Animals

MINEOLA, Texas -- The Rathburns are the kind of indulgent pet owners who treat their animals like children -- bottle-feeding them as babies, building them a pool with a waterfall, posing with them for Christmas photos. That their pet cats happen to be Bengal tigers probably would raise eyebrows in most places but Texas, where exotic animals have become such a part of the landscape that they even have their own name: "Texotics." This, after all, is the state where hunters flock to bag scimitar-horned oryx and aoudad sheep, restaurants casually offer elk and wild boar and having a really big cat in your back yard has gotten so trendy, some say more tigers live in Texas than their ancestral home of India.

The first time Frank Moraff entered his chocolate Labrador retriever Cali in aquatic competition at 8 months old, she stopped short at the edge of the 40-foot dock and stared as the toy he'd flung, and that she so desperately wanted, went sailing into the air without her. After considerable urging, "she finally slid off the dock and did a belly flop," he recalled, shaking his head and smiling. But in her second attempt that same day, she redeemed herself and jumped 17 feet. "I was thrilled," said the longtime Columbia resident, who is a member of Chesapeake DockDogs, a canine dock jumping club formed in 2003 that has 60 families as members.

I am deeply indebted to Kory Stamper of Merriam-Webster for the latest post at  harm-less drudg-ery , for a Latin tag that explains much.  Ms. Stamper tweeted one of those plain facts of lexicography the other day, one that I, too have remarked on, that irregardless , though scorned in formal written English, is nevertheless as word. And has been for some time. For merely stating a simple truth, she was inundated with comments of the YOUR A MORON variety.  Philosophically, she turned to the Latin tag that now gives me comfort:  Aliqua non possunt quin merdam moveare , “There are those who cannot help but stir the turd.” (I believe that responsible translation might permit an alternative monosyllable for turd .)

Graham Motion can't help but hear snippets of news coming from Elmont, N.Y., where I'll Have Another is preparing for a shot at the first Triple Crown in 34 years. "It's great for the sport," the Fair Hill-based trainer said. "But for us, it's tough, too. The length that he won by at Preakness, we lost by that much last year. " Motion can take some solace in knowing the colt that gave him such a gallant run, Animal Kingdom, is finally headed back toward the race track.

It was with great sadness that I saw the photos in The Sun of hunters posing triumphantly next to the carcasses of the animals that they had shot and killed in Africa ("Africa calls adventurous hunters," Jan. 29). Included in the photos were a dead water buffalo, lion, nyala, oryx and elephant. Isn't there a way for people to derive enjoyment from these magnificent animals' existence without causing their often painful demise? In Africa, there are safaris that offer tourists the opportunity to photograph wildlife in preserves and parks in their natural habitat.

No matter what your feels are about religion, it's hard not to be charmed by a blessing of the animals. This one happened this week at the the Cathedral of the Incarnation, part of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. Watch for little Butterscotch. I love him. (He was a good boy! He didn't bite the bishop!)

To the Editor: I don't understand what people have against the Humane Society, and what they do for the discarded animals that nobody wanted. What would they like folks to do for them other than try to find them good homes? This is in regard to the article in Wednesday Jan. 4, and the Rebels dog park. People from all over come go use this park because it's safe. It's grass, not dirt and mud. It is fenced, and everyone seems to have a great time...owners and dogs. There aren't many places folks can take their dogs that is basically worry free.

New details have come to light regrading an incident in which animal control officers were sent to a home in the Street area Friday afternoon to remove several dogs and cats. A deputy from the Harford County Sheriff's Office was also dispatched to the property in the 2900 block of Lochary Road at the request of the county's animal control office, Monica Worrell, spokesperson for the sheriff's office confirmed Friday. "Animal control asked the Harford County Sheriff's Office to assist in serving a search and seizure warrant at a location on Lochary Road," Worrell said, explaining a single deputy was sent to provide assistance at 2:35 p.m. and was still at the scene at 5 p.m. Worrell said she could not discuss the contents of the warrant, except to say it was obtained by animal control.

After reading "The job that nobody talks about: Health department cuts would decrease city's animal services" (May 16) I was outraged with Baltimore City and the fact the are proposing yet another cut to animal control, which is already operating on a shoestring budget. As a volunteer at Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS) for the last three years I have seen first hand the animal abuse that continues to go on in Baltimore City day in and day out, most of it never reported by the news.

Next week, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey will return to Baltimore with Fully Charged!, the 141st edition of The Greatest Show On Earth. Everyone at Ringling Bros. takes great pride in presenting quality family entertainment to audiences in Baltimore and across the country. Unfortunately, animal rights groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have used our return to continue their radical agenda by distorting our dedication to animal care and welfare. It's time we set the record straight.

People aren't the only ones at risk from eating mercury-contaminated fish, since coal-burning power plants have liberally sprinkled the toxic metal across the earth's waters.  But it appears that captive dolphins have a little less to worry about in that regard than their wild counterparts. A new study by researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the National Aquarium in Baltimore found that the aquarium's captive bottlenose dolphins have lower levels of mercury in their bodies than wild dolphins tested off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida.

Dickie Small grew up fox hunting with his family in Baltimore County, and the veteran horse trainer has occasionally seen the skittish red or gray creatures running around various tracks over the years. So the sight of a red fox at Pimlico Race Course early one morning last month did not make Small blink. The difference with this fox became quickly apparent — it kept coming out of its den, almost on a daily basis. "If it rains, it stays in," Small said Friday. "And sometimes it oversleeps.

Maryland-based jockey Mario Pino says he once heard that the great race rider Laffit Pincay would wear his underwear inside out. For luck. Ramon Dominguez, Eclipse Award-winning jockey the last two years, likes to have Perrier water and animal crackers in his jockey room stall. And he puts his left boot on first. Always. They call horse racing the fastest two minutes in sports, but a jockey's preparation begins the night before and continues until the moment the starting gates clang open.

The hunter-backed effort to bring wild elk back to western Maryland is gaining some steam, though fierce resistance remains in key quarters. A survey done by pro-hunting groups finds that nearly three-fourths of Marylanders asked favor restoring the large, majestic ungulates to the state's mountainous region, which hasn't seen any of the animals since the 1700s. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has been working with the Maryland Legislative Sportsmen's Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to review the biological, social and economic feasibility of restoring the species in the state.  The telephone survey, done by Responsive Management , a Virginia-based polling firm, was underwritten by the two foundations, according to a DNR press release about it. While the survey found widespread public support for bringing elk back to Maryland, the survey also found a strong current of opposition among some western Maryland farmers and others  who feared the large animals could jeopardize their livelihood, spread disease or damage their property.

What you see is what you get with Kegasus, the spokeshorse-man of Preakness. He's a party guy on top, a horse who also likes to party on bottom and a Henry James scholar. So, that last part we made up, but we've always wanted to learn more about the legend. Though we were slightly afraid to get awkward with anyone who is horse-ish (the animals do seem angry and overly muscly, after all), we manned up as much as a non-crossbreed animal can to get to the bottom of Kegasus' innermost thoughts - and find out what the deal is between him and sidekick UniCarl.

A group of animal activists is asking Gov. Martin O'Malley to quickly introduce legislation that would override a Maryland Court of Appeals decision deeming all pit bulls dangerous. Maryland Votes for Animals and similar organizations are urging residents to call the governor's office Tuesday to lobby him to act during the special General Assembly session scheduled to begin Monday. "We feel this is terribly important," said Carolyn Kilborn, chair and founder of Maryland Votes for Animals.

Regarding the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's controversial practice of using live pigs for the training of future surgeons ("Johns Hopkins under fire for using animals in doctor training," Feb. 24), a critical factor is missing from The Sun's report. While Hopkins officials assert "that the training on pigs is instrumental because it gives students the feel of live tissue," they fail to back this up with evidence. The region's premier research institution should rely upon research on the question of whether surgeons who trained with live animals end up more skilled than those whose training was limited to computer simulators and non-living tissue.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources only cares about killing animals, not saving them ( "Rescuers fined after freeing deer caught in Patapsco ice," Dec. 19). Most of them are avid hunters or staunch supporters of hunting. Hiking groups, nature groups and biking groups are getting sick and tired of the dangerous hunting season getting longer and longer each year. My hiking club has to change hiking plans more and more frequently because of hunting. Tree stands and hunters are everywhere.

What a scene it would have been. Bodemeister, the 4-1 morning line favorite, seemed to run effortlessly around most of track at Churchill Downs on Saturday, opening a lead of four lengths coming out of the final turn. He would have been trainer Bob Baffert's fourth Kentucky Derby winner. He would have invoked reverential talk of horses gone by. He would have been the next one with a true shot at ending a Triple Crown drought that has lasted since 1978. But Bodemeister - whose name comes from a nickname for Baffert's son Bode - got tired.

Dan Rodricks ' recent column ("Pit bulls: Own them at your risk," May 1) represents the stereotyping, discriminatory and Nazi-like bias against a single breed of dogs. Maybe he should do his own research instead of standing blindly behind one legal ruling. Nothing is ever black and white and especially when it comes to our legal system. Yes, pit bulls are strong animals and have a history of being abused in fighting rings because they are also loyal animals who will do anything for their owners.