ohmidog!

An 8-month-old cat deliberately set on fire — twice — by what a witness described as a group of young people was treated for serious burns and is now being montiored at Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter.

The city office of Animal Control received a call from a citizen who said she saw several children throwing rocks and bricks at the cat in the Garrison Avenue neighborhood. The witness said the children then poured liquid on the cat. The witness said she turned away, but when she looked back the cat was burning.

The cat was able to roll and put the flames out, but the children caught it and set it on fire a second time.

Despite her condition the cat, now named Gabrielle, was purring as the BARCS staff evaluated her, according to Jennifer Mead-Brause, executive director of BARCS.

BARCS, using money from its Franky Fund, sent Gabrielle to Everhart Veterinary Hospital for further evaluation.

Gabrielle is back resting at the shelter now, and a local animal rescue organization, Recycled Love, has agreed to take over the care of Gabrielle.

This case is being referred to police for further investigation.

Poet Ken Wolman’s dog, Cid, died Tuesday.

He wrote a poem about him Wednesday.

We’re publishing it here, with his permission, Thursday.

Wolman lives in central New Jersey.

SOBBING UNCONTROLLABLY IN PUBLIC PLACES”
(after a title by John Engman)

I started to write a love poem or
some bullshit variant of a love poem but then
the dog got sick and died the same day

and he took my memory with him, what-
ever might have been left after a minor
stroke and the remnants of grinding gears

and I forgot all about love poems because
I loved someone who would have seen them
as rhetorical fiddle, words he didn’t need to know

when all he needed to know was my hand
stroking his head, embracing his strong neck,
his knowledge that I would not leave him

until he had to leave me first.

KTW/8-5-09

An animal-themed art exhibit to benefit Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter (BARCS) opens tonight at Zella’s Pizzeria.

Tonight’s opening reception runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at Zella’s Pizzeria, 1145 Hollins St. Admission is free and complimentary refreshments will be served.

The exhibit, which features artists from the Baltimore-Washington area, runs through Oct. 5.

Commissions from sales will be shared by BARCS and Sowebo Arts, Inc.

For more information visit the website of Sowebo Arts, a non-profit community arts organization.

(Photo: Painting by artist Mark Adams.)

 
Reports are circulating that a small dog swimming in a lake at a Bucks County, Pa., park was pulled under by a snapping turtle and eaten.

Whether that’s what really happened or not, the dog was never seen again, and its owner was reportedly so distraught that an ambulance had to be sent to the park to sedate her, according to the Bucks County Courier-Times.

The paper quotes a township employee, who didn’t want to be identified, as saying a dog was killed by a snapping turtle about three weeks ago in Falls Township Community Park.

The employee said the dog was off its leash, against park policy, and a ball was thrown into the lake so the dog could retrieve it. The dog supposedly never came back.

Park security supervisor Ralph Connor said he’s heard the story, but hasn’t been able to confirm that it happened.  ”There are plenty of snapping turtles in that lake and some pretty big ones,” he said, holding his arms about a foot apart to indicate the size.

Falls police said they did not respond, or receive a report about the incident, which reportedly took place about three weeks ago. Falls Manager Peter Gray said he is looking into the alleged attack: “We will be talking to staff members to try and get to the bottom of it,” he said.

On July 19, the newspaper reported, a member of its staff was on the banks of the lake near the dog park and was warned by a park ranger not to let the dogs venture to far out into the lake. The ranger said there had been reports that a woman had her toe bitten off by a snapping turtle and another woman lost her dog to one.

In the absence of official confirmation or denial, the story — suburban myth or not — seems to be taking on ”Loch Ness monster proportions,” the newspaper said. The owner of the dog has not come forward.

Large signs at the park say swimming and wading are forbidden, and dogs are only permitted in the water along the shore, and while on a leash.