Brickbat: Going to the Dogs

A council warden in Hornchurch, England, slapped Tracey Hayes with a £50 fine for littering after he caught her brushing her dog in a local park. Hayes said the warden insisted on fining her even after she offered to pick up any loose hair. A local council member defended the warden, saying responsible pet owners groom their dogs at home.

Comments

[Generic Stranger]

Another day, another backdated brickbat.

[Ted S.]

My work won't be complete until I get everybody to complain about the back-dated Brickbats! 🙂

[Generic Stranger]

So far it's just me and you buddy. You've got your work cut out for ya.

[Scarecrow Repair]

How about explaining this a bit more for those of us who don't watch HyR minute by minute? I understand the verb "to backdate" but have never seen it in action here.

[Generic Stranger]

Basically, they will post it sometime after 7:00 (like they posted this somewhere around 7:20), but they'll change the post time to 7:00 exactly (or 6:55 in this case).

[BakedPenguin]

Glad they got this dangerous scofflaw. It starts with dog hair, but pretty soon shepherds will be shearing their flocks in parks if the authorities don't put their foot down.

[Generic Stranger]

I used to believe in the immutable word of the Law. That is until the night Mrs. Butterman was taken from me. You see no-one loved Sandford more than her - she was head of the Women's Institute, chair of the floral committee. When they started the Village of the Year contest, she worked around the clock. I've never seen such dedication. On the eve of the adjudicator's arrival, some travellers moved into Callaghan Park. Before you could say 'gypsy scum' we were knee-deep in dog muck, thieving kids and crusty jugglers. We lost the title. And Irene lost her mind. She drove her Datsun Cherry into Sandford Gorge. From that moment on, I swore that I would do her proud.

[Agammamon]

Crusty jugglers!

[Gozer the Gozerian]

"...if the authorities don't put their foot down."

We have just the man for the job...

[fish_remote]

A man who doesn't appreciate that scene truly has no soul!

[pan fried wylie]

soon shepherds will be shearing their flocks in parks if the authorities don't put their foot down.

The consequences would be far worse.

Those sheep might graze in the park too, resulting in unregulated lawns and lost gov't landscaping jobs.

[Live Free or Diet]

The link doesn't work, being short of a "/", but here's the story:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....-fine.html

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Well, I think we can say Sugarfree has well and truly arrived. Even Reason's staff can't get links right anymore.

[SugarFree]

Maniacal laugh, maniacal laugh.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Is there a regulation specific to this situation, or is this fine at bureaucratic discretion? Personally, I think humans and animals should be prohibited from public parks, to keep them pristine for the plant life there.

[Generic Stranger]

So public parks would be the exclusive private playgrounds of Warty?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Is HGH a plant?

[Gozer the Gozerian]

Warty is "the Thing from Another World."

[db]

It's dog hair. What, do they fine rabbits for shedding too?

[Rich]

A local council member defended the warden, saying responsible pet owners groom their dogs at home.

Right on!

And responsible pet owners have their dogs shit AT. HOME.

[AlmightyJB]

Councilman urgently needs tar and feathering.

[Scarecrow Repair]

In a public park, where he will be fined for leaving any evidence behind.

[Old Man With Candy]

Is that a Great Pyr? If so, and if it's anything like mine, I have more sympathy for the authorities- she probably drops enough hair in a brushing session to build 4 or 5 poodles.

[GroundTruth]

Later that day, another dog owner was fined for failure to allow her beloved "Fluffy" outside. When asked why she committed this horrendous act, Mrs. Twittlety-Jones replied that she was concerned that the dog might shed a bit of fur while he romped, and she did not want to expose the good people of her village to such a dangerous substance.

[Gozer the Gozerian]

I'm all for anti-shedding rules at parks.

Anything to keep the hippies out...

[Enough About Palin]

"A local council member defended the warden, saying responsible pet owners groom their dogs at home."

Bullshit. I pay for a public garbage container. It's on the corner of 42nd Avenue and Fremont Avenue North. Costs me $12/month, which is charged to my water bill. I also commissioned an artist to paint it (she did a really good job). It's the Libertarian thing to do. Anyway, I have been known to walk with my dog to a different garbage can (identical, but no art) that's by Camden Central Pond. I brush the dog there and put the hair in the garbage can. It's the Libertarian thing to do.

[wwhorton]

So, was anyone (other than the warden) complaining? I mean, where I live people bring their dogs to patio bars all the time. Outside of it not always being such a great idea to stick twenty large dogs in a confined space full of drunks, cigarettes, and food, nobody really minds. People who do either stay inside or go elsewhere.

Granted, I get that the park belongs to "everyone", but that doesn't mean that the rules should be made by the most restrictive tastes. I mean, just doing what the grumpiest old man wants to do is not compromise. She's got as much right to take her dogs to the park as other people do to take their kids, and as long as she's picking up the fur, what's the problem?

[Rich]

picking up the fur

Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

[pan fried wylie]

Granted, I get that the park belongs to "everyone", but that doesn't mean that the rules should be made by the most restrictive tastes.

According to the Doctrine Of Fairness In Democracy, that's exactly how those rules should be made.

Which is the basis for the argument against public property that is not a necessary and legitimate function of government.

DMV? Necessary and Legitimate (sld applies). Parks, IMO, are not.

[Agammamon]

There's nothing necessary about the DMV. you're just incuclated to the 'need' for cars to have license plates and government vetting of driving licenses.

[RussianPrimeMinister]

That is the absolute and honest truth. License plates are nothing more than a scam to fine/tax you for owning a car. If the state was free, but still wanted to offer a service, they could EASILY just make licensing a choice.

No license plate? To tax sticker? NO help from the police if it gets stolen.

Same concept applies to insurance. Insurance becomes a choice? Overnight, liability insurance drops to $5 a month. Uninsured motorist insurance rises to $50-100 per month. Choice is yours if you want to drive unprotected.

Problem solved.

[edcoast]

Does this horrible man realize he is depriving the local avian population of some of the best nesting material?

[Scarecrow Repair]

That's an opportunity for stimulus money!

/Krugnutz

[pan fried wylie]

"local bird populations decimated by cold snap. scientists hypothesize a lack of nest insulation."