Tre Smith - Animal Hero

He did what he could to save man's best friend, but now Tre Smith, a Toronto Humane Society inspector, is in the dog house.

On July 31, Smith was alerted to a Rottweiler named Cyrus trapped in a sealed and roasting car during a blistering heat wave, with internal temperatures approaching 70C. With the creature near death, he broke the window, sending the owner out to answer his car alarm. With a choice between letting the dog die and hanging on to a man accused of animal cruelty, Smith made a difficult decision. He handcuffed the man to his car and left him there to tend to Cyrus.

"He (the suspect) was threatening and abusive and for my own safety and for the safety of the other people around me and for the safety of Cyrus, I needed to tend to Cyrus to save his life," Smith explained.

By the time police arrived, the captive man was bleeding, having been allegedly attacked by angry bystanders who witnessed the incident. "The police hadn't got here just yet but they were almost here, and I had to leave because the dog was non-responsive, had stopped breathing and I had to stimulate the dog just to bring him back," he recalled then. "So I had to leave for the life of the dog."

But that decision has now cost Smith dearly. The Ontario SPCA suspended his agent's license pending an internal review. He can still work at the Humane Society, but cannot investigate animal cruelty cases. The OSPCA fully supports Officer Smith's actions to save Cyrus, but the ensuing assault on the abuser could be problematic for the humane organizations.

By contrast, the accused, Paul Soderholm, who will appear in court in September and who is now listed on a North American animal abuse database, faces a maximum penalty under Ontario's antiquated animal cruelty laws, of $2,000 and 6 months in jail - a mere slap on the wrist.

While cruelty charges have been laid against the owner, there's a terrible irony in the fact that the man accused of the crime could one day get his animal back. It's an old dilemma Smith faces every day in his difficult but rewarding job. Soderholm claims to have rescued Cyrus as an abused puppy five years ago, and "would never do anything to harm him". Whoops! Short memory here! He just wants his beloved pet back. We assume he would be reimbursing the Toronto Humane Society for the $10,000 in veterinary fees to save the dog (in addition to the costs of replacing his beloved car window), but then, we'd rather see Cyrus in a loving home elsewhere. Lucky for him our laws are so gutless; otherwise, he could be liable for, say, $10,000 in fines and a real jail term.

"[The laws are] not tough enough," Officer Smith makes clear. "They don't have any teeth. We're gumming our way through this thing. How can anyone expect us to do our job properly if we don't have the tools, the resources and the laws and the people to back us up?"

"There is an avenue that he can proceed with to try and get his animal back in the meantime before this is seen before the courts." He is referring to the province's Animal Care Review Board which, last fall, returned two dalmatian puppies to their abuser in the Toronto Beaches. The Board's decision was subsequently reversed, and those puppies are happily in new homes. That story is here.

Smith recalls that the province was looking at toughening up the laws, but when the Legislature broke for the election, the new rules still hadn't passed - and won't until after the vote in October.

The good news is that, although Cyrus was near death and facing possible brain damage as a result of his ordeal, he is making a full recovery at the Toronto Humane Society. The friendly and alert rottweiler has already received over many offers of adoption. A Facebook group supporting Officer Smith has over 4,000 members.

In the meantime, the dogfight between the OSPCA and the Toronto Humane Society continues. The OSPCA rightly asked for timely paperwork in this contentious case, especially since the perp was taken into custody by being cuffed to his car. With 20:20 hindsight, we would all have done this differently, wouldn't we? And there is no question that Toronto Humane Society is milking this for all it's worth, and Officer Smith is their poster boy. After all, the 170+ animal cruelty inspectors in Ontario do this work every day.

The silver lining related to Officer Smith's tough decision is a groundswell of anger on the part of the public, and the awareness of the urgent need for more relevant animal cruelty legislation. The current legislation dates from the 1800s, and sadly supports abusers better than it does their victims. Most states in the US are way ahead of the industrial and financial heart of Canada, which is roughly on par with Mississippi. Bringing the anti-cruelty legislation into the 21st century is something that both the OSPCA and Toronto Humane Society can agree on.

City News video

What Can You Do?

Email the Toronto Humane Society and let Tre Smith know what you think.

Contact the Toronto Humane Society

Write to the OSPCA to offer your support for animal cruelty legislation that really has teeth.

Contact the OSPCA

Write to Monte Kwinter, Ontario Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. He has been working with a task force to put tighter legislation in place. Let's make this a priority in Ontario.

Contact Monte Kwinter

Tre Smith image is copyright Toronto Humane Society.

The Dark View of Charles Simic

Not a peep out of you now
After the bedlam early this morning.
Are you begging pardon of me
Hidden up there among the leaves,
Or are your brains momentarily overtaxed?

You savvy a few things I don't:
The overlooked sunflower seed worth a holler;
The traffic of cats in the yard;
Strangers leaving the widow's house,
Tieless and wearing crooked grins.

Or have you got wind of the world's news?
Some new horror I haven't heard about yet?
Which one of you was so bold as to warn me,
Our sweet setup is in danger?

Kids are playing soldiers down the road,
Pointing their rifles and playing dead.
Little birdies, are you sneaking wary looks
In the thick foliage as you hear me say this?

---

Charles Simic, a Serbian-American writer who juxtaposes dark imagery with ironic humor, was named the U.S.'s 15th poet laureate by the Librarian of Congress in 2007.He began to make a name for himself in the early to mid 1970s as a literary minimalist, writing terse, imagistic poems which, like those of William Blake, have their roots in observed objects that serve to extrapolate the universe.

Over the years, Simic's style has come to be considered immediately recognizable. Critics have often referred to Simic poems as "tightly constructed Chinese puzzle boxes." Simic himself has stated: "Words make love on the page like flies in the summer heat and the poet is only the bemused spectator." The quote intimates Simic's philosophy that true art must be greater than the person who created it.

"I am especially touched and honored to be selected because I am an immigrant boy who didn't speak English until I was 15," responded Simic after being named Poet Laureate.

“I’m sort of the product of history; Hitler and Stalin were my travel agents,” he said. “If they weren’t around, I probably would have stayed on the same street where I was born. My family, like millions of others, had to pack up and go, so that has always interested me tremendously: human tragedy and human vileness and stupidity.

His first full-length collection of poems, What the Grass Says, was published the following year. Since then he has published more than sixty books in the U.S. and abroad, twenty titles of his own poetry among them, including That Little Something, My Noiseless Entourage; Selected Poems: 1963-2003, for which he received the 2005 International Griffin Poetry Prize; The Voice at 3:00 AM; Night Picnic; The Book of Gods and Devils; and Jackstraws , which was named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times.

His other books of poetry include Walking the Black Cat, which was a finalist for the National Book Award; A Wedding in Hell; Hotel Insomnia; The World Doesn't End: Prose Poems , for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; and Unending Blues.

NY Times Review

Knut, der kleine Eisbär

The world's most famous polar bear is retiring from the limelight.

Fans of cuddly Knut will no longer be able to see him play with his keeper twice a day because he has become too dangerous.

The bear made his first public appearance at Berlin Zoo in March as a 20lb cub.

The boisterous seven-month-old now weighs 110lbs and the zoo is concerned about the safety of his keeper.

Zoo keeper Thomas Dörflein said: "This doesn't mean that I will never play with Knut again; it just means there are no fixed times anymore... I am always there for him.

"Knut is still a child; he needs me."



If you feel like singing along, here are the words:

Knut, der ist ein Kuschelbär
Doch hat keine Mama mehr
Trotzdem ist er frech und froh
Und der Star im Zoo
Kleiner Racker ganz in weiß
Mit vier Pfoten kuschelweich
Alle hab’n den Knut so lieb
Schön, dass es dich gibt
Knut, Knut
Kleiner Eisbär aus’m Zoo
Knut, Knut
Dir geht’s richtig gut
Knut, du bist ein Kuschelbär
Du wirst immer putziger
Laufen kannst du auch schon gut
Weiter so, nur Mut
Nuckelfläschchen in den Mund
Trinke fein, das ist gesund
Danach musst du schlafen gehen
Kleiner Knut, schlaf schön
Knut, Knut
Kleiner Eisbär aus’m Zoo
Knut, Knut
Dir geht’s richtig gut
Knut, du süßer Kuschelbär
Dich zu mögen ist nicht schwer
Streichelt man dich auf dem Bauch
Dann freust du dich auch
Deine Zähnchen sind noch klein
Kräftig beißen, das muss sein
Dann wirst du bald groß und stark
Ja, das ist doch klar

---

Ex-circus performer Tosca the polar bear gave birth to Knut and his brother on 5 December 2006. Tosca rejected Knut and his brother. After four days, the brother died and Knut was separated from his mother by zoo workers. He was the first polar bear to have been born and survive in Berlin Zoo for over 30 years.

Being the size of a guinea pig and facing an almost certain mauling by his mother, he spent the first 44 days of his life in an incubator before zoo keeper Thomas Dörflein began handraising the cub. Knut's need for around-the-clock care required that Dörflein sleep on a mattress next to Knut's sleeping enclosure as well as feed and accompany him on his shows for the public.On 23 March 2007, Knut was presented to the public for the first time. Around 400 journalists visited Berlin Zoo to report on Knut's first public appearance to a worldwide audience.

Not only the zoo has profited from the attention surrounding Knut: several companies offer Knut-related products from ringtones to cuddly toys. Candy company Haribo decided to release a raspberry-flavored Cuddly Knut sweet in April 2007 and has promised the Berlin Zoo a share of the profits. One company even made Knut themed cough-drops. Knut was also the subject of several songs. The most successful were the single "Knut is Cute" and the song by 9-year-old Kitty from Köpenick titled "Knut, der kleine Eisbär". Knut also appeared on the March 29, 2007 cover of the German Vanity Fair magazine.

On May 1, 2007 it was announced that New York-based Turtle Pond Publications and the Berlin Zoo signed a deal for the publishing rights to Knut with the hopes of raising awareness of global warming issues.

License to Kill

Tom Rush, wrote "A Cowboy's Paean", which is on his "Trolling for Owls" album. The image is of the Druid Peak Pack in Yellowstone, and the photographer is Dan Hartman. Check out his work at the Hartman Gallery

Go on out and shoot yourself some coyotes,
Makes a man feel good, Lord, it makes a man feel proud!
Go on out and shoot yourself some coyotes,
One for Mother, one for Country, one for God.
Well, if you’re having trouble with the truck, or with the woman,
Maybe them kids are screwin’ up in school,
If the cows are actin’ smarter than the cowboy,
You gotta show the world you ain’t nobody’s fool.
Go on out and shoot yourself some coyotes,
Makes a man feel good, Lord, it makes a man feel proud!
Go on out and shoot yourself some coyotes,
One for Mother, one for Country, one for God.
I got my 30.30 and my eyes are 20/20,
I got my M16 and my trusty .44,
I got my 10-80 and my IQ’s double digits!
Boys, this is gonna be an all-out war.
I got my field rations straight from old Jack Daniel’s,
Hank, Jr.’s on the 8 track in my 4X4,
And I’d shoot a thousand coyotes if I could only just find one,
‘cause, boys, that’s what God made coyotes for.
Go on out and shoot yourself some coyotes,
Makes a man feel good, Lord, it makes a man feel proud!
Go on out and shoot yourself some coyotes,
One for Mother, one for Country, one for God.
So you never mind them Eastern, liberal, environmental … Democrat sissies,
Vegetarians are just a passing fad,
Just tip your hat and wish ‘em “via con … carne,”
Then go on out and make ‘em hopping mad!
Go on out and shoot yourself some coyotes,
Makes a man feel good, Lord, it makes a man feel proud!
Go on out and shoot yourself some coyotes,
One for Mother, one for Country, one for God.

---

In related news, the Bush Administration has issued a disastrous "License to Kill" plan that could trigger the extermination of half the gray wolves in Wyoming and Idaho, starting as early as October. The gray wolf population is still classified as an endangered species, although it has staged a welcome and dramatic comeback from the brink of extinction. Bush is circumventing his own agency's process for delisting a species.
In preparation for these mass killings, the government has already purchased planes and helicopters capable of gunning down entire packs of wolves in minutes. Their goal: To immediately kill up to 700 wolves in Greater Yellowstone and central Idaho.
The administration wants to be able to kill wolves anywhere that elk herd numbers may be affected by wolves. It is focusing on areas where big game numbers are "below management objectives". But those few cases of declines in elk herds have been caused by a combination of factors including habitat destruction, drought and human hunting -- not just by wolves. And in most areas of the northern Rockies, elk numbers are at all-time highs.
Wolves once thrived in much of the lower 48 states. Today, they reside in only five percent of their former range in the U.S. If there is one place in the U.S. where they should be allowed to flourish, it is in and around Yellowstone -- the nation's oldest park -- and the remote Selway Bitterroot ecosystem in central Idaho.

Shadow Mountain

Part memoir, part meditation, part love story, Shadow Mountain is an impassioned commentary on how our connection to the wild can rescue or destroy us.

While completing an undergraduate research thesis, Renée Askins was given a two-day-old wolf pup to raise. Named Natasha, the pup, was destined for a life in captivity. Through her work with Natasha and her siblings, Askins developed a deep, fierce love for the species. On the day Natasha was unexpectedly taken from her and sent to a remote research facility, Askins made a promise to the wolf pup: "Your life, your sacrifice, will make a difference." And it did.

Renée Askins spent the next fifteen years in the grueling effort to restore wolves to Yellowstone, where they had been exterminated by man some seventy years before. The campaign's popularity with the American public aroused the rage of the western ranching community and their powerful political allies in Washington. She endured death threats, years of contentious debate and political manipulations, and heartbreaking setbacks when colonizing wolves were illegally killed. But in March 1995, Askins witnessed the realization of her mission when wolves were released into their native home in Yellowstone–the first wolves to be found there in almost a century.

A born storyteller, Renée Askins offers moving and vibrant examples of the reciprocity that exists between man and animal. And, like a wolf in the shadows, Askins circles the issues surrounding the conundrum of embracing wild nature. Shadow Mountain explores the wildness present within animals and humans, urging us to recognize both its light and its shadow.

Renee currently lives in California with her daughter, her husband, Tom Rush, three dogs, four parakeets and two lovebirds.

Renée Askins website

The Evil in a Blade of Grass

five apparitions are building a moth in the dark
they are nailing wings to fog wings to white powder
they are mixing milk and sulphur in an iron bowl
for its heart they have made the sound of a carousel
coming to a full stop
for its lungs they have made the sound of a train
filling with snowin one stone they've found enough language
in one shadow enough thoughtthey are building a small evil in the dark
a blood drop a flake of dry skin
a demon with a shawl of fine lace
sewn into its backnot the amount of evil a man has
but the evil contained in a blade of grass
a real evil
a moth flying out of a sparrow's throat
and into the evening air

Don Domanski, "Devildom"
from "Hammerstroke", 1986

---

To read Don Domanski's poem, Devildom, about an evil as elusive as fog, an evil made of wings and white powder, stops us short. The poem takes on a topicality we don't generally look for from Domanski, also the author of The Cape Breton Book of the Dead; he is more rooted in the metaphysical realm than in the daily news.

Domanski examines evil here, as part of the fabric of the real, as the yin-yang dance partner of good. In Devildom, evil is built into the world, not in a single moment of creation, but continuously, and on a modest scale.

Why a moth? Perhaps precisely because it's so small and fragile. But there is also the imagery of the Death's Head Moth, the "fine lace shawl" on its back revealing a skull. That a harmless creature should fly through the world tattooed like a bottle of poison may be Nature's version of irony.

---

Don Domanski has been fortunate to be blessed with a few canny critics. He's been called a seer and a necromancer of words, "a cross between Robert Bly, Ted Hughes, and the Brothers Grimm," and the poems have been variously described as "earthy and astral, dark and buoyant," "half fairytale and half flesh." There is something consistent in these descriptions; they indicate the marriage of opposites stirring at the core of his poetry, what one critic has called "the struggle to bring the cosmos and its citizens to us whole."

Domanski's poetry, when read with attention and openness, traverses the ordinary and the extraordinary, illuminating both. He takes our daily objects and experiences, and by carefully relating them to each other, in unexpected contexts, transforms our entire version of reality. But this isn't magic. It's metaphor.

Rilke's poem, The Reader, captures the uncanny way words on a page can create a world so rich and involving it's like experiencing an alternate reality.

---

Don Domanski was born and raised on Cape Breton Island and now lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He has published eight books of poetry. Two of his books (Wolf Ladder, 1991, and Stations of the Left Hand, 1994) were short-listed for the Governor General's Award for Poetry. In 1999 he won the Canadian Literary Award for Poetry.

Northern Poetry Review

The Minamata Pietà

Minamata is a small Japanese fishing town living in the shadow of the chemical factory of the Chisso Corporation. When the factory began dumping large amounts of mercury in the bay in 1956 thousands of people began to develop symptoms of mercury poisoning. Almost all the towns cats went insane, throwing themselves into the ocean. Birds fell out of the sky. Panic gripped the city. In time, thousands of people would die from the poisoning.

An aide mops the brow of Chisso's president Shimada, after he performed the Japanese ritual of shame and apology: touching his forehead to the ground, at the close of a grueling day in court.

Eugene Smith's portrait of Minamata is an impassioned tale of environmental destruction, corporate neglect, and social responsibility. Together with his half-Japanese wife Aileen, he chronicled the fight against the industrial state, the direct action protests, the court cases, the stories of the afflicted families. Smith's achievement is remarkable as he was not a detached observer but an active participant in the story, his role both heroic and tragic. Measured by its social impact, his photobook, Minamata, is one of the most important pictorial documents in history.

William Eugene Smith took this photo, and together with the help of his wife and Ishikawa Takeshi, a local photographer, many other photos were taken of the effects of long term environmental industrial mercury poisoning on the local population.

Here, on the Japanese Island of Kyushu, we see an image of an outwardly healthy mother bathing her fetal-poisoned 16 year old daughter, Tomoko Uemura, grotesquely deformed, physically crippled and blind since birth due to environmental industrial mercury poisoning in the local Minamata, Japan, water supply.

This may well be the first environmental pollution photojournalism. Note also the invariable comparison to Michelangelo Buonarroti 's Pietà.

William Eugene Smith, who was severely beaten by goons hired by the offending chemical company, also received the Robert Capa Gold Medal for "photography requiring exceptional courage and enterprise."

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