5/10/18 Update: I discussed this with SN, who has not seen the groundhog video, and his opinion was that there are more important problems in the world and that making a big deal about this won't make any difference. I disagree. Maybe (okay, obviously) there is nothing that can be done for this particular groundhog, but public outrage can lead to better animal cruelty laws in the future. As SN says, the police officer may have been morally wrong but not legally wrong. Well, just throwing up our hands and saying there's nothing we can do will do nothing to prevent this same thing from happening again in the future. We know the problem exists, so let's at least try to fix it.
To some people, this will sound stupid, but I watched the viral video on Facebook of that poor, frightened groundhog more than an hour ago and I am still so angry I want to scream. Actually, I have been screaming. There are so many people saying it's no different than roadkill. You don't intentionally hit animals when you're driving.
(And if you do, you are a complete POS and a waste of oxygen. I wasn't even going to write that last part in case I offend someone who does swerve to run over animals on purpose. WTF? If you would even consider doing this or think it's funny, you lack basic human decency.)
Let's say the groundhog in the video was actually a threat to the police officer, as many are claiming. Perhaps it really did have rabies and was a danger to the public. (Although, I've read that it will not be tested for rabies due to the cost. I'm sure at this point there are more than enough people on both sides of the issue to max out a GoFundMe page within minutes. Does anyone know if rabies testing is still a possibility if the funds are raised?)
The police officer shot the groundhog but did not kill it. He saw this and walked away, leaving it to writhe in pain and suffer. It breaks my heart how cruel people can be to another living creature. Doesn't he have an ounce of empathy? I would not treat a cockroach the way he treated that poor groundhog, intentionally drawing out its suffering. Probably the only reason he eventually put it out of its misery was that he realized he was being filmed, otherwise he would have just left it there in agony. This is animal abuse, clear as day, and so many people are defending it, turning it into a political issue, saying that only "snowflakes" are offended by the video. Are people really so warped by politics that they are okay with making an innocent animal suffer? What is wrong with the world?
I don't care who you voted for or if you think groundhogs are just vermin or if you are okay with the groundhog being killed. If the groundhog was a danger, I am okay with it being killed as well, but it has to be done humanely. You do not shoot a helpless creature and intentionally leave it to suffer afterward. People are commenting "Who cares?" Shouldn't people care? I have trouble believing that you can be a good person and also be cruel to animals.
How is this not something we can all agree on?
(And if you do, you are a complete POS and a waste of oxygen. I wasn't even going to write that last part in case I offend someone who does swerve to run over animals on purpose. WTF? If you would even consider doing this or think it's funny, you lack basic human decency.)
Let's say the groundhog in the video was actually a threat to the police officer, as many are claiming. Perhaps it really did have rabies and was a danger to the public. (Although, I've read that it will not be tested for rabies due to the cost. I'm sure at this point there are more than enough people on both sides of the issue to max out a GoFundMe page within minutes. Does anyone know if rabies testing is still a possibility if the funds are raised?)
The police officer shot the groundhog but did not kill it. He saw this and walked away, leaving it to writhe in pain and suffer. It breaks my heart how cruel people can be to another living creature. Doesn't he have an ounce of empathy? I would not treat a cockroach the way he treated that poor groundhog, intentionally drawing out its suffering. Probably the only reason he eventually put it out of its misery was that he realized he was being filmed, otherwise he would have just left it there in agony. This is animal abuse, clear as day, and so many people are defending it, turning it into a political issue, saying that only "snowflakes" are offended by the video. Are people really so warped by politics that they are okay with making an innocent animal suffer? What is wrong with the world?
I don't care who you voted for or if you think groundhogs are just vermin or if you are okay with the groundhog being killed. If the groundhog was a danger, I am okay with it being killed as well, but it has to be done humanely. You do not shoot a helpless creature and intentionally leave it to suffer afterward. People are commenting "Who cares?" Shouldn't people care? I have trouble believing that you can be a good person and also be cruel to animals.
How is this not something we can all agree on?