Wednesday 15 September 2010

They Shoot Horses (19 Times) Don't They?

Yes, it appears they do:
Angry villagers have claimed it took 19 shots by a police marksman to kill a stray horse at Dunnington, near York.
Not sure what more there is to say about the utter insanity of the situation.

Although it seems they are getting worse - it took them seven less shots to kill a cow, after all. Maybe the lack of horns on this animal threw them off?
A third claimed the animal was first wounded in one leg, and then another before eventually being put down after 19 shots.

But a force spokesman, while admitting one horse “had to be shot a number of times before it fell to the ground, while the other was destroyed quickly,” denied as many as 19 shots were needed.
Don't they even know?

One would expect the RSPCA to be investigating, were this not the police, who have shown an uncanny ability to get away with anything so long as they use a gun, and not a shovel.

The comments bear reading, though. Particularly this one:
Whistlejacket, York says...

God help us if a barn door ever gets loose.
Quite...

11 comments:

MTG said...

Cruel, amateur and disgraceful.

Angry Exile said...

Coming up next week, officers attempt to hit a cow's arse with a banjo.

Jiks said...

Also from the comments on the original article:

"To the police it was like fun target practice stood on top of their 4x4's like dukes of hazzard, one marksman shot the horses in its rear leg off above the hock, shattering the leg into pieces, the horses leg was hanging off, the horse got up in sheer distress, this horse must have been in absolute agony, then another markman shot its other front leg clean off, the horse still struggling about, then got shot another 19 times, the last shot in the horses head, some 25 mins after its back leg was shot to pieces. This is the actual account of this situation, so no, this horse nor was the other humanly killed, just a barbaric, cruel end."

If that eye witness account is true then that is a new low for our so called Police...

JuliaM said...

"Cruel, amateur and disgraceful."

Indeed. And it calls into question their plans to arm all officers, doesn't it, if the so-called 'professionals' couldn't hit a barn if they were standing in it...

"Coming up next week, officers attempt to hit a cow's arse with a banjo."

:D

"If that eye witness account is true then that is a new low for our so called Police..."

If it's only half-true, it does that. The silence of the 'Daily Mail' on this is deafening...

Anonymous said...

So, yobs with airguns: bad (though only a few hours community service if they're unlucky), but incompetent coppers with real guns and live rounds: OK.

I think we've found some of that constabulary's contribution to their 25% spending cuts.

BTW, why the hell didn't they use tranquilliser darts?

formertory said...

I suspect part of the problem is that the ammunition and gun that's effective for shooting people who're carrying a table leg is completely ineffective for shooting large animals which are panicked. You need a high muzzle velocity (so a long gun, rather than one of those ever-so-cute MP5 thingies) and a heavy bullet that spreads out and knocks a massive hole in the animal, which dies from shock.

AFAIK, that kind of ammunition is illegal / not permitted for use on humans (Geneva Convention?).

The person who tried to shoot a cow with a shotgun is so terminally stupid they deserve to be shot themselves.

formertory said...

Should have added - the other part of the problem is the stupidity of the person aiming the weapon. It doesn't seem to be in short supply.

Lord T said...

Another attempt at hijacking our language. This time the word marksman.

JuliaM said...

"BTW, why the hell didn't they use tranquilliser darts?"

No nearby vet/they couldn't be bothered?

"I suspect part of the problem is that the ammunition and gun that's effective for shooting people who're carrying a table leg is completely ineffective for shooting large animals which are panicked. "

Yup. Not something the 'guns are guns, aren't they?' public would realise. But people trained in the use ought to be aware, surely?

"Should have added - the other part of the problem is the stupidity of the person aiming the weapon. It doesn't seem to be in short supply."

Sadly, no...

"Another attempt at hijacking our language. This time the word marksman."

I'm going to trot out this example every time someone tries the 'armed police would keep us safe!' tack at 'Inspector Gadget's blog...

Hogdayafternoon said...

formertory has the solution, I believe. The only police shooting I was present at in my many years as a firearms officer was when we had to destroy a rampaging bull, where the vet and the poor owner urged us to do so asap. Weapon of choice was a 7mm rifle, which was in our armoury for precisely this sort of incident. Poor rampaging bully was stopped, dropped and died immediately with one shot. I too am horrified to read of the Yorkshire incident.

andy5759 said...

They can't tell a horse from a cow. Can't give you the link, it was more than likely here.