Talk of the Town: Only one dog per apartment—it’s the law

Dog lovers beware. Let’s hope it doesn’t ever come to the following scenerio in the good old USA. According to our friends at Reuters, a neighborhood in Lima, Peru’s capital, has passed a law prohibiting families living in apartments from having more than one dog. People living in houses are allowed two dogs, and those found with more will be subject to hefty fines.

According to an order published in the country’s official gazette earlier this month, residents in a middle-class area in Lima have said there are just too many dogs??—and too much barking.

“Neighbors have complained they cannot live in peace, harmony, or good physical and mental health because noisy dogs disturb the peace,” the order read.

Families with more than the permitted number of dogs will face fines of up to 700 soles ($237), and could have their furry friends removed.

But Maria Solano, 70, said she would never let that happen to her two dogs, Boni and Fiama, adopted off the street five years ago.

“My dogs are my children,” said Solano, who lives in an apartment. “They aren’t hurting anyone. I’d move to another neighborhood before giving them up.”

The order says nothing about cats, or animals other than the dog.

Thanks to the artistic talents of Green Valley resident Frank Lambert, 77, a veteran and retired deacon, seriously disabled or deceased veterans, firefighters, police, and other service professions can be remembered by family and friends in a very special way.

In cooperation with American Legion Post No. 66, Lambert draws color pencil portraits of these veterans. Although Lambert works without compensation, if any contributions are offered, they are turned over to the American Legion and used to help finance needy veteran-related charities.

Lambert says he can produce fairly large likenesses with photos as small as 1-1/2 inches (mug shot size). He prefers working from larger photos, though.

Call Frank Lambert at 520-625-2994 for more information.

It was a steamy performance indeed, earlier this summer when the University of Arizona Reperatory Theatre presented Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

Fellow reviewer Roberta Konen and I saw the first run of this production in June and we were spellbound, to say the least. We described it as a “must see” play topped off with “theatrical brilliance”—not just because the play is a Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, but this cast sets the stage on fire.

Directed by Brent Gibbs, “Cat on a Hot tin Roof” returns for a two-week run next week. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, through Friday, Sept. 6, and Thursday, Sept. 11, through Saturday, Sept. 13.

Matinees are at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6 and Sept. 13, and Sunday, Sept. 7 and Sept. 14. All shows are at the Marroney Theatre in the UA Fine Arts Complex, North Park Ave. and East Speedway. Tickets are $28, with discounts available. (520) 621-1162.

Leaders from the Valle Verde Rotary Club, Sahuarita Rotary Club and Rotary Club of Green Valley recently presented a new Ford F-150 truck to the Green Valley Fire District Fire Corps volunteers at the GVFD headquarters on Camino Encanto.

In March, the clubs teamed up with KGVY Radio to host an auction that brought in more than $25,000 for the Fire Corps.

The Green Valley Elks Lodge No. 2592 will be hosting the 5th Annual Firefighters Memorial Dinner & Appreciation Day on Thursday, Sept. 11, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the lodge. Tickets are $10 and are on sale at the Elks Lodge, 2951 S. Camino Mercado, at the Green Valley Sahuarita Chamber of Commerce, or by calling Frank Sartanowicz, 9/11 Memorial Dinner chair, at 625-5913. Seating is limited.

The price includes dinner, entertainment and door prizes, plus some special surprises.

The 9/11 Memorial Dinner is the brainchild of Sartanowicz, a World War II fighter pilot who wanted to remember all those firefighters, paramedics and law enforcement, as well as others, who perished in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001.

Frank’s goal in not to solicit funds, but rather to spread the word nationwide and encourage people to remember that day and honor the heroes who died.

More pooch news:

A judge has decided that a suburban Seattle, Wash., woman who registered her Australian shepherd-terrier mix to vote has spent enough time in the legal doghouse.

Jane Balogh had been charged with making a false statement, but entered into a plea agreement last year. A King County judge dismissed the charge Monday after Balogh showed that she had paid $240 in court costs and completed community service.

Balogh says she registered her dog Duncan to protest a loophole in the law that she says makes voter registration so easy a nonexistent person could be added to the voter rolls.

She says she made no secret of her action after the fact, telling a number of elected officials she had registered her dog.

And she says Duncan never voted.

rford@gvnews.com