ohmidog!

In today’s world people are quick to pick a side, but, as this story seems to show, it’s sometimes best to avoid that — especially when both sides are stupid, and/or heartless, and/or negligent.

Stu Grimes got drunk Sunday night and, while his dog was in his car, fell asleep inside an International House of Pancakes in Sterling, Va.

Loudoun County Sheriff’s deputies showed up to roust him, and arrested him on charges of being drunk in public and resisting arrest, according to WJLA.

Grimes said he told officers his dog, Rex, was in the car and that they ignored him.

Grimes bailed himself out Monday, but by then Rex, a four-year old Labrador-boxer mix, had died, after spending at least 15 hours inside the car.

Grimes alleges he repeatedly asked the deputies to get Rex out of his SUV, and that deputies at one point removed his keys from his pocket and hit the panic button to determine which vehicle was his. Grimes says he continued to ask about his dog after being jailed.

But the sheriff’s office said in a statement, “…our records show no indication that Mr. Grimes mentioned a vehicle or a dog to the arresting deputies or the corrections staff at the Adult Detention Center.”

Later, after ABC7′s inquiries, the sheriff’s office changed its position, saying they did know about the car but maintained Grimes didn’t say a word about Rex.

Search the Internet comments on this one and you’ll find people saying the sheriff’s office is responsible for Rex’s death, that Grimes is, and even that IHOP is.

It’s like an all you can eat special on blame.

Showing up at a Motel 6 with a dog or two is usually no problem, as we repeatedly confirmed during our travels across America.

Show up with 15 and, as any fool could predict, there’s going to be trouble.

Police in Tewksbury, Mass., say one dog is dead and three more are fighting for their lives as a result of neglect and inhumane treatment at the hands of a 71-year-old Maine woman named Margaret Nickerson-Malpher.

Nickerson-Malpher was arrested at the Motel 6 in Tewksbury Tuesday, where, in addition to four dogs in her room, she had about a dozen more outside in her parked van.

She was scheduled to be arraigned in Lowell District Court today on 17 counts of animal cruelty, Patch.com reported.

Nickerson-Malpher told police she had left her summer residence in Maine Monday night and was driving back home to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, when she stopped at Motel 6 to get some sleep.

She checked into the motel around 7 a.m., apparently bringing some of the 15 dogs with her into her room. The rest remained in her van. Police say motel guests saw her carrying the body of a deceased dog from her van to her room that afternoon.

A motel employee went to her room, and after seeing the deceased dog and other dogs that appeared to be ill, called police.

Police say the officer who responded found inside her room one dead dog and three more in critical condition, due to suspected malnourishment and dehydration.

The surviving animals — 14 dogs and two cats –were taken initially to the Tewksbury Pound,  then transferred to the Massachussetts SPCA facility in Methuen.

Police in Tewksbury said Nickerson-Malpher appeared to have been living in Maine for at least four years, despite the South Dakota plates on her van, and that state police investigating her for animal abuse there were preparing to seize her animals on Wednesday.

According to the Bangor Daily News, Nickerson-Malpher had been charged with animal cruelty in 2006, when 20 dogs and one cat were removed from her home. She was convicted in connection with that and, under the terms of her probation, restricted from owning more than two dogs.

So he played a big role in getting a nation hooked on cigarettes. So he was the richest man in the state of North Carolina. So he was the sort of fat cat businessman from whom I tend to initially withhold respect — based on my automatic assumption that they had to crush a lot of butts on their way to the top of whatever heap they are on.

I wanted to hate him — for being the father of my addiction, for the fact that I can’t finish this blog entry without taking a break for one of his products — but, after a little research, I think I almost like R.J. Reynolds, and, even more, the estate he left behind.

Ace and I hang out there at least once a week — roaming the 130 acres that were part of his 1,000-plus acre country home, known as Reynolda.

The mansion is an art museum now. There are formal gardens, and a one-time village that’s now home to galleries, shops and restaurants.

But what we like best are the hiking trails that take you through thick woods and open meadows, rich with wildflowers and wildlife, past beds of pine needles and vines of  honeysuckle so pungently sweet they penetrate even a smoker’s jaundiced nostrils.

I got my start in cigarettes at, probably, age 16, pilfering Salems from my mother. Then I moved on to unfiltered Pall Malls — also a R.J. Reynolds brand, and also pilfered, in this case from a neighbor.

I remember my mother used to put her Salems in little ceramic holders. The little cups with a dozen or so cigarettes in them could be found around the house, serving almost as decorations. She didn’t smoke them that often, and when she did, she didn’t inhale.

I did — first her throat-searing menthols, then the neighbor’s filterless Pall Malls, before working my way up to Marlboros; those, after all, were perceived as the most manly, and didn’t leave you spitting out little pieces of tobacco.

Like most smokers, I ponder quitting at least weekly, most recently last week as I walked the trails of Reynolda, past a vine of honeysuckle that was leaning out into the path, the tiny tendrils of its blossom waving in the wind, like beckoning index fingers.

If only I could be hooked on honeysuckle, I thought. If only its sweet essence could be inhaled. Then I realized that’s exactly what I was doing. As I wondered if honeysuckle might be my salvation, I realized, if somebody studied it enough, honeysuckle could turn out to be bad for us too (though I don’t see how something with “honey” and “suckle” in its name possibly could).

Then too — even if honeysuckle did satiate that urge, and even if I harvested my own and came up with a smokeless way to imbibe it — it would still lack that ease of use that plays such a big role in getting us hooked.

It was R.J. Reynolds who made smoking so convenient.

In 1913, Reynolds developed the pre-rolled, packaged cigarette. He priced them low, called them Camels, because Turkish paper was used, and they helped propel him to the top of the tobacco heap.

Reynold was born in Virginia to a tobacco-growing, slave-owning family. He attended two colleges, one of them in Baltimore, and went to work for his father before striking out on his own.

In 1874, he moved to what’s now Winston-Salem to start his own tobacco company.  He started his own tobacco company in what was then Winston. There were 15 other tobacco companies in town, but his outgrew them all.

Reynolds was an astute businessman and a hard worker, and he quickly became a wealthy man. He married a woman 30 years his junior, his former secretary Mary Katherine Smith, who, historical accounts suggest, helped bring out his progressive and philanthropic sides.

She successfully urged him to shorten the work hours of employees, pay them more and provide them with meals, schools and nursery services.

When he built what would become Reynolda House, he also had a village constructed nearby where workers could live. It’s now called Reynolda Village, a collection of restaurants and shops. Also on the grounds, golf being his passion, he commissioned a 9-hole golf course, which now serves as the grassy meadow where Ace likes to romp, or just rest.

Before he died, in 1918 of pancreatic cancer, Reynolds served as a city commissioner and helped get both property taxes and income taxes approved.

He also granted endowments to Guilford College, the Oxford Orphan Asylum, and the Baptist Orphanage, in addition to a lot of  other charities and churches in the Winston-Salem community. He became the first southern man to establish a hospital serving African-Americans. He donated as well to establish the Slater Industrial School, which became Winston-Salem State University.

R.J. didn’t get to enjoy Reynolda House too long. He died the year after it was completed.

His daughter, Mary Reynolds Babcock, would donate it for use as an art museum, and the Reynolds’ philanthropic ways would continue. About 300 acres of the Reynolda estate was donated to Wake Forest University, which moved from the town of Wake Forest to Winston-Salem in 1956.

Today, the Reynolds family name is stamped on much of Winston-Salem, including the library at Wake Forest, the airport, a high school, a park and an auditorium, and the various components that make up Reynolda — Reynolda House, Reynolda Village, Reynolda Gardens.

(Having recently returned to my ancestral homeplace in Winston-Salem, moving into the modest apartment in which my parents lived when I was born, I thought about naming it and its adjoining patch of grass after me. But I’m only renting, and Woestendieka doesn’t quite roll off the tongue like Reynolda.)

My honeysuckle encounter, and the hours I’ve spent slow-walking with Ace around Reynolda, have got me thinking I need to do more walking and less smoking, more pursuing of health and less feeding of urges. They’ve gotten me thinking too about how times change, and how things we were told were OK turn out not to be –  like slavery and smoking, which, not to diminish the massive evil of the former, have much in common.

I don’t blame R.J. Reynolds for inflicting the scourge of cigarettes on society. He was a product of his times, peddling a product of his times, and pouring some of the profits back into his community. Far more devious, I think, were the subsequent generations of tobacco pitchmen and the marketing techniques they used, aimed as they were at young people (Camels) and women (Virginia Slims and Eve).

Light up — if you want to be cool, if you want to be sexy, if you want to be liberated, or if you merely want to be a rugged Marlboro man.

Most of us — though it took decades — wised up and saw through that. Smoking is bad, and bad for you — always has been, always will be.

At least, maybe, until they come out with All Natural Smokeless Honeysuckle 100′s, which would have the added benefit of leaving you smelling sweet.

Then, and only then, will we have come a long way, baby.

(For more about visiting Reynolda with your dog, see our next entry.)

Reynolda — though it lacks any leash-free areas — is a great place to spend time with your dog.

You don’t want to take him or her to Reynolda House, an art museum now featuring an exhibit by famed railroad photographer O. Winston Link.

And you might want to avoid the  formal part of Reynolda Gardens.

But most of  the rest of what used to be the vast country estate of R.J.Reynolds, the history of which we told you about in this earlier post, is fair game for dogs on leashes, including at least one restaurant and the K-9 Doggie Bakery and Boutique.

Not all the shops, galleries and restaurants in Reynolda Village welcome your dog inside, but we noted at least one that put out a basket of dog treats on its doorstep.

 The sign said “take one.” 

 Ace, before I could pull him away, helped himself to three.

Our favorite part of Reynolda, though — well, mine anyway, Ace might prefer the complimentary dog biscuits — is the nature.

There are miles of trails that wind through open meadows and shady groves, and alongside the remnants of what used to be a lake.  Lake Katherine, as it was known, is more of a marsh now, but a great place to spot birds.

The trails are a great way to work up an appetite, or walk off a meal — and there are two restaurants on the grounds of Reynolda, at least one of which is dog-friendly. Simply Yummy, allows dogs in its outside seating area.

As for the other, the Village Tavern …  well it’s a bit fuzzy. The employee who answered the phone, when I asked if dogs were allowed in the outdoor seating areas, answered, “If they’re sublime.”

“Sublime?” I repeated. When I asked him to elaborate, he put the manager on the phone, and she referred me to corporate headquarters, where a member of the staff said only service dogs are allowed

There is no admission to get on the  grounds of Reynolda, and it is open during daylight hours year-round.

The Baltimore Humane Society will hold its first annual Catsino Night this coming Saturday (June 11).

It’s an evening of faux gambling aimed at raising money to help find homes for the surplus of homeless cats that fill area shelters around this time of year.

The event is being held at Mia Carolina Restaurant, 4844 Butler Road in Glyndon, from 7 to 10 p.m.

Included in the $150 ticket is an open bar, food and gaming chips.  To purchase tickets, or for more information about Catsino Night, please contact Jen Swanson, Director of Development, at jswanson@bmorehumane.org or call 410-833-8848 ext. 207.

The Baltimore Humane Society (formerly known as the Humane Society of Baltimore County) is offering free kittens during the month of June as part as the “Baltimore 500 — A Race to Save Lives.” That program is a project of the BAWA (Baltimore Animal Welfare Alliance) consisting of the Baltimore Humane Society, Maryland SPCA, and Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS).

The Humane Society of Baltimore County was founded in 1927 by Elsie Seeger Barton.  As a privately funded non-profit, it receives know funding from the county, city, or federal governments, and is not affiliated with the Humane Society of the United States.

Two pit bulls were shot and killed in separate incidents– one in Severna Park, one in Severn – over the weekend.

On Saturday, a Severna Park resident shot his neighbor’s dog when it approached him in what he considered an aggressive manner.

Charles L. McConnell, 39 (left) was charged with one count each of animal cruelty and illegally discharging a handgun within 100 yards of an occupied structure, police said.

According to The Capital in Annapolis, McConnell was in his back yard when his neighbor’s pit bull, Jasmine, approached, barking and growling. When the dog got within 10 feet of him, he pulled his .40-caliber Beretta from a holster on his hip and fired one time.

The dog, who was owned by Derrick Hopkins Sr., ran off and was later found dead

In the Severn shooting, on Sunday, the owner of a pit bull shot and killed another pit bull after the two animals began fighting.

According to police, a woman was walking her family’s pit bull, Kayne, when a second pit bull, named Gyno, approached. The two dogs began fighting. One of the children walking Gyno ran to get her father, Gyno’s owner, who arrived with a semiautomatic pistol and shot Kayne, police said.

Gyno was taken into custody pending further investigation. No charges have been filed.

Kayne, a gray 4-year-old pit bull, was taken to a local veterinarian’s office where he died.

Pit bulls will no longer be considered vicious by virtue of their breed alone, under a measure adopted by the Cleveland City Council Monday night.

The City Council voted to amend part of the city’s vicious dog ordinance, creating two classifications — “Level 1 threat dogs (dangerous) and Level 2 threat dogs (vicious).

More important than that though, placing dogs in either of those categories will no longer be based on breed, but on behavior.

Dangerous dogs, under the new breed-neutral rules, are those that have chased or approached people in “a menacing manner or apparent attitude of attack,” attempted to bite people while off their own property, or have been picked up twice by animal control for being unrestrained or off their owner’s property.

Vicious dogs are those that have caused serious injury or death to any person or animal.

Owners of dogs classified as dangerous or vicious will, with some exemptions, be required to spay or neuter the pet, have signs on their property indicating their dog is a threat and obtain liability insurance, WOIO reported.

“Our previous law clearly targeted one breed, pit bull, as a vicious animal,” said Councilman Matt Zone, who introduced the legislation. “The breed of a dog is not an indicator of its personality.  Any dog who is poorly trained and neglected, can be vicious and a threat to our community.  These revisions shift the focus from the type of dog, to its behavior and neglectful actions of its owner.”

The classification of a threat dog can be made by Cleveland Municipal Court, Cleveland Animal Control Services or Cleveland Police. Owners will receive written notification and have the right to appeal. The court, animal control or police must show evidence in order to label a dog a threat.

“There are many responsible owners with good pit bulls,” said John Baird, Chief Animal Control Officer for the City of Cleveland. “In my years of experience it has become more difficult to identify, with certainty, if a dog is indeed a pit bull.  Any dog can be vicious.  I feel these revisions are fair and appropriate for our community.”

Once again, a story — about a dog — that shows how low humans can sink, and how high they can rise.

This one is out of the Boston area, where a disabled dog’s “wheelchair” was stolen from the front yard of his owner’s home Sunday.

David Feeney, 63, of West Roxbury, said the cart used by his 12-year-old Belgain Malinois, “Lucky,” was taken after Lucky enjoyed some playtime in the front yard.

“Somebody must have grabbed it right away,” he told the Boston Globe. “Who knows why this happened.”

Feeney called police, and searched the neighborhood with them that night, looking for the cart, but with no success.

On Monday, though, HandicappedPets.com, a New Hampshire-based company that aids handicapped and injured pets, offered Feeney a free replacement. The carts can run $500 or more.

“We wanted to do anything we could to right a wrong,” said HandicappedPets.com spokeswoman Lisa-Marie Mulkern, who said the company was notified of the theft Lucky’s chair by a former customer who had read about it.

The story was first reported by WBZ-TV.

Feeney, a Boston native, rescued Lucky several years ago while teaching and doing humanitarian work in Bogotá. The dog had been hit by a car. Feeney took him to a vet. After Lucky became able to get around, Feeney began taking the dog with him on his trips. “He brought a lot of joy and happiness to a lot of sad children in these places,” he said. “He’s been the light of my life.”

Lucky was able to walk and even run for a while after the accident, but eventually required surgery, which left him immobilized without the help of a cart.

“To me that’s OK,” Feeney said. “As long as he’s alive that’s what matters. I love him.”

Border collies can be pretty determined — and this border collie mix, named Robbie — seems intent on getting his new friend to throw a stick for him.

But it was to no avail. His new friend just sat there on the bench. Heartless, that’s what he is.

Name: Piero

Age: 6

Breed: Yellow Lab

Encountered: At Washington Perk, a coffee house/grocery/deli in Winston-Salem, N.C. that — just down the street from the city’s dog park — has become one of Ace’s favorite hangouts.

Backstory: We were enjoying some breakfast Saturday morning on the outside deck when Piero arrived with his humans.

His owners said the name was Italian for Peter, or at least one variation of that, and that they gave all their pets Italian names.

Like Ace, Piero sat quietly, and grew more intent when food arrived.

Piero seemed a very happy dog. Being a yellow lab, he may not be headed for the dean’s list, his owner noted.

But then he did know enough to get into the shade, which was more than you could say for us.

(Roadside Encounters is a regular feature of Travels With Ace. To see them all click here.)