Humane Society

N. Ramsay Pennypacker, 88, of Berwyn, a longtime business and community leader who loved his family, animals and fine cars, died Sunday of pneumonia at Paoli Hospital. "He was strong," his son, D. Ramsay Pennypacker, said. "He was the patriarch of the entire family. " Mr. Pennypacker was born in Ardmore, and split his childhood between the Main Line and his family's farm in Harford County, Md. He attended Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va., and graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania.

Special Events FREE Donald Smith Cooking demonstration. Foster's Homeware, 399 Market Street; 215-925-0950; www.shopfosters.com . 3/22 2 pm. Fashion Show Auditions Seeking models for September event. Open to public. Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1101 Arch St.; 215-418-4700. www.paconvention.com . 3/22. Barrels on the Brandywine Local winegrowers & vintners open their cellars for tours, tastings & other special events. www.bvwinetrail.com . Sat. & Sun. $25 includes tasting at each winery & more.

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.

AS AN animal-lover, I found it funny that people were sending Michael Vick football jerseys to the Humane Society so that dogs could use them to defecate on. It made me reflect on going to the vet with my girlfriend to get physical checkups for our cats. I saw how the other animal-lovers were often caring, considerate and tolerant people. It made me realize that pets often act like their owners. The way the owners treat their pets usually is the same way they treat other people, and, from what I saw, these animal lovers were truly humane.

Nike has no plans to dump Michael Vick from its roster of celebrity athletes, turning aside a request from the national Humane Society to cut ties with the Atlanta Falcons quarterback over alleged ties to dogfighting. Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, yesterday released a letter that he sent to the apparel giant. "We trust that Nike does not want to be associated with any celebrity who is linked to this odious form of animal cruelty," Pacelle wrote.

A Washington spokeswoman for the Humane Society of the United States urged the Pennsylvania Game Commission board yesterday not to approve deer hunters' use of the atlatl, an ancient spear-throwing device. "The Pennsylvania Game Commission's nostalgia for the Stone Age has its humorous side - we can all imagine atlatl hunters wearing blaze-orange loincloths running around in the woods," Heidi Prescott told the opening session of the two-day board meeting. "But for the Humane Society of the United States, this proposal has a dark side - and that is animal cruelty.

American pet owners spent an estimated $31 billion on their 77.7 million cats and 65 million dogs in 2003. And almost 85 percent of owners refer to themselves as the pet's "mom" or "dad. " But too many feel they cannot travel because of the animals. As a pet owner and frequent traveler, I understand the feelings of guilt and anxiety when you stash your four-footed loved ones in a kennel. Such feelings are multiplied if the pet is quite young, elderly, or needs daily medication or other special care.

Bill Freeland's sculptural constructions bring us from the 19th century right up to the edge of time, our time. In the show by this Downingtown artist at Garrubbo Bazan in West Chester, his most recent sculptures may anticipate the future while even his oldest pieces, from the early 1980s, still look fresh. His work gamely attempts to humanize our technological society. For here we see Freeland taking imaginative control of his own postindustrial surroundings, a clear reflection of his belief in the creative energy and power of individual human beings to bring about change.

The Camden County Animal Shelter was not caring for the medical needs of some animals as quickly as it should have. Record-keeping was incomplete and disorganized. And parts of the shelter were cluttered and dirty. Those were some of the findings in an evaluation conducted by the Humane Society of the United States, which also found a compassionate staff trying to its best to care for the animals, provide clean living areas, and serve the public. Kim Intino, manager of the society's animal-services consultation program, said yesterday that the problems at the county shelter during the program's review of the facility in October were "not uncommon.

With the help of a microchip and some dogged research by humane society workers, an abandoned fila brasileiro, whose sad face was splashed across newspapers and TV screens last week, will soon be reunited with owners who had given him away months ago. Joe Pulcinella, manager of the Delaware County SPCA, said yesterday that workers had "scanned" the underfed dog soon after he was picked up in the freezing cold on Jan. 26. An identification chip...