Random Irritations

spongebob59 said:
1) 10+ hr journey back from North Devon, roads just seem nearly full to capacity
2) Number of foreign lorry's that seem to think the emergency laybys are a place to pull over for a kip, I bet if they do receive a fine it's just binned šŸ¤¬
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Took us about 5.5hrs to travel from Farnham to Chesterfield - normally 3-3.5hrs - M25 and M1 chocka and ended up winding cross countryā€¦
 
AmandaJR said:
Just seen the video footage of the police car ramming the escaped cow. Beyond irritating. Who on earth would even dream of doing that...awful.
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Itā€™s not even a big cow, a few coppers with some rope should have been able to guide it to somewhere where it could be contained

Bunch of cowboys or not ā˜¹ļø
 
PhilTheFragger said:
Itā€™s not even a big cow, a few coppers with some rope should have been able to guide it to somewhere where it could be contained

Bunch of cowboys or not ā˜¹ļø
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I can't believe they did that. They hit it at speed which sent it spiralling down the road, then seemed to try and trap it under the car. Just awful. I looked for the video as the BBC wasn't showing it and can kind of see why BUT the public should be able to appreciate the level of cruelty shown.
 
PhilTheFragger said:
Itā€™s not even a big cow, a few coppers with some rope should have been able to guide it to somewhere where it could be contained

Bunch of cowboys or not ā˜¹ļø
Click to expand...
Itā€™s absolutely awful for the poor Calf, but it was used as a last resort, theyā€™d tried to pen it in, it had damaged other cars and it was moving towards a busy area.

The calf has suffered no broken bones and has been checked by a Vet.

Absolutely awful for the calf, as I say, but far better than the armed response turning up and shooting it.
 
PaulMdj said:
Itā€™s absolutely awful for the poor Calf, but it was used as a last resort, theyā€™d tried to pen it in, it had damaged other cars and it was moving towards a busy area.

The calf has suffered no broken bones and has been checked by a Vet.

Absolutely awful for the calf, as I say, but far better than the armed response turning up and shooting it.
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Agree, people only see the final bit and get upset/angry without knowing the full story
 
Neilds said:
Agree, people only see the final bit and get upset/angry without knowing the full story
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I havenā€™t read the accompanying press articles, because I can just imagine the agenda. But I am firmly of the view that nobody can judge until the full facts are known.

The overarching priority of a police officer is the protection of human life. None of us knows what sort of threat this beast posed to the public, nor do we know what efforts had been made up to the point of the video, which I havenā€™t watched, to safely secure the animal.

I have absolutely no doubt that there will be comments by members of the public that the officers should have requested a vet with a tranquilliser dart. Having been involved in any number of jobs where I needed to request a vet I can tell you that, once contacted, they still take a considerable time to arrive. And then you actually have to find one which has that capacity. Given this incident happened in Staines on a busy Friday evening Iā€™m not convinced such suggestions are even possible, never mind practical.

I donā€™t know how distressed this beast was prior to it being struck by the car. Nor do I know whether it had presented a threat to the safety of any member of the public prior to the footage. But I do know that I have been charged at by livestock whilst walking a public footpath through a field on the outskirts of my village. I had to vault a fence to get away from them. So itā€™s entirely possible that a distressed animal, away from its recognised habitat, could have been getting increasingly agitated. Whatever, I do feel absolutely certain that whoever took the decision to do what is reported probably did so as a last resort.

So, as I wasnā€™t there, Iā€™m not going to judge. But what I will say is that, had this animal trampled and seriously injured a member of the public whilst the police stood by and did nothing, the calls of ā€œWhy didnā€™t you ram it with a patrol car?ā€ would be audible the length and breadth of the country.

If the cops have acted disproportionately then by all means deal with it. But establish the facts first. Isnā€™t that how things are supposed to work?
 
Billysboots said:
I havenā€™t read the accompanying press articles, because I can just imagine the agenda. But I am firmly of the view that nobody can judge until the full facts are known.

The overarching priority of a police officer is the protection of human life. None of us knows what sort of threat this beast posed to the public, nor do we know what efforts had been made up to the point of the video, which I havenā€™t watched, to safely secure the animal.

I have absolutely no doubt that there will be comments by members of the public that the officers should have requested a vet with a tranquilliser dart. Having been involved in any number of jobs where I needed to request a vet I can tell you that, once contacted, they still take a considerable time to arrive. And then you actually have to find one which has that capacity. Given this incident happened in Staines on a busy Friday evening Iā€™m not convinced such suggestions are even possible, never mind practical.

I donā€™t know how distressed this beast was prior to it being struck by the car. Nor do I know whether it had presented a threat to the safety of any member of the public prior to the footage. But I do know that I have been charged at by livestock whilst walking a public footpath through a field on the outskirts of my village. I had to vault a fence to get away from them. So itā€™s entirely possible that a distressed animal, away from its recognised habitat, could have been getting increasingly agitated. Whatever, I do feel absolutely certain that whoever took the decision to do what is reported probably did so as a last resort.

So, as I wasnā€™t there, Iā€™m not going to judge. But what I will say is that, had this animal trampled and seriously injured a member of the public whilst the police stood by and did nothing, the calls of ā€œWhy didnā€™t you ram it with a patrol car?ā€ would be audible the length and breadth of the country.

If the cops have acted disproportionately then by all means deal with it. But establish the facts first. Isnā€™t that how things are supposed to work?
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Ah but thatā€™s not how (Un)Social Media works.. its MO is to be horribly judgmental, sometimes to the point of whipping up a lynch mob without knowing any of the facts. šŸ˜
 
Billysboots said:
I havenā€™t read the accompanying press articles, because I can just imagine the agenda. But I am firmly of the view that nobody can judge until the full facts are known.

The overarching priority of a police officer is the protection of human life. None of us knows what sort of threat this beast posed to the public, nor do we know what efforts had been made up to the point of the video, which I havenā€™t watched, to safely secure the animal.

I have absolutely no doubt that there will be comments by members of the public that the officers should have requested a vet with a tranquilliser dart. Having been involved in any number of jobs where I needed to request a vet I can tell you that, once contacted, they still take a considerable time to arrive. And then you actually have to find one which has that capacity. Given this incident happened in Staines on a busy Friday evening Iā€™m not convinced such suggestions are even possible, never mind practical.

I donā€™t know how distressed this beast was prior to it being struck by the car. Nor do I know whether it had presented a threat to the safety of any member of the public prior to the footage. But I do know that I have been charged at by livestock whilst walking a public footpath through a field on the outskirts of my village. I had to vault a fence to get away from them. So itā€™s entirely possible that a distressed animal, away from its recognised habitat, could have been getting increasingly agitated. Whatever, I do feel absolutely certain that whoever took the decision to do what is reported probably did so as a last resort.

So, as I wasnā€™t there, Iā€™m not going to judge. But what I will say is that, had this animal trampled and seriously injured a member of the public whilst the police stood by and did nothing, the calls of ā€œWhy didnā€™t you ram it with a patrol car?ā€ would be audible the length and breadth of the country.

If the cops have acted disproportionately then by all means deal with it. But establish the facts first. Isnā€™t that how things are supposed to work?
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I can't say I agree with that statement personally. It's not a place my brain would go to in order to deal with the situation.
 
AmandaJR said:
I can't say I agree with that statement personally. It's not a place my brain would go to in order to deal with the situation.
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A colleague of mine once deliberately drove at and killed a stray dog running in live traffic on a busy motorway. He didnā€™t want to do it, certainly didnā€™t enjoy doing it, but it was either that or run the risk of a huge collision as drivers swerved and/or braked to avoid hitting it.

He took the only option realistically available to him as it was impractical to fully close the motorway in both directions quickly enough to catch the dog.

Maybe the police involved in this incident applied the same rationale. We donā€™t know. Well, certain elements of the press and media do. Because, of course, they were there, werenā€™t they?
 
To be honest I wasn't aware they had tried for "hours" to deal with it. That does make me wonder if another option could have been considered. I don't know what but would hope an emergency vet in that time frame. The speed of impact certainly risked killing it and maybe the more humane course of action would be to shoot it...
 
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