Pet Peeve

The Oregon Humane Society was flooded with calls after the news broke on a Portland radio station: a new state law went into effect April 1 that requires pet dogs, cats and ferrets to wear seatbelts when riding in cars, or the driver will be subject to a $150 fine. No warnings, either: the state had already collected more than $89,000, noted KEX radio. Then the station put "listeners" on the air to say how they had been caught by the law, including one man who said his Seeing Eye dog "was taken into custody" for not being belted in. "You'd think people would realize it's April Fools when we said a blind person was driving a car," said host Dave Anderson, but the Humane Society reported that one of the calls was from the local sheriff's office, who wanted to know if the report was true. "There are a lot of people very upset and angry," said co-host Mark Mason. (Portland Oregonian) ...Well yeah: they know what their politicians are like.