This world is totally @#$%! ed-up!

[geoman-1]

Just when I thought I have seen everything.
This morning a woman called the wildlife rehab. center, where I volunteer on weekends.
She spoke with  ---, our licensed rehabber, and told her she had rescued two baby raccoons from
her chimney the previous evening. She spent the ENTIRE night caring for them, feeding them
every few hours. --- asked her if she had handled them w/o gloves. She admitted she had.
--- assured her that the center would take them in and nurse them back to health and
ultimately release them back in the wild.
The woman drove 2 HOURS to the center only to be told by ---, bluntly and matter-of-factly,
that the two young raccoons would, indeed, have to be euthanized and their brains dissected
for signs of the rabies virus. The woman became understandably distraught and angry.
Several of the other volunteers came into the recieving area and began verbally assaulting
and scolding this woman. --- told the woman that she had lied to her because
she was concerned that the woman may have decided to care for the animals herself, which is
against state and local laws.
At this point I asked --- what would prevent this woman from leaving the center with the
raccoons. --- said she wouldn't allow it. She could possibly lose her rehab. license.
I told her point-blank that if the woman could not take them I would. She asked me at this
point to leave. I did, with a cardboard box full of baby raccoons under my arm.
As I was headed to my car she yelled out the door that she would have no choice but to
call the state game commission.
The raccoons are being kept and cared for at a friend's house.
I am now a fugitive from justice. Technically, I can be arrested for breaking the state laws.
I will now have to wait and see.

[cigar joe]

You know what you got to do now .....

[The Peacemaker]

You know what you got to do now .....

...burn the house down! BURN THEM ALL!


( sorry, couldn't resist )


But seriously, 'tis a crazy world.

[Juan Miranda]

That does sound like "health and safety" taken to rather absurd extremes. I'm surprised they didn't want to have the woman who looked after the baby critters destroyed too, so they could dissect her brains for rabies. Also the deception you mention seems in itself a breach of law, surely?

Are there any local newspapers you could take this story to Geoman, with the help of the woman who rescued the creatures in the first place? The power of established journalistic opinion can often deter petty persecution, especially if there a chance the story will grow. Good luck with it all, and how about some pictures of the varmints?

[geoman-1]

Are there any local newspapers you could take this story to Geoman, with the help of the woman who rescued the creatures in the first place? The power of established journalistic opinion can often deter petty persecution, especially if there a chance the story will grow. Good luck with it all, and how about some pictures of the varmints?
[/quote]


You must be reading my mind JM. If this isssue cannot be resolved rationally I will contact ALL local
media. I think the negative PR would have a drastic impact on the center, however, they do great work
there, most are dedicated to the preservation of all the animals that are brought in  to the center, and
I would not want to see them lose their rehab. license. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.

[cigar joe]

The media is the way to go "Racoon Man", you can become famous for 15 minutes and parlay it all into a successful film a TV career

[dave jenkins]

Let's consider this as a premise for a film. Raccoon Man ( Charles Bronson) has the animals and is holed up in his mountain cabin. A S.W.A.T. unit has been dispatched to resolve the matter. One veteran cop, the  team leader (Lee Marvin) sympathizes with the guy and what he's trying to do, but he's got his orders (from Eddie Albert). The initial assault on the cabin fails: Raccoon Man has the whole area rigged with traps and explosives. Some of the officers killed were friends of the old cop: now things are getting personal........

[geoman-1]

Raccoon Update:

I received an e-mail from the director of the Wildlife Center yesterday.
She informed me that the woman who dropped off the raccoons had
allowed her two young daughters  to handle them and hand- feed
them. If the raccoons were not tested soon they would have to undergo
painful rabies vaccine shots.
Since Sunday, the smaller raccoon had died, however, it showed no obvious
signs of rabies. The remaining one was still severely dehydrated even
after a round-the-clock Pedialyte regimen. It didn't look well.
I decided to drop off the remaining live raccoon and the dead one
at the center yesterday afternoon. They will be tested for the rabies virus.
In hindsight, I may have made the wrong choice on Sunday.
I had several raccoons as pets while growing up and when I saw the two
in the cardboard box I lost my perspective. It is still sad that the center had to destroy an animal to protect a human's
health, when they are supposed to be in the business of protecting the animals from
the continous assault by humans.

[Poggle]

[The Peacemaker]

I love that show!

[cigar joe]

where'd you get that poggle?

[Poggle]

Google. I just typed in Sanford you big dummy.

That's actually a design from a shirt.