Macho cops protecting the Homeland from old people baby animals
by digby
I thought killing a 95 year old man with close range bean bag shots was a perfect illustration of our over zealous police agencies, but this really takes the cake:
WISN 12 News investigates an operation raising questions about the use of government resources and the state policy that meant a death sentence for a fawn.
The Kenosha County animal shelter says it's been overwhelmed following a WISN 12 News investigation into the death of a fawn at the hands of the state DNR.
"It was like a SWAT team," shelter employee Ray Schulze said.
Two weeks ago, Schulze was working in the barn at the Society of St. Francis on the Kenosha-Illinois border when a swarm of squad cars arrived and officers unloaded with a search warrant.
"(There were) nine DNR agents and four deputy sheriffs, and they were all armed to the teeth," Schulze said.
The focus of their search was a baby fawn brought there by an Illinois family worried she had been abandoned by her mother.
"When it made a little noise, it sounded like it was laughing," Schulze said.
Schulze videotaped the fawn they named Giggles during the two weeks she was there. The Department of Natural Resources began investigating after two anonymous calls reporting a baby deer at the no-kill shelter.
The warden drafted an affidavit for the search warrant, complete with aerial photos in which he described getting himself into a position where he was able to see the fawn going in and out of the barn.
Agents told staff they came to seize the deer because Wisconsin law forbids the possession of wildlife.
The Kenosha County animal shelter says it's been overwhelmed following a WISN 12 News investigation into the death of a fawn at the hands of the state DNR.
"I said the deer is scheduled to go to the wildlife reserve the next day," Schulze said.
It was to go to a wildlife reserve in Illinois that allows the rehabilitation of deer. Schulze said agents corralled workers near the picnic area and then set out in search of the fawn.
Then they went into the barn and killed the deer. No lie. (They dispute this and say they actually just tranquilized the deer in the barn and then killed it off site, which is totally different.)
They explained it away by saying this was their policy. And when asked if they might have called ahead of time and gotten the full story their spokesperson replied that the DEA doesn't call up a drug dealer to ask them to voluntarily give up their drugs before a raid. Which tells you exactly how these backwoods Robocops see themselves.
The problem here is that these police agencies obviously have way too many resources and way too much time on their hands. And what that inevitably leads to is zero common sense.
If you build it, they will use it ...
Video at the link.
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