Its the little things...

I have become abundantly more aware of how I look at people and animals the past few days. Why, you might ask? (I hope you do, otherwise this post is useless). A woman in Vermont was arrested on harassment charges for apparently making distracting and inappropriate faces at a government employee. So that doesn’t sound too absurd, right? Well that government employee that she was harassing was, in fact, a police dog. Yes, a police dog. In case you haven’t put two and two together – a woman in Vermont was arrested for making faces at a police dog. What has the world come to? That is probably the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. If making faces at animals is a crime, I know about a couple dozen third graders that need to be in prison. The policeman who was handling the dog claimed that these faces that this woman made distracted the dog to the point of not paying attention to him and his fellow officers. If distracting the dog from his work is the problem then the state of Vermont should arrest all of the cats and squirrels as well. Good news for the woman though, the case has been dropped against her. The state district attorney said of the case, “Most of the time (in harassment cases) people would come tell the court what it felt like. Dogs can't do that”. That’s disappointing. I was highly looking forward to the dog’s testimony, it may have gone something like this:

Lawyer: On the night you were harassed, how were the winds blowing?
Dog: Ruff
Lawyer: How is it working as a police dog?
Dog: Ruff
Lawyer: In what manner did she look at you?
Dog: Ruff
Lawyer: No further questions.

Of course the charges were dropped. This entire case was absurd. Then again, I’m going to more careful the next time I feel the urge to make harassing faces at an animal.