APHA Fall Championship

The American Paint Horse Association will present their autumn show Nov. 5-14, featuring world championship prizes and an estimated $500,000 in cash, which is a new competition for the young.

The ever-popular event recently extended its slate of activities within the contest which takes place at the Will Roger Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

Two years ago, the association (APHA) welcomed 1,671 Paint Horses owned by people from 47 states, Canada, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Germany for its world show, according to the city's website. All slot classes will also be held during the November event.

For information, call 817-348-0672.

In unrelated pet news, a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) of Texas employee's animal cruelty arrest remains baffling, according to writer Theodore Kim.(http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-spcapuppy_09met.ART.State.Edition1.50e0f27.html). Alicia Marie Martin, 23, left her own puppy to starve to death in a waterlogged crate in her Plano apartment, according to the local police.

Authorities found the dog, a German shepherd mix named Bruce, in a small crate in March. According to police reports, the crate was in a dark closet that functioned as a laundry room and had flooded. Martin adopted the puppy in December from the Collin County Animal Shelter.

"Alicia Marie Martin's Facebook posts unfold like a typical story of young adulthood: hopes and minidramas as well as tidbits about her work at one of Texas' largest animal shelters," Kim writes. "But the arrest report offers a different story."

Martin's trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Collin County, TX, though Kim said via email today that knowing the legal system, the proceedings could be pushed back.

Martin, who was fired from her position as a supervisor at the SPCA, was indicted by a grand jury in May.

"She faces a felony charge of animal cruelty that could bring up to two years in state jail and a $10,000 fine," said Kim. "Martin is divorced and lives in Allen with her two-year-old daughter, according to court records."

Kim wrote that "in a Jan. 23 Facebook post, Martin talked about 'playing with her puppy who is getting big.'"

But then on March 4 she complained on that same forum that she needed her dog to not have problems.

"Alicia Martin is wondering when i (sic) will get it right," Martin posted late on March 13, five days before police found her dog dead, according to Kim's article.

After her arrest, Martin told police Bruce had health problems and had lost weight several weeks before his death, an affidavit shows.

"She also said she could not afford to take Bruce to a veterinarian and was embarrassed to seek help from her own clinic because the dog was so skinny," Kim reported. "Martin told authorities that she checked into a hotel room days after her electricity was turned off and left Bruce alone in the apartment."