Slow Dogs and Fast Dogs

Things That Cause Me to Support Capital Punishment

Eight assholes kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered a twenty-year old woman. Allegedly.

Assuming that they are found guilty and sentenced to be put to death, no doubt that there will be people decrying that and maintaining that their deaths would be cruel and unusual. There is no way that their deaths would be any crueler than the one that they inflicted on their victim.

It cannot happen soon enough.

ETA: Also, if the victim had been a pretty white blonde girl, this case would've been all over the national news for two weeks. But that she wasn't and it wasn't tells you all you need to know about the latent hypocrisy and racism in the news business.

Breaking Good News Out of Hartford

East Hartford police are investigating an attempted robbery incident where a store clerk shot and killed one of two suspects, according to police.

The incident began on Thursday night around 10:30 p.m. when two suspects in black ski masks entered the Humble & Paid Co. on Main Street. Police stated that the two suspects had intended to rob the store.

A brief struggle took place when the suspects entered the store, and one pulled out a firearm. During the struggle, the store clerk was shot in the back by this suspect.

The store clerk was able to return fire with one of his two legally registered firearms, according to police. The clerk fired several rounds and struck one of the suspects multiple times.
...
The clerk was also treated for the gunshot wound to his lower back, and he was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Here's hoping that the clerk makes a speedy recovery with no lasting effects, and that the cops arrest the other suspect. I believe that CT has a felony murder routine, so the other critter can be charged with that.

What Would We Ever Do Without Florida Man?

A judge today ordered a psychological evaluation to help determine the competency of a Florida Man charged with having sexual contact with a pair of large stuffed animals at a Target store, court records show.

The alleged perp attempted to have sex with a stuffed unicorn and Olaf (the snowman from Frozen). It's all on tape.

Both of the stuffed critters were destroyed, The living critter is in the dingbat ward.

If he gets sent to prison, the conversations with the other cons should be epic.

You May Have to Quarantine Your Bunnies

We're not the only species dealing with a pandemic:

Humans aren't the only ones facing a pandemic — rabbits across the U.S. are currently battling a deadly disease outbreak of their own. The virus has spread to at least six states, threatening to completely wipe out the country's wild rabbit population.

Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease virus type 2 (RHDV-2) spreads quickly and is highly lethal, with the latest outbreak originating in New Mexico. ... Since March, the disease has spread through New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, California and Mexico. ... Morbidity and mortality rates of the disease can be over 90 percent, the USDA said, and it poses a serious threat to domestic rabbits as well.

If we were faced with a virus with 90% mortality, the same moronic Trumpanzees would be proclaiming "but muh rights" and seeking to crowd into bars.

Arf. Arf.

Pink the border collie aces the agility test at Westminster:

Bark Bark AOOOOOOOOOHHHHH

When the fire trucks roll by in the neighborhood, the coyotes answer. This time, one was in the yard:

Budding Necrophiliacs at Work

Prosecutors say a former Vanderbilt football player encouraged his team-mates to rape an unconscious woman whom he had been dating.

During opening statements Monday [June 13th] in the retrial of Brandon Vandenburg, a prosecutor said the former player even passed out condoms to three team-mates before the woman was raped. Two other Vanderbilt football players were found guilty of rape and sexual battery.

And he's guilty! Seems he videoed the rape (never a good idea) and sent it to his friends (ditto).

I'll wager that o'l Brandon does more time than Brockster.

Dog is My Co-Pilot

They taught three dogs to fly a Cessna:

I can hear flight instructors now: "Wassamatta wit you, kid, they teach dogs to fly this airplane!"

Or maybe not. I gather that instructors are far less acerbic these days.

Don't Believe for a Minute that the FBI Now Cares About Animals

Maybe you've seen this story:

FBI Director James Comey signed off to add animal cruelty offenses to the Uniform Crime Report (UCR). In addition, local agencies will begin tracking animal cruelty offenses and report them to the FBI.

First off, I can't find a FBI press release or anything else to substantiate this. I would think that if the FBI was really going to do this, they'd at least issue a press release. Blowing their own horn is something that the FBI excels at doing.

But even if the report is true, it's not that the FBI has gotten all soft and cuddly about animals. What they may have finally processed through their thick bureaucratic skulls is that animal abuse cases are often an indicator that somebody is working their way towards being a serial killer.

Caturday; Guest Critter Edition

A snowy owl at VINS:

If you find yourself near the junction of I-91 and I-89, go up I-89 a short jaunt to Quechee, Vermont and visit VINS.

For All Intents and Purposes, Today is Monday

So a little cuteness is necessary.

(H/T in personam)

Poisoning the Pooches

Nearly 600 pets have died and more than 3,600 have been sickened in an ongoing, mysterious outbreak of illnesses tied to jerky treats made in China, federal animal health officials said Tuesday.

Most of the cases have been in dogs of all breeds, ages and sizes — although 10 cats have been sickened, too — after eating chicken, duck and sweet potato jerky treats. The pace of the reported illnesses appears to have slowed, but federal Food and Drug Administration officials are now seeking extra help from veterinarians and pet owners in solving the ongoing puzzle.

The best answer for pet owners asking what they should do is to not give jerky treats to your pets.

Hell, eating any food product made in China is about as dangerous as it was to have eaten American food products before the FDA and USDA began their work during the Theodore Roosevelt Administration.

Shorter Connecticut Ruling: "Now, We'll Come For Your Horses."

The Connecticut State Supreme Court is deciding a case as to whether or not horses are a "naturally vicious species".

I don't know anything about the judges on the CT appellate court that said that horses are "naturally vicious", but I suspect that they know as much about human history and the history of the domestication of animals as they do about the composition of Pluto's atmosphere.

The consequences of the state supremes upholding that ruling are fairly easy to guess at. With such a determination allowed to stand, it would be far easier for people to sue horse owners and win. As a result of that, horse owners, riding academies and boarding stables would find it next to impossible to purchase insurance. As for the horses themselves, they'd likely be euthanized.

"Nutmeg State", it should be renamed the "Nutter State".

A Very Effective Natural Fly Repellant

Zebra stripes.

It works this way: Horseflies see horizontally-polarized light. Vertical stripes mess up the flies' vision. The most efficient stripe width for screwing up the ability of the flies to see happens to be the width of the stripes on zebras.


(H/T)

Heil the Riding Fuhrer!

Well, not quite a swastika, but a few more aisles to those horse barns and they will be there.

My guess would be that nobody made a site plan when they added onto the barns. Otherwise, they might have had an idea what it might look like.

In some parts, especially Westchester County, NY, if it wasn't for horse farms, there's be no agricultural uses of land whatever. It is not for nothing that it has been said that some of the towns' leading agricultural product is horse shit.

As Yogi Bear Said to Ranger Smith: "Don't Tase Me, Bro!"

Spurred by the efforts of Fish and Game wildlife technician Larry Lewis of Soldotna, {Alaska], the use of Tasers on large animals is beginning to gain currency among wildlife managers across the U.S. -- and even overseas.

This may be the best use for them. The animals are more wary of people and it is certainly more humane than shooting them with a 300 grain lead flat nose round from a heavy .45 revolver.

Kill the Wabbits, Kill the Waaaabbits!

Actually, it's not a joke. The rabbit population of Robben Island has exploded.

Robben Island was were Nelson Mandela spent most of his time in prison. It is now a World Heritage Site. The rabbits are undermining the buildings and turning the island into a barren wasteland. Trapping didn't work very well, so riflemen are shooting them.

Predictably, there are some "animal rights" folk who are not happy. But fortunately, they are not prone to resorting to violence, like the anti-choicers.