City officials are trying to take a pet pig away from a child with Down’s syndrome

This sounds like yet another story about inflexible local officials pushing people around and creating a public relations nightmare for their city when the story is picked up by the media and scrutinized by the public with common sense and compassion.

You know the type of officials, they were hall monitors when we were in school and loved to get us all in trouble for any imagined infraction of rules.

And, yes, I infracted a lot.

Florida mother Heather Ray bought a baby piglet, Twinkie, for her 8-year-old son, Kason, as a therapy pet.

"It's important for people with special needs to be accepted," she explained. "Animals don't look at you like you're different. They love you no matter what. It's important for us to have him accepted.”

Kason’s father suffers from severe allergies, so hairless Twinkie seemed like an ideal match for the family.

However city officials say the Rays are breaking the law.

“Coral Springs [Florida] code does not allow pigs as pets, because livestock is not allowed,” city spokesman Bob Goehrig explained.

Livestock?

She was told she could either pay $1600 to try to change the ordinance or appeal to city commissioners. Although she has a prescription for a therapy pet for Kason, she must prove that Twinkie is needed as a therapy pet and faces fines of up to $500 a day.

The problem is that animals cannot be certified until they are a year old and tiny Twinkie is only six weeks old. The story

 

And speaking of brain dead city officials...

New York firefighters  set up a tent in Breezy Point, Queens to feed victims and first responders following the deadly storm. They were visited by city health department officials. Instead of pitching in and helping out, an official issued a notice of violation for not maintaining restaurant standards.

Seems the tent didn’t have an HVAC system and fire extinguisher and the volunteers weren’t wearing hair nets.

According to volunteer Bobby Eustace, an 11-year veteran with the city's fire department:

It’s just a little ridiculous. The inspector came up and asked if we were wearing hair nets. I told him, ‘We have helmets. This is a disaster area,’. Then he asked if we had gloves and thermometers [for food]. I said, ‘Yeah, we have rectal and oral. Which one do you want?’ He wasn’t amused. The story

Comments

[This Sydney Life]

Bureaucracy gone M A D (x 2!)

What does that say about us?

[jet]

ick I hate that kind of 'officialdom'

[Southern quebec]

These guys were definitely the hall monitors in high school. They are livin' their dream jobs!

[Limousinen]

Good stories about bullies in government. Definitely i will share your blog post with my social net friends.

[Karen Friesecke]

BWHAHAHA! Leave it to no-nonsense fire fighters to "stick it" to a government official. I hope he chose the rectal thermometer. Jackass.

[Pamela]

I'd like to understand the health officials. After all, it is their job to make sure people don't get sick.

But you could always be solution-oriented and help the firefighters make adjustments instead of bringing down the hammer. I guess that official was looking for something to do until his lights came back on.

[yellowdoggranny]

what every happened to good ole common sense?...

[cube]

Common sense isn't so common among the officious government class.

[Jen @MyBrownNewfies]

It's just sad:( Let the boy have the pig, have a heart!

[Jodi]

I wonder about the pig...how large will it grow, I don't want to see the kid lose a pet but full-grown pigs can be a problem.

As for the tent, typical city BS.