Monday, September 2, 2013

Who's a beautiful bride ... you are, yes you are...

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I work in a government department, so I know all about the drama of spending public funds.  When you're spending government money, you have to really consider what you're doing.  Is it appropriate?  Can you justify it?  It's essentially people's hard earned tax dollars you're frittering away, so you'd better make damned sure you're following all the rules.

So when I read about a Sri Lankan police department that decided a good use of public money was to throw an elaborate wedding for their 18 sniffer dogs [link], followed by a honeymoon for each doggy couple, I simultaneously giggled and cringed.

I giggled because, come on, puppies in formal wear!  Puppies getting married to each other like they think they're real people!  I'm not made of stone, you know!

But on the other hand, the civil servant in me immediately though "Oh crap, someone's going to cop it in the neck for this one".   You don't go spending government money without a damned good reason, and quite rightly so.  Somehow, I think they'll have a hard time justifying a puppy wedding on their financial statements.

To be fair though, it's not like a bunch of Sri Lankan police officers got drunk and decided it would be hilarious to pair up all their sniffer dogs and have a Seven Brides For Seven Brothers style wedding.  There was a method behind their madness.  Apparently it was a bit of a publicity stunt to advertise the fact that they were going to attempt to breed the dogs there rather than keep on buy them from the Netherlands.

That makes sense, I suppose.  Dogs born in the location would be better acclimated and more used to the local food and water.  And while I don't know how much money it costs to raise a sniffer dog, I have to assume it's cheaper than buying one, so that's got to be a good thing.

But seriously guys, it might have been better if you'd just rented the dogs a hotel room and set them up with some Barry White.

Just saying.

36 comments:

  1. There is just too many things to be annoyed at these days when it comes to government. It tires me. I wish the dogs long and healthy lives with lots of puppies.

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  2. Best blog post title ever!!

    Oh, great post as well, but loved the title!

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  3. You're obviously not an American civil servant as they would think nothing about blowing $1M for a "conference", complete with salsa dancing instructions and later a luau. I mean it isn't like it's REAL money...it's just taxpayer money.

    The doggie wedding might be a bit over the top, but raising their own sniffer dogs is a great idea. Wonder where their gift registry was? ;)

    S

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  4. If it is not on a dog's wedding, it will on something else. At least, this way they are doing a humane service.

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    1. True. I'd guess it probably didn't cost that much either, it's just because it was so out there that it drew everyone's attention.

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  5. People will always find something interesting to do with money that doesn't belong to them. You should see what our government is doing!

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  6. Do you really have to justify it or any government spending? I just thought they threw those type of expenditures under some blanket like "military" and since no one audits the auditors, they're in the clear. Why is dog breeding an issue for the police or Sri Lanka in general? I guarantee the ledger says "animal control" for the doggie wedding.

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  7. Glad to see that someone cares about the excesses of public spending.

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  8. I admire that the civil servants in your area think about the prudent way to spend money. I don't think a lot of governments give a thought to prudent spending. As far as the dog weddings go, I can appreciate they wanted to make a point but that seems a bit lavish as far as the doggy wedding goes.

    On one hand it makes sense that they want to breed dogs locally, wouldn't they be better served to tell the public how they plan to train the dogs. Service dogs coming out of the Netherlands are the best trained dogs in the world. That's why most countries buy them. It's one thing to breed a dog but it's a whole other things to teach it to sniff out drugs and bombs.

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    1. Part of me can appreciate the marketing angle of it all, but I can also understand why people got upset.

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  9. Sometimes I just love reading the news in other countries. What is acceptable there that would never fly here (and New Zealand is pretty liberal). Thank for the doggie laugh, and I am rolling my eyes too.

    Rhonda @Laugh-Quotes

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    1. Hmm, i'm not sure it would occur to anyone here either to throw their sniffer dogs a wedding.

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  10. You wouldn't want those dogs to live in sin, would you?

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    1. I suppose that's a good point. All those poor puppies born out of wedlock.

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  11. ha ha - M is laughing her fool head off here. So funny.

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  12. Well now I feel less like an idiot from reading the title because I was feeling like a four year old, or a really unattractive 58 year old saying I do for the first time. Poor doggies, outfits can't be comfy and who wants people watching you do it. Plus what if they aren't attracted to their doggie significant others?

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  13. If you want advice how to fritter away taxpayer dollars, just ask us. We've made it an art.

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  14. Your blog is how I get my news of what's going on in the world. True story.

    Hugs!

    Valerie

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    1. And it's the only reputable news source. Don't trust the others, Val! They'll just lie to you!

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  15. Very funny! I sometimes scratch my head at what people choose to spend money on ~ public and private.

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    1. It does make you wonder where their heads were when they decided on it.

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  16. Pretty good publicity stunt tho, definitely gets people talking about it. I guess it is also greener to uh breed the dogs there, if they come from the Netherlands they must have already a big carbon foot print...I should be in the PR team.

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    1. LOL! It sounds like you're getting a commission or something!

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  17. Well that's certainly a new one. grin.

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  18. Aw, the cuteness! Of course, if I did that, people would just think I was nuts...but if a police department does it, it's considered publicity.

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