Boarded by the FWC at Anchor.

[Astrid]

Please excuse a foreigner, but is FWC the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission?

[foggysail]

AAHHhhhhhh!!! MORE BIG BOTHER!! Dooo Gooders & those with badges can ruin anybody's day. Have a good flush and feel better! Oh, flush twice, they may need the water!

Foggy

[endoftheroad]

Originally Posted by Astrid

Please excuse a foreigner, but is FWC the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission?

Yes Sir,

[boatman61]

Theres ********..
then theres ******** in uniforms...
why does donning a uniform usually involve disconnecting the bain...
Try Wikpedia... has most answers...

[Southern Star]

Endoftheroad, apart from your two posts I haven't seen anyone else refer to religion (and for good reason - it is irrelevant to your boarding in everyone's mind except your own).

The man was entitled to board. If you say he was pimply faced, he was pimply faced. So? He didn't use the spray, but if the dog was being aggressive towards him and you were unable/unwilling to control it, he had a right to prepare for his own defence against a potential dog bite. What was he supposed to do, leave without conducting his inspection? Gee, that would set a great precedent.

While I tend to agree that searches of small vessels without a warrant are an unnecessary invasion of privacy, I am pretty confident that the object of your wrath (here I am speaking of both the 'pimply faced' inspector and 'religious' self-importance) had nothing to do with either the writing or passing of the laws that permit such searches. Unless I missed something - did he bring out a Bible or Koran during the boarding? Did he ask you to join him in prayer?

While I have neither formal religious beliefs nor acne, it nevertheless seems to me that your anger is more than little unfocused.

Anyway, happy sailing to you too.
And yes, peace.

Brad

[SaucySailoress]

I'm sorry, but I think you should have your pet under control. Yes, my dog barks at anyone who comes near the boat whilst we're sleeping - even our own dive boat captain, and the captain of the commercial boat on the berth next to ours (in fact this weekend as I popped my head out to tell her to shut up, I saw said captain trying to climb onto his boat over his bow so he didn't have to come on our finger!) - but she always shuts up when we tell her to.

Law enforcement officers have a job to do - and I've never met one that's not on our side. If your dog goes apeshit at said LEO, then it really isn't doing the rest of us dogowners any favour.

In a nutshell, if you can't control your own dog in your preferred manner, then don't be surprised if LEOs control them in the way they have been trained. It makes no difference whether it is a human or a dog which threatens attack - folk have to defend themselves.

[Unicorn Dreams]

Astrid

YES


Pepper sprat a puppy that growls, what a man.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Whimsy

Sorry to hear you may have been the victim of unnecessary governmental intrusion into your personal life and home.

It does take a certain kind of schmuck to use pepper spray on a small pet dog while conducting what may have been basically an unjustified armed invasion of your private property. He could have asked you to leash it, or you might have done that out of common sense, if there was opportunity to do so.

You stated that he merely had the spray "unholstered". That's fair enough, if you first accept his right to board your boat as he did. But you also speculated "he wanted to spray him". Did you consider the possibility it was YOU that he didn't like the looks of, not your little "man-eating mop" of a pip-squeek dog...

BTW, I've had an 11# dog for 14 years, and then a 21# dog for 17 years (he passed last week, I cried like a little girl for hours that day).


I hope you are not trying to include me in your "we" and "our" - a psychologist might call that "projection", and it seems some degree of self-loathing may be at the root of your statement...

I don’t believe I have made a mess of myself or my world. On the contrary, I've had a very rewarding life so far, and do my best to work productively, stay healthy, fit, well-rounded and balanced. I make the effort to study the issues and participate in society. I help others as it seems reasonable to do so. I volunteer as tutor and mentor where it seems like it will make a difference and believe I have left my world better than I found it.

If you believe you personally have made a mess of your life and your world, well, I'm sorry to hear that.

And BTW, many types of animals have been the private property of humans since before recorded history... I own my dog - he is my private property and I certainly won't be asking permission of him or of society in any issue between him and me. If you eat commercial meat or use commercial leather (and I don’t know if you do) much of what you said on animals seems more than a little hypocritical considering how those animals are kept and slaughtered.

Wow.... Deep Sh#t my man...
Keep going mate... you'll get there...

[JRM]

Originally Posted by gonesail

if you need pepper spray or mr. colt to deal with a 13 lb. dog then i suspect your control issues may go beyond just wanting to stay on top .. but hey that's just one opinion in a world of opinionated people

Never been bit by a little dog, have you?

I've been bit by a dog in the performance of my duties, and just this morning had a little five pound terrier growling and baring its teeth at me from under the bed. I don't carry pepper spray or a weapon, so I tread carefully around people's pets.

I have two dogs of my own, and am 100% dog person. But, I'm *very* leery of dogs at work. In America, we have between 25-30 fatal dog attacks annually, an estimated 60,000 "dog bite" injuries annually, and dog bites are the number two reason for minor children seeking care at the emergency room (ASPCA and CDC numbers). Dogs do what dogs do, and my opinion (in that world of opiniated people) is that 99% of dog bites are the direct responsibility of the dog owner's negligence.

If you are unwilling or unable to remove or restrain your pet in the presence of authority then the problem is you. The fact that the officer chose to unholster his less-lethal option shows good judgement on his part. As did his choice not to use it. Your choice to whine about his response to self preservation however, not so much.

If you dislike the man's right to board and inspect you "without probable cause" then refuse and accept the consequences. Be that guy willing to try and see whether the fourth amendment applies. Or start a petition to change the law. We do have those rights still. Or go somewhere it isn't a problem. But don't cry because the guy with the sucky job of inspecting everyone's crapper takes reasonable precautions with his own safety. Just imagine what he was telling his wife/girlfriend/SO about the encounter when he got home

JRM

-- Unholstering pepper spray isn't the same as using it. We all have our preconceived biases, which makes this type of discussion so unproductive, but really, let's pick the better cases of abuse to beat that dead horse, not just some poor schmo who took some reasonable precautions when entering a confined area with an unknown animal.

[perchance]

I think with the advent of so called non lethal weapons the enforcers tend to be somewhat trigger happy. It is a lot easier for them to use the taser or pepper spray than to take the time to properly asses a situation and use a bit of common sense. Shoot first and deal with the paper work later. Here in the great white north the papers are full of reports of taserings etc. with the latest being the tasering of an 11 year old boy at a group home. I guess he was too much for the big burly police to handle.

[Whimsy]

Originally Posted by endoftheroad

It looks as if my remark on religion offended you or others.
Believers are quick to attack.
I'd apologize but I wouldn't mean it.

Of all the silly stuff you said, your out-of-the-blue crack on religion was never mentioned in my reply to you - I don’t care about it. I rely on education, science and common sense to craft most of my worldview. I take your above statement as further proof that you can be quick to foolishly jump to incorrect conclusions.

Originally Posted by endoftheroad

I don't own my dog he is not my property, although the government sees it that way, he follows me everywhere I go, unleashed and unafraid...

I suppose your ownership of "your" dog is just another unresolved issue for you... I'm guessing that if I was walking down the same road as you and "your" dog, and I snapped a leash on "your" dog to take him home and give him a great life, that all of a sudden you would, in no uncertain terms, act as if he were your property. Am I wrong? If "your" dog is not your property, then on what basis can you prevent someone else from "owning" him?

Peace and Happy Sailing to you, as well.

[endoftheroad]

Originally Posted by perchance

I think with the advent of so called non lethal weapons the enforcers tend to be somewhat trigger happy. It is a lot easier for them to use the taser or pepper spray than to take the time to properly asses a situation and use a bit of common sense. Shoot first and deal with the paper work later. Here in the great white north the papers are full of reports of taserings etc. with the latest being the tasering of an 11 year old boy at a group home. I guess he was too much for the big burly police to handle.

Thanks,
That was what I thought, he never took the time to properly asses the dog being aboard. He was ready to shoot which would have turned out to be a complete mess.
I dont stick my hands inside someones car through their half rolled window to pet their dog. I probably learned this at 5 yrs old. This cop jumped into my cockpit when my dog was sitting right besides me. The cop ordered me into my boat to get my registration and ID.
The dog was behind him in cockpit, when cop started to walk through companionway. Dog didn't like the copper cornering me especially since dog
was on other side of cop from me.

[doug86]

Originally Posted by endoftheroad

He wanted to pepper spray my 13 lb dog, my cabin is my dog's cave,

Originally Posted by endoftheroad

I don't own my dog he is not my property

mine
–pronoun 1. a form of the possessive case of I used as a predicate adjective: "That dog is mine."

[endoftheroad]

Originally Posted by doug86

mine
–pronoun 1. a form of the possessive case of I used as a predicate adjective: "That dog is mine."

When I refer to my friend or my girlfriend It's not my intentions that I own them.
If I said my friend then how would we have known I was talking about a dog.
I guess I should have said my friend that is a dog?

This sorta sounds like Charlie Sheen.

[boatman61]

A dog is easy to deal with... you just introduce yourself in the correct manner... give him a moment to assess if the smell is hostile or friendly and 'Bobs your Uncle'...
The problem with folks in uniform (no countries named...) they're usually gung-ho jogging chant "Rah Rah nail that *******... Yah Yah yank that dude' types..
Education works both ways... sad state of affairs when the dog is usually more intelligent...