LONDON (AFP) – A British grandmother was heavily fined and electronically tagged for selling a goldfish to a child, triggering criticism Wednesday of over-zealous use of animal protection laws.Pet shop owner Joan Higgins, 66, was fined 1,000 pounds (1,500 dollars, 1,120 euros) also given a dusk-to-dawn curfew for selling an animal to a person under the age of 16, but her 47-year-old son Mark -- also ordered to do community service -- slammed the ruling as a farce.
The pair were prosecuted after the local council sent a 14-year-old boy to buy a goldfish in a "sting" operation following reports that their shop, Majors Pets, had sold a gerbil to a teenager with learning difficulties.
The shopkeepers sold the fish without asking his age or how the fish would be cared for, prosecutors said.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0331/granny-fined-1500-electronically-tagged-selling-goldfish-child/
You can read through history and use a yellow highlighter pen and chart precisely when governments officially announce that it's okay to ignore them.
I'm pretty sure this qualifies. It's kind of like mandating that the citizenry hop on one foot. Or maybe it's like flying planes into the World Trade Center.
It's fun watching governments honestly have no idea that they don't even exist anymore. It's like cocking your head and watching in disbelief as a toothless crone grandly descends the staircase as if she's the belle of the debutante ball.
