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Main Forums => Politics => Topic started by: AZRedhawk44 on May 09, 2013, 04:02:24 PM

Title: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: AZRedhawk44 on May 09, 2013, 04:02:24 PM
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2013/05/08/minn-farmer-shocked-after-horses-put-down-by-state-patrol/

Cops put down two horses that strayed onto I-35 at 2AM in Minnesota.  They were only on scene for 10 minutes before making the decision to euthanize the horses for the sake of traffic safety.  20 minutes had passed from the first 911 calls from motorists to the killing of the horses.

Do you consider this a good decision, or not?


I understand the traffic safety issue, but I think it was a bad call.

It was poor "execution" (pun noted but not intended) on the part of DPS.  Humane Society, Animal Control, Zoo emergency services... something like that could have been dispatched.  Somebody with a tranquilizer rifle.  And 911 should have a script for such contingencies.

20 minutes of horses on the highway is plenty of time to have Animal Control show up with a tranq gun, if they are part of the emergency response system.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: makattak on May 09, 2013, 04:26:04 PM
I'm saddened the horses had to be put down here, but I can't fault the police.

It was 2 am. I don't know any zoo or animal control that has staff to get a tranquilizer sufficient to put out a horse available at 2 am.

It sucks, but every other option has risks. The could not allow them to keep running around until they caused a major accident. (As for other options, I don't even know if the police would have been able to shut the road down quickly enough, assuming they'd have to shut both sides of the road down and cannot predict where the horses might roam.)

Would have been nice if someone could have alerted the horses' owner as well, but I don't know that she would have gotten out there quickly enough, either. Further, it was 2am, and I don't know if the police would have had enough officers to spare with two on the road trying to prevent accidents and yet another one looking for the horse owner.

Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: roo_ster on May 09, 2013, 04:50:52 PM
None of the animal control folks in my town or the adjoining Big City have tranq gear.

If it was not busy at that time (2am) I might have tried to spend more time containing the horses, but I am pretty sympathetic to the cops on this one.  Horses can be flipping huge and can total a car and kill the occupants.

Think of this analogy:
* Mentally ill man escapes institution.
* Runs about with a knife, slashing at the air, ground, or anything that comes by.

On a flat, featureless plain, let him exhaust himself.  If dude is walking toward a populated area, you might have to put him down.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: AZRedhawk44 on May 09, 2013, 05:01:10 PM
No "compliance-by-taser?"
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: roo_ster on May 09, 2013, 05:05:04 PM
No "compliance-by-taser?"

How big of a Taser do you need for a 2000lb animal?  Perhaps throw a set of jumper cables (hooked up to the cop car) at the horse?
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: AZRedhawk44 on May 09, 2013, 05:06:24 PM
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-04/taser-shocks-meth-intoxicated-sheep-dont-harm-heart-taser-study-says

Couldn't find anything about horses, but Taser tested their devices on meth-addled sheep.  Srsly.

(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popsci.com%2Ffiles%2Fimagecache%2Farticle_image_large%2Farticles%2FMadSheep.jpg&hash=5d56380fc5628a581421e92eca72dbdea535048d)
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: roo_ster on May 09, 2013, 05:13:31 PM
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-04/taser-shocks-meth-intoxicated-sheep-dont-harm-heart-taser-study-says

Couldn't find anything about horses, but Taser tested their devices on meth-addled sheep.  Srsly.

(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popsci.com%2Ffiles%2Fimagecache%2Farticle_image_large%2Farticles%2FMadSheep.jpg&hash=5d56380fc5628a581421e92eca72dbdea535048d)

I did not expect that.

Then again, nobody expects The Spanish Inquisition meth-addled sheep.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Gewehr98 on May 09, 2013, 05:20:08 PM
Must know more about drugged sheep.

How are they with hip waders?

Do the neighbors talk?
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: zxcvbob on May 09, 2013, 05:22:20 PM
Tough call.  2 A.M. on the Interstate?  I think it was a good shoot.  Too much chance of a horrible accident.  If it was during the daytime with good visibility they would've had more options; it would create a traffic jam, but so what.

I'm gonna have nightmares about that sheep.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Fly320s on May 09, 2013, 05:41:46 PM
Must know more about drugged sheep.

How are they with hip waders?

Do the neighbors talk?

Don't forget cliff edges.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Tallpine on May 09, 2013, 06:06:32 PM
Well, I guess you would have to be there ...   =|

If you couldn't catch the horse then you're not going to get a very clean shot and now you have a wounded horse running around  ;/

Somebody with a little experience could probably catch them or at least run them through a gate into some pasture for temporary confinement.

Fortunately the deputies in our county aren't that trigger happy.  Otherwise they'd probably be shooting fifty horses a month.


Quote
they unsuccessfully tried to get the 1,100-pound animals back over a 5-foot-high fence.

Well, or course not  :facepalm:
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: cassandra and sara's daddy on May 09, 2013, 06:22:57 PM
usually no gates on the highway side of a field
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Tallpine on May 09, 2013, 06:44:07 PM
usually no gates on the highway side of a field

Around here there are, but then it is all two lane.  I never really noticed I-90 fences.

Those horses got to the interstate somehow.  I'm sure that there was more than an electric fence along the interstate.

I'm interested to know how well that really went.  Horses aren't all that easy to put down, unless you do a contact shot on the X between ears and eyes.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: cassandra and sara's daddy on May 09, 2013, 06:52:33 PM
Around here there are, but then it is all two lane.  I never really noticed I-90 fences.

Those horses got to the interstate somehow.  I'm sure that there was more than an electric fence along the interstate.

I'm interested to know how well that really went.  Horses aren't all that easy to put down, unless you do a contact shot on the X between ears and eyes.

christ it would suck to do that.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: AJ Dual on May 09, 2013, 10:09:32 PM
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-04/taser-shocks-meth-intoxicated-sheep-dont-harm-heart-taser-study-says

Couldn't find anything about horses, but Taser tested their devices on meth-addled sheep.  Srsly.

(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popsci.com%2Ffiles%2Fimagecache%2Farticle_image_large%2Farticles%2FMadSheep.jpg&hash=5d56380fc5628a581421e92eca72dbdea535048d)

Yeah, not so easy when the target shoots back.

(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi156.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ft33%2FAJ_Dual%2Frocket_54692e_1943909_zps98a69229.gif&hash=0ec8a089404c676e8213ebe3c7569123a4603993) (http://s156.photobucket.com/user/AJ_Dual/media/rocket_54692e_1943909_zps98a69229.gif.html)
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Tallpine on May 09, 2013, 10:26:35 PM
christ it would suck to do that.

yeah, it does  =(

Horses ain't like dogs and cats.  The drugs cost $60 a bottle and it takes 2 or 3 or more on top of the vet visit.  And they don't always react well.  Some go crazy instead of just going to sleep.  Plus the stuff is bad for the environment and you have to bury them deep.  Our vet said that a gun is the best way if someone is willing to do it that way. 
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Perd Hapley on May 09, 2013, 10:53:15 PM
Yeah, not so easy when the target shoots back.

(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi156.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ft33%2FAJ_Dual%2Frocket_54692e_1943909_zps98a69229.gif&hash=0ec8a089404c676e8213ebe3c7569123a4603993) (http://s156.photobucket.com/user/AJ_Dual/media/rocket_54692e_1943909_zps98a69229.gif.html)


Yeah, I saw the first half-hour of that movie. You are not permitted to remind me of it ever. Ever!
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Marnoot on May 09, 2013, 11:46:28 PM

Yeah, I saw the first half-hour of that movie. You are not permitted to remind me of it ever. Ever!

I watched the whole thing. It became a train-wreck I could not look away from. I kept hoping it would improve, somehow. After Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, and the youtube promo segments for this one featuring Jemaine Clement I had high hopes. They were then shattered, ground-up, crapped on, and flushed down the sewer. Jared Hess will have to write one heck of a movie to atone for that abominable sin.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: TommyGunn on May 10, 2013, 12:13:58 AM

Yeah, I saw the first half-hour of that movie. You are not permitted to remind me of it ever. Ever!

What was the name of the movie?  How can I avoid it if I don't know the name?!?!?   :O :O
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: RoadKingLarry on May 10, 2013, 12:23:05 AM
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-04/taser-shocks-meth-intoxicated-sheep-dont-harm-heart-taser-study-says

Couldn't find anything about horses, but Taser tested their devices on meth-addled sheep.  Srsly.

(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popsci.com%2Ffiles%2Fimagecache%2Farticle_image_large%2Farticles%2FMadSheep.jpg&hash=5d56380fc5628a581421e92eca72dbdea535048d)

I think "meth Addled sheep" could describe a significant percentage of the population today.

As to shooting the horses- poor choice IMO.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: BobR on May 10, 2013, 12:24:04 AM
Having seen many car vs horse accidents as the receiving nurse in the ER on the rez, I have no problems with putting the horses down if they could not otherwise get them away from the highway. Of course, on the rez, as open range, it would be the vehicle owner footing the bill for that prize roping horse that got hit, instead of the horse owner being liable.

bob
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Marnoot on May 10, 2013, 12:26:08 AM
What was the name of the movie?  How can I avoid it if I don't know the name?!?!?   :O :O

Gentleman Broncos (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CDoQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Ftitle%2Ftt1161418%2F&ei=z3aMUdx7lKupAcaHgIAO&usg=AFQjCNEfAC9zOs3Z9gk4G5Cho6dvf-6vAg&sig2=s_Ho4YoCkjJnOb5azLnFFg&bvm=bv.46340616,d.aWM)
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: charby on May 10, 2013, 12:58:15 AM
Having seen many car vs horse accidents as the receiving nurse in the ER on the rez, I have no problems with putting the horses down if they could not otherwise get them away from the highway. Of course, on the rez, as open range, it would be the vehicle owner footing the bill for that prize roping horse that got hit, instead of the horse owner being liable.

bob

My biggest fear when hunting or fishing in WY is hitting someone's beef critter then having to pay the rancher for the animal.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: BobR on May 10, 2013, 01:15:26 AM
My biggest fear when hunting or fishing in WY is hitting someone's beef critter then having to pay the rancher for the animal.

Every slow elk (cow) and horse on the rez is a prize something or another and the insurance companies often paid into the low thousands of dollars to settle.  :mad:

Our ambulance rolled out on a car vs cow accident one night and before they even got there another car had stopped and they were butchering the beef on the side of the road. We only got 4 people out of that wreck.  =|

bob
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: MechAg94 on May 10, 2013, 11:59:36 AM
Every slow elk (cow) and horse on the rez is a prize something or another and the insurance companies often paid into the low thousands of dollars to settle.  :mad:

Our ambulance rolled out on a car vs cow accident one night and before they even got there another car had stopped and they were butchering the beef on the side of the road. We only got 4 people out of that wreck.  =|

bob
So 4 people were not butchered?  What happened to the rest? 
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Fly320s on May 10, 2013, 12:06:44 PM
My biggest fear when hunting or fishing in WY is hitting someone's beef critter then having to pay the rancher for the animal.

What?  If a driver hits a loose cow the driver has to pay?  What kind of BS scam is that?
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Tallpine on May 10, 2013, 12:18:50 PM
What?  If a driver hits a loose cow the driver has to pay?  What kind of BS scam is that?

It's open range.

The cattle were there first.  Drive your horseless carraige at your own risk.

Same way in most of Montana.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Balog on May 10, 2013, 12:32:52 PM
I have a pretty low opinion of cops generally speaking, and it might have been possible to get the horses safely out of the way. That being said, human lives are more valuable than animal lives so I have no issue with putting them down if necessary. ANd of course we can second guess all day long but no way to know if it was the only or best course available.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Tallpine on May 10, 2013, 12:51:01 PM
I have a pretty low opinion of cops generally speaking, and it might have been possible to get the horses safely out of the way. That being said, human lives are more valuable than animal lives so I have no issue with putting them down if necessary. ANd of course we can second guess all day long but no way to know if it was the only or best course available.

I'm having nightmares picturing cops trying to put down horses with AR-15s in .223  [barf]
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Regolith on May 10, 2013, 07:59:58 PM
What?  If a driver hits a loose cow the driver has to pay?  What kind of BS scam is that?

My uncle, the ambulance chaser, hit a cow just north of Austin, NV, on SR 305 while on his way up to visit us for Christmas one year. That area is open range, it was dark, and the cow was pitch black. Hard to see. He hit it at something like 60-70 mph. He was fine, but his rig was totaled. Still had to pay for the cow.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Fly320s on May 10, 2013, 09:38:48 PM
My uncle, the ambulance chaser, hit a cow just north of Austin, NV, on SR 305 while on his way up to visit us for Christmas one year. That area is open range, it was dark, and the cow was pitch black. Hard to see. He hit it at something like 60-70 mph. He was fine, but his rig was totaled. Still had to pay for the cow.

That is just stupid. Animals should never have the right of way on roads, regardless of size.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Regolith on May 10, 2013, 11:55:57 PM
That is just stupid. Animals should never have the right of way on roads, regardless of size.

It's that way when the road is fenced off - if the cattle get out through negligence of the rancher, the rancher's at fault. Open range is the exact opposite, though; it's the driver that has to watch for the animals.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Tallpine on May 11, 2013, 09:04:30 AM
That is just stupid. Animals should never have the right of way on roads, regardless of size.

Tell that to the deer  :P
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: zxcvbob on May 11, 2013, 11:23:34 AM
They need to move those Deer Crossing signs off the highway.  Let the deer cross someplace safer.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Regolith on May 11, 2013, 06:11:23 PM
Tell that to the deer  :P

Or the majestik møøse (https://www.google.com/search?q=moose+car+accident&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=yMGOUaCkOcqniALmjYHICg&biw=1280&bih=864&sei=y8GOUdGaEMGCjALc8IHYCQ)...

Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: gunsmith on May 11, 2013, 11:00:31 PM
It's open range.

The cattle were there first.  Drive your horseless carraige at your own risk.

Same way in most of Montana.

Same thing here in northern Nevada, if you drive the speed limit and pay attention you're usually OK.
There is a mean bend in the road down the street.
The sign says 45mph and its a blind curve - every summer- eagles,cows,horses,antelope end up as hood ornaments because folks get so used to going 70. When its a cow its always the prize cow worth a ton of money, and you will pay.

Its open range, even though the cows are gated they still manage to get on the road. The wild horses just stare at you hoping you have a carrot ... one time a bull wandered into our garden and I managed to shoo it away, wondering if a .40 would simply bounce off its skull if I needed to use it.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Tallpine on May 11, 2013, 11:27:23 PM
Quote
one time a bull wandered into our garden and I managed to shoo it away

I used to chase moose out of the garden in Alaska.  That was my contribution to the project.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Matthew Carberry on May 12, 2013, 05:12:31 PM
I used to chase moose out of the garden in Alaska.  That was my contribution to the project.

Moose were there first, animal oppressor. ;)

Im trying to figure out if killing the horses and blocking traffic until the carcasses can get moved off the road was really more efficient than containing them until a cowboy with a trailer could show up.
Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: Tallpine on May 13, 2013, 06:48:49 PM
Moose were there first, animal oppressor. ;)

Im trying to figure out if killing the horses and blocking traffic until the carcasses can get moved off the road was really more efficient than containing them until a cowboy with a trailer could show up.

I think they just wanted to shoot something  ;/

Title: Re: Good shoot or bad shoot?
Post by: MillCreek on May 15, 2013, 05:47:13 PM


Couldn't find anything about horses, but Taser tested their devices on meth-addled sheep.  Srsly.

(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popsci.com%2Ffiles%2Fimagecache%2Farticle_image_large%2Farticles%2FMadSheep.jpg&hash=5d56380fc5628a581421e92eca72dbdea535048d)

[Dave Barry] 'Meth-addled Sheep' would be an excellent name for a band. [/Dave Barry]