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Baltimore City Police Officer Dan Waskiewicz will be honored today by the Baltimore Humane Society for the compassion he displayed responding to a call about a “vicious” dog.

When Waskiewicz earlier this year arrived at the location where the vicious dog had been reported, in south Baltimore, he  saw a pit bull being chased by children, who were throwing bottles at the dog.

The officer called the dog, who ran over with tail between legs and sat down next to him.

Waskiewicz, a rookie and recent graduate of the police academy, put the dog in his squad car and took it to Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter (BARCS). He returned to BARCS during the next few days to visit. Three days after receiving the call, with no owners coming forward, Waskiewicz adopted the dog, who’s now named Bo.

Officer Waskiewicz passed the story and photo along back in May to a pit bull rescue group in northeast Pennsylvania,  which blogged about it. The photo went viral, turning Waskiewicz into something of an Internet folk hero.

“So often we hear stories where law enforcement officers rush to judgment with violent action,” said Jen Swanson, Baltimore Humane Society executive director. Waskiewicz, she said, observed the situation calmly before he acted. “He saved the life of an innocent animal and avoided what could have been a situation with a tragic ending.”

The ceremony will take place at 2:30 p.m. in the Adoption Center at the Baltimore Humane Society on 1601 Nicodemus Road in Reisterstown. The public is invited.

“Macbeth” doesn’t have a particularly happy ending, but one of the stars of the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory’s production of the play might find one.

The performances of “Macbeth,” starting with a Thursday, April 12 premiere, will feature homeless dogs from the Baltimore Humane Society, including Sophia (above).

Sophia will appear in the premiere — a long way from when she was found starving and freezing on a garbage dump behind her owner’s home, able only to walk on her hind legs. Her owner said he had no use for her anymore and had not even named her for the months in which he owned her, according to the humane society. Sophia, a nine-month-old boxer mix, is now living with a foster family.

The Baltimore Humane Society says the Shakespeare Factory is also featuring adoptable dogs in the playbill and setting aside space for a humane society information table at all shows.

Baltimore Humane Society will be sharing the stage with The Shakespeare Factory throughout the rest of the year for several different plays.

Different dogs and cats will be appearing in each of the performances.

Macbeth will be performed beginning April 12 at the The Great Hall Theatre, St. Mary’s Outreach Center, 3900 Roland Avenue, Baltimore.  Additional performances will be April 20-22  and April 27–28.

For more information or tickets visit theshakespearefactory.com.

Anyone who sees Sophia or any of the other Baltimore Humane Society actors will get half off the adoption fee if they mention it when they come to the shelter and fill out an application.

Jerry Lee, a homeless dog just a few weeks ago, now has a home — and, potentially, a job.

The one-year-old German shepherd was found on the streets by a mailman, and ended up at the Baltimore Humane Soceity. Now he’s on his way to being a drug sniffing dog with the Maryland Division of Correction Canine Unit.

Shortly after Jerry Lee arrived at the Humane Soceiey, Berno Combs, the animal care director, noticed he had all the qualities that the Correction Unit’s Canine Division looks for in recruits — he was calm, confident, steady when suddenly approached and willing to do almost anything in exchange for a ball.

Combs called the division to see if they wanted to come from Hagerstown to check him out. The prison system officially adopted him Feb. 23.

Jerry Lee still has to qualify for the job. He’ll be matched with a handler and enter a ten week Narcotic Detection Dog Academy.

Captain Mark Flynn says the Correction Canine Unit has adopted many dogs from shelters who are still in service today.

“We like to take our dogs from shelters. First, it saves lives. Second, it saves the state a lot of money. It cost us thousands of dollars to buy one dog from a breeder. A Labrador, for instance, can cost between $1,500 to $3,000 – and that’s untrained. If the dog is pre-trained by a breeder it can cost the state $6000.”

Upon graduation Jerry Lee will either be a patrol dog or a drug sniffer, the Humane Society said.

(Photo courtesy of Baltimore Humane Society)

Here’s some video of those Valentine’s Day nuptials that took place a week ago at the Baltimore Humane Society.

In the canine ceremony, two dogs who were surrendered together were united in wholly matrimony. Shiloh, 2, and Trixie, 1, both Chihuahuas, were brought to the shelter because their owner had too many animals to take care of.

The feline wedding saw Otie, 4, a Maine Coon mix and Geo, 2, a calico, tie the knot. (Geo is a female, in case your hackles are rising). They became enamored with each other after both were placed in the humane society’s new communal cat area.

Both are considered bonded pairs, meaning the humane society will require they go to the same home.

If you’re interested in adopting either pair, contact the Baltimore Humane Society.

To read more about the ceremony, see more pictures, and see what items are included on the couples’ registries (said items benefitting all the dogs and cats at the shelter) visit photographer Mary Swift’s blog.

(Photo courtesy of Mary Swift Photography)

Love is in the air at the Baltimore Humane Society.

Otie, a Maine Coon mix, and Geo, a female domestic shorthair, have hit it off so well inside the shelter’s new communal cat area that they will be wed on Valentine’s Day.

Also to be united in wedlock on the special day are two dogs who arrived at the shelter together, and who staff feel no one should tear asunder.

The shelter will require both cats be adopted by the same family. And both dogs, too. They could do that without a marriage license, but it wouldn’t be nearly as romantic.

Otie, about four and a half years old, arrived at the shelter in March, surrendered by owners who were moving away.  Geo, about a year and a half old, arrived the same month after being found wandering.

Both cats, shelter officials say, had shy personalities and were prone to staying in the back of their cages when potential adopters came around, thereby lessening their chances to be adopted.

But recent renovations at the shelter included adding a new communal cat area, where felines could stay in a homelike environment, rather than in cages lining the wall.

Otie and Geo were moved to the communal room with three other cats.

“It wasn’t long before the two found each other and became fast friends,” Wendy Goldbland, director of marketing and public relations for the humane society, wrote in an article for Patch.com:

 ”Now at any given time, you’ll see the two sleeping on the same bed together, grooming together, or lounging on the same windowsill together. They have become inseparable. The two timid felines have even begun coming out of their shells, giving each other the courage to be more outgoing.”

The wedding will take place with all the trimmings. Among those who have donated their services for the event are Cantor Ellen Schwab, who will officiate the ceremony; Flowers & Fancies, which is providing the floral necessities; and a wedding cake provided by the Bark! store in Pikesville.. (You can see a list of all involved on our “Doggie Doings” page.)

Baltimore Humane Society is now offering a “2 Fur 1 Special” on cats, but in the case of  Otie and Geo, a caring member of the community has offered to sponsor their adoption fees if they’re adopted together.

The wedding ceremonies are just one of ways Baltimore Humane Society is celebrating Valentines day.

It’s also inviting you — as an alternative to that box of chocolates — to give your loved one a gift that keeps on giving by becoming a Homeless Pet Sponsor. You have your choice of sponsoring, in the name of your loved one, a dog, cat, or rabbit. With each sponsorship you receive a photo, thank you note, and your name displayed on the animal’s space for the time period you select. Rabbit sponsorships are $20a week or $80 a month, cats are $25 a week or $100 a month. Dogs are $50 a week or $200 a month. 

And if you’ve still got love to spare, it suggests checking out the shelter’s Lonely Hearts Club, whose members are the shelter’s longest-term residents. Throughout February, those who take home a member of the club get half off the adoption fee, and three free personal training sessions.

(Photos by Mary Swift)

On the day after her abuser was sentenced to three years in prison, a tan pit bull named Michelle has been put up for adoption by the Baltimore Humane Society.

Michelle is the first of what’s known as the “Pit 6” to be cleared for adoption. She was among a group of dogs seized from Larry Alston when he was arrested at a home in the Woodlawn area on charges of animal cruelty and mutilation.

Baltimore County police said there was evidence the dogs had been used for fighting.

Humane Society officials don’t know if Michelle was used in dog fights, but she was apparently used to produced litters of fighters while Alston was living in South Carolina.

She has scars on her nose and above her left eye, and marks on both of her front legs suspected to have been left by the metal grips of a device used to hold her still for forced breeding.

Alston, 37, was charged with 22 counts of violating various animal cruelty laws, including charges of mutilating the animals.

On Monday, he was sentenced in Baltimore County Circuit Court to three years in prison for animal cruelty.

Michelle and Alston’s other surviving dogs spent nearly two years in the Baltimore County animal shelter, as Alston’s criminal case dragged on. They were released late last year to animal advocates, and eventually taken in by the shelter to be rehabilitated.

The Humane Society is still working to rehabilitate and socialize the other dogs, Shelley, Meme, Tippy, Meris and Bridgett.

Michelle is 4 1/2 years old, and shelter officials want to see her go to a home without other dogs, and without young children.

A humane society press release describes her this way:

“Michelle is a petite Staffordshire with a beautiful smile when she greets you at the front of her kennel. The “Pit 6,” five females and one male, were found by the police locked in undersized cages. They are believed to have been used as bait dogs. Bait dogs are typically less tough than others and used as practice targets for dogs training to fight. The “Pit 6” were all emaciated with multiple burn and bite scars. They also showed signs of overbreeding – in other words they were repeatedly raped. In dogfighting rings it is not unusual for bait dogs to endure severe pain. Frequently they are wounded, drowned, electrocuted, slammed to the ground, shot, or left to die a slow and painful death from their open wounds.”

The humane society added, “It’s always cause for celebration when an abused dog gets a second chance at a good life, but in the case of the Pit 6 it’s a landmark. That’s because animals held as evidence in severe animal abuse and dog fighting cases are typically euthanized once the case is complete.”

In the case of the Pit 6, animal rescue advocates and Baltimore Humane Society were able to convince the Baltimore County Attorney, State’s Attorney, and Baltimore County Animal Control that the dogs deserved a second chance.

“Michelle demonstrates that even dogs who come from such violent, abusive backgrounds can become loving family pets. Baltimore Humane Society hopes she and the remaining Pit 6 will be used as an example for dog fighting and other animal abuse cases across the nation.”

For more information about Michelle and other dogs at the Baltimore Humane Society, visit www.bmorehumane.org or call 410-833-8848.

(Photo by Mary Swift, Mary Swift Photography)

They’re called the “Pit 6,” the scarred survivors of a group of nine pit bulls seized two years ago in an animal cruelty case that appeared to have some ties to dogfighting.

This week, as the man they were taken from heads to court for sentencing, the dogs, who might otherwise have been put down, are getting close to being put up — for adoption.

Their long road to rehabilitation is documented in an excellent story that appeared in yesterday’s Baltimore Sun — one that looks at the plight of pit bulls nationwide and the surge of compassion for them, and avoids the common news media errors of identifying them as a single, stereotypical breed.

The Pit 6 — four of whom are now staying at the Baltimore Humane Society in Reisterstown — were seized in two separate visits by county animal control officials to Larry Alston’s home in the Woodlawn area.

Alston had been living in Beaufort, N.C., when animal welfare officials there seized 17 of his dogs. He managed to get some of them back, and moved them to Baltimore. Based on a tip to Baltimore County Animal Control from officials in North Carolina, county police and animal control officers paid him a visit.

They found scarred, malnourished and whimpering dogs in metal cages, filled with urine and feces and covered with tarps. They seized seven dogs, then returned in February and seized two more.

In early November 2010, Alston was arrested and booked on charges of mutilating an animal, as well as drug and weapons charges — 22 counts in all.

In August of 2011, he entered Alford pleas to the seven animal mutilation charges, and the other charges were dropped. An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt, but an acknowledgement that there is enough evidence to convict.

He faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison on each count.

During the much-delayed court case, the dogs were held at the county animal control shelter in Baldwin, where, upon their arrival, they were examined and found to have been ”severely underfed.” They ”had lots of scars of undetermined nature,” and one dog’s teeth had been painted silver.

But this spring, when local animal advocates learned about the case, they began organizing to try to save the dogs from euthanasia, the fate they feared would be ordered once Alston was convicted.

Three had died by then. Two broke through a fence at animal control and killed each other. A third was euthanized on the recommendation of a behaviorist who determined that the dog would not be able to adapt to life as a pet, according to animal control. Humane Society staff thinks the dogs were used for breeding, and as bait dogs.

In late September — with Alston’s case resolved — a group of  20 animal welfare advocates, including Marty Sitnick, associate executive director of the Humane Society, went to the county shelter to remove the dogs and take them to a private kennel in Baltimore County.

As the Sun story reports …

“That left six: five females and one male, the “Pit 6,” as they have come to be known: Michelle, Tippy, Bridget, Shelley, Meme and Meris.

“On the morning of Sept. 24, a caravan of some 20 animal welfare advocates rolled into the county shelter on Manor Road. Not knowing what to expect of the dogs, Sitnick said, they came equipped with muzzles and spray shield to ‘keep everybody safe.’

“The first dog was ‘all wiggly’ with excitement, he said, and was ‘licking faces, my face. By the time we took the third one out, it was kind of like Woodstock for pit bulls … These six dogs love people.’

Since then, four of dogs have been moved to the Baltimore Humane Society and two remain at the kennel.

Michelle will likely be the first to become available for adoption — probably in another four to six weeks, according to Sitnick.

When they do become available for adoption, it will likely be with conditions. In Michele’s case, for example, she won’t be permitted to go to a home with another dog, and will require a fenced yard.

Members of the “Pit 6″ won’t be rushed into adoptive homes, Sitnick said.

“We need to be extremely conservative in our evaluation of them,” he said. “We are going to take our time … We want to be able to point to these dogs as an example.”

The Baltimore Humane Society is nursing back to health a three-month old pit bull puppy that was neglected, likely abused and scheduled to be put down by the county’s animal control department.

They’ve named the malnourished pup Noelle, and they are treating the bad case of mange she had when picked up by the county.

The Baltimore Humane Society took her in on Saturday and hopes she’ll be ready for adoption or a foster home in a matter of weeks, ABC 2 in Baltimore reported.

It’s time for DogFest, the Baltimore Humane Society’s annual day-long celebration of dogs.

It’s this Saturday, Oct. 15 (with a rain date of Oct. 22) at the Baltimore Humane Society, 1601 Nicodemus Road in Reisterstown.

Need directions?

Gates open at 9 a.m., and activities continue until 6 p.m., with a full schedule of  games, contests and events, and plenty of vendors, prizes, experts, food and adoptable pets

The entrance fee is $10, and parking is free.

As usual, the Humane Society requests no retractable leashes.

Keep reading for the full schedule. Read more »

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.