From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
Look out San Francisco! It appears as if you have some competition for the title of Crazy Town USA. One would imagine with the bold efforts of the City by the Bay to ban Happy Meals and goldfish from within the boundaries of this fabled city it would be a lock, but not so. Once again Washington D.C. shows it cannot be outdone when it comes to insanity:
D.C.'s new rat law--the Wildlife Protection Act of 2010 (Wildlife Protection Act of 2010.pdf) --is “crazier than fiction” because it requires that rats and other vermin not be killed but captured, preferably in families; no glue or snap traps can be utilized; the rodents must be relocated from where they are captured; and some of these animals may need to be transferred to a “wildlife rehabilitator” as part of their relocation process.
Emphasis added, I think the family bit is a nice touch.
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Oct '10
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
Might I suggest catch and release... at city hall?
May '11
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
Laws against killing rodents is simply self preservation in Washington D.C.
Nov '11
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
The city government of SF is an ongoing advert for libertarianism.
Jan '11
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
May I suggest relocating rodent families to snake sanctuaries?
Mar '11
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
Lord knows you can never have enough rodents; also, explains our expanding federal bureaucracy.
Jul '11
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
I used to bullseye wamprats back on Tatooine.
Oct '11
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
The D.C. law is unfair to the families of government officials.
May '10
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
A more careful reading suggests that rats are not protected by the law:
From the linked PDF: "For the purposes of this act, the term...'Wildlife' shall include any free-roaming wild animal, but shall not include...Commensal rodents...."
"Definition: Commensal is applied to pests which, while not truly parasitic, do partake of the same food as another. The term, commensal is often applied specifically to rodent pests of the landscape, which partake of human food. House mice and Norway rats are the chief commensal rodents...."
Jun '10
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
Are the rats read their Miranda rats when they are arrested? I'm calling the ACLU now.
May '10
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
...But other regulations place limits on the taking of government rodents:
Mar '11
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
Paul Stinchfield: A more careful reading suggests that rats are not protected by the law:
From the linked PDF: "For the purposes of this act, the term...'Wildlife' shall include any free-roaming wild animal, but shall not include...Commensal rodents...."
"Definition: Commensal is applied to pests which, while not truly parasitic, do partake of the same food as another. The term, commensal is often applied specifically to rodent pests of the landscape, which partake of human food. House mice and Norway rats are the chief commensal rodents...." ·
Well as long as the law is only moderately absurd and not utterly insane it's all good.
It is not so much the specifics of inanities such as this that drive me up the wall, it is the inherent absurdity of the State feeling the need and desirability of mico-regulating behavior in this fashion.
These bits of foolishness have a tendency to be less noxious than they appear at first glance but unfortunately that only seems to dull citizens suspicion of regulatory overreach. The first victory for statists is getting the law on the books. It can always be ratcheted up later and it always is.
Dec '11
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
Ever wonder why these 'progressive' policies tend to be so 'regressive?' I remember the days when rats were considered carriers of disease and exterminated, washing machines actually used water and did not take 90 minutes to clean a load of towels, and there was no 'energy efficient' home heating system- my current bete noire- as temps are dropping to the 40's in Florida and I cannot get the thermostat to budge beyond 72!
Expense be damned- I'd prefer to be living in the 21st century and do not care to share the sufferings of my pioneer ancestors...
Dec '11
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
Brian, better PETA, dontcha think?
Aug '10
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
I can understand the clout of the green lobby and the billions of dollars being shoveled their way, the attendant closed shop jobs, etc. But what part of the progressive wing is for rats rights ? There doesn't seem to be any money in it , and other than touchy-feely childish hippie logic, it appears to be without much cause for the long run. Who is making the dough off this ? If there's no money, we can expect it to end fairly soon. I really am confused by this activism.
Edited on Jan 15 at 3:38pmIs it another faux religion for the faithless but overwhelmed with inexplicable emotion ?
Mar '11
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
flownover: I really am confused by this activism.
Is it another faux religion for the faithless but overwhelmed with inexplicable emotion ? · Jan 15 at 3:35pm
Edited on Jan 15 at 03:38 pm
I would say you are mistaken in calling this sort of activity a faux religion. Quite the contrary, Paganism has a long history that predates the advent of Christianity in the West. The current mania for "environmentalism" can only be understood as a rebirth of Paganism, as Christianity wanes in the West the old religion returns to the fore.
It has been tempting to view some environmentalists as motivated by monetary concerns yet that view blinds. This is not science vs. religion or some mercantile monetary dispute. This is religion vs. religion, science and fiscal rewards have very little to do with it.
Jan '11
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
Well, it does go quite a way toward understanding why DC invariably votes Democrat.
Sep '10
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
I blame Gary the Rat.
Dec '10
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
That's DemocRAT family values for you.
Oct '10
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
It's a professional courtesy, one traditionally extended between colleagues and kindred spirits.
Dec '11
Re: From the "You just can't make this stuff up file"
This post is an example of how fiction goes viral on the Internet.
The DC law has nothing to do with rats or mice.
It wouldn't have come to public notice outside DC if not for the fact the Virginia's Republican Attorney General. well aware of the hay to be made among his constituents by mocking DC, falsely suggested that DC might be relocating rats to northern Virginia.
From such a feeble beginning, the whole story ran wild across the web.
If one actually looks at the law, it makes perfect sense. In many cities, there are often creatures such as raccoons, possum deer and even bears at loose.
It's not hard to imagine public or private wildlife control "officers" who might, for their own convenience or profit,trap, handle and dispose of those kinds of animals in cruel ways. This bill seeks to assure humane treatment.
End of story.