Deputy shoots groundhog crossing street in Carroll County

It amazes me how little people understand wildlife. He wasn't trying to go anywhere he was highly aggressive and attacked the officer. The groundhog was showing signs of rabies or was all ready injured before the officer showed up. Either way the officer made the correct call I'd rather have a dead groundhog then have a child bit by him. My son was bit by a rabid squirrel when he was 6 it was terrible watching him go through that. Has been almost a decade and he still won't go near a squirrel. Just wish someone had shot that squirrel before I did.

Pretty unbelievable to me that anyone could watch this video and come away with the idea that the groundhog was innocently doing anything OTHER than being aggressive...which is totally atypical behavior for such an animal especially around humans. There was something definitely wrong with that animal.

Think about it...it's not like this cop was driving down the road, spotted a groundhog, slammed on his brakes, jumped out and shot it. No, that animal had been there for quite a while, long enough for the officer to stop, get out and stop traffic, and then try to shoo it off the road. Give the guy some credit, people. He tried to get it to leave the roadway on its own, but it instead came after him, aggressively came across the road to get him. The LEO's actions look perfectly justified to me!

Oh, and the hand gestures? He knew he was going to have to shoot it (before it got away to infect someone or something else with whatever disease, likely rabies), so he was signalling people back to ensure he had a clear shooting lane.

I swear, some of the over the top reactions of people here about stuff like this just amazes me!

Lastly, consider this...rabies is highly infectious; if he would have let that animal go how many other groundhogs, or people's dogs, or cats...or even humans...would have been infected before someone else did the exact same thing??? That, or the animal went off to die somewhere and was eaten by another animal, subsequently infecting them too.

Get a grip, people!

Some here would prefer to have a rabid groundhog or skunk in their yard, putting every one and every thing at risk of contracting a DEADLY disease, than to let some 'big bad gun toting tough guy' (sarcasm intended) remove it from the food chain. Unbelievable.

Further, I'll bet if we had more video of this incident we would have seen the officer keep the traffic blocked until an ACO arrived to remove the infected carcass so no other animal could eat it (and so it could be tested...which involves killing the animal anyway (gasp!!)).

Furthermore, do some of you bleeding hearts know what happens when you're bitten by a rabid animal? I'm sure dragonridr (above) can share some insight. It ain't pretty, and it's NOT optional!

This from the Mayo Clinic...

Diagnosis

At the time a rabid animal bites you, there's no way to know whether the animal has transmitted the rabies virus to you. For this reason, treatment to prevent the rabies virus from infecting your body is recommended if the doctor thinks there's a chance you have been exposed to the virus.

Treatment

Once a rabies infection is established, there's no effective treatment. Though a small number of people have survived rabies, the disease is usually fatal. For that reason, if you think you've been exposed to rabies, you must get a series of shots to prevent the infection from taking hold.

...

-Mayo Clinic

Source

You don't mess around with rabies...at all!!!

ETA...If the officer made any mistake at all, it was that he likely shot the animal in the head which makes testing the brain more difficult if not impossible. He didn't have a lot of other choices though to dispatch it quickly.

Animal jay walking?
KILLLL IT!!!

Sad for Americans having such crap police. Shooting a rodent trying to cross the road. I am sure there's a joke in that, but I'm not thinking it's funny.

That's how they handle jaywalkers in their county. Next time, use the crosswalk. We have no idea how many times this groundhog has been warned.

a reply to: notsure1

Im really tired of seeing cops kill things..

You should tell that to the thugs and criminals who insist on continually making attempts on officers' lives.

Officer safety is #1 priority.

Furthermore, look at the number of LEOs murdered this year compared to the number of NON-JUSTIFIED officer involved shootings.

I'll wait

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Thank you Fcd Glad to see some here have not lost their perspective

Unfortunately, some here can't see past the officers badge & their own bias/ignorance for long enough to form a coherent thought.

As usual, it is the typical anti-law enforcement drivel you hear every where else

a reply to: JBurns

Officer safety is #1 priority.

Why? Thats the problem..

Our safety should be #1 priority.. They do work for us right?

These guys, skunks and porcupines all have a season where you see an unusual number of them dead on the side of the road.

Yes ., ...
and now we know who's doing it.

GroundhogLivesMatter#