G'Day Everyone

Welcome to Issue 5 of Rangerdaze for 2007.

Got some great stuff for you all again such as a nice ranger team profile from up north, a photography tip, rangers who risk life and limb to assist a member of the public, some "On The Moves" and a few other bits & bobs.

Speaking of "BoBs".  Remember Angie "BoB" Longbone who became an honorary WARA member in the UK?  We have a nice update on her UK school programs using WARA Website material.

Well, with out further ado, it's on with the show.  Please fasten seat belts and turn off mobile phones as they may affect navigation equipment.

Rangers To The Rescue

Yes WA Rangers are known throughout Australia for their dedication to the job and their willingness to assist the public when & wherever.

Two rangers recently risked life & limb to assist a person broken down on the side of the road.  Authorities are asking why these guys attended at very high speed and asked for a police escort.  As you will see, this is another argument for the use of magenta lights!

The answers to all questions relating to this incident are at the bottom of this Rangerdaze.

Interview with Doug Van Bavel

Chief of Ranger and Beach Services, Broome, W.A.

Ever wanted to relocate to one of the most beautiful places in W.A? Well you wouldn’t be alone so we have done an ‘in-depth’ interview with a man who has done just that, Doug Van Bavel has recently packed up the family and shifted back up north. Doug has had a varied career in Ranger Services, working all over the state from metro councils like Bassendean to country councils where he was Senior Ranger in the Shire of Murray along with other stints in the north of our state where he has finally (for the moment!) settled as the Chief of Ranger and Beach Services for Broome. We wanted to know what life was like for Rangers up that way so we asked a few questions we hope will answer any questions rangers have about life in this part of our fair state!

General Ranger duties for the Broome Rangers include morning patrols for illegal camping and evening patrols to do speed control on Cable Beach, which has a limit of 15kph north of the rocks from the access ramp at Cable Beach Reserve and no unauthorised vehicles allowed south of the ramp. Other general patrols cover litter, which can be a big problem particularly with both the itinerant and transient community, animal control, antisocial behaviour such as public drinking and other patrols such as parking when called for. Doug is also in charge of the separate Beach Service with the season running from April to October, which along with lifeguard duties also patrols for box jellyfish, crocodiles and sharks. Rangers are also authorised to close the beach if warranted.

Broome Rangers work on a roster that can sometimes change because there are no set RDO’s as they are taken in consultation with and at the discretion of management. When on duty there is between two and four Rangers working on any given day and although Doug works Monday to Friday the other Rangers work seven days a week 365 days a year from 6am to 6pm with Doug as backup and support.

Currently in Broome there are four Rangers plus Doug and the Council also has three lifeguards - one Beach Inspector/Lifeguard and two casual Lifeguards.

A general day in the office for Doug consists of sorting, filing and responding to correspondence (requests to withdraw infringements, letters, notices etc) and also undertaking the core administration for the Ranger Service. Right now it includes writing Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s), Service Plans, Education Strategies and other policies and procedures to be followed by Rangers when they’re out and about.

Rangers jurisdiction ends at the Low Water Mark, which can quite often extend a great distance because of tidal influences. Rangers’ normal authority on the beach covers things like speed checks, camping and unregistered vehicles. Usually Rangers and Beach Inspectors work together depending on the circumstances and also the season.

Doug is in the process of rebuilding the once good relationship with the local Police Department. Due to repeated staff changes on both teams the relationship has slipped somewhat but the Police have a high presence in town and as such Doug is working to re-establish the relationship between the two teams.

Most of the Rangers in the team are local or have lived in similar climates in other areas of the states north and as such are used to the heat and weather. Vehicles and offices have air-con and the uniforms have currently been reviewed to provide for the local climate but include specially designed shirts. The shirts also no longer have epaulettes but have the word “Ranger” together with the Rangers emblem and the Shire logo embroidered on the front and the rest of the uniform consists of shorts, boots and long sleeved shirts for UV protection and also for the cooler months.

When asked what the top five most common offences the Broome Rangers deal with Doug took some time to think on it as because of the seasonal fluctuations in population the offences can change in both number and also type. But when pushed he came up with these, some we are all rather used to:

Animal Control – dogs wandering at large and registration compliance

Littering – particularly seasonal i.e. itinerant/transient community

Abandoned Vehicles – once again many can be contributed to the itinerant/transient community

Illegal Camping- transient community - tourism

Parking – standard Ranger fare!

When it comes to moving to this region housing is at a premium. Unfortunately there is a shortfall in suitable housing and also it is very expensive and in many cases out of reach for many people both in the Ranger Services and the general public.

Once Doug had settled his family he got right into dealing with the Broome-specific Ranger issues that pop up from time to time. Doug is also in the process of writing SOP’s and other policies and procedures to ensure all the Rangers are sure of where they stand in most situations and also a guide for how to deal with each situation as it arises.

Primarily the motivation for Doug’s move to Broome was career progression but the whole family prefer living in the North end of WA so the job within the Broome Rangers came at a good time for them. Doug’s wife Jeanette and their children had a say in whether or not they moved to Broome and because everyone was excited about the opportunity he applied for and accepted the position.

The whole family enjoys 4WDriving, camping, fishing and exploring the bush so relocating to Broome has made these hobbies more accessible than ever. Doug also enjoys tinkering with computers and gardening in his spare time which he says considering his new house it’s a good thing he enjoys gardening!

We hope this interview has provided even a small insight into life ‘up north’ in the Rangers world and has given some of you the urge to explore either the region or career paths in our wonderful Northern End to help spread the Ranger’s Word to those that may not yet understand it! Keep yours eyes and ears peeled for the next interview to hit the site to see which other Ranger Team has a little light shed on it!

Happy Rangering!

rangerdazewarangers

K9 Aware

From Steveeeeeee in the UK

UK Community Warden & WARA Honorary Member Angeline "BoB" Longbone is certainly getting the attention of local schools with her K9 Aware programs being presented to kids in her area.

Able assistance is provided by mascot "Wilbur the Warden" aka "Motty" who is BoB's pet dog.  They have proven most popular with children especially when Wilbur starts his antics and Angie has to make him behave himself.

Angie does a 20 to 25 minute presentation about being safe around dogs and responsible pet ownership.  Much of this information was obtained from the WARA Website with permission from Association Vice President Eric Ayers.  After the presentation, each student is given a K9 Aware sticker which is proudly worn on their chest.

Under Team Leader Mike Mason, the Preston Road Community Wardens are introducing many new initiatives to the local area and proving to be the City's best team.

Wilbur & BoB wearing her WA Ranger cap

Doing the presentations on K9 Aware

Sticker awards

K9 Aware sticker of attendance

 Hi I'm Tazzy

This time I've got a joke for you about "2 Dogs"

Hercules: The World's Biggest Dog Ever According to Guinness World Records

Hercules was recently awarded the honorable distinction of Worlds Biggest Dog by Guinness World Records.

Hercules is an English Mastiff and has a 38 inch neck and weighs 282 pounds, with "paws the size of softballs" (reports the Boston Herald), the three-year-old monster is far larger and heavier than his breed's standard 200lb. limit. Hercules owner Mr. Flynn says that Hercules' weight is natural and not induced by a bizarre diet: "I fed him normal food and he just grew".... and grew. and grew...and grew.

The World's Ugliest Dog

What can one say?

Visit WARA Website Day

On Tuesday 1st May 2007, we ran our visit WARA Website day.  A very interesting exercise!

From early morning I tracked the Counter.com and stayed in touch from the UK with Dave "Mort" White in Perth.

You could see from the start hits came from Vanuatu and NZ.  As Australia woke up and went to work, visitors from the east then the west were recorded and later you could see them coming in from the UK and still later USA.

Mort and I were both logged onto the Counter.com using a special password and spoke to each other by phone as we watched the counter tick over.  I kept watching until 2400 hrs Perth time and came to the total visitors for the day of 327.

Thanks for your support.

Steve Elvidge

WARA Webmaster

Tips On Photography

Background Scenery

Good photographers always like to show off their latest work.

It is advisable to always consider the background as well as the subject.

Nice mountains, colourful skies and blue seas are always appreciated.

"Working Together"

Your 2007 WARA Conference !

Thursday 27th & Friday 28th September.

Ring the Atrium now and book your room.  More details on the "Conference" page WARA drop down bar "Home" page.

Who will be WA Ranger of the Year and Team of the Year 2007?

2006 winners, Luke Thirion & City of South Perth Ranger Services.

Rockingham Dog Pound Facility

from Peter Oliver

The facility will have 40 cages, a euthansia room, cool room and a storeroom.

The current administration building will be refurbished to provide Rangers with a better working environment.

The original plan included a cattery, however, due to budget constraints it had to go.

One would agree, the old facility built in 1985, with just 16 cages has seen better days. After servicing a population of about 45,000 people then, todays population is about 95,000 people and Rangers impound 1,000 dogs a year.

I will provide regular photos throughout construction, to enable you to point out to me where I went wrong, or right for that matter!

Animal People News Paper

Jan/Feb 2007 Edition

Dog attacks raise issues for lawmakers

At least 32 U.S. communities adopted or considered adopting breed-specific dog control legislation in 2006, responding to attacks involving pit bulls and Rottweilers.

The debate over whether possession and sale of pit bull terriers, Rottweilers, and possibly other dog breeds should be restricted to protect public safety is in essence a debate about possibly the oldest of all philosophical questions vexing lawmakers.

Since Biblical times opinions have conflicted as to whether laws should seek to prevent harm by forbidding potentially injurious behavior, or merely punish those whose behavior results in actual harm.

The argument that no one should be enjoined from behavior if it does not do harm tends to be politically attractive, but the counter-argument is that if harm comes to an innocent person and a guilty person is punished, at least two people suffer for an action which might have been prevented.

Further, in the case of a dog attack that kills or maims, the harm may be irreparable. As no amount of punishment can undo the damage, the argument for breed-specific legislation holds, preventing attacks of extreme consequence by prohibiting possession of dogs of high risk potential better protects public safety than relying on the uncertain deterrent effect of punishment.

Non-breed-specific dog control legislation typically relies on identifying dangerous dogs from their past behavior, which does not protect anyone from the consequences of a first incident. Usually it requires that all dogs be securely confined.

Even if pit bull terriers are uniquely dangerous, opponents of breed-specific legislation often assert, they can be kept safely if there are no children or other animals in the home. But the belief that dogs of any kind can both be house pets and be kept completely out of contact with strangers was refuted by the September 22, 2006 mauling of Judy McGruder, 74, in Rifle, Colorado.

McGruder was attacked by a three-year-old pit bull named Butterbean, after knocking on the wrong door while trying to pick up her grandson after a play date. The dog escaped the house to attack McGruder as she was leaving.

Julie Dawn Sullivan, 32, on December 6, 2006 pleaded no contest to possessing a dangerous dog who inflicted bodily harm, and pleaded guilty to not licensing Butterbean, whom she agreed to having euthanized soon after the attack. Sullivan was sentenced to do 40 hours of community service, to pay $469 in fines and court costs, and received a year in jail, suspended.

"Sullivan maintained that the dog did not have any past history of being violent, and that she had owned him since he was a puppy," wrote Heidi Rice of the Aspen Times.

The incident had further repercussions when on the same day in the same court, Garfield County animal control officer Aimee Chappelle pleaded guilty to possessing a vicious dog, identified as a pit bull by Sheriff Lou Vallario. Chappelle "paid a fine, was given a one-year deferred sentence, and was ordered to perform 16 hours of community service," wrote Dennis Webb of the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent.

"Chappelle's affinity for the breed has drawn some criticism from pit bull opponents," Webb continued.

"Rob Snyder, who lives south of Glenwood Springs, is among those who say comments made by Chappelle after a September pit bull attack in the Silt area appear to put blame on the elderly victim, Judy McGruder. Snyder, whose dog suffered a pit bull attack this summer, said Chappelle made it sound like McGruder 'did something to provoke the dog who mauled her.'"

Chappelle "was sentenced by Judge Jason Jovanovich," Webb added. "While sentencing [Julie Dawn Sullivan], Jovanovich reportedly said that if he could, he would kill all pit bulls, and that they should be illegal."

Drugs & dog attacks

The November 6, 2006 fatal mauling of Luis Fernando Romero Jr., 2, by two Rottweilers at his family's home in Tucson meanwhile raised other common elements of the debate as to whether such incidents should be ascribed more to the nature of the dogs or to the characteristics of many of their keepers.

"The day of the attack," wrote Josh Brodesky and Dale Quinn of the Arizona Daily Star, "Pima County Sheriff's Department investigators searched the mobile home, finding ledgers, scales, a money counter, weapons and empty suitcases reeking of marijuana. But the grieving parents, identified as Luis Fernando Romero and Jessica Nunez’ were never taken into custody. By the next day they were gone without a trace, having packed their belongings and fled, most likely to Mexico."

Pima County Child Protective Services turned out to have had two previous contacts with Romero and Nunez about broken bones suffered by their four-year-old daughter, whose whereabouts are also unknown.

Romero and Nunez immediately called 911 after their son was attacked, and drove the fatally injured boy two miles in search of help before finding sheriff's deputy Gilbert Hernandez, who called paramedics.

In other respects, the Arizona case paralleled the October 2005 fatal mauling of Jonathan Martin, 2, in Whaleyville, Virginia. Two pit bull terriers allegedly bit Martin more than 100 times, while his parents, Heather Frango, 26, and James Jonathan Martin, 30, used illegal drugs in another part of the house.
Frango and Martin in May 2006 pleaded guilty to charges of involuntary man-slaughter and felony child abuse and neglect. Frango and Martin were in August 2006 sentenced to serve three years each in prison.

Not known is whether the victim received any warning signals from the dogs before they mauled him, whether he was killed or disabled early in the prolonged mauling, and whether both dogs were part of the initial attack.

Central to the argument that pit bulls are uniquely dangerous is that they tend to attack without the series of warnings that most other dogs provide first, and often inflict immediate severe injuries, as do Rottweilers, whereas most dogs inflict disabling, disfiguring, or fatal injuries only in sustained attacks or pack attacks.

"The prosecution told the court about Martin's long list of past offenses that included 11 charges of driving without a license and a drug charge," wrote Sabine C. Hirschauer of the Hampton Roads Daily Press. "The couple's history of drug abuse soon emerged as the center of the case. Police found a bong, a container used to smoke drugs, in their master bedroom. Frango confessed that both had smoked marijuana the night before the mauling. She also told investigators that Martin grew marijuana and kept the pit bulls to guard the drugs. An inmate testified that Martin told him he and Frango were both high on cocaine and marijuana the morning of the mauling."

"The old family home" where the attack occurred "was later condemned," wrote Linda McNatt of the Virginian-Pilot. "Code violations included a septic system rigged to pump raw sewage outside a window."

Not seeing risk

Virginia in May 2006 adopted legislation creating felony and misdemeanor penalties for keeping a dog who attacks a person, but Frango and Martin were sentenced under the older legislation used to convict Deanna H. Large, 37, of Spotsylvania, whose three pit bull terriers in March 2005 fatally mauled Dorothy Sullivan, 82, and her Shih Tzu, in Sullivan's own front yard. Large was on March 30, 2006 sentenced to serve three years in prison for manslaughter.

A central element in the Large case appeared to be that Large did not accept that her dogs were dangerous, despite many complaints from neighbors about their behavior.

However, San Francisco prosecutors failed to persuade a jury in July 2006 that denial of risk was sufficient evidence of criminal negligence to convict Maureen Faibish, 40, of felony child endangerment in the June 2005 pit bull mauling of her son Nicholas, 12. The jury of eight men and four women reportedly split 7-5 in favor of conviction, well short of the unanimous verdict required to convict.

A case involving similar issues appeared to be heading toward a swift conclusion in Bossier City, Louisiana, when Mary and Christopher Hansche reportedly agreed on December 21, 2006 to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges of improper supervision of their child, perform community service, attend parenting classes, and surrender possession of a pit bull terrier and a ferret.

"The Hansches were arrested on December 7 after they woke up and saw that one of their pets had gnawed off four of their month-old daughter's toes," reported Associ-ated Press. "Mary Hansche, 22, said the ferret did it; police said Christopher Hansche, 26, thought the dog was responsible."

Other cases of note

A case demonstrating that any dogs might be dangerous to a defenseless person came to an end on November 28, 2006, in Marion, Indiana, when Linda Kitchen, 58, drew four years in prison and three years on probation for criminal recklessness resulting in serious bodily injury, two counts of obstruction of justice, and one count of false reporting. Her husband Michael Kitchen received the same sentence, on the same charges, one week earlier. On May 1, 2005, the Kitchens reported that two stray dogs had entered their home through an open door and killed Linda Kitchen's mother, Julia Beck, 87, who was an invalid. A police investigation established four days later that the attackers were the Kitchens' own Labrador and Dachshund.

Among pending U.S. criminal cases involving dog attacks, Bentley Collins, 53, of Dillon, South Carolina, is facing involuntary manslaughter charges after six of his bull-dog/boxer mixes killed John Matthew Davis, 10, on the evening of November 3, 2006, as Davis walked home from a neighbor's house.

No suspects have been identified in the case of an undersized and underfed pit bull mix who fatally mauled Pedro Rios Jr., 4, on November 21, 2006 in an unincorporated suburb of Houston. The dog is believed to have been a stray.

However, Firas Beseisso, 22, of Willis, another Houston suburb, was charged with a Class A misdemeanor count of possessing a dangerous dog, after his pit bull killed David "Ted" McCurry, 41, on October 29, 2006. Recounted the Houston Chronicle, "McCurry and Kimberly Cunningham, 19, had gone to Beseisso's home to look at the pit bull because they wanted to buy a dog for home protection."

"Life As A Parkie"

Life As A Parkie

You Must Be Joking!

One day, a Ranger came home from a hard day chasing dogs and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very sexy nightie. "Tie me up," she purred, "and you can do anything you want."

So he tied her up and went golfing.

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A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into the house. She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Honey, pack your bags. I won the lottery!"

The husband said, "Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountain stuff?"

"Doesn't matter," she said. "Just get out."

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Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right,
and the other is a husband.

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A Polish immigrant went to apply for a driver's license.

First, of course, he had to take an eye sight test. The optician showed him a card with the letters  'C Z W I X N O S T A C Z.'

"Can you read this?" the optician asked.

"Read it?" the Polish guy replied, "I know the guy."

**************************************************
Mother Superior called all the nuns together and said to them,

"I must tell you all something. We have a case of gonorrhea in the convent."

"Thank God," said an elderly nun at the back. "I'm so tired of chardonnay."

**************************************************
A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband.

Suddenly, her husband burst into the kitchen.

"Careful," he said, "CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my GOD!

You're cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW!

We need more butter. Oh my GOD! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER?

They're going to STICK! Careful!  CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you CRAZY?

Have you LOST your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!"

The wife stared at him. "What in the world is wrong with you?

You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?"

The husband calmly replied, "I just wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm driving."
 

On The Move

Person

Rangers To The Rescue

We might have known!

rangerdazewarangers