Posted on 09/17/2013 5:20:11 AM PDT by Altariel
In Merced, Calif., it is perfectly legal for a police officer to take a critically wounded animal to the police shooting range in order to "humanely destroy" it, reported Wednesday's Merced Sun-Star.
Thanks to a decades old penal code, it is legal for officers to transport wounded animals for "humane" disposal at their shooting range.
Many animal lovers who are just learning about this practice are shocked that a police officer would transport a wounded animal to their shooting range, rather than to a veterinary clinic, for humane euthanasia or treatment.
According to Merced Police Chief Norm Andrade, the practice of transporting animals to the Gove Road shooting range is "rare," and the officers dread having to do it.
One Merced resident, 21-year-old Kathleen Emerson, heard about the shootings firsthand from city police officer.
She recounted the conversation to the Merced Sun-Star:
The police officer said, ‘We get calls about dogs that are hit (by vehicles) and still alive, and if they don’t have a tag, we take them out to the range and shoot them,
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
If the dogs are not critically injured, but their wounds are treatable, then they are deliberately killing wounded, non-dangerous animals for sport.
When will they start rounding up "undesirable" humans (conservatives, Christians) for the same practice?
Very sad ping about doggies (not calling this an official doggie ping).
(Joe, this one may be too sad for the list; you decide).
live dogs for target practice?
sadistic much?
Hmmm....
Stray animal hit by car. NO TAGS. Who pays for treatment? Vet ERs are not charities, even a euthanasia is around $500.
...but their wounds are treatable...again how treatable if no one will pay for the vet?
...how many animals and are you willing to pay taxes to change this practice?
I find your attempt to justify transporting a suffering animal to a range for an officer’s sport, rather than a humane dispatch at the spot, reprehensible.
The Palestinian animals have been using this method to ‘train’ their children to slaughter Jews ... kids kill a puppy and learn how to be cold blooded. Are we surprised the same goal is now part of ‘police’ training methodology rising in popularity?
Good, I’m glad because your first post sounded like you were advocating treatment by a vet. And I was quite curious how far you would hold that stance if you had to pay taxes to cover vet treatments for stray animals.
I do agree dispatch on the spot is appropriate and shooting them for sport is not.
Treatment by a vet is an appropriate alternative; I regret that you fail to conceive that there are groups and charities unwilling to donate toward such a cause.
Remember: there are people who will one day make your same argument about the financial considerations of treating a sick “undesirable” child, senior citizens or adult before advocating sending them out to the firing range.
I would guess this is some asinine policy derived to prevent them from dispatching a dog in a neighborhood and becoming the target of those who would cry that they “killed it in front of the children” or some other BS complaint.
What part of the article makes you believe they’re doing this for fun?
Really. Expect this to be merged with ObamaCare eventually.
The government can't give our money away fast enough, yet "it costs too much" is always the excuse they whip out when asked to do something they'd rather not do.
If the people there were really outraged they’d spend the money to put the animals down with drugs instead of bullets. I see a sense of false outrage because if it really bothered them the practice would have been halted years ago. OTOH a bullet to the brain by a good shooter is more humane and faster than lethal drugs and the animal doesn’t have to be restrained and go through the anxiety of being stuck with needles prior to death. Another factor, the average salary of a licensed veterinarian in California is almost twice that of one in the SE, especially Mississippi.
So why doesn’t animal control come out and do a lethal injection?
Or why don’t the police put the animal down right there? Our local cops shoot deer to put them out of their misery. If they’re worried about ricochets, issue them captive bolt guns.
What a waste of time and taxpayer money not to mention cruelty to the animal - load the animal, take it to the range, kill it, move it off the range for disposal, clean out car - shift’s almost over, and he still hasn’t had break yet...
Paper targets are apparently not realistic enough.
1. I didn’t see anywhere in the article where the officers used the dogs for target practice or ‘sport’.
2. Cops can’t be popping off their guns in public areas. You don’t fire a gun around people. The dog must be moved.
3. If they were putting the dogs down on the spot, people would be screaming that their kids saw. (There was actually a story posted here about an officer shooting feral cats last month.)
4. Cost is a huge factor. HOWEVER, I don’t understand why the animal can’t be transported to the pound and put down humanely if the public doesn’t want to pay for a stray animal’s treatment.
On the contrary, I do conceive of that as I drove nearly 10 hours in a snowstorm to rescue & foster an animal who was slated for death. It has been over 9 months since that time and no one even wants to adopt the animal.
I was recently (Saturday) at an event and a rescue was desperately trying to raise $10,000 dollars to cover needed surgeries for a few of their animals. They raised $600.
You may not like this policy by this particular city, but you also miss the reality of the desperate needs of those groups & charities you so quickly shoved in my face. I've seen animals like these taken in by well meaning charities and the animal languish for weeks or months waiting for the money to be raised for them to have surgery. To me, this is cruelty as well and in some cases I will dare say it is neglectful for a rescue to take in an animal they cannot secure treatment for.
In fact, I just had another case pop up on my facebook page today.
Dakota's Emergency Cystotomy Surgery Yes, you read her story correctly. The rescue was arranged through "rescue friends," but none of which are willing to step up to the plate for fund the needed surgery.
I'd love to see them all saved, but the hard cold truth is that is a fantasy. Some will slip away. You may not like what I have to say, but decisions like these are made everyday across the country. Charities and groups will only and can only do so much and that well is often dry these days.
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