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Tatum O'Neal: Dog's death triggered near relapse

art.tatum.ap She wasn't doing research after all -- but was driven to buy cocaine to help cope with the loss of her dog, actress Tatum O'Neal says.

The former child star originally told police when arrested in New York Sunday that she was "doing research" for a film role, but she's now saying the death three weeks ago of her Scottish terrier, Lena, is what set her off.

The former child star was arrested by police when she was spotted by a narcotics team exchanging money with a man three blocks from her home in New York.

O'Neal chronicled her recovery from a heroin addiction in the book "A Paper Life."

O'Neal told the New York Post that the dog was "the fabric of our family ... My daughter and I had to put her down. It was too horrible for words." O'Neal, who also has an alcohol problem, thanked police for catching her -- and keeping her from straying from sobriety. She was charged with one misdemeanor count of criminal possession of a controlled substance and is due in court on July 28.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Comments

The Scottie News has pictures of Tatum and Lena together. We also have a report from the dog's groomer who says Tatum was devoted to her.

Posted by: Scottish Terrier and Dog News | June 5, 2008 6:24 PM

and the dog ate my homework, boo hoo, admit your wrongdoing like an adult.

Posted by: Kevin | June 6, 2008 7:54 AM

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About this blog

Jill Rosen is a reporter at The Baltimore Sun. During her nearly 20 years in journalism, she has covered news and features — including a surprising number of stories that involved animals. There were the dog Christmas carolers in State College, Pa. There were the hounds who toured with a production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The story of a preschool teacher at Baltimore’s Father Kolbe School who had to replace her class guinea pig, who died over the winter holiday. A harrowing tale of what it was like to make homemade pet food ...

Though her clean freak of a mother refused to allow her to get a dog, she has had a number of pets through the years, including goldfish named Bob and Fingle, a beta fish named Ichabod, a wild rat terrier named Wendel, who she shared with a roommate, and, currently, sweet, sweet kitties named Leo Sesame and Milo Pumpkin. She, Leo and Pumpkin live in Baltimore.