Police use pepper spray on a baby squirrel

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

Person 1(Didn't read article): Squirrels can't get rabies, this is animal cruelty he should be fired.

Person 2: Squirrels can get rabies, here are several links that show documented cases of rabies. Here are some more of squirrel attacks. This was at a school and he was called to check in on it after it was acting eratic. The police man had no protection and used his only means of non-lethal avoidance: Pepper spray.

Person 1: It's still animal cruelty, I hope he dies!

I lol'd a bit. +1

Just thought I'd quote this, on the off-chance that more people will see it and stop freaking out over nothing.

Man, this place has really developed a pattern, hasn't it? The above conversation could be expanded for half the threads on this site.[footnote]EXAGGERATION! Don't quote me to say that it's not really half the threads, I KNOW.[/footnote]

Person 1: Look at this horrible news story! It's a tragedy!
Person 2: KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM!
Person 3: Actually, that's only half the story. Here's enough evidence to fill a library that proves this story isn't as bad as the OP made it sound.
Persons 4 through 8 billion: KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM!
Person 8 billion and one: Hey, look at what person 3 said! It's not as bad as it sounds!
Everyone else: NO! KILL!
Person 3: .......Fuck this.

 

[direkiller]

They have to have been in contact with a diseased human to begin with.

or a diseased flea
or a diseased dead animal

a rodent dose not have the same immune system humans have(hence the reason they dont live as long) they can get diseases from anything

it was acting out of the ordnary and there were children the cop took action to minimize risk to himself and those around him.

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.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't rabies perfectly treatable in it's incubation stage? Meaning, IF (and it's nowhere near 100% chance) the big bad officer does get bitten by the tiny baby squirrel, he can go to a doctor, get it cleaned, get a shot and walk away scott-free.

Also, isn't the correct institution to handle that kind of matter Animal Control? What the fuck is the cop doing there in the first place?

Its expensive to treat($500-$1000) its a few shots over a week and its painful(he also cant work for that period of time)

Not everywhere has animal control often cops are the ones that have to deal with them

in bigger city's cops are called then they call animal control

 

[EllEzDee]

Only in America...

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

EDIT: I just read the attached report, it turns out the officer was called to the scene because the squirrel was suspected of having rabies, so a rabid squirrel approaches you and a large group of children aggressively, I personally would berate you for not pepper spraying the little furry turd, rabies is still a killer disease, if he did not act the children and his lives were threatened. Death doesn't always ride a pale horse and carry a scythe. (And the squirrel was caught and cleaned up afterwards and was absolutely fine.)

/thread

And don't make me remind anyone that pepper spray is 100% non-lethal.

 

[Denamic]

Actually Rabies is a Infection, not a disease.

...what?
By starting your post saying stupid things, you immediately make people take you less seriously.
It's an infectious viral disease.

There are also around a hundred or more variations and separate strains of rabies all around the world. Squirrels and other rodent type animals (Especially skunks and foxes) contract rabies more than any other animal. It's because of rodents that rabies get spread to house pets and stray dogs because they bite the animals when the dogs or cats attempt to kill or eat the smaller animal.

Point being?

a rodent dose not have the same immune system humans have(hence the reason they dont live as long) they can get diseases from anything

Biology was not your strong subject, was it?
I'm not even going to try.

 

[AMMO Kid]

I'm sorry but I laughed out loud when i read this

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

Alright, I'm gonna stop reading this thread before I headdesk.

Maybe most of you should join PETA, huh?

 

[mxfox408]

OMG maybe next time he should let tge damn squirel bite someone, but then you same people crying about the squirel would complain that the officer just stood there and did nothing while a squirel bit someone. give me a break.

 

[Ham Blitz]

I've never seen a rabid squirrel before; it is actually funny to see a squirrel approach someone. They usually flee.
Anyway, if it was rabid, I guess that is one way to deal with it. I don't know what else an officer could do, though I severely hate whoever was talking in the background. I had to turn my volume down due to how loud her annoying input was.

 

[Tipsythegza]

Police love to spray squirrels

 

[Blondi3]

Interesting video. I guess the fact that it could have had rabies makes this understandable, but then again PETA would argue innocent until proven guilty. (Equality!)

 

[Odbarc]

No one is safe from police mace brutality!
I can't wait for the day two police officers mace each other out of spite!

 

[flare09]

Good thing this site's crack team of zoologists are able to figure out that baby squirrels don't act that way.

I don't know any better, but a few summers ago there was a baby squirrel on my porch that came right up to me because it was starved and dehydrated. I fed it and gave it water and it slept on my lap in a towel for a few hours. I then released it back outside and off it went looking just fine. Also, squirrels aren't known to get rabies. Just something I found out from using Google.

 

[Dogstile]

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.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't rabies perfectly treatable in it's incubation stage? Meaning, IF (and it's nowhere near 100% chance) the big bad officer does get bitten by the tiny baby squirrel, he can go to a doctor, get it cleaned, get a shot and walk away scott-free.

Also, isn't the correct institution to handle that kind of matter Animal Control? What the fuck is the cop doing there in the first place?

Yeah, its treatable. However, my brother got bit and if I recall it took multiple extremely painful shots to treat.

I wouldn't expect anyone to go through that for a random squirrel.

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.

Seriously ... if you can't scare off a squirrel without pepper spray? Mother nature has every right to kill you.

Sure, because squirrels usually hop towards humans in the first place. He did it safely, and he did no permanent harm to the squirrel.

Definitely a wrong course of action there.

 

[Vrach]

Its expensive to treat($500-$1000) its a few shots over a week and its painful(he also cant work for that period of time)

Not everywhere has animal control often cops are the ones that have to deal with them

in bigger city's cops are called then they call animal control

Just throwing out thoughts here, but the police department is likely to be one of those silly institutions that gives out medical insurance to it's employees? And even they somehow didn't, if he's called to be there and take care of it, it's a work-related injury, so the department pays for it.

Also, to repeat again, there's no guarantee he'd get bitten, nor even one that the squirrel is infected. The chances of both being true are actually not that big.

As for whether there's animal control... I could be wrong, but those sound like American accents. Even if it was a backwater place and it doesn't look like it from the video, America's pretty well covered with animal control services as far as I'm aware.

 

[bushwhacker2k]

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.

I don't mean to say that your comments are incorrect or misguided... but do you really think he just sprayed that squirrel because it was a 'health hazard'? I really did NOT get that impression from watching this.

I know pepper spray is non-lethal, but it seems like it's the number 1 answer to most of a police officer's problems these days : /

America's pretty well covered with animal control services as far as I'm aware.

I don't know the specifics but I DO know America is at least marketed as being one of the least likely places to have animal problems in the entire world.

 

[Azulito]

I hope he gets shot by someone for this

i just dont get why no on did anything

Would you want to try physically stop a police officer who just maced a squirrel?

You'd either be maced yourself and/or arrested.

 

[EllEzDee]

Only in America...

and proud of it!!!

Ohhhh yeaaaaaaa!