UT: Man Arrested For Shooting Feral Pigeon

[KBintheSLC]

UT: Man Arrested For Shooting Feral Pigeon
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12164099

A city building inspector warned David Shutt and his roommates that they had to do something about the flocks of pooping pigeons infesting their University of Utah-area residence.

But 2News reports today that when David tried to do that, he ended up being arrested and jailed for nine hours on suspicion of animal cruelty and shooting a weapon inside city limits. The alleged crime? Killing, he says by accident, one of the feathered horde with a BB gun.

Shutt , an engineering student at the U, says he was just trying to scatter the birds who live in the eaves and alcoves of the home he and his roommates rent at 1020 South 300 East in Salt Lake City.

Shutt says that minutes after he shot the bird on Easter Sunday, the house was swarming with police officers. He was handcuffed, arrested and booked into jail.

Eventually, a conversation with jail guards may have led to his release.

"I told the guy behind the window, 'I really am sorry I killed the pigeon,' and he said, 'What, you're in here for killing a pigeon?' and a little bit after that I was released," Shutt said.

Shutt acknowledges it was not a good idea to shoot inside city limits, even with a BB gun. "I'd gladly plead guilty to that," he says. But he balks at doing the same for any animal cruelty charge.

"Animal cruelty is torturing your dog, not pest control," he argues.

Even Ann Davis of the Animal Advocacy Alliance of Utah thinks that charge may be a bit over the top. Davis and others fought hard a year and a half ago at the state legislature to have animal cruelty laws beefed up in the state of Utah. Law makers recently amended the current law to allow prosecutors to charge people with a felony if they torture companion animals such and dogs and cats.

Salt Lake City police declined to comment. The city prosecutor will now screen the case.

FYI... Dispite the rest of Utah, Salt Lake City has recently become an infested, leftist cesspool (I call it little Chicago). This comes no more than 2 weeks after the same police dept, SLCPD has openly refused to abide by a new State law requiring them to arrest illegals when they are discovered with false/missing documents.

Instead, the leftist Mayor Becker's socialist police thugs are arresting good, legitimate citizens for pest control on their own property.:banghead:

Please contact this magistrate Becker and let him know what a load of feces his policies are.
http://www.slcgov.com/mayor/pages/contact.htm


...

 

[win71]

There's the problem

Shutt says that minutes after he shot the bird on Easter Sunday, the house was swarming with police officers. He was handcuffed, arrested and booked into jail.

Everybody knows you can't shoot Pigeons on Easter Sunday in Utah...........

 

[chuwee81]

why would the kids put in charge for the first place by the inspector? Can't he call pest control himself or at least get the building manager to do that? Man, i thought he shot the birds with a .22.

 

[Hud]

Good thing it wasn't a Sea Gull.

 

[Nugilum]

And Hud Wins the Tread!!

 

[El Tejon]

His real crime was drinking coffee.

 

[bad_aim_billy]

Amateur. Every college male knows that slingshots work better for birdy pest control-- no noise and no stigma...

 

[Zoogster]

Davis and others fought hard a year and a half ago at the state legislature to have animal cruelty laws beefed up in the state of Utah. Law makers recently amended the current law to allow prosecutors to charge people with a felony

That is the problem, people may pass a law intending it for use in certain circumstances (the timeline sounds about when the pro football player made national news for fighting dogs.) However those laws then become a tool for those who wish to use them, for good or bad. It does not just apply to "companion animals" it applies to animals.
Animal cruelty is legaly subjective.
Even if it did just apply to companion animals what happens when that dog owned by someone else runs up to you, or even a stray? Is it a felony to kick it away pick up a stick, or throw a rock at it to make it leave?
Should you have to risk rabies exposure and potential bite wounds or wait until the animal attacks someone (like your child in the case of most pit bull attacks) before you do something or face animal cruelty charges?

So they made animal cruelty a felony. It is well meaning but poorly thought out things like that which I believe lead to increases in instability. If everything is a felony threatening to remove your rights your always on edge, of becoming a felon.
It means more people are going to wind up like Harold Fish, except for harming an animal instead of a person.

Some officials mark game with paintball markers. That is officialy done so not animal cruelty. But of course shooing some deer off your property with one could be.
Kill that racoon in your trash? Or the exploding skunk population that often carries rabies in your yard at night? Totaly discretionary felony.

Then there was the story of the guy that took his vicious dog that had attacked someone out and shot it. The dog lived, the guy sounded like a moron, but the charge was a felony.
Putting down Old Yeller would be a potential felony many places today.
The right thing to do is to call someone to make a house call, pay them hundreds of dollars and have a state sanctioned euthanization. The state can kill them, but for you its a felony.

Crows landing in animal feed and leaving fecal matter that your beef or pork eats? I knew a farmer that had that problem all the time and needed the animals removed. I guess now that could be a felony, better learn to enjoy fecaly fed animals.

People are just stupid, and this story goes to show that the more tools you give to your state or federal prosecutors the more likely you are to lose your freedoms, those supposed "inalienable rights" one of which specificly "shall not be infringed" upon.

 

[Duke of Doubt]

I prefer Jerry Seinfeld's solution: bucket of cold water in the middle of the night.

Seinfeld always had a quiet little edge. I always treasured his comparison of getting rid of the Christmas tree with a syndicate hit -- a large dark sedan pulls to the side of a quiet roadway; several coated individuals get out, pull a long bag from the trunk or rear seat and hurl it over an embankment; they return wordlessly to the vehicle and speed away.

 

[KBintheSLC]

why would the kids put in charge for the first place by the inspector? Can't he call pest control himself or at least get the building manager to do that?

I had a similar issue at my apt under the carport. The manager refused to do anything... he said I could call an exterminator if I wanted to get rid of them... at my own expense. Somehow, I fail to see how poisoning them is more humane than shooting them.

Anyway, I dealt with the pigeons the same way this guy did. But I didn't let my liberal neighbors see me doing it. It was faster, less painful, and far less toxic to other life forms than calling the exterminator.

But anything that involves a gun (even an air gun) is the work of the devil these days. We can thank our lovely media for that.


...

 

[CoRoMo]

mmmmmm... squab. Good eats.

 

[KBintheSLC]

Zoogster is right... I love animals and pets, but sometimes pest control is necessary. These animal rights activists are way out of control. The funny thing about it is that feral animals can legally be hunted in UT without a permit. This is not considered "animal abuse", but the fact that the guy used a BB gun in city limits (illegal in SLC) makes his case pretty weak against the leftist-run city government. They would rather he called the exterminator and have them poisoned to death.

 

[Suicide*Ride]

A little excitement on Easter Sunday

Shutt says that minutes after he shot the bird on Easter Sunday, the house was swarming with police officers. He was handcuffed, arrested and booked into jail.

Sounds like Salt Lake City police dept. was pretty bored on a Easter Sunday.

"I told the guy behind the window, 'I really am sorry I killed the pigeon,' and he said, 'What, you're in here for killing a pigeon?' and a little bit after that I was released," Shutt said.

My question is: Why did it take a SLC Jailer albeit several hrs. later, to have enough common sense to cut him (Shutt) loose?! Are the officers working for the SLCPD that ignorant??

 

[KBintheSLC]

My question is: Why did it take a SLC Jailer albeit several hrs. later, to have enough common sense to cut him (Shutt) loose?! Are the officers working for the SLCPD that ignorant??

The arresting officer was SLC (city) police who are run by a leftist weasel of a mayor. The guy was taken to the SL County Jail for processing though. The County is run by a whole different bunch... the jail guard that let him go was likely working for the SL County Sheriff. The City does not have a dedicated jail... or a whole lot of common sense for that matter.

..

 

[Double Naught Spy]

UT: Man Arrested For Shooting Feral Pigeon

Once again, another thread title that doesn't get it right. He wasn't arrested for shooting a feral pigeon.

... arrested and jailed for nine hours on suspicion of animal cruelty and shooting a weapon inside city limits.

The cruelty may or may not stick, but the shooting inside the city limits issue is another matter I would bet.

"I told the guy behind the window, 'I really am sorry I killed the pigeon,' and he said, 'What, you're in here for killing a pigeon?' and a little bit after that I was released," Shutt said.

My question is: Why did it take a SLC Jailer albeit several hrs. later, to have enough common sense to cut him (Shutt) loose?! Are the officers working for the SLCPD that ignorant??

I don't believe the jailer would have had the authority to release prisoners because the jailer decided the offense wasn't sufficient. Either somebody paid bail or a judge made a decision, but it wasn't a jailer that let the guy go because the jailer "had common sense."

 

[SLCscottie]

I believe it

"I don't believe the jailer would have had the authority to release prisoners because the jailer decided the offense wasn't sufficient. Either somebody paid bail or a judge made a decision, but it wasn't a jailer that let the guy go because the jailer "had common sense."
__________________
Alas Babylon

I believe it. A couple of weeks ago SLCPD did a sweep of drug abusers and sellers in Pioneer Park then sent them to jail. The jail is already over crowded so they let most of them out the same day they arrived. So I'm sure this was a easy decision for the jailers.

 

[Zoogster]

I don't believe the jailer would have had the authority to release prisoners because the jailer decided the offense wasn't sufficient. Either somebody paid bail or a judge made a decision, but it wasn't a jailer that let the guy go because the jailer "had common sense."

I believe most jails are run by the county Sheriff. They can release anyone on house arrest or another form of detention whenever they choose.
They cannot reverse a judge's order or drop the charges, but they can choose how someone is detained and whether that is inside the jail.

They can release certain offenders to make room for other offenders, for example releasing non-violent people to make room for violent offenders. They can set policies that have them serve a certain percentage of thier time first, but ultimately it is the jailers' discretion how those in thier custody serve thier time. They can also do things completely outside thier own regular policies if they choose, like releasing a vicious pigeon killer because they feel thier space would be better seved with other inmates.


One of the big ways minor felonies can be retained is because the courts don't actualy have to have a person serve any or much time. They can give them a felony, and release them on probation serving no additional time and the individual simply becomes a felon without ever serving time in jail.
If every single person charged actualy had to serve the time a charge gives then the prisons and jails would be full, and they would have to reserve charges for serious offenses.
As it is now several times as many people are on probation or parole as actualy behind bars.
It also means they are quicker to give out lengthy sentences if they don't actualy intend for them to be fully served just to retain control over the individual for a longer period of time. It allows them to remove some 1st, 2nd, 4th Amendment etc rights even for minor things, and as a result retain greater control over that portion of the population. Idealy an entire city or even a state on probation or parole would be very easy to rule, non of those pesky rights in the way all subject to arrest or a violation at LEO discretion without even needing to commit a crime, allowing for pure efficiency.
I am against probation and parole existing for those very reasons. They encourage pettier felonies and a police state because they free up a lot of jail space and cost a mere fraction of what it does to keep someone locked up. Especialy considering there is some cities and states that would like to see everyone a prohibited person because they don't like guns, and that would solve that problem of legal arms possession.
I am similarly against private for profit prisons for the same reason. They encourage arrests and support legislation for increased penalties for pettier offenses because more prisoners is more profit. They have even been shown to contribute to tougher on crime campaigns and candidates.

 

[DRYHUMOR]

Man, have you all seen the size of a pigeon breast. Double the size of a dove's. Wrapped in bacon, on the grill, mmmmmmm.

Seems like the polically correct crowd in SLC would think about feeding the homeless with the nuisance birds.

Kill two birds with one stone so to speak.

 

[SquirrelNuts]

...police raided the home after a long stand off. Investigating officers discovered an arsenal of weapons inside Shutt's home including an assault sling shot, steak knives, a screwdriver set, and a pocket knife. A cache of armor piercing rocks were found next to the front walkway, and are suspected to be used as ammunition for the assault sling shot. Police believe the rocks were moly coated, allowing them to penetrate law enforcement body armor.

I thought they automatically include the above statement in these types of articles. Someone must have goofed and left it out.

 

[longdayjake]

Amateur. Every college male knows that slingshots work better for birdy pest control-- no noise and no stigma...

Only try this if you like bloody messes and an inhumane kill. I did it once with a slingshot and a steel bolt from my car. Broke a wing, bird tried to fly, blood flew everywhere, finished it with a 2x4. Not a pleasant experience.

 

[Gamera]

Since when is "shooting a bb gun" considered "shooting"? (Like in a legal bad way, nothing wrong with shooting bb guns haha)

 

[Kaeto]

I took out a stray dog that was attacking my dog with a wrist rocket and a .54 cal lead ball from my front stuffer.

 

[kilo729]

infested, leftist cesspool (I call it little Chicago).

How very High Road of you.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

I believe most jails are run by the county Sheriff. They can release anyone on house arrest or another form of detention whenever they choose.
They cannot reverse a judge's order or drop the charges, but they can choose how someone is detained and whether that is inside the jail.

Okay, I'll go for that, but still I don't see the guy being released by a "jailer." He didn't say he spoke with the Sheriff, but a jailer.

 

[kirklandkie]

perhaps he shot the pigeon out of season?

-kirk