Police use pepper spray on a baby squirrel

[ScumbagEddie]

Hahaha. That's all i can think to say. Go Cop!

 

[ScumbagEddie]

Hahaha. That's all i can think to say. Go Cop!

 

[ScumbagEddie]

double-tap

 

[Aphex Demon]

There is nothing in the world I despise more than humans abusing innocent animals. For me, torture of the equivalent, if not more of the abuse given to said animal should be given right back to the horrible bastard that gave it to the animal in the first place.

Shit like this upsets me big time, not even going to watch the video because it will be on my mind all day. It's kinda the same when I see a stray dog.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

He did the right thing, he was there when it happened and was protecting the children and himself from a very possible rabies infection while sparing the life of the animal.

 

[PatrickXD]

What is this I don't even?
It's a squirrel. That's all it is, Christ what's everyone's problem with this? Seriously, it wasn't killed, it was pepper sprayed, in a couple of hours it would be right as rain. If it had rabies or some shit I can really understand why it was sprayed, as it is it just seems a bit unfortunate. Not something to go crazy about.

 

[Baby Tea]

It's a freaking squirrel. And this one was suspected of having RABIES.
The cop can't discharge his fire-arm at it, so what can he do until animal control gets there?

If the officer in question had actually contacted animal control before spraying the squirrel, I'm pretty sure they would have told him what a quick Google search tells us: [http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/exposure/animals/other.html] (emphasis mine)

Small rodents like squirrels, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, chipmunks, rats, and mice) and lagomorphs including rabbits and hares are almost never found to be infected with rabies and have not been known to transmit rabies to humans.

So everyone who has been bleating that the squirrel had rabies, or that it "probably" had rabies, or that it was any danger to humans whatsoever, is flat-out wrong.

Animal control WAS contacted.
They arrived, checked out and cleaned up the squirrel, and let it go.
It was fine.

Since animal control was contacted, and the cop still pepper sprayed the squirrel, then they either didn't communicate that information, or the officer doesn't have a Google search on hand, ready to answer what everyone else can while they sit at home.

And while what you've bolded certainly says the a squirrel both having, and transmitting rabies to humans is very unlikely, it certainly doesn't flat out say it's impossible. So even if the officer had all the information at his fingertips that everyone here does, I still wouldn't blame him or fault him for his actions.

I'd rather a squirrel get maced then take the risk of getting rabies (no matter how small that risk is), or some other disease the little bugger could be carrying.

At the end of the day? The squirrel is fine.
It didn't die.
It's not blind.
It didn't lose an arm or something.
It got sprayed, and now it's fine.

Everyone needs to get over it.

 

[Zeema]

I hope he gets shot by someone for this

i just dont get why no on did anything

A bit late, but I really want to add this response http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2008/08/05/jackie-chan.jpg

What Does Jackie Chan have to do with this?

 

[Smooth Operator]

Obviously should have pepper sprayed the kids, would have been a far more useful lesson.

 

[Majorian]

He did the right thing, he was there when it happened and was protecting the children and himself from a very possible rabies infection while sparing the life of the animal.

Have you not read anything that's been posted in this thread? The animal did not have rabies, the likelihood of it having rabies (much less transmitting it) was pretty much nonexistent, and if the officer had done his due diligence and asked Animal Control first, they would have told him so. If he was concerned, all he had to do was tell the teachers to get the kids away from the area (or even just drop an empty cardboard box over it!) and wait for Animal Control to arrive. Pepper spray is caustic on skin - it burns like hell. There's no way the cop didn't cause the squirrel a lot of unnecessary pain. That's animal cruelty, and it deserves to be called out.

Animal control WAS contacted.

By the school, yes. Clearly it wasn't the officer who did it; otherwise he would have known that squirrels don't give people rabies.

I'd rather a squirrel get maced then take the risk of getting rabies (no matter how small that risk is), or some other disease the little bugger could be carrying.

This is a false dichotomy. There were more options than just "allow the animal to give kids rabies," or "pepper spray it." Ie: trap it in a cardboard box, or tell the teachers to get the kids out of that part of the school, or even just nudging it away with your boot. Pepper spraying it and causing it a lot of needless pain is pretty much the definition of inhumane and cruel. Them's the facts.

I'm glad the squirrel is okay; that doesn't concern me as much, however, as how this fits into the overall pattern of police brutality. What kinds of out-and-out dumb people are we as a society authorizing to use deadly force?

And "get over it"? Really? You realize you're the one making the effort to post here. If this discussion is so onerous, you don't have to keep participating in it.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

He did the right thing, he was there when it happened and was protecting the children and himself from a very possible rabies infection while sparing the life of the animal.

Have you not read anything that's been posted in this thread? The animal did not have rabies, the likelihood of it having rabies (much less transmitting it) was pretty much nonexistent, and if the officer had done his due diligence and asked Animal Control first, they would have told him so. If he was concerned, all he had to do was tell the teachers to get the kids away from the area (or even just drop an empty cardboard box over it!) and wait for Animal Control to arrive. Pepper spray is caustic on skin - it burns like hell. There's no way the cop didn't cause the squirrel a lot of unnecessary pain. That's animal cruelty, and it deserves to be called out.

It's bahavior was erradic and was confronting, those are very likely indications of rabies.
If he had asked them first it could have bitten someone and someone could have been infected.
He would have gone to get a bos somewhere which would have taken time and someone could have been infected in the mean time.

He didn't do it for personal entertainment or gratification, he did it to protect the children.
Better safe than sorry.
He did the right thing.

 

[Majorian]

It's bahavior was erradic and was confronting, those are very likely indications of rabies.

No, they're really not indications of anything of the sort. They're indications of a squirrel that's used to humans and being fed by them. They have them all over LA, and I'm sure there's plenty of them in other cities and towns as well.

If he had asked them first it could have bitten someone and someone could have been infected.
He would have gone to get a bos somewhere which would have taken time and someone could have been infected in the mean time.

Or he could have asked someone to, I dunno. Get one for him while he kept his eye on the scary evil baby squirrel?

You're operating under the same false dichotomy as Baby Tea, ie: that the only two options were "let the scary death-squirrel run amok," or "pepper spray it and cause it lots of pain." Those were hardly the only two options.