Police use pepper spray on a baby squirrel

[Mushroom Wobbit]

what he did was illegal i want to see charges brought.
if i had been there i would have hit him the back of the head while he was looking at the squirrel and then stomped him a few times, you know, to let him know how i feel about it.

 

[DoubleTime]

As someone who has dealt with squirrels for a loooong time and worked with wild animals, I can attest to the massive balls they have. One of the little brats ate through my screen at college because he knew the bird feeder on my window had to get filled from someplace and left little squirrel prints all over my bookshelf. He later returned to tug on my boyfriend's hair when he was sitting too close to said hole in the screen.

More on topic:

1) The officer should have just had everyone vacate the area and kept an eye on the squirrel or thrown a box on it until animal control showed up. Macing it would just cause it pain and if it was rabid, possibly cause it to flail and go on the attack more.

2) Yes, rabies is a deadly and horrible disease....IF you don't get treatment. It's better than ever now and streamlined down to only a few shots over the course of a month.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/28/rabies.shots.pediatrics/index.html?hpt=T2
Plus seriously, infection is only if you are bit or scratched, and I think even the screaming girls and that officer could outrun a baby squirrel.

3) If you follow the links, one of the articles says that when an animal control officer showed up he picked up the squirrel, cleaned it up, and let it go. NOT RABID.

4) Yeah the girls were annoying, but they're in what, middle/high school? Most people hate seeing something treated cruelly, especially when there isn't time to pause and think rationally about the situation. I'm willing to bet that most people would at least yelp in surprise and jump/kick out and run a few feet if that jumped on them, just out of shock.

TL;DR
-Follow the links, read the articles, squirrel was NOT RABID
-Rabies can be treated, plus little threat from something the size of a hot dog
-It's a frickin' BABY! What's it gonna do, gum someone to death?

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

'POLICE OFFICERS PEPPER SPRAY A YOUNG BOY!'

4 pages of comments, a lot of them saying that they support the police's decision to mace an eight year old.

'POLICE OFFICERS PEPPER SPRAY A BABY SQUIRREL'

7 pages of comments expressing disgust at the abuse of a poor wittle fwightened baby sqwuiwwel.

Yeah I'm generalising but come on, a little pro-humanism goes a long way. Also, this really does seem to be one of those overreaction situations on every side. Rabid squirrel, so someone calls the cops, first overreaction, cops don't know how to react (probably/possibly/whatever) so they do what seems at the time a nice safe response, second overreaction, public bays for his blood, complete and total lunacy on the part of the public.

1. Rabies is a killer, it is terrifying and very very deadly, you do not fuck around with it.
2. If it was any other animal that wasn't so cute, you can just bet they wouldn't have been quite so quick to leap to its defence.
3. Once again we have only a thirty second video, taken from a clearly biased perspective, and we're being asked to draw out conclusions from it.

Nothing about this is kosher.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

What, one of the other adults couldn't man the fuck up and put a milk crate or a box over it until animal control arrived? Or, and here's a radical idea, give it a swift swat with your boot?

Sure, fella got the job done no worries; but it just seems excessive. Like killing a mosquito with a howitzer.

 

[Mushroom Wobbit]

what he did was illegal i want to see charges brought.

Please quote the exact law he was breaking.

if i had been there i would have hit him the back of the head while he was looking at the squirrel and then stomped him a few times, you know, to let him know how i feel about it.

Now you see that IS illegal. Assuault and battery, assulting a police officer, interfering with a peace officer in the conduct of his duties, and I'm sure a few other fun things.

depends on the state, but its probably under fish and wildlife, i dont think what he did constitutes hunting with a license so its most likely illegal. unless he lives in a state that lets people go out and spray what ever critter they want with pepper spray just cause they feel like it...

 

[Shadowtek]

the American government at its finest.

 

[Cliff_m85]

the American government at its finest.

Say what you will about Hitler, but he never pepper sprayed a baby squirrel.

Slow news day FTW

 

[Bobbity]

He sprayed a squirrel?!

Fucking hell, I hate Americans. Even if it was rabid, he could have just killed it. Pepper spray isn't doing anything except torturing the creature and, if it's rabid, prolonging the inevitable.

 

[Gruevy]

Homie 1:"yo dawg, i heard lil' e-boy got his ass busted last week for tweakin' in front of some bitches."
Homie 2:"for real? shiiiiit. fuck tha po-lice!"
Homie 1:"ya man, shit's whack."

 

[Tanis]

+1 to the cop...but he'd better beware of squirrely wrath!

 

[StormShaun]

I hope he gets shot by someone for this

p.s Everone who has quoted me, I hope you all get shot. fucking hippys

I agree with you, but every danm life is sacred, he at least deserves to get shot in the balls ("awww weak you guys", SHUT UP, lol South park joke)pepper sprayed in the eyes then do a lifetime sentence in jail with another man called Big Papa daddy jones...

 

[Nouw]

It was rabid so I really see no problem. Hell it should be put down before someone dies.

 

[Kortney]

I love the fact how 80% of the Escapist community thinks they know exactly how a police officer should react in every single different circumstances.

Why does nobody ever admit that they are talking out of their backside? I bet it's pretty easy to criticise the police from your living room. You all know best! After all, you just saw a 30 second video!

 

[Rayne870]

Hey guys, protip

READ THE LINK

He got called out to handle it because they thought it was rabid and it was approaching children.

Now, I don't know about you guys, but i'd rather not risk kids or myself getting rabies, as it can kill you.

And before anyone says "its a baby, it can't bite anyone". They can. They have teeth. They can bite through skin.

Hmm, I totally missed the line that he was actually called to respond to it, and yeah good that he did spray it...although that really isn't a permanent solution. I still find it very strange that the local PD didn't just say, "not our problem call animal control"

 

[Rayne870]

In my town we have two animal control officers, one is a rookie and the other is afraid of anything that can potentially bark.

when the police officers cant get ahold of them the only thing they can do is:

A. attempt to, by hand, secure the animal in their patrol car and bring it to the pound.

B. attempt to contact the owner.

C. put the animal down.


you can imagine what usually happens when you have a Pit-bull for a guard dog who is doing its job by not letting strangers onto your property.

They wont try to contact you, they wont try to secure the animal, its always a 12 Ga. or a .45.

All very true.

 

[ace_of_something]

If it was possibly rabid. They should've called animal control to the scene. Not the police. If it's a small community the humane society... Either way pepper spraying an animal is pretty stupid.

the standard responce for a rabid varmit is to simply kill it.

But honostly...
which is the better choice?
Discharging a Firearm in the school
-or-
Pepper spraying a possibly rabid animal

Yes the standard procedure is to usually kill it. Not with a gun if possible. Usually its restrain, contain, transport euthanize. The HUMANE society is kind of against grisly possible lingering deaths.

 

[Dogstile]

Hey guys, protip

READ THE LINK

He got called out to handle it because they thought it was rabid and it was approaching children.

Now, I don't know about you guys, but i'd rather not risk kids or myself getting rabies, as it can kill you.

And before anyone says "its a baby, it can't bite anyone". They can. They have teeth. They can bite through skin.

Hmm, I totally missed the line that he was actually called to respond to it, and yeah good that he did spray it...although that really isn't a permanent solution. I still find it very strange that the local PD didn't just say, "not our problem call animal control"

That's what i'm thinking too. It might be in an area where animal control isn't available, or it might have been an on site rent-a-cop.

I'm personally thinking he was a rent-a-cop. The kids knew him by name, so its a possibility.

 

[Aeshi]

Probably deserved it, squirrels are evil little bastards.

 

[Rayne870]

Hey guys, protip

READ THE LINK

He got called out to handle it because they thought it was rabid and it was approaching children.

Now, I don't know about you guys, but i'd rather not risk kids or myself getting rabies, as it can kill you.

And before anyone says "its a baby, it can't bite anyone". They can. They have teeth. They can bite through skin.

Hmm, I totally missed the line that he was actually called to respond to it, and yeah good that he did spray it...although that really isn't a permanent solution. I still find it very strange that the local PD didn't just say, "not our problem call animal control"

That's what i'm thinking too. It might be in an area where animal control isn't available, or it might have been an on site rent-a-cop.

I'm personally thinking he was a rent-a-cop. The kids knew him by name, so its a possibility.

I totally didn't think about the fact that they were calling him by name, nice attention to detail. And I think that you are completely right in the assumption that he is an on site officer.