Mounted search and rescue

[Karen Nesbitt <spanishequines@yahoo.com>]

As animal owners or potential new animal owners it is a good idea for your own sake to KNOW the law regarding owning an animal  (AND WEAPON)  in your state and locality.  Knowing the law, does not mean knowing an officer!  I have met many an officer who they themselves are so unfamiliar with the animal laws they could not right a ticket if someone spelled it for them.  (Sorry guys, it is the truth and I am not trying to bad mouth anyone in LE!  The problem there with the LE then is just simply too many dang laws to learn and too many fields of expertise to be aware of!!)  Our society is flooded with laws and a lot of the laws make no sense or are equally difficult for ANYONE to interpret.

 

Some states will allow for a person to shoot another parties dog if it is caught harassing, worring, killing, maming etc. another parties livestock  and some pet owners end up learning THAT LAW it only to learn the hard way when they try to sue the snot out of someone for doing so  only to learn that their canine should have been attended and on a leash to begin with and the shooter was perfectly LEGAL..  It is totally beyond me how stupid some pet owners can be to think that turning a dog loose too on a leash is what it takes to have a dog on a leash when the law says the animal must be leashed or contained and the animal is running at large while dragging it.   ...grrrr!  And by the way, some of these animal laws are older than the oldest profession.  Here its love it so leash it.. and make sure it  (the leash) is attatched to your "arm" (meaning one with wrist not gun) or a stationary object or better yet, kept fenced.  And with fencing, can we say... one the animal cannot jump?  Or even crawl under. 

 

In some states, the offending dog owner is damn lucky when the would be shooter decides well, let's just turn the k9 beast to animal control and let the dog owner pay a fine with fair warning not to let it happen again or next time  the k-9 gets kapow!.  (Hey, I don't write the laws but I have to love them!  But then you get nut cases that will begrudge you for the end of your days for them getting a ticket no fault of yours too and threaten you harm so it gets to be a crazy world.  You got to wonder why they are so unhappy in just getting a ticket when they got their dog back...makes no sense to me, but I know of more than one nutcase this has happened to myself included. It makes me wonder IS it the drugs or the booze these people are on, did they forget their medication or what sholdn't they be happy the animal was returned, no less ALIVE??!... makes you just wonder!)   I mean come on now, who in their right mind would threaten to kill or harm another person if all they got was a fine no less their dog back?  You would be surprised the goof balls out there and how they can act like joeys in heat when they do stupid and their dog is at large...  And those chronic offenders.. OH MY!  They think their pets are welcome everywhere and that is not so.  They also think they too can just go anywhere they please too and heed no nevermind to tresspassing and there is not anything in the world to them that is their fault.

 

Donkeys and mules are great sirens.  They will bray at many things...some can be such brayers though that they can become a nusiance of false alarms. That is until you learn their call. As for kicking the snot out of an offender, don't bet on it or rely on it...they are fight (when cornered) or flight animals and well, most will rather run off  kicking their heels up than attack.  They do make great companions though for horses, cattle and sheep.  Sheep are not as defenseless as some people think.  Having raised big horned shooter rams, they are nothing to mess with when it comes to their ladies when they are in heat and the havoc they can reck to your fencing and buildings.. they also have no qualms  on taking on a horse and have the capability to break a horses or mans leg.  They will take on a coyote, wolf or bear if no out and it is not unreasonable to beleive that the ram will win.  Their speed agility and packing power with a head butt is awesome.

 

Rabbits...ugh, and yeah they can be nasty, especially when you pick them up!  The does in with litters can be nasty and bite, but for the most part, they are nothing to worry on in them actually attacking unless it is rabid.  We  have so many wild rabbits here we literally trip on them coming out of the housedoor because they have become fearless due to the occassional lack of coyotes.

 

And speaking of rabid...there goes that GUN again.. some states actually will issue SHOOT TO KILL orders of any dog found to be running at large where rabies is prevelant. 

I was once in a county in Kentucky where 17 persons were infected with rabies from a horse.  Posters and newsbulletins were out.. shoot to kill ALL dogs at large.  But it's not just dogs the virus effects.  Having to take the shots is no fun.  My first encounter literally with the possibility of having to take the rabies shots myself was when I got a bite, yep, by a danged floppy eared cute as a button, running at large rabbit. We all sat on pins and needles to learn from the Wisconsin State Conservation Department that on the 8th day test of quarrantine that rabbit did not die. The rabbit was found at large at a campground forest preserve...

 

Be safe all!  Now about that snake...anyone have a bite (or is that bit) of advise???

 

Happy trails/trials all!

 

K. Nesbitt

Iroquois County - Illinois

VMSAR