This is genuine.

Unbelievable, words fail me!

Have you been to Walkden? Utterly appalling crime for an appalling neighbourhood.

There’s worse.

A bloke I looked after until a couple of months ago died on the street in Levenshulme earlier this month.

They nicked his powered wheelchair, after booting him out of it.

What angered me more was that not one member of senior management from the company that was supposed to be looking after him turned up to his funeral. Just four care workers and my wife, who’d only met him a few times.

RIP Lee, you never stood a chance.

I heard on the radio a few days ago that someones wallet was stolen as they had a heart attack, the thief is a prime candidate for having his fingers whacked by a 5lb mash hammer.

There’s dicks….dicks everywhere.

Some people are scum! 😤

Black Lab? Has anybody checked Greggs?

Sounds like a League of Gentlemen sketch.

Was it a working dog or a trainee? If the latter how would you tell it’s a guide dog? If the former, was it actually working at the time?

Not excusing the theft of the dog by any means but just because it was a guide dog does not mean it was on duty.

Not good, but incredibly sick?  Of all the crimes committed, this is probably quite low on the scale of “being incredibly sick”

Not good, but incredibly sick?  Of all the crimes committed, this is probably quite low on the scale of “being incredibly sick”

The trouble with hyperbole and outrage is that you run out of words to describe events. If stealing a guide dog is incredibly sick what words are you left with to describe say child abuse?

In Glossop teenagers set light to and killed (obviously) two live hedgehogs in the public park. That’s the one which has shocked me most recently.

The trouble with hyperbole and outrage is that you run out of words to describe events. If stealing a guide dog is incredibly sick what words are you left with to describe say child abuse?

It’s similar, just a different kind of ‘sickness’.

In Glossop teenagers set light to and killed (obviously) two live hedgehogs

See, for me. I’d happily do the same to them.

I’d have no qualms either. Really.

Seriously how many hogs have you got for them to become a pest?

op – need there hands chopping off.

See, for me. I’d happily do the same to them.

I’d have no qualms either. Really.

Either that’s bravado or you need locking up.

Either that’s bravado or you need locking up.

Naa, cruelty to animals is amongst the most abhorrent crimes I can think of. It goes with rape & child abuse, paedophilia & being an MP in my book.

You ok with animal cruelty are you?

Its pretty sick – this is someone who’s potentially been robbed of their independence and mobility. You can’t just order a new guide dog to replace this one, there’s a bit more to it than that. Bear in mind that many visually impaired people are pretty much prisoners in their own homes, they are far more likely to be unemployed than an equivalent sighted person and depression is quite prevalent in this group.  It’s not just a dog that’s been stolen, it’s someone’s way of life.

You ok with animal cruelty are you?

Of course not. I just think it and all other crimes are best dealt with by due legal process rather than vigilantism.

I suspect you do too and wouldn’t really take matters into your own hands in the way you suggested above. I further suspect that faced with the opportunity to set fire to those that set fire to the hedgehogs you’d find you had qualms after all and your bluster would evaporate. If it didn’t then I stand by the suggestion that you should be locked up.

The trouble with hyperbole and outrage is that you run out of words to describe events. If stealing a guide dog is incredibly sick what words are you left with to describe say child abuse?

Its not a competition

spin, don’t be so sure our essel was a longtime screw stare into the abyss too long and the abyss stares back.

spin, don’t be so sure our essel was a longtime screw stare into the abyss too long and the abyss stares back.

Perhaps ‘suspect’ was the wrong word. Hope might be a better word, I certainly hope he wouldn’t behave in that way.

“Of course not. I just think it and all other crimes are best dealt with by due legal process rather than vigilantism.”

Unfortunately Due Process has failed on so many levels.

Unfortunately Due Process has failed on so many levels.

Assuming that’s the case (and I’m not convinced it is) then what’s required are better judicial processes and stronger institutions not vigilantism.

Was it a working dog or a trainee? If the latter how would you tell it’s a guide dog? If the former, was it actually working at the time?

That, quite frankly, is a bloody daft thing to say! Do you honestly mean that you’ve never, ever seen a Guide Dog with it’s owner out and about?

Guide dogs under training have a harness on, with wording to the effect of Guide Dog Trainee Please Do Not Distract. And a trained Guide Dog will have a harness with similar, accompanied by a person with a white stick, and the only time they’re not working is when they’re asleep! Extraordinary animals, it costs at least £5000 to train one, and not every trainee dog makes it through the process. They’re also totally loyal to their owner, I was told a heartbreaking story of one dog in London with its owner on the Tube. The owner felt there was something not quite right with the dog, so called the vet, who said to try to get home as quickly as possible while taking as much care of each other as possible. The owner got home, the dog went over to its bed, laid down and died. That tells you all you need to know abou the spirit of those dogs, they’re wonderful animals.

CZ not it’s not a bloody daft thing to say, my cousin works for Guide Dogs up in Forfar and my family have been fortunate enough to rehome a few “rejects” over the years. Those harnesses don’t stay on all the time and the dogs do not get worked 24/7, they get down time just like any other worker. Trainee pups, yes, get walked with ID harnesses but again, they don’t stay on all the time.

I’m not sure how you managed to ascertain that the dog in question was in it’s work gear and with it’s owner from a 4 line tweet that only mentions a collar. FWIW I only asked the question as everyone was making the automatic assumption that someone had the dog taken out from under them when the reality could be somewhat different.

But hey, lets not let critical thinking get in the way of some good outrage eh?

A horrible crime, I agree. I worry though that some of the younger generation might read this because of a different understanding of the word “sick”… 😬 or maybe I’m tired and should just go to bed!

Call me a bleeding heart leftie essel, but I agree with spin that I don’t think setting fire to teenagers is a reasoned punishment for them burning a couple of hedgehogs.

That’s also a fairly sizeable leap of presumption to suggest that not wishing to set fire to teenagers in this circumstance is akin to being an apologist for animal cruelty.

What a truly magnificent county we would be, if burning at the stake was the punishment for arson attacks on hedgehogs.