U.S.:
Memphis resident alleges MAS employee Glen Andrews trespassed on his property, threatened him and used his ACO badge to impersonate a police officer. MAS director James Rogers said that since the incident occurred off the clock, meh. (Thanks to everyone who sent me this link.)
A MSN ordinance was pulled from the Lee County (FL) commissioners’ agenda before it could be voted on, thankfully. MSN has never worked anywhere it’s been tried, ever. (Thanks Jan for the link.)
Treating Our Citizens Like Dogs by Henry Rollins
The federal government plans to start playing recordings of barred owls in CA, OR and WA in order to attract other barred owls who will then be shot in a misguided effort to “save” spotted owls. (Thank you Karen.)
International:
France: A woman was walking her dog when both were reportedly attacked and seriously injured by six feral cats. I have never heard of such an incident. The article offers speculation that summer heat might have made the cats aggressive.
China: You probably think you love your pet but do you love your pet enough to attempt to smuggle him on board a plane disguised as lunch?
Canada: A little tree in Alberta is apparently the most satisfying back scratcher imaginable. (Thanks Valerie.)
UK: Zookeepers lured escaped chimps back to their living area with “ice cream and fizzy drinks”. I can’t tell you how many times this evil tactic has been used against me.
“Though shelter administrator James Rogers said it did not happen on the clock, he did not know what could be done. ”
Um. Hm. Let’s see, used his BADGE inappropriately. Once he pulled out that badge, he brought his job into it, off the clock or not. But it’s Memphis, where personal accountability is like dust in the wind.
Historically, dust has been held to account more often than anyone at MAS.
Have to say I love Henry Rollins, he connects the dots and pulls no punches.
And as to a MAS employee misusing his ‘authority’ for private bullying, of course there is much that could and should be done. Nothing will be though. I wonder though if the harassment of a business owner will be viewed a bit differently than the usual pushing about of the ‘lower classes’ and animals. I can hope at any rate.
I thought impersonating a police officer was a felony!
It’s state-by-state, and in some cases, it’s considered a felony only if done in commission of another crime. I believe it is, however, illegal in all states.
In this case, since the ACO was harassing a carriage horse operator on his own time for no official reason, I would think – in a just world – that it would qualify as abuse of his position, and be a censurable offense even if it did not necessarily rise to the level of an illegal one.
This isn’t a just world.
On the feral cats story, I, too, have never heard of such a thing, nor have I encountered aggressive feral cats – as opposed to ones acting out of fear – nor ever seen domestic cats hunt in packs. For that matter, I’ve never seen cats become aggressive due to high temperatures.
Very weird story.