Humane Society

Citing a lack of popular support, the New Jersey Fish and Game Council yesterday opted not to allow a black-bear hunt this year, which would have been the first such event in the state since 1971. Although many council members said a hunt was the best way to reduce the soaring black-bear population - blamed for raids on crops, birdfeeders and garbage bins and occasionally attacks on house pets in Warren and Sussex Counties in northwestern New Jersey - the group opted instead to educate residents of those areas on how best to avoid the animals.

WHY WERE MICHAEL VICK and U.S. Rep. Bob Brady dining together at Chops (401 City Ave.) in Bala Cynwyd Tuesday night? The Eagles quarterback and the congressman have become friendly. Brady accompanied Vick to a Humane Society event Tuesday afternoon at the Hunting Park Recreation Center. We asked Brady what the pair talked about over dinner. "I'm helping him work some things out. He's got this bankruptcy thing he needs some help with, whatever," Brady said. He denied that he was personally involved in Vick's bankruptcy case and said, "We just talk about things; we became friends.

A few years ago the Humane Society of the U.S. had a TV commercial that told the whole story. Two men were sitting at a kitchen table with a roaring fire in the background. One guy says "Where is that cute puppy you had last year?" The other guy says "He's older so he stays outside now. " The camera shows a dog outside with its nose pressed up against the window, longingly looking to come inside. The announcer says, "Animals need warmth and comfort too. " OK, you know where this is going.

Sadie and Sinbad seemed to beat the odds. At least Chandra Roberts thought so when the two 8-month-old pups rode off to the animal shelter. She thought they'd be adopted into new homes. But the day after the lab-mix mutts arrived at the Pennsylvania SPCA, they were put to death. Shelter officials said they killed Sadie and Sinbad on Jan. 9 because the puppies had fleas and were too emaciated for adoption. The death of the two dogs is part of Philadelphia's pet population control and the SPCA mission to save scarce shelter space for the animals most likely to be adopted.

Valentine Luther Fine, 85, a retired associate general counsel for the Scott Paper Co., died of lung cancer last Friday at his home in Swarthmore. Mr. Fine joined the legal department at Scott in 1946 and, during his 27-year career there, rose to become associate general counsel, the position he held when he retired in 1973. Mr. Fine was born in Groton, Conn., and was reared in Scranton. He graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., and earned a bachelor's degree in English from Yale University in 1930.

Eleanor Bernstein Thomas McLoughlin, 85, an active supporter of educational charities, died Wednesday at her home in Lower Gwynedd. Mrs. McLoughlin was an active member of the Jeptha Abbott Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Until her death, she served as treasurer of the Smith College Class of 1931. She also served from 1976 to 1981 as the special gift chairman, and was president of the Smith College Club of Philadelphia in the 1950s. Mrs. McLoughlin was also active with the Friends Select Alumni and the Germantown Friends Parents Association.

DEAR ABBY: I'm a 42-year-old woman who has been living with my boyfriend, "Matt. " He has asked me to marry him, and I said yes. The problem is, Matt is still married. Matt and his wife have been separated for eight years. I keep telling him to see if she filed for divorce, but he keeps putting it off. I love this man, Abby. Matt is good to me and to my children and grandchildren, but I don't know what to think or do. I want us to buy a house, but I'm scared that if we do, she'll try to take it from us. He says she wouldn't.

Even the most devoted of animal lovers cannot hug a porcupine. So why not shoot a few more of these literally unlovable creatures? "Why not?" seems to be the sum total of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's rationale for legalizing the hunting of porcupines - which, with a top velocity of 2 m.p.h., are only a little more difficult to "hunt" than a bag of hammers. The commission voted this week to inaugurate a seven-month porcupine season, backing down slightly from a proposal to declare year-round "open season" on the pointy, plodding rodents.

It's not funny anymore. Sure, all the fuss over Frank Balun's arrest on animal cruelty charges for killing a rat (a rat!) was good for some laughs. Up in Hillside, in Union County where Balun lives, all of his buddies from the Long Avenue Tavern got a big kick out of a briefly hung sign that read "Welcome to Hillside, Home of Fink 'Rat Slayer' Balun. " Even Balun himself seems to be relishing the controversy, balking at a move to drop charges and saying he wants his day in court next week.

Patti and Daisy would be so happy. Patti is my oldest hen, having recently turned 7. Daisy is my youngest, having recently celebrated her seventh week on the planet with a beakful of corn scratch and a contemplative session atop her perch. I try to give them a good life, and they in turn will give me eggs. What I wish I could tell them is that their 280 million sisters, give or take, are about to get better digs. Last Thursday, the Humane Society of the United States and the United Egg Producers announced an agreement to push for federal legislation that would change the way producers house and treat America's egg-laying chickens, a busy lot that pumps out more than 70 eggs per 100 chickens every day. While animal welfare isn't necessarily integral to sustainability, it certainly seems germane.