I’ve often felt that if the RSPCA put a bit of effort into a campaign to get a bitter additive added to anti-freeze to remove the sweet taste, that’d be far more use. Surely the left would get behind it?
Well, perhaps the usual suspects will swing their weight behind such a campaign now that someone’s obviously realised it can be used to remove other living beings:
An inquest into the death of 40-year-old Michael Hallam heard the bottle – which he had presumed had contained a vodka drink – had been found in a carrier bag alongside a can of Red Bull, in his grandfather James Merriman's front garden on May 19 last year.I…
I just...
Seriously, who’d drink that?!?
Seriously, who’d drink that?!?
Today, his family are calling for anyone finding what they believe to be "free booze" to think again before drinking it – adding "you never know what it could be".Because they knew someone would be likely to drink it?
His devastated mum Gail also urged people to store dangerous chemicals safely, in clearly marked bottles, adding the family could not understand why anyone would leave such a potentially lethal substance just lying around.
"I would say to anyone else who finds a bottle like this that if something seems too good to be true, that's because it usually is.Well, yes, and it’s good advice, but one I suspect certain people are incapable of taking…
"What are the chances of anyone leaving a litre bottle of vodka somewhere unattended?
"I would say if you find or get given a liquid and you don't know where it has come from, tip it out. You don't know what it is going to contain. This applies to children and teenagers as well as adults."
The bottle was found by Mr Merriman who, knowing that his grandsons often left things near his front door, first asked Mr Hallam's cousin, Daniel Merriman, if it belonged to him./headdesk
He had assumed the liquid was an alcoholic drink, despite the lettering on the red and white label being in a foreign language, as the one litre bottle was marked as being 37.5 per cent proof.
However, Daniel told the inquest he had turned down the offer of the bottle after sniffing the liquid and concluding "it didn't smell right".
He said: "I smelled it and said 'that's not vodka' and gave it back. With hindsight, I wish I had poured it away."
7 comments:
"lettering on the red and white label being in a foreign language...the one litre bottle was marked as being 37.5 per cent proof."
Sounds to me like the cheap foreign fake vodka shopkeepers of unknown origin around here have been caught selling.
So...not so much a random attempt at poisoning passing oppertunist alkies ....more a concerted effort to make money off teenagers don't know any better and buy the stuff thinking it's a bargain and not too much of a loss to dump it if parents/plod approach.
which he had presumed had contained a vodka drink
LOL - Darwin principle at work.
Other Healthy Living tips:
* don't eat leftover food from the bins outside McDonalds unless you know the person who threw it out
* if you find a discarded revolver in your front garden, make sure there is only one round in it before playing Russian Roulette
* if you are thinking about "train surfing" check the route to make sure it does not go under any low bridges
There are bittering agents available, but they are expensive and do not work well for dogs.
However, there is a petition here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/12547
Tennessee already has such a law: http://news.tennesseeanytime.org/node/4357
However, there are also people who think it's a good idea with bad consequences: http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_product_safety/004075.html
That all said, there are many common substances that will trivially kill small animals, so anyone determined will not be stopped.
Btw, I have a suspicion that quite often the poison isn't meant for cats, but for foxes.
Here's another Healthy Living Tip :
Don't eat yellow snow .. ;)
"Sounds to me like the cheap foreign fake vodka shopkeepers of unknown origin around here have been caught selling. "
Yup, there's been a fair few campaigns about those.
Pointing out they might send you blind, mad or dead doesn't seem to be working though...
"LOL - Darwin principle at work."
Very much so!
"Btw, I have a suspicion that quite often the poison isn't meant for cats, but for foxes."
Indeed. Or is a complete accident (spillage) or thoughtlessness (ornamental fountain owners wanting them to keep going on winter).
Cats cannot taste anything sweet. They lack the sweetness sense organs on their tongues.
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