Raccoons invade California enclave

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061118/ap_on_re_us/venice_raccoons


Raccoons invade California enclave
By NOAKI SCHWARTZ, Associated Press Writer
Fri Nov 17, 7:37 PM ET

One balmy summer night, Larna Hartnack awoke to the cries of her dog Charlie and, to her horror, found the Dalmatian in a battle for her life — pinned by a gang of raccoons that tore into her flesh and nearly gnawed off her tail.

Charlie survived. But recurring raccoon attacks on dogs and other creatures have unnerved people along the Venice Canals, a funky, well-to-do beach neighborhood packed with ardent dog lovers, many of whom are now afraid to walk their pets at night or leave them alone in the back yard.

Communities around the country are plagued by destructive or aggressive raccoons, and many of them routinely trap, remove and even kill the animals. But this being California, the city's animal-control agency is instead urging people to try to get along with the raccoons — a notion that strikes some as political correctness gone wild.

Yup...we need to find the Rodney King of the fucking raccoon 'hood there in Venice and put him on TV plaintively asking, "Couldn't we all just get along?".

"What we're trying to inculcate in the L.A. community is a reverence for life. If we have more reverence for life, it translates into all our programs — for women and infants, the elderly and everybody in our community," said Ed Boks, the head of Los Angeles Animal Services.

Apparently Mr. Boks doesn't include Charlie the Dalmatian in this "reverence for life". What next, you pinhead? Compassion for packs of wild dogs? Rabid animals? Killer bees?

This asswipe should be trundled to the L.A. Zoo and fed, alive, to the lions; well see how well that "reverence for life" works for him.

"As we develop these programs that demonstrate our compassion for creatures completely at our mercy, it makes for a more compassionate society all the way around."

What would be compassionate to the taxpayers of L.A. would be to immediately terminate this cocksucker for abject failure to do his job and replace him with a grown-up.

Wildlife experts are commending the city for resisting demands to remove the raccoons. No-kill policies are rare among animal-control agencies in the U.S., and most apply only to dogs and cats. In Los Angeles, rabies in raccoons is not as big a threat as it is in other parts of the country, and there may be more sympathy for wildlife.

"Los Angeles is typically one of the more progressive agencies," said John Hadidian, director of the Humane Society's urban wildlife program. "I consider this a welcome sign that others might follow soon."

It sure is "kind, caring and compassionate" to allow people's pets to be attacked by wild animals.

The strategy has angered some residents.

No fucking shit.

"Oh my God. I don't think I've ever been more insulted as a woman to be compared to a voiceless raccoon," said Hartnack, owner of Charlie the Dalmatian. She said the agency "seems more concerned with making a political statement than protecting people."

*Ding ding ding ding ding!* Demand that Mr. Boks put his money where his big, fat, annoying mouth is by feeding the raccoons. By offering himself as a feast for them.

"Once you've been attacked by these animals and have them hanging out on your deck, your respect for their lives is lower than your respect for your animal's life and your own security," she said.

The animal-control agency sees people as part of the problem: They are tempting raccoons by leaving dog food and trash bags unguarded.

The agency also believes that women who are raped are "asking for it" by wearing provocative clothing.

"If you live in a high-crime area and don't put bars on your windows and you've had break-ins before, you're asking for it," said Gregory Randall, a wildlife specialist with the agency. "Our goal here is coexistence and making the alterations you need to make."

It's sooo progressive and compassionate to blame the victims.

No, Mr. Randall...when the authorities charged with protecting you and your property fail to do their job, you purchase a weapon and kill the perpetrators yourself.

Further, if it were up to me, you and Mr. Boks would have your rectums cauterized with a white-hot poker and you would be left to slowly drown in your own filth as an object lesson. And then have your carcasses given to the raccoons.

In most cases, the city traps animals only if they are injured or attack people, he said.

Wildlife experts are reluctant to move the raccoons to the wilderness because they could have trouble surviving and might introduce diseases. Also, Randall said raccoons do not attack unless cornered.

I see...it is the raccoons who are the victims here.

He advised residents to try to keep raccoons out of their homes by getting rid of trellises and bougainvillea, closing cat doors and locking up kibble. Strobe lights, motion-activated sprinklers and talk radio can scare off the animals.

Talk radio? That could turn the raccoons into *gasp* eeeevil conservatives.

Venice Canals, a community of 400 homes, is the kind of place where nearby shopkeepers greet customers and their dogs by name and often have a bowl of water or dog biscuits on hand. One resident turned part of his property into a dog park.

That's probably why the raccoons are so pissed; they don't have their own park so they're feeling marginalized and are demanding social justice by acting out.

Dogs have not been the only victims of the raccoons. They have chomped on ducks, a parrot and the legs of a turtle that they dug out of hibernation. Nadine Parkos, former president of the Venice Canals homeowners association, said the koi fish in her pond were massacred.

Some residents tried to trap the raccoons but instead snared two cats and an opossum.

As for Charlie the Dalmatian, fur has grown over her scars, but she still whimpers and cowers when she sees raccoons approaching the family deck.

Hartnack and her husband have bought a BB gun and got the dog a stuffed raccoon.

"She loves attacking it," Hartnack said.

Might be smarter to purchase a shotgun and use it on Messrs. Boks, Randall and Hadidian.