Wednesday
(0)The indefatigible Radley Balko has a nice roundup of latest regulatory nuttiness from across the world, including my personal favourite, a rule in Italy stating that dog-owners must walk their furry friends at least three times a day. Tremendous stuff, the sort of law that would make the land of Julius Ceasar and Enzo Ferrari proud.
Joking aside at this lunacy, we are surely far beyond the point at which it is possible to subject this sort of regulatory mania to Monty Python-style satire. How on earth can one excite the anger of people against this sort of thing when it appears that the humourless berks who want to pass these rules feel no shame, no sense that they are infantilising the public?
From the story on Yahoo (follow the links):
To enforce the law, Turin police would rely largely on the help of tipsters spotting cruel treatment by their neighbors, La Stampa reported.
That'll be a great way to get back at your neighbours for that loud party you weren't invited to, then. Could be a tricky accusation to get out of: how exactly does one prove how often one's dog is walked?
Posted by Rob Fisher at May 4, 2005 09:07 PM
"how exactly does one prove how often one's dog is walked?"
What? That is such an easy one! Just fill in a 'dog exercise' form every time you take the dog out, have the form witnessed by a third party and a professional person, lodge a copy of the form with your solicitor and send the original, along with a nominal £50 expenses fee to the National Dog Exercise Agency database. Anybody not sending in enough forms can be automatically fined or sentenced to death, as appropriate.
Cameras could be set up to catch irresponsible dog owners who walk their dogs more than the minimum but who do not disclose the fact to the NDEA.
Posted by zmollusc at May 4, 2005 09:22 PM
In a democracy, doesn't the electorate get the government it deserves, no more no less ?
Posted by Sylvain Galineau at May 4, 2005 09:39 PM
