pit bulls on pot

unexpected literary delights

05 August 2006

the art of becoming invisible

by Steve Porter

If I could I would paint a portrait
of a person who lies dying in bed.

There would be an open window
somewhere in the background,
two floors up and rather small
but vivid as a postage stamp,
and chartreuse curtains curtsy
as a silky breeze flutters in and
the eye decides where to look.

Outside the window can be seen
the counterpoint that is nature-
tree, bird, sky, the rolling hills
bright and green with life, and a
road leading somewhere far away.

If I could I would paint
a wry smile on your face,
your blue eyes open, your
skin pink as a peach and
hands in prayerful repose,
folded around a book of
your favorite poems.

Oh, if only I could I would paint
large roses just like de Longpre,
and they would be white and
beautiful and blooming with life
in a crystal vase, in a corner
on a table off to the right.

Finally, one who loves you,
sitting in a plumb cast chair
beside the big mahogany bed,
reading to you from the book
that you hold in your hands,
the art of becoming invisible.

# posted by Unknown @ 10:03 PM

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EDITOR'S NOTE:
Pit Bulls on Pot is proud to publish, Reunion Blues, an original story by Steve Porter & Doug Millison. It's a work in progress with placeholder graphics.
Scroll down to start reading Reunion Blues; click at the bottom of each page to continue reading the next page. (We don't know how to make it otherwise with software that presents journal entries in reverse chronological order.)

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Why Pit Bulls on Pot? An urban legend in the making

Pit bulls to be tested for marijuana
By Carolyn Starks, Chicago Tribune, 15 November 2005

Toxicology tests are being done on the bodies of three pit bulls shot after they mauled two children and four adults to determine if the dogs ingested marijuana found inside their owner's home, authorities said Tuesday.

The dogs' owner, Scott Sword, 41, of the 6600 block of Hawthorne Drive near Cary, has been charged with felony possession of marijuana and misdemeanor production of marijuana plants, said McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren.

On Nov. 5 police handling the dog attack found five harvested marijuana plants growing in Sword's back-yard garden and more than 30 grams of marijuana in his home,Nygren said.

The dogs, which were killed by police, were sent to a veterinary laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where they are being tested for drugs, specifically marijuana, said Edin Mehanovic, the county's animal control administrator.

If the dogs ate marijuana, police want to know if it may have contributed to their vicious behavior.

"Dogs usually don't show aggression if they ingest marijuana, but this is a substance that could potentially have that effect," said Mehanovic, a veterinarian. "I personally think the dogs' behavior has nothing to do with marijuana. In a toxicology lab we will eliminate that."

The children, Nick Foley and Jourdan Lamarre, both 10, were going door-to-door for a Girl Scout fundraiser when the pit bulls got out of Sword's home and attacked them.

Sword had his front door propped open, which allowed the dogs to escape, Nygren said. Four adults, including Sword, were attacked when they tried to help the children.

Nick remains at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where his condition was upgraded Tuesday from critical to serious, according to a hospital spokeswoman. Jourdan was released from the hospital Thursday.

Sword, who lost a thumb in the attack, remains hospitalized, according to police, who declined to say where. He will be arrested on the drug charges when he is released, police said.

Sword has not been charged in the pit bull attacks, officials said.

Meanwhile, the county's new Dangerous and Vicious Dog Task Force is scheduled to meet Wednesday morning to discuss strengthening state and local laws in the attack's aftermath.

"Some people are saying pit bulls should be banned, but in a practical way that is hard to do," said McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler. "Others will say go after the owners, but the laws just aren't tough enough to really do anything."

Silvia Simmons, owner of A and S Rescue, a pit bull rescue organization near Cary, said she hopes county leaders will realize that children need to be protected from all dogs, not just a specific breed.

"We are not against people who are saying we need to make ourselves safe from pit bulls," she said. "Our children need to be safe regardless of what the next scary dog is."

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is working with Illinois legislators to amend a 2003 law that enabled prosecutors to charge dog owners with felonies if their dogs attacked after previously being identified as dangerous.

The law was passed after Ryan Armstrong, then 7, was attacked by a neighbor's Rottweiler near his home in unincorporated Cook County in 2001. The boy recovered, but his father, Jeff, continues to fight for tougher laws to prevent dog attacks.

"The thing is, people have to report vicious behavior in animals," Armstrong said. "Forget about trying to be the nice neighbor."

The ASPCA hopes the law can be amended so an owner could face felony charges even if the dog did not have a history of aggression, said Ledy VanKavage, an attorney with the organization.

The three dogs involved in the Cary-area attack had no history of biting.

VanKavage said 70 percent of dog-bite cases nationwide come from dogs that have not been spayed or neutered.

"We're proposing that any time an unaltered dog is allowed to run at large knowingly and it causes serious physical injury, it would be a felony," VanKavage said.

Copyright © 2005, The Chicago Tribune