Getting Rid of Dangerous Pets

I read with sadness your paper's account of the injury to 4-year-old Brent Nicholson of Forge Hill Road, who was bitten so severely by a dog in his neighborhood. The attack is all the more outrageous if it is the second attack on the child by a dog from the same household.

This is a painful situation in which anyone might say, "There ought to be a law!" Indeed, there might have been a law that would have saved Brent if the General Assembly had passed the bill that I sponsored to prohibit anyone from keeping a dangerous animal in a residential neighborhood.

For three years I fought for legislation to ban wild mammals or domestic animals that are bred or trained to fight from being kept in residentially zoned areas of the state. In 1987, 1988 and 1989, I submitted the bill as chief sponsor, prompted by menaces in local neighborhoods, and each year the Judiciary Committee gave it a polite hearing and killed the bill. Meanwhile, pit bull terriers and even jungle cats continued to dwell in neighborhoods.

Common law holds owners of animals accountable for the harm that their pets inflict, and dogs are not allowed "one free bite" as a warning, as some might suppose. But my bill would have banned the animal from the area so that children and their parents would not have to rely on the precautions, often as inadequate as the unlocked screen door in this instance, of careless animal owners.

I invite any of my successors in the House of Delegates to put the bill before the General Assembly again. County zoning laws which regulate the use of property are not the appropriate legislative vehicle.

I sincerely hope that Brent will recover fully and quickly. There could be a law to prevent any more of this sort of pain to children -- if the legislature passes the bill.

Barbara Osborn Kreamer

Bel Air

The writer is a Democratic candidate for Maryland's 2nd Congressional District seat.

Unmarked Cars

Having moved to Harford County about four years ago, I am a frequent user of Interstate 95. Lately, I have noticed both unmarked cars and vans in the process of stopping motorists for speeding.

I fully realize that speeders must be stopped and given citations. However, as a female driving alone most of the time, I am terrified of being stopped. There are so many stories of carjackers bumping into other cars at red lights, waiting for the owner to get out to see what damage is done, and then taking off in the car. I have heard the stories of carjackers waiting at automated teller machines in attempts to take off with someone else's car.

I wonder how long it is going to take a carjacker to impersonate a state policeman, by putting a flashing light on his unmarked car and stopping someone (it could be me) on I-95.

It's bad enough having to worry about carjackers every time I stop at a red light, or a supermarket, or an ATM machine. Now I also have to worry whether or not a car or van with a blinking light is in fact a state policeman, or is it a carjacker?

What are my options? Can I continue to drive to a "safe" place if I am being "blinked" by one of these cars or vans that is unmarked? Do I have to pull over on I-95 and pray that I am really being stopped by a state policeman?

7+ Am I the only one with these questions?

Joan Lee Goldman

Abingdon

Red Cross Benefit

The American Red Cross in Harford County recently held its seventh annual dinner auction at St. Margaret's School Hall in Bel Air.

Under the capable direction of board member Jim Martin, more than 200 guests attended and helped to raise $11,000 for Red Cross disaster work in Harford County.

I would like to sincerely thank Jim Martin for coordinating this event for the second straight year. His personal touch and business savvy have resulted in significant improvements to the event. Special thanks also go to Pam Lytle Hess for her professional and painstaking work compiling the auction items and ads for the auction booklet. Without our volunteer auctioneers, John O'Neill, Patrick O'Neill and David Shrodes, the evening simply would not have been as successful or entertaining. Although undergoing a recent hospitalization, John was present for a while to offer his support. His son Patrick, as well as David, did a superb job all night long. Their entertaining styles always add greatly to the enjoyment of the evening.

Sincere thanks also go to each and every person for supporting this annual fund raiser: those who purchased tickets and attended to bid on the auction items and services, as well as those who purchased ads in the booklet. Very special thanks goes to the hundreds of small businesses in Harford County for their donations of items and services for the auction. The small business community has truly supported the auction very well over the years, and its unified support of this event has indeed made the auction itself possible. These small businesses are too numerous to mention here by name, but they need to know that in a county like ours, where small businesses predominate, they are a powerful and influential group when they pull together. Our fund-raiser is proof of that, and our success is a direct result of their support.

The funds raised from the auction will support local families who are victims of fires or floods. So far this fiscal year, the Red Cross has supported 25 families with more than $11,500 in assistance. This assistance is always given in the form of grants, and never needs to be repaid. Those in the helping profession are all too aware that it is often those who are neediest who so often get hit with additional difficulties such as a fire. Through the combined efforts of so many in Harford County, the Red Cross is able to provide moral and financial support to these neighbors of ours lTC who need our help.

This dinner auction, therefore, is truly a community event,

supported by small businesses, local citizens and community leaders, raising money to help others in this same community who are less fortunate. Harford County should be proud for pulling together as they did to make this event such a wonderful reality. Thanks to all.

Wayne E. Wigglesworth

Bel Air

The writer is Northeastern District manager of the Central Maryland Chapter of the American Red Cross.

PC Police

I am writing in response to the column titled, "It's handicapped, despite the PC police," published April 6, in The Evening Sun.

"My other students are too busy working on solutions that will unite, rather than divide, us." When Leslie Miller said this about her class, I was glad someone finally agreed with me.

I feel that our government should be uniting us rather than finding one more thing to divide us. We have too many other

issues facing us, such as racism.

Becky Silvestri

Fallston