Two guard dogs that protected Prince William Destroyed

[klr]

From the article:

It is believed that the two dogs were put down on Friday – but last night the MoD said the timing was ‘entirely coincidental’.

A spokesman stressed that the prince did not work with the dogs, which were used to provide extra security at the base.

Well, if that was the case, why drag Prince William into the story at all, except as a means of grabbing attention?

[Tyrannical]

No excuse, those dogs deserved retirement benefits at a happy dog farm.

At least the DM has had some nice soldier / dog reunification stories.

[klr]

Ah, the Daily Mail ... always with the human interest angle.

Or in this case, canine interest.

[mistermack]

From the article:

It is believed that the two dogs were put down on Friday – but last night the MoD said the timing was ‘entirely coincidental’.

A spokesman stressed that the prince did not work with the dogs, which were used to provide extra security at the base.

Well, if that was the case, why drag Prince William into the story at all, except as a means of grabbing attention?

The dogs were relevant to the prince being there. The security level has dropped now that he's gone, so the dogs are no longer needed. They were there because he was there, basically.

[Tyrannical]

Ah, the Daily Mail ... always with the human interest angle.

Or in this case, canine interest.

The DM does have a fair amount of positive human interest stories every day, usually with far more good pictures than others.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -away.html

[mistermack]

Ah, the Daily Mail ... always with the human interest angle.

Or in this case, canine interest.

The DM does have a fair amount of positive human interest stories every day, usually with far more good pictures than others.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -away.html

Pretty pictures taken by a gamekeeper. How very Daily Mail.
The subtext is that shooting is good, country estates conserve wildlife, and rearing animals just to blast them with shotguns for fun is a good admirable thing.

Anyone can take pictures. It's highly overrated. Especially with the high-tec cameras available today. You can't go wrong.

[klr]

From the article:

It is believed that the two dogs were put down on Friday – but last night the MoD said the timing was ‘entirely coincidental’.

A spokesman stressed that the prince did not work with the dogs, which were used to provide extra security at the base.

Well, if that was the case, why drag Prince William into the story at all, except as a means of grabbing attention?

The dogs were relevant to the prince being there. The security level has dropped now that he's gone, so the dogs are no longer needed. They were there because he was there, basically.

That's how I understood the headline. But had Prince William not been there in the first place to protect, might the dogs have been put down anyway? In fact, you could argue that by needing special protection, he gave them an extra lease of life. [/spin]

[mistermack]

That's how I understood the headline. But had Prince William not been there in the first place to protect, might the dogs have been put down anyway? In fact, you could argue that by needing special protection, he gave them an extra lease of life. [/spin]

Oh yeh, you can look at it that way, and I often do. If I didn't like steak, fewer cows would live. It's true.
I've got nothing against putting dogs down anyway. They're not an endangered species, and they put pressure on species that ARE endangered, by eating all that dog food.

It's the whole royal bollox that I don't like.

[laklak]

Wonder why they couldn't rehome them? Perhaps too aggressive for the suburbs? We once adopted an ex-drug dog from U.S. Customs service. He was a collie/golden retriever mix who worked on the New York/Canada border, a great dog. And he could find your stash in a heartbeat if you misplaced it.

[klr]

Wonder why they couldn't rehome them? Perhaps too aggressive for the suburbs? We once adopted an ex-drug dog from U.S. Customs service. He was a collie/golden retriever mix who worked on the New York/Canada border, a great dog. And he could find your stash in a heartbeat if you misplaced it.

One of them had "behavioral issues", so yes, that was probably a factor.

[Cormac]

A little over the top. He may not have been super pilot, but he would have at least needed to demonstrate competency...

I don't think so. It was their job to keep him there, unless he was too dangerous to let loose. It's great PR to have him flying helicopters and '' saving lives ''.
But anything challenging wouldn't have come his way. It's obvious. What sort of PR would it be, if he crashed a copter, or killed someone that he was supposed to be rescuing? There's no way that they could possibly risk anything like that.
So even if he was proficient, he wouldn't be as useful as any other pilot, because he wouldn't be ALLOWED to do what a normal pilot would.

And when it comes to selection, they probably take the best one percent.
There's only a one percent chance that he would have been in that bracket. He wasn't selected on merit, but on connections.

So you have a lower ability pilot, who cannot be allowed to do anything that requires skill.
Total waste of time and money, except as a PR stunt.

If he died in those circumstances it would be a PR triumph. He'd be the people's martyr. A selfless sacrifice for the welfare of others.

[Cormac]

...But William and his family have little or no freedom, and practically zero choice about what they do in life...

He can surely choose to remove himself from the line of succession if the 'gilded cage' is that unpleasant for him

To an extent. But, then his name would live on in ignominy down through history. There is considerable pressure on those fellows to stick to their "duty".

To be clear, I am a Republican (Irish) - although I despise what the last 90 years did to Irish Republicanism, and I despise what the IRA became since our Civil War.

But if the majority of British people want a monarchy as head of state, that is fine by me.

My point is about the impact of that responsibility on one person. It is not easy, and does involve an intense workload.

[cronus]

They won't tell the press but the prince was really close to those dogs, and he'd been told they'd be taken good care of only hours before the base commander had them put down. He knows men have been risking their lives to keep this self-indulgent toff airborne, and this was revenge.

[Tyrannical]

Maybe the RAF should be put in charge of the prison, welfare, and health system Brilliant cost savings once they just put everyone down

[mistermack]

If he died in those circumstances it would be a PR triumph. He'd be the people's martyr. A selfless sacrifice for the welfare of others.

Probably. But what's the point of another popular DEAD royal? They've already got one of those.
Anyway, if he died through poor piloting, they sympathy would be less. And he'd be sure to take others with him, which wouldn't be so heroic. In fact, they would almost certainly lie, and say that the co-pilot was responsible.

But even if he got some kudos, the palace would get the blame for letting him do it. Which would reflect badly on the surviving royal family, as did the Diana episode.
In any case, William is their big hope for popularity. Charles is a pretty despicable moron, and Harry isn't widely admired, despite all the effort put in.
So they won't take any risks with William.

They won't tell the press but the prince was really close to those dogs, and he'd been told they'd be taken good care of only hours before the base commander had them put down. He knows men have been risking their lives to keep this self-indulgent toff airborne, and this was revenge.

They were taken care of.