cyprusgrump wrote:Your position is somewhat irrational…
Consider this…
For whatever reason there are people that go to the butchers, buy liver or whatever and the poison it with lanate. They then leave it around for dogs to pick up when they are out walking or sometimes put it in the gardens of dog owners…
I can’t imagine why they would do this.
I can imagine that if lanate were banned they’d find some other way of achieving their obvious goal.
Like I said in my OP, banning innocent citizens from owning firearms hasn’t cut gun crime one bit. Banning lanate will not cut this problem either.
I appreciate the point your making but the one major difference between the poison problem and the gun crime issue is the risk / reward potential. The British Crime Survey statistics show gun crime falling year on year overall. The intended use of illegal firearms in the UK and many other countries is to facilitate high value crime (drugs, robberies etc. etc.).
"Banning innocent citizens from owning firearms hasn’t cut gun crime one bit".
Whilst the occasional use of licensed guns in crime does inevitably take place (man shoots wife, lover, kids, etc.) these incidents are, overall, extremely rare. The vast majority of gun crime is committed by criminals not innocent citizens who happen to own a gun.
Yes guns are 'relatively' easy to get hold of for the criminally inclined. But only if they can be bothered to go through the hassle of obtaining one and are prepared to suffer the consequences if caught.
Yes, if somebody is hell bent on killing your dog / cat they can do it - the average cupboard under the sink contains enough chemicals to accomplish this and more. If they were that desperate they could hit it with a brick, golf club or whatever.
The difference with the above and with the use of this poison is that this enables the perpetrator to carry out the deed with some level of safety as they don't need to be around to follow it through.
The reason they use this is that they are cowards.
They don't want to deal with any problems they have like a normal, rational human being.
They don't want to have to talk to the owners of the pet about the dog barking all day when the owners gone out. The cat howling at night or whatever the problem is that we all deal with on an everyday basis and don't resort to a trip to the hardware store and the butchers.
They don't want anyone to see what they have done as they know they've done something wrong and that the majority would view them as morally corrupt.
The reason they use this stuff is that it only requires a small amount and it's almost certain to be fatal. That can't be said for a lot of the alternatives; either the smell / taste would put the animal off or they would need to use so much that they couldn't achieve the desired outcome.
Hitting it with an cricket bat, golf club or brick is just too messy, too in your face and too damn visible - somebody would hear it or see them and the police would have an easy job proving intent.
Oracle makes the point that the manufacturers could possibly add something to the poison to make it unpalatable to dogs / cats. I totally agree and it's been used with slug pellets to make them less desirable to birds - they added a blue dye as birds don't like blue apparently.
Farmers and legitimate users could take additional steps like put up signs (cheap) or fences (not so cheap). The rats can't read so not sure why they don't use a sign or stick the box the product came with on a post in a visible position. Education would go some way but lets face it, this is common sense stuff that anybody with a conscience would do without having to read a book on the subject.
I don't allow my dog off the lead around farms or anywhere I'm not sure of. He'd eat anything and everything if he could.
What annoys me is when I'm walking on an advertised nature trail and find a tin of meat stuck under a bush which can't be there for any other reason than to kill a dog (I gather some farmers get annoyed at hunters dog's crossing over their land - not sure if true or not).
Anyhow, from personal experience I've come across these tins on four occasions and I've only been here since October.
My point here is that removing / licensing or controlling access to this stuff would make it more difficult to get hold of for illegal purposes.
Would demonstrate a clear criminal intent if used incorrectly (no more excuses of this was accidental).
Would not limit it's use to those with a proper need and through proper application could be better utilised. Professional application would also lead to the use of proper measures such as bait boxes and signs to prevent accidental ingestion by domestic animals and children.
Would take one potential weapon out of the hands of irresponsible idiots and make it potentially more difficult to use this method of execution.
Not much to ask.
