Locust Point Dog Park has announced designated hours for small, elderly or otherwise fragile dogs — 9 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 4 p.m. daily.
The new policy — now posted in signs at the park — will be self-policing, meaning that little dog people will have to ask the big dog people to leave in the event they are not following the rules.
The dog park committee also announced that Saturday’s “Pet Pictures with Santa” fundraiser — with City Councilman Ed Reisinger as Santa — raised $550 to help support the maintenance of the dog park. Baltimore City, though it helped build the park, does not pay for its maintenance. Clean-ups at the park take place on the second Saturday of each month, with the next one scheduled for Dec. 12 from 10:30 to noon. The dog park is closed during clean-ups, and volunteers are invited to pitch in.
If you missed getting your pet’s photo taken with Santa, there are more opportunities on the horizon. Canton Dog Park will be holding a similar fund-raising event on Saturday, Nov. 21, from 10 to noon.
Two more pet photos with Santa events are being held to raise money for BARCS Franky Fund for sick and injured animals. On Saturday, Nov. 21, from 10 to noon at Federal Hill Park, and on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 10 to noon at Riverside Park.
It has been almost a year since the day Santa almost lost his shih-tzu. Well, it wasn’t really Santa, it was me. And it wasn’t my shih-tzu, it was a friend’s — and a dog who normally jumps on me as opposed to off of me.
Still, it’s a rare dog who doesn’t want his or her photo taken with Santa Claus — and there are four opportunities coming up.
The first is tomorrow (Sunday) — at the new Locust Point Dog Park.
Pet Pictures with Santa runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Proceeds go toward the maintenance of the park, which opened this fall.
Canton Dog Park will be holding a similar fund-raising event on Saturday, Nov. 21, from 10 to noon.
Two more Photos with Santa events will be held to raise money for Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter’s Franky Fund, which helps care for seriously sick and injured animals that arrive at the shelter — On Saturday, Nov. 21, from 10 to noon at Federal Hill Park, and on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 10 to noon at Riverside Park.
All the events are for good causes, and the photos make great Christmas cards.
(If you know of others pet photos with Santa events, please feel free to add them to this entry in the form of comments.)
Canadian-born actress Rachelle Lefevre, one of the stars of the movie “Twilight,” has taped a public service announcement for Best Friends Animal Society, urging viewers to adopt rather than purchase from a pet store or breeder.
Lefevre, who plays Victoria in both “Twilight” and its sequel, “New Moon,” is the new spokeswoman for Best Friends’ Puppies Aren’t Products campaign.
The former supervisor of a local SPCA in Texas was found guilty yesterday of allowing her 5-month-old German shepherd puppy to starve to death inside her Plano apartment.
Alicia Marie Martin, while qualifying for a two-year state prison sentence, received three years probation, a $500 fine and four days in the Collin County jail — the four days before Thanksgiving, the Dallas Morning News reported.
“I’m sending you there so that hopefully, when Thanksgiving rolls around each year, you will thank God that you are not incarcerated in jail somewhere,” State District Judge Mark J. Rusch said. “I’m not interested in crushing you … I am interested in your rehabilitation. I am interested in you knowing this was unacceptable behavior.”
As part of her sentence, she is forbidden to own a pet.
Martin, the former supervisor at the McKinney Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, was fired after her arrest in March.
According to prosecutors, Martin, 24 and a single mother, let the puppy starve to death inside her waterlogged apartment. She adopted the dog as a Christmas gift for her daughter, now 3, but the puppy became ill. She said couldn’t afford to take the dog to a veterinarian and was too embarrassed to take him to the local SPCA where she worked for help.
When the electricity was cut off she temporarily moved to a hotel and left the dog at the apartment, returning once a day to let him out of his crate and feed him. A veterinarian who testified, however, said the emaciated animal had no signs of food or fat in his system and was covered with open bedsores.
