With you in spirit Bessie.
This mindless militarisation of our police state must not go unoppos
Tearful locals have convened a candlelit vigil to mourn the passing of Bessie the cow, gunned down on Sunday night by Northumbria Police marksmen after hoofing it from the Rising Sun Country Park in North Tyneside. The animal was taken out by firearms operatives "in the interests of public safety", following a chase involving …
Okay, commentards (myself included) probably have already done all the cow related humor in the earlier story.
Logistically, it's way easier to move a large object that can walk, than one that you've just shot. I'd have thought that it would have been easier to just do some light 'herding' rather than having to move a large dead weight.
Was there some reason I was missing, or were the police bored that day? Apologies for the genuine question.
You'll need a seance for that, as only Bessie knows (and the police ain't talking, unsurprisingly).
Or a mouija board.
(yes, I know that's not really a serious answer, but my sense of humour greatly appreciates the idea of a memorial service for a cow, probably attended by people who are neither vegan nor likely to forego their leather shoes and jackets)
"Was there some reason I was missing, or were the police bored that day?"
Police training.
The cow resisted arrest by ignoring the command, "Lie down on the ground, and put your hands on your head!"
That coupled with its incessant taunts of "MOO!" naturally meant they had no choice but to use deadly force.
Logistically, it's way easier ...
Indeed ...
Not to mention logically.
Was it not much easier to just stop and think about what to do?
Just for maybe a minute or so, or maybe an hour in the coppers case, you never know.
WTF did they have to shoot it for?
They could have gently shoo'd it on it's way.
No helicopters, no sirens, no shooting.
After all, it was a frigging cow, for Pete's sake!
Ahhh ...
So many assholes ...
So little time.
O.
From the previous article: "Northumbria Police scrambled 'a helicopter, up to 20 cars and firearms officers to deal with one brown cow"
What the fuck?
I never get that kind of backup when almost each year in the summer four or five cows walk down off the common in a group & past my house looking for more greenery to munch on, and all by myself I have to herd them back up the steep hill to where they belong because there's no cattlegrid along one particular road.
That might work on TV. However in the real world, I suspect the sedative isn't instant, and there is a risk that between impact (*if* successful) and unconsciousness the cow may have managed to charge onto a busy road (the whole problem was the police couldn't close off all the roads the cow might stray onto).
@JimmyPage : the cow may have managed to charge onto a busy road
I have just spent a couple of weeks driving around South Africa, mostly the KZN, Swaziland, Mpumalanga and Limpopo regions.
There are cows and goats and people all over the place and I mean on 2 lane roads where the speed limit is 120Km/h. It's not even unusual to see people crossing the motorways on foot...Taxis Minibuses will stop "anywhere" to pick up people, it's like driving through a gauntlet. Anyone that has driven there will attest to what I am saying.
Any yet it doesn't seem to create the slightest problem for the locals or even for myself.. Yo drive carefully and look whats in front of you... Driving at night is considered as "madness" but in the daytime things are fine.. So why is it that in England, it takes 20 cops and a helicopter to stop one cow form "potentially" creating a little bit of damage... whereas in SA there are literally thousands of goats/cows/meatbags all over the place and no-one lifts and eyebrow.....
This is nothing more than the cops having a fun day out with their one and only hunting rifle... The helicopter alone would probably cost around 1500 Euros per 15 minutes of flight... not to mention 20 cops, cars and all the tralala that accompanies them... Plus the rifles "marksman"... Shit it would probably have been cheaper to simply let the cow run out of steam and send in a tractor/trailor
When a nation becomes spoonfed, they become helpless.. Kind of confirms the idea of a "nanny" state.
Will they be serving steaks at the prayer vigil?
Reminds me of a thing that happened in the States a few years back, a cow escaped from a slaughterhouse, setting off a.. well I guess it wasn't a manhunt exactly, but some sort of law-enforcement frenzy, and Chick-Fil-A ended up adopting the cow, since their marketing at the time (or still) is that of a cow trying to convince people to eat chicken instead of beef.
Well, I guess you had to be there.
Funny how nobody thinks twice about the millions of cows in industrial meat packing plants, until one is individualized, then it's a sentient being.
The Northumbrian Police have released a statement saying:
"In anticipation of tonight's demonstration, we have authorised the use of lethal force to control the crowds, and have mobilised more than 15 police vehicles, a helicopter hovering overhead, and three or four officers in sniper gear to deal with the gathering, which may cause dangerous and severe obstructions to a major highway."
In India, we see cows on the road and so on; that is a bit extreme, cows should not be on road. But chasing and shooting down a cow is something which I am unable to comprehend. I am completely unable to figure out what might have been the thought sequences, logical or otherwise, which would have traversed through the head of the decision maker which made him/her to decide that this was the best course of action...
and yes, i am not a cow fanatic; neither do i worship one nor do i eat it.