“Great-grandmother given an electronic tag and curfew for selling a goldfish to a 14 year-old”, Telegraph:
Joan Higgins, a pet shop owner, was caught selling the fish to the teenager in a ‘sting’ operation by council officials. She was then prosecuted in an eight month court process estimated to have cost the taxpayer more than £20,000.
Under new animal welfare laws, passed in 2006, it is it illegal to sell goldfish to under 16s. Offenders can be punished with up to 12 months in prison.
Mrs Higgins, 66, who thought the boy was much older than 14, escaped jail but was instead ordered to wear an electronic tag and given a night time curfew. She was also fined £1,000 by Trafford Magistrates Court. … [Her son] said the punishment she had received would prevent her from attending her weekly bingo sessions as well babysitting her one month-old great grandchild.
14 Comments
Brain hurts…
So, not only have they banned the sale of goldfish to children… But then they thought the whole thing was so important as to justify a sting operation. you know, like they do to keep cigs and beer away from kids in america?
You know, its sort of like my take on arrests for gay sex prior to the lawrence decision: if the police have enough resources to worry about it, they are officially overfunded.
You are good at selective quoting, here is another part of the same story you *could* have used:
“causing unnecessary suffering to a cockatiel by failing to provide appropriate care and treatment after council officers noticed a cockatiel bird in the shop in need of veterinary care with a broken leg”
Yep, guilty of animal cruelty , but don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.
Steve: To be fair to Walter, the whole sting operation was started because of the sale of a gerbil to someone underage, and the crux of the quotes in the article indicates that selling to underage people is the bigger crime here…at least in the opinion of the prosecution.
Steve
that was noticed only after the sting. no sting, no animal cruelty.
Also, its a strange concept of animal cruelty: “unnecessary suffering to a cockatiel by failing to provide appropriate care and treatment after council officers noticed a cockatiel bird in the shop in need of veterinary care with a broken leg. It was later put down.”
(emphasis added).
So, um, leaving it with an untreated broken leg is bad.
But killing it outright is okay.
Kind of makes me a little more scared of socialized medicine.
Obviously, the police and Persecution [sic] are overfunded.
When goldfish are outlawed, only outlaws will have goldfish.
“causing unnecessary suffering to a cockatiel by failing to provide appropriate care and treatment after council officers noticed a cockatiel bird in the shop in need of veterinary care with a broken leg”
I think this is just another Monte Python sketch.
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~ebarnes/python/dead-parrot.htm
The chicken was delicious.
And carp makes good gefilte fish.
Bob
Grannies selling goldfish is one of the greatest perils our society faces. The moral perversion of this act is grotesque and reprehensible.
I am thoroughly pleased that lawmakers made such a horrible thing illegal, and that police wisely spent their resources creating a sting operation to catch these evil grannies. The world is a better place now and I will sleep easier at night.
Isn’t the UK the same place they give ‘cautions’ to first time burglars and thieves? So selling a pet to a 14 year old gets you a leg monitor. Breaking into someone’s house and taking their TV gets you a stern talking to?
Edward
come to think of it, your approach is much more eloquent than mine. good show.
waste
could be worse. in cannada even the mounties are unarmed. to paraphrase robin williams, “what do they do if someone is fleeing from them? ‘Stop! Or I will… say “stop” again!'”
“Furthermore, we found that the only reason it was on the perch in the first place is that it had been nailed there.”
To me the real importance of this story is that–as we all know–if you have enough laws, you can always find a way to convict someone of something. A British friend tells me that the pet shop had a history of sleazy practices and inhumane treatment. Everyone knew about it, so, the police had to do something. And what they apparently did was say to themselves, “If we send a 12-year-old to buy a goldfish, then we can crack down on the place.”
A depressingly familiar scenario, more newsworthy in this one instance because of the giggle factor.
How does a child in Briton prove they are 16 years of age on a normal basis? Do they require ID cards for all ages? Do you need travel permits to pass county borders?