Animal Cruelty

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.

The Queen Anne's County state's attorney's office has filed criminal charges against the owner of a Centreville horse farm from which 140 animals were seized in April. Marsha H. Parkinson, 66, owner of Canterbury Farms, faces 35 animal cruelty charges of failure to provide adequate care for an animal, after the horses were taken from her Melfield Lane farm, according to electronic court records. Neither Parkinson nor Queen Anne's State's Attorney Lance G. Richardson returned calls seeking comment Tuesday afternoon.

What's wrong with our society? Are we that sick that we have more respect for animals than we have for human beings? A 78-year-old woman was attacked by a pit bull and underwent facial surgery ("Pit bull attack upsets neighborhood," June 8). The incident left her with one arm broken in two places and other fractures and bite wound on her face, ear and arm. She faces a lengthy hospitalization and rehabilitation as a result of the attack. The owner of the pit bull was cited by animal control officers for allowing the dog to run free and failing to license or vaccinate it. Wow, what a penalty.

An Anne Arundel County man has been charged with a firearms violation and animal cruelty after police said he shot his Severna Park neighbor's pit bull, which he told officers had aggressively barked and growled at him. Police said the shooting occurred about 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the 300 block of Benfield Road. "The male subject reported that the dog was aggressively barking and growling at him," police said in a statement. The man pulled out a gun and shot the dog once, police said.

I am deeply troubled by The Sun's promotion of animal circuses as fun-filled family events. ("50 ways to spring forward," March 18). Animals don't wear demeaning costumes, stand on each others' backs, or jump through rings of fire by choice. It is only through cruel training methods that these majestic animals perform such behaviors. One need only do a quick Internet search to find hundreds of circus training videos depicting elephants, tigers, bears and horses being shackled, shocked or beaten with sharp hooks.

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.

From an Annapolis hearing room to a Baltimore courtroom, animal cruelty has captured the attention of Marylanders in recent weeks — and has sparked debate over the issue's importance. Even as Baltimore prosecutors were locked in a lengthy trial over a fatal attack on a pit bull terrier, some critics complained that murders don't get as much media attention as the dog that was set ablaze. And a family friend of the brothers charged in that case questioned the legal system's priorities in prosecuting teens for an attack on an animal when her murdered son's killer hasn't yet been caught.

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.

An owner of the Siberian husky whose shooting death last year became a rallying cry for animal welfare advocates, urged state lawmakers Thursday to stiffen the penalties for violating the state's animal cruelty law. Ryan Rettaliata, who owned Bear-Bear along with his wife, said the newly married couple felt as if they had lost a child when Bear-Bear died after being shot in an Anne Arundel County dog park. Rettaliata said he hoped the change in law would spare other pets the same fate.

An outraged reader of The Baltimore Sun wants to know why the trial of twin brothers accused of burning a dog received so much attention — indeed, it made national news — while the plea bargain of a woman accused of killing her baby and burying him in Druid Hill Park received Page 6 treatment. Furthermore, why did the allegedly evil twins, Tremayne and Travers Johnson, face three years in prison if convicted of animal cruelty while Lakesha Haynie, the mother who buried her baby, received only probation?