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Minor Strangeness (IHTM)

And re dog thefts. I posted somewhere about the reported incident in my nearest town, where someone was reportedly stabbed in the leg and a theft of their dog attempted. That has now been re reported as an isolated incident and the local police are in our local paper trying to reassure people that there is no local increase in incidents of dog thefts. And yet, I get to work to be warned by co workers, I've been stopped in the road and warned by passers by, there are letters and email warnings doing the rounds... Is there really a huge upsurge in dog thefts? And why would anyone attempt to sell an adult dog? Who would want to buy an adult dog which obviously didn't belong to the person selling it and was behaving in a scared fashion?
Media fueled hysteria, again!
 
Who would want to buy an adult dog which obviously didn't belong to the person selling it and was behaving in a scared fashion?
The usual explanation is that gangs running dog-fighting use stolen dogs and cats as 'practice' for their own dogs.

Dunno if that's true but it's a frightening story for a pet-owner to hear.
 
The usual explanation is that gangs running dog-fighting use stolen dogs and cats as 'practice' for their own dogs.

Dunno if that's true but it's a frightening story for a pet-owner to hear.
Yes, I don't know about this either - it's another one that sounds like a media-hyped hysteria. I mean, I'm sure it does happen, but the current atmosphere of terror seems to be a wee bit over-done. Like the Great Social Worker Panic someone quoted before, something that never actually happens to anyone you know, but happens all the time.....over there.
 
Yes, I don't know about this either - it's another one that sounds like a media-hyped hysteria. I mean, I'm sure it does happen, but the current atmosphere of terror seems to be a wee bit over-done. Like the Great Social Worker Panic someone quoted before, something that never actually happens to anyone you know, but happens all the time.....over there.

Totally in agreement. We used to have to rely on the tabloids to scare us with unlikely horror stories but these days it's all delivered electronically.
 
And re dog thefts. I posted somewhere about the reported incident in my nearest town, where someone was reportedly stabbed in the leg and a theft of their dog attempted. That has now been re reported as an isolated incident and the local police are in our local paper trying to reassure people that there is no local increase in incidents of dog thefts. And yet, I get to work to be warned by co workers, I've been stopped in the road and warned by passers by, there are letters and email warnings doing the rounds... Is there really a huge upsurge in dog thefts? And why would anyone attempt to sell an adult dog? Who would want to buy an adult dog which obviously didn't belong to the person selling it and was behaving in a scared fashion?

FaceBook is full of dog thefts at the moment. In my home town, a quiet part of South Lincolnshire, there are forever warnings about two men in a van, a van with an RSPCA logo, a woman working in tandem with two men, somebody asking whether you want to sell the caravan on your front drive but eyeing up your dogs, all manner of tricks. They say the pandemic has fuelled puppy farming as big business, so people are stealing dogs in the hope of them being an unspayed female that they can breed from - although that has more than a whiff of UL because I would imagine the chances of getting unspayed females is pretty slim.
 
I wonder if the whole 'dog stealing' thing plays into our fear of losing what's closest to us - like the whole 'Bogus Social Workers Take Your Children' thing, only with dogs and more overt methods?
 
I wonder if the whole 'dog stealing' thing plays into our fear of losing what's closest to us - like the whole 'Bogus Social Workers Take Your Children' thing, only with dogs and more overt methods?
Just seen this in the 'Mail'

20210226_103122.png
 
Posting over at the Waverley Abbey thread jogged my memory of a minor occurrence in the mid-1990s when I was visiting the ruins of the temple of Mithras at Carrawburgh, on Hadrian's Wall. For those unfamiliar with the place, the ruins of the temple consist essentially of a low wall base, not standing more than a foot or so high. If you imagine a small country chapel that has been demolished to near-ground level, that would give you an idea of its dimensions. When I visited the little ruin, as I stepped across the threshold while talking to my brother, for a second or two my voice sounded oddly muffled/echoey, as if I'd just stepped into a damp, enclosed space. As my momentum carried me forward, my voice returned to normal. I returned to where I had been and tried to recreate the effect but was unable to do so. I imagine I caught a chance echo off the sides of the doorway, but it was very odd.
 
Posting over at the Waverley Abbey thread jogged my memory of a minor occurrence in the mid-1990s when I was visiting the ruins of the temple of Mithras at Carrawburgh, on Hadrian's Wall. For those unfamiliar with the place, the ruins of the temple consist essentially of a low wall base, not standing more than a foot or so high. If you imagine a small country chapel that has been demolished to near-ground level, that would give you an idea of its dimensions. When I visited the little ruin, as I stepped across the threshold while talking to my brother, for a second or two my voice sounded oddly muffled/echoey, as if I'd just stepped into a damp, enclosed space. As my momentum carried me forward, my voice returned to normal. I returned to where I had been and tried to recreate the effect but was unable to do so. I imagine I caught a chance echo off the sides of the doorway, but it was very odd.
As if the building were briefly intact again? Very M.R. James!
 
Just seen this in the 'Mail'

View attachment 36608
And again, today, my weekly local paper has a big article from the local police telling us that most cases are exaggerated or the result of misunderstandings and just to carry on observing the usual 'anti theft' precautions that dog owners take (ie, not leaving your dog outside in an unsecure garden for hours and hours - and I think that's more of a Neighbourhood Watch thing than dog theft, with the poor buggers barking their heads off all day and/or all night). Maybe it's just because of our geographically isolated position, well away from any large towns, but here the recent 'dog theft spate' seems to be more FOAFtales than real.
 
Back when dog wardens were a new thing and they were keen, my brother had his dog nicked by one from his front garden!

He was working on his car and had chained Fido to a post while so they could keep an eye on each other.

When Bro popped into the house for something Fido went missing.

He locked up and walked up and down the street calling, and someone told him they'd seen the warden draw up in their van and take the dog. Didn't even ring the doorbell.

Bro was NOT amused and Fido was soon home.

(Edited for typos caused by posting on phone.)
 
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headless m--!.jpg
Wait, what? The Valley of the Headless M—?
The Headless WHAT?!!?

Please don't be so coy!
 
Or reverse international time line slip!
 
I just 'liked' a post and, where as usually it comes up with 'you' in the 'like' bar it came up with my name, first time this has happened, has anyone else experienced this?

Screenshot_20210319-202217.png
 
I just 'liked' a post and, where as usually it comes up with 'you' in the 'like' bar it came up with my name, first time this has happened, has anyone else experienced this? ...

That's never happened to me, but I can see how it could occur (relating to database paging and page updating).
 
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