Jersey Today – Drive-By Shootings, Bears in Court, DNA from Bad Guys, and a Dog Gets the Death Penalty.

The Drive-By.
It appears that someone in Sussex County (one of the state’s seriously rural counties) has been driving around in a car or truck shooting and killing domesticated animals. The police currently have no suspects in custody in connection with a shooting spree that left one horse, one pet dog and one pet deer dead. The shootings occurred early this morning.

The horse in question took forty-five minutes to die what was described as an “agonizing death.” By contrast, the dog, a 20-month-old sheepdog named “Dakota,” apparently died instantly when struck in the neck with a bullet.

The police believe that the shootings are connected, but random. [I presume that translates into one or more assholes riding around and shooting people’s animals for no particular reason.]

For the Jersey folks who may have any information about the Waste-of-Oxygen that committed these crimes, please call the New Jersey State Police at 973-383-1515.

The Bears in Court.
As I have previously posted, the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife has decided to issue permits to hunt black bears in certain areas of the state. The move was deemed to be necessary, given the rapidly growing bear population and the increasing number of human-bear encounters, some of which have been identified as “close calls.”

This marks the first time in thirty years that bear hunting in New Jersey has been permitted. A bear hunt had been scheduled to take place three years ago, however, anti-hunting groups were active in opposing the hunt, and the Governor called it off.

Thus far, the current Governor of New Jersey has refused to call of the hunt, citing safety concerns traceable to the increased bear population and the recent number of bear-human encounters.

Perhaps having given up on any possible intervention by the Governor, the anti-hunt groups have taken legal action to block the hunt. The attorney for anti-hunt groups. William Strazza, was quoted as saying, “There is no question in my mind that this hunt is morally bankrupt, with no basis in science or in law.”

I have to wonder about Mr. Strazza’s credentials as: (a) a wildlife expert, and (b) an arbiter of the mores of 21st century America that permits him to declare a bear hunt to be “morally bankrupt.”

The intrastate combat over the bear hunt, which is scheduled to take place in December, is far from over.

Stay tuned.

DNA, Big-Time.
From now on, if you are convicted of a crime in the Garden State (from simple assault, all the way to murder), you can expect to have your cheek swabbed for a sample of your DNA. This is so because Governor McGreevey signed into a law a provision mandating the state’s obtaining DNA samples from convicts, making New Jersey one of 24 states mandating DNA sampling from convicted felons. Prior to this time, the state had only taken DNA samples from those convicted of sex crimes, kidnapping and homicide.

The state plans to pay for the increased DNA testing by placing a two-dollar surcharge on every traffic ticket issued in the New Jersey [thereby permitting the Governor to continue to “honestly” claim that he has run the state without raising the sales or income tax]. It is expected that the surcharge will raise $8.2 million per year. [That’s a helluva lot of tickets.]

While the expanded DNA database is believed to be helpful in identifying repeat criminals, there is, of course, a vocal opposition to the sampling by the American Civil Liberties Union, claiming that such sampling makes the state “more and more of a surveillance society.” [Blah, blah, blah.]

I almost feel like speeding through a radar trap in order to pony up my two bucks.

The Canine Death Penalty.

Local police paid the fee to the Gardan State Humane Society in order to euthanize a 3-year-old dog that killed its owner earlier this month. The dog in question, a Doberman pinscher named Luger, attacked and killed its owner, Valerie DeSwart, 66, by biting her in the neck.

Ms DeSwart had adopted the dog ten days before the attack, despite warnings from the shelter that the dog had a “history of biting.” Sadly. the adoption took place, even though the dog’s previous owners had paid the shelter to destroy the animal.

It is a horrible story, but at least the “killer” in this case has been put to death. Now, I just wish the state would turn its attention to some of the “animals” who have been sentenced to death and who have been languishing on “Death Row” for decades in Trenton.

I’m not holding my breath.

New Jersey, much of which was spared the serious violence of last week’s hurricane (although we got plenty of rain and wind), is being clobbered today by a storm that is blowing down power lines, tearing up trees and flooding the roads.

Always an adventure, this place.