the brothers in the first trial.

The July retrial of 19-year-old twins Travers and Tremayne Johnson, whose first animal-cruelty trial ended in a hung jury, has been postponed. The new city circuit court date — Sept. 16 — could complicate a civil case now scheduled for days later, however. In January 2009, five months before they are accused of setting fire to a pit bull, the Johnson brothers and three others filed a lawsuit against a Baltimore landlord, claiming that exposure to lead paint has left them unable to work.

Sometimes, though rarely, a Supreme Court ruling is so startling and jarring that Congress is moved swiftly to counter it. That may, and certainly should, be the response to the court's decision declaring unconstitutional a 1999 federal law against creation and distribution of material depicting acts of animal cruelty. By an unusual and rather remarkable 8-1 vote, with Justice Samuel A. Alito, a member of the conservative bloc, the only dissenter, the court held that the law was so broad that it violated the free speech protection under the First Amendment.

Two 16-year-olds are facing animal cruelty charges after Anne Arundel County police responded to a call about what appeared to be a dogfight. Shortly before 5:30 p.m. Thursday, a caller told police that there were about five people watching two dogs fighting in the woods near Athena Lane and Loving Road in Severn, according to a police statement. Police said that as they arrived, the group scattered, running toward Arwell Court, which is in the Orchards of Severn community.

I see yet another front page article in The Sun about combating animal cruelty ("Baltimore athletes show their 'soft side,'" Sept. 26) and my heart sinks. Why is another article about animal cruelty front page news while most stories about human beings losing their lives are reduced to a small paragraph on page four? When was the last time a large reward was offered for information on the murder of a teen-age kid as opposed to the thousands of dollars offered by people coming out of the woodwork when a dog gets hurt?

City police have arrested two boys they say were involved in a May attack on a puppy near a Southwest Baltimore golf course, a day after authorities detained another juvenile in a separate animal cruelty case. The boys, both 10 years old, were transported to the city's juvenile detention center. Police say a witness at the Carroll Park Municipal Golf Course watched the boys beat the puppy with belts and sticks May 16. The names of the boys, who were arrested Wednesday, were not released.

Whenever The Sun does an article on the myriad of problems with huge chicken farms ( "Big chicken: downsized," July 5), you never mention one of the most glaring problems: that of animal cruelty, millions of birds crammed into tiny cages from birth till death never seeing the light of day or experiencing the joy of smelling clean fresh air while walking around a barnyard. More and more people are demanding humane (and healthier) ways to raise our food as evidenced by purchasing decisions at the grocery store.

Authorities in Frostburg say a 14-year-old boy fatally stabbed a city park duck. The Cumberland Times-News reported that city workers found a distinctive knife protruding from the dead bird's back Thursday morning. Frostburg police said Friday evening that an investigation led them to the 14-year-old. Criminal charges for aggravated animal cruelty and animal cruelty were forwarded to the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services. The youth was released to his parents. The domesticated duck was one of four that were released at the Glendening Recreational Complex about a year ago. City worker Dave Pennington says he had just returned the ducks to the pond Tuesday.

Baltimore City Circuit Judge Emanuel Brown will decide whether a jury can see a police surveillance video that prosecutors say ties twin brothers Travers and Tremayne Johnson to a pit bull that was set on fire in 2009. The second trial in the animal cruelty case opened Friday with a series of requests by the brothers' defense attorneys for Brown to throw out key pieces of the prosecution's evidence, including the video and a gas can. Brown held off ruling on the motions until at least Monday, when the trial continues.

I was disturbed by your article about the Arapaho tribe seeking to claim more bald eagles for use in their religious ceremonies ("Arapaho tribe looks to claim more bald eagles," March 18). The tribe displays no religiosity or spirituality with this senseless superstition that does nothing but destroy innocent life. Once again, this is cruelty cloaked in religion. Joyce Robinson, Glen Burnie

A person who found an injured female pit bull in Brooklyn Park 10 days ago has sparked a police animal cruelty investigation into a suspected dog fighting operation. The dog, named Princess, was found less than five miles from where another injured pit bull was found last month. Princess is being treated at the Waugh Chapel Animal Hospital , the same place the first dog, Rocky Road, was taken. She will be be released to the SPCA of Anne Arundel County when here injuries have healed.

A 37-year-old man was sentenced in Baltimore County Circuit Court on Monday to three years in prison for animal cruelty stemming from a police seizure of scarred and malnourished dogs from a Woodlawn area home. Larry Alston was arrested in 2009 after police found numerous dogs in the home, along with cages that were covered in feces and urine. He had been charged 22 counts of violating various animal cruelty laws, including charges of mutilating the animals, and police said there was evidence the dogs had been used for fighting.

Following on the heels of the shocking shooting death this week of a Maryland puppy, The Humane Society of the United States is offering a reward. Here is the release the organization just sent out: The Humane Society of the United States is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for killing a 7-month-old golden retriever in Middletown, Md. Frederick County Animal Control gives the following account: On Wednesday morning, a resident in the 2900 block of Station Road in Middletown found his 7-month-old golden retriever puppy, Heidi, dead from an apparent gunshot wound.

While serving an eviction notice this summer in East Baltimore, a team from the sheriff's office opened the door of vacated rowhouse to find two pit bulls left behind with no food or water — a black one waiting by the entrance, and a brown one in the living room, locked in a cage barely big enough to hold it. A few months earlier, if they had found animals like this, they would have called animal control to pick them up, end of story....

Baltimore City Circuit Judge Emanuel Brown will decide whether a jury can see a police surveillance video that prosecutors say ties twin brothers Travers and Tremayne Johnson to a pit bull that was set on fire in 2009. The second trial in the animal cruelty case opened Friday with a series of requests by the brothers' defense attorneys for Brown to throw out key pieces of the prosecution's evidence, including the video and a gas can. Brown held off ruling on the motions until at least Monday, when the trial continues.

The second animal-cruelty trial of brothers Travers and Tremayne Johnson, whose first Baltimore proceeding ended in mistrial, was postponed Monday shortly before jury selection was set to begin, because witnesses were unavailable. It's the fourth time the retrial has been delayed since May. The new trial date is set for Feb. 1 — nearly a year after the first trial ended. "A key witness in the state's case has had a family emergency and is not going to be able to testify for approximately two weeks, possibly longer," prosecutor Jennifer Rallo told the judge, according to a video recording of the morning proceeding reviewed by The Baltimore Sun. The teen-aged twins, who are in custody on unrelated charges, are accused of setting fire to a pit bull, who didn't survive despite the efforts of rescue workers, who nicknamed the dog Phoenix.

I read in the Sept. 30 issue of The Sun a very disturbing letter to the editor: "Animal cruelty? Let's fight human-on-human cruelty. " The author of this letter does not have a bigger picture of what fighting animal cruelty can do. Why is it that animal cruelty is rising? Because just in Baltimore alone, people make big money on dog fights. They teach their children it is OK. All the bad guys say, "Move to Baltimore because their laws are way behind other cities and places. " This breeds human-on-human cruelty.