Dog that fled booms is finally recovered Monday

By KYLE ODEGARD
Gazette-Times reporter

Oregon State University President Edward Ray apologized for chaos Saturday at Pet Day, when fireworks from the football spring scrimmage spooked nearby dogs and horses.

"We thought we could hold both events concurrently, but clearly we were wrong. And for that we are sorry," Ray wrote Monday in a letter to the community.

"I can promise you we will learn from this mistake in the future," Ray added.

Athletic department and veterinary college officials also apologized in interviews Monday and vowed to prevent another mishap.

"Again, I can't tell you how sorry we are that this happened, and that it did distress the animals and the people who participated," said Kevin Anderson, executive associate athletic director.

Miscommunication was partly to blame, and organizers of Pet Day didn't realize how intense nearby fireworks would be.

"In retrospect, I think we would have tried to hold one of the events on a different day," said Debrah Rarick, executive assistant to the veterinary college dean.

Numerous dogs panicked, and about six bolted from the intramural fields during the fireworks, which were set off in a field right across the street, outside Reser Stadium. Some of the animals went into traffic. A dog missing since Saturday was returned to its owner Monday afternoon. It was found near the Cannery Mall, about 30 blocks away.

The fireworks were set off around 2 p.m. to celebrate groundbreaking for the expansion of Reser Stadium, and were met with cheers from the crowd of 8,300 at the game.

The $80 million "Raising Reser" project is expected to finish during the 2005 football season. It will add 8,000 seats to the stadium, bringing its capacity to 43,000.

That is expected to further boost the economic impact that the OSU football team provides the university and surrounding area.

Several residents were enraged fireworks were set off during Pet Day, a veterinary college fund-raiser that hundreds attend. The event has coincided with Mom's Weekend the past 17 years. This year, some 3,000 mothers attended Mom's Weekend.

Anderson said the athletic department received numerous furious calls, many of them anonymous, and people even phoned his home to complain.

He said he was sympathetic. Last year, his family attended Pet Day and adopted a dog. "I know how positively this affected our family."

Initial discussions about event conflicts were held in February, but the groundbreaking was tentative at that point. It and the fireworks were confirmed less than two weeks beforehand, Rarick said.

The College of Veterinary Medicine told the athletic department that fireworks would pose difficulties for the college's event. Pet Day already had been set up for Saturday, and there was no rescheduling it.

The college tried warning attendees at the event, and had an arrangement with the athletic department to get immediate warning of the fireworks, Rarick said. The latter didn't happen.

An athletic department representative's cell phone wasn't working, so Pet Day organizers weren't contacted minutes before the explosions, Rarick added. That could have helped pet owners control animals.

"Somewhere along the line, communication broke down. We were going to minimize the affect of these fireworks as much as possible," Anderson said.

Kyle Odegard covers Philomath and rural Benton County. He can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.