>Unless things have radically changed over the past year, Mr. Sellers is not >an attorney, and therefore you should not take his writings as legal advice If you read the article in question you will note that it clearly states that the author is not an attorney and cannot give legal advice. In speaking to Randy you will find that he will not hide this fact and will tell you up front that the knowledge comes from years of experience DOING the job. You cannot be involved in over 200 bite cases over a 12 year period without learning something from the attorneys and public officials you deal with. The advice given in that particular article is no more than what every child used to be taught in basic civics class (am I dating myself?) >Secondly, there is now case law (and I am sorry that I do not have the >actual case, although it was recently discussed on the FML I believe) which >goes against Mr. Sellers ideas of suing the Government when a ferret is >taken from it's owner for rabies testing. Plaintiffs recently sued a local >government for the value of the animal after their ferret was destroyed for >rabies testing. The court found (I am paraphrasing here) that the >government had the right to test for rabies without compensation to the >owner. Yes, the Rasha case was lost on appeal. This is one instance. Despite this one case there have been at least a dozen where the principle was upheld and the owner compensated. And for each of these cases there are probably as least as many where the compensation has been agreed to without litigation. It is a mystery to me how Maryland ruled the way it did (although I haven't read the actual papers). This is black letter law which means it is right out in the open and does not rquire interpretation. In closing, let me drag out a favorite quote of mine: When asked if I thought I was some kind of attorney or something (because I was quoting an ordinance to a cop) I replied, "You don't have to be an attorney to understand the law any more than you have to be a proctologist to recognize an asshole." Part of the problem with the world today is that people think that understanding their legal rights rights is something only a highly trained lawyer can do. We can and must take the time to at least learn the basics. [MD] [Posted in FML issue 1925]