Frisky

A Howard County Board of Appeals hearing planned for Tuesday night has been rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. March 7. The land-use panel, which meets in the George Howard Building in Ellicott City, will hear arguments about Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary in Woodstock. The sanctuary is seeking formal zoning approval, without which it cannot continue to operate. Supporters say Frisky's is doing a good deed, but some neighbors say they are worried about monkeys living so close to them.

Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary, in Woodstock, relies on the kindness of strangers. Strangers bring injured and abandoned animals to the 4-acre site, where they are sheltered and nursed to health. And strangers volunteer at the nonprofit organization, which has no paid staff. Heather Wandell has been volunteering at Frisky's since her son, now 22, spent a summer volunteering there before his sophomore year at Mt. Hebron High School. He moved on to other interests, but Wandell was hooked.

At any given time, Colleen Layton has about 100 homeless and wounded animals under her care at Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary in Woodstock, in addition to the two dozen monkeys that are her permanent guests. Judging by the many calls and letters flooding Howard County offices, Layton may have nearly as many humans turning out in her support tomorrow night. That's when the county Board of Appeals will hold its latest hearing on Frisky's, whose effort to gain county zoning approval is in doubt.

Regarding Susan Reimer 's recent column about Hugh Hefner's Canadian girlfriend, when the creator of "Frisky Friday," a Twitter meme featuring women in naughty poses, can be granted an O-1 visa for her "extraordinary ability," it demonstrates just what a disaster our immigration policy really is ("Hef's playmate hops across border," July 9). Considering today's high unemployment, it's shameful theU.S. State Departmentcontinues to create so many ways for outsiders to take American jobs.

Colleen Layton-Robbins has been caring for animals for more than 30 years and has a fondness for the dozens of monkeys at Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary. "We get them healthy and get them through the adjustments of life. We just help them develop into thriving animals," said Layton-Robbins, director at the Woodstock facility off Route 99 near Marriottsville Road. "We want them to live a good life, and I am driven to that." But some of the sanctuary's neighbors say they believe the monkeys could carry diseases and that they pose a health risk.

Although the state's highest court heard arguments on the ability of a Woodstock animal sanctuary to care for several dozen monkeys, a ruling in the eight-year tussle between the sanctuary's founder and its suburban neighbors might not end the conflict. The neighbors say that although Howard County's recently changed animal-control laws permit exotic animals at the sanctuary, the county's zoning laws do not. The Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary no longer qualifies as a charity under the county's zoning laws, and without that label, the monkeys have to go, attorney Thomas M. Meachum argued Thursday before the Court of Appeals.

If the much-contested fight over Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary takes any longer to resolve itself, the monkeys at the heart of the dispute might start evolving into higher primates. The Howard County Board of Appeals voted last night to delay its hearing on Frisky's after lawyers for Colleen Layton, owner of the Woodstock sanctuary, introduced a surprising new strategy designed to keep the center running. The lawyers told the board that the sanctuary is seeking a federal license as an "exhibitor" of monkeys, which could help Layton get around a county prohibition on keeping wild or exotic animals.

The two dozen monkeys at Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary got a big boost from the Maryland Court of Appeals in a ruling on the extended zoning dispute over the Woodstock facility. The court ruled this week that a change in Howard County's laws affecting exotic animals - which came three months after the Board of Appeals ruled that the monkeys had to go - should have been applied retroactively. Instead, the county Circuit Court, and later the Court of Special Appeals, upheld the original May 2004 board ruling.

Reversing its ruling of three months ago, the Howard County Board of Appeals ruled last night that Frisky's Wildlife Sanctuary in Woodstock can apply for zoning approval as a charitable operation. The unanimous reversal offers a reprieve for Frisky's owner Colleen Layton, who has cared for wounded and homeless pets and wildlife, in addition to about two dozen monkeys, at her home on Old Frederick Road since 1994. In January, the board ruled that Frisky's could not apply for approval as a charitable operation, saying that the category applied only to places that served people, not animals.

Plenty of zoning fights involve monkey business, but only one has actual monkeys. The future of those animals -- and several hundred squirrels, rabbits and other creatures at Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary in Woodstock -- was hanging in the balance last night as the Howard County Board of Appeals debated whether to allow the center to keep operating on its 3.7 acres. Frisky's, which has operated for years without the land-use approval it needs, is trying to gain approval as a "charitable and philanthropic institution."

I am not in the area, however my brother lives and works near Frisky's and through him, I have heard of their plight. My hope is that the board will see fit to allow them to continue their kind work. It is not the animals' fault that they end up in a sanctuary, but the laws that allow people to own exoctic pets in the first place! People make the problem and here you have people trying to clean up after that! I have worked in dog rescue for eight years and it's no small task, I assure you. We should not forget that we humans are not the only people on the planet and if we force the other animals into our homes, we need to be ready to step up and care for them till the end!

Despite six Red Sox home runs, their 10-4 win over the Orioles on Thursday night was so boring that Boston fans resorted to groping their significant others for the television cameras to stay entertained. Imagine what would have happened if Pedro Viola and the O’s hadn’t kept fans on their toes by serving up all those homers.

Howard County's own monkey case may not be about evolution like the famous 1920s Scopes trial in Tennessee, but after 11 years of hearings, trials and testimony, it may seem to be taking just as long. The legal struggle over Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary, located since 1993 on a 4-acre site at 10790 Old Frederick Road in Woodstock, is to resume with a 6:30 p.m. Board of Appeals hearing in the county's Columbia offices Thursday. The struggle between Frisky's operator, Colleen Layton-Robbins, and neighbors who claim having wild animals nearby is a danger has already gone all the way to the Maryland Court of Appeals.

The two dozen monkeys at Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary got a big boost from the Maryland Court of Appeals in a ruling on the extended zoning dispute over the Woodstock facility. The court ruled this week that a change in Howard County's laws affecting exotic animals - which came three months after the Board of Appeals ruled that the monkeys had to go - should have been applied retroactively. Instead, the county Circuit Court, and later the Court of Special Appeals, upheld the original May 2004 board ruling.

Although the state's highest court heard arguments on the ability of a Woodstock animal sanctuary to care for several dozen monkeys, a ruling in the eight-year tussle between the sanctuary's founder and its suburban neighbors might not end the conflict. The neighbors say that although Howard County's recently changed animal-control laws permit exotic animals at the sanctuary, the county's zoning laws do not. The Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary no longer qualifies as a charity under the county's zoning laws, and without that label, the monkeys have to go, attorney Thomas M. Meachum argued Thursday before the Court of Appeals.

Although the state's highest court heard arguments on the ability of a Woodstock animal sanctuary to care for several dozen monkeys, a ruling in the eight-year tussle between the sanctuary's founder and its suburban neighbors might not end the conflict. The neighbors say that although Howard County's recently changed animal-control laws permit exotic animals at the sanctuary, the county's zoning laws do not. The Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary no longer qualifies as a charity under the county's zoning laws, and without that label, the monkeys have to go, attorney Thomas M. Meachum argued Thursday before the Court of Appeals.

Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary can stay in Woodstock, but its monkeys must be out in four years, a Howard County panel has decided. The vote - which pleased neither the longtime Frisky's manager nor the next-door neighbors opposed to the primates - occurred after 27 months of hearings to decide the fate of the private shelter, which was operating without land-use approval. "I'm devastated, I'm totally devastated," said Colleen Layton, who runs the sanctuary from her 3.7-acre home.

Recipe for a very long zoning case: Just add monkeys. Howard County is 25 months into the debate over the legality of Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary, a 3.4-acre site in Woodstock that cares for several hundred abandoned or injured animals and - the key sticking point - several dozen primates. One of the county's most hotly contested rezoning cases, the 507-acre Maple Lawn Farms in Fulton, was wrapped up in less time. But the end is near: A final round of testimony is expected at a hearing tonight.

Colleen Layton-Robbins has been caring for animals for more than 30 years and has a fondness for the dozens of monkeys at Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary. "We get them healthy and get them through the adjustments of life. We just help them develop into thriving animals," said Layton-Robbins, director at the Woodstock facility off Route 99 near Marriottsville Road. "We want them to live a good life, and I am driven to that." But some of the sanctuary's neighbors say they believe the monkeys could carry diseases and that they pose a health risk.

To: Keith Richards From: A Concerned Fan Subject: Suggested Beach Activities Whoops is right. You gave us a scare with your tree-climbing stunt in Fiji. Who knows what inspired you - a 62-year-old former heroin addict who some claim died years ago (leaving only your skeleton to walk the earth) - to scale, then fall, from a coconut tree after reportedly enjoying both vodka and rum. You suffered a mild concussion and underwent an operation to drain blood from your head, and that's almost never a fun beach activity.