I wont lie, it's despicable, cold, cruel and I feel like a serial killer.
November 14, 2008 2:33 PM   Subscribe

This post was deleted for the following reason: If it walks like an email forward and it quack like an email forward... -- cortex



 
I don't think this is real.
posted by Science! at 2:39 PM on November 14, 2008


Yeah, sounds a bit phony to me too - and even if it's not, I don't like the preachy tone.
posted by archagon at 2:42 PM on November 14, 2008


Neither do I. It has the verisimilitude of an email forward.
posted by MegoSteve at 2:43 PM on November 14, 2008


Real or not, the concept is incredibly sad and, yes, there should be tougher legislation preventing government-sanctioned cruelty to animals.
posted by Geekyblonde at 2:44 PM on November 14, 2008


Carbon Monoxide has no smell… obviously photoshop.
posted by JBennett at 2:45 PM on November 14, 2008 [3 favorites]


What an awesome post for a Friday afternoon!

We go to exclusive neighborhoods, and let one or two cats out at a time.

If this is real, he's doing it wrong.
posted by SpiffyRob at 2:45 PM on November 14, 2008


Doesn't matter to me if this letter is real or not sounds about right about what's happening in our animal shelters weekly. I drive by our animal shelter here and I see the black smoke coming out of the smoke stack, and I know they ain't roasting marshmallows in there. very sad.
posted by brneyedgrl at 2:46 PM on November 14, 2008


Kind of sounds like it was written by Bob Barker.
posted by scarello at 2:46 PM on November 14, 2008


I'm really glad they picked Drew Carey to replace Bob Barker on the Price is Right.

Photoshopped or not, yeah, we need to treat all animals on this planet, including humans, much better.
posted by not_on_display at 2:46 PM on November 14, 2008


yeah, we asked the real guy who does this to write about it, but all we got was:

Yeah, I gas the dogs. I get $15/hour for it. Good job, good pay, somebody's got to do it. I'd do more if I could. I could use the money.

- Wait, you don't go in the night before and feed them cheesburgers or something?

Boy, you think they're givin away cheesburgers down at the Hardees?

-- What about naming them? Do you name them before they die?

Heh, yup I name them all "Geddon." Like, Geddon that cart you damn mutt so I can gas your poor ass and Geddon outta here.

-- Do you think of them going up to heaven or anything?

Boy I get to get back to work. You write what you want.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 2:51 PM on November 14, 2008 [3 favorites]


> We go to exclusive neighborhoods, and let one or two cats out at a time.

This is the opposite of reducing the number of unwanted animals.
posted by ardgedee at 2:52 PM on November 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


Fw:Fw:Fw:Fw:Fw: What Geroge Carlin Thinks about Mexicans (FUNNY rant! Forward this)

But really, this sounds pretty fake. Which is a shame, because the subject matter is devastating.
posted by Damn That Television at 2:53 PM on November 14, 2008


That sounds like propaganda, to me. Certainly it has much basis in fakery.
posted by Brockles at 2:54 PM on November 14, 2008


Yes, I Gas Dogs and Cats for a Living.

is it Everything We Say Becomes A Novel Title Day?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 2:55 PM on November 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


I tell ya, I don't think there's a living thing on this planet that doesn't love a good cheeseburger.
posted by hellbient at 2:57 PM on November 14, 2008


I volunteered at an animal shelter for a little while, and they kept a journal in the euthanasia room for the workers to use, because obviously, it's a sad, difficult job.

But they choose to be the ones to do it. It's not a license to be a pedant, it's a public service, and using your experiences with it as an opportunity to take this extremely nasty, preachy tone with people is not what I consider grace. This person seems an ill fit for his job. Someone who doesn't think they're GOING TO HELL as a result of their workaday duties might be better.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:04 PM on November 14, 2008



My buddy and I, open each wrapper of cheeseburger and chicken sandwich, and feed them to the skinny, starving dogs
...
my buddy and I go to the cat room
...
We take the cats into my truck
...
We go to exclusive neighborhoods, and let one or two cats out at a time


At least now we know why all these cats keep asking for Cheezburgers.
posted by CynicalKnight at 3:08 PM on November 14, 2008 [4 favorites]


Damn That Television: "But really, this sounds pretty fake. Which is a shame, because the subject matter is devastating."

That's how I see it. This is written to tug at the heart strings of people who already support no kill policies or more humane euthanasia methods. People who don't know of the situation, or don't care, but could be convinced to see the problem are turned off by the nutcase drama of the 'letter'. I think stuff like this does more harm than good by alienating possible supporters of a cause.
posted by Science! at 3:08 PM on November 14, 2008


What an awesome post for a Friday afternoon!

Have fun at TGI Fridays enjoying nachos everyone!

I thought it started off reasonably enough but then kind of went overboard. I put it up there with "Life of Pi" in terms of narrator reliability. Which is, to me, about 50/50.

It has the verisimilitude of an email forward.

This should be the new benchmark of verisimilitude. The linked letter has, instead, truthiness.
posted by GuyZero at 3:09 PM on November 14, 2008


You're doing it wrong.
Bob Barker was much better at this.
posted by cmoj at 3:11 PM on November 14, 2008


"I'm an Animal Control officer in a very small town in central North Carolina."

The last time I heard something about animal shelters in small town NC, it was PETA employees dumping dead animals behind a Piggly Wiggly.
posted by joe vrrr at 3:11 PM on November 14, 2008


Smelling of Carbon monoxide? Carbon monoxide is odourless. That's why it's so deadly when it comes out of your boiler.
posted by WPW at 3:11 PM on November 14, 2008


If they package it in containers they may put a smell agent into it, like natural gas, so no one kills themselves by accident. Natural gas is orourless too.
posted by GuyZero at 3:12 PM on November 14, 2008


Well it was actually posted on CL, it looks like. In 2006?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:14 PM on November 14, 2008


Not to enter the real or not debate, but its possible that the gas is scented to alert staff of accidental leaks.
posted by Binliner at 3:16 PM on November 14, 2008


Oh it is a bad email forward.

*hangs head in shame*

I thought at least it was a new bad email forward
posted by GuyZero at 3:16 PM on November 14, 2008


I Was An Internet Detective
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:16 PM on November 14, 2008


Nothing about this rings true. Animal Control officers in North Carolina must be licensed and educated by the state, but that is not mentioned in this story. There has been considerable controversy in NC about using gas, as poorly manufactured chambers have poisoned operators. You'd think that would get a mention; it doesn't. There has been discussion about changing the wording of the euthanization laws in NC, which might have been mentioned but isn't. By North Carolina law, animals must be euthanizaed seperated, but this story makes no mention of that. Carbon monoxide is oderless, and yet the author repeatedly references it as having a strong smell. North Carolina law requires that young, sick, injured, old and pregnant animals be spared the gas chamber and euthanized in some other manner. There is no mention of this. I've known people who worked at shelters, and none of them were Animla Control officers -- I suppose in a small town, it's possible the Animal Control officer would be responsible for euthanizing, but generally the shelters are run separately, have different licensing requirements, and use a small staff of part-timers.

This reads like very poor and underresearched fiction; additionally, it appears to have first appeared anonymously on a PETA discussion board, which are not famously bastions of critical thinking. I am very sympathetic to the plight of animals, but I am not of the opinion that reprinting outright fabrications ever does anyone any good. They are easily discredited and make the people that reprint them look foolish, which does not reflect well on their cause.
posted by Astro Zombie at 3:17 PM on November 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


Or craigslist. Wow. That makes it even LESS credible.

It's been kicking around for two years and nobody has attempted to verify it?
posted by Astro Zombie at 3:19 PM on November 14, 2008


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