Canine lifeguard barred from beach

NOTE TO SELF: WHEN A PERSON IS DROWNING, A LIFEGUARD IS A LIFEGUARD IS...

Britain's only lifeguard dog, Bilbo, who is on guard duty patrolling Sennen in west Cornwall, has lost his job.

His beach duties have been assumed by the RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution due to a dog ban on the beach. Understandably, Bilbo's owner is barking mad but the Penwith council who decide on these things, is backing the RNLI.

Seems that the canine has been part of the lifeguard team for three years and has been praised for helping to prevent a swimmer experiencing problems. Wearing a special yellow jacket, he can paddle (presumably the dog paddle) out to swimmers in distress, pulling a rescue float with him.

His owner, Steve Jamieson, was informed by the RNLI that a concession which got Bilbo round a beach ban, was no longer acceptable for safety reasons. Bilbo had been allowed to carry out his life guarding duties in the past because he had been carried on an all terrain bike (ATB) when he was not at the lifeguard hut or in the sea.

Now that the RNLI has taken over life guarding duties, it is not allowing him on their ATBs.

Read the rest of this sad dog's tale here in addition to a photo of Bilbo in action: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/7408021.stm

I dunno. To me, this could be personal. It was alright to have the pooch help out for three years and suddenly he's personna non grata? They are offering to allow Bilbo help out in public relations/marketiing work and safety education in schools but still...it was his (Bilbo's) career and now...

Meanwhile in Italy where they obviously see the value in dog rescuers, scores of specially trained dogs have been deployed as lifeguards on Italy's busiest beaches this summer. The dogs, mostly of the Newfoundland or Labrador breeds, are trained to jump out of helicopters and boats and swim to the rescue of struggling swimmers. They are credited with having saved several lives by taking lifebuoys to swimmers and towing them to safety.

Read how Italy values its dog lifeguards here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6924827.stm

You can voice your opinion regarding this issue by contacting the Penwith District Council here:

Penwith District CouncilSt ClarePenzanceCornwallTR18 3QW
Tel: 01736 362341 (0845 672 2124 out of hours emergencies)Fax: 01736 336575
Email: web@penwith.gov.uk

NEXT STEP TO ELIMINATING THE HUMAN TOUCH?

NOTE TO SELF: another move to replace people?


Perhaps as many people do, you might have complained about the long wait at the supermarket to pay the cashier. Then again there's always the do-it-yourself scanning system that in theory but not necessarily in practice, makes the check-out faster. Yet another move afoot or at hand in this case has been created to improve on the self checkout system with the use of a high-tech hand-held personal scanner.

Just what we need in life: another "tool" to schlep along while shopping.

The way it works is shoppers remove an item off the shelf, scan it and bag it all on their own without any human intervention. Although more commonly used in Europe, North American supermarkets are beginning to introduce it slowly to consumers. Once they finished shopping customers head to the front of the store and have their credit cards scanned.

So how about customers who try to "forget" about paying for an item?

To avoid this occurence some shoppers are randomly picked for audits - as a reminder of course for those "oh my - who me?" occasions.

There is no information provided as to whether stores using this "service" make items available at a lower cost since customers do all the work. But then don't we always?

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/06/21/scan.as.you.shop.ap/index.html?eref=yahoo


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