S02.E03: Tortoises And Labradors

[DanaK]

Quote

Frank unearths an illegal animal smuggling ring while Shred's first night shift introduces him to the world of Furry parties. Victoria has a secret admirer, and Emily is hellbent on helping her figure out who it is. Patel and Templeton get stuck working together for the day in the all-new "Tortoises and Labradors" episode of Animal Control airing Wednesday, March 20 (9:02-9:32 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

 

[AnimeMania]

John Procaccino as Jimmy Shaw

Thomas Lennon as Patrick Shaw

Reggie Conquest

[Crashcourse]

Patel and Templeton riding together cracked me up and it was nice to see them bonding at the end.

It was also nice to see Thomas Lennon.  Hadn't seen him since Reno 911.

I could be wrong, but I have a feeling it's Frank who sent the gift basket to Victoria.

[possibilities]

Lennon was on "After Midnight" one day recently, fwiw.

It could be Frank who's sending the gift baskets, but it would be funny if it was Bettany, the one person who didn't sign the card.

You don't need the cops to find out who owns an address. Real estate transactions and tax records are publicly searchable, at least here in MA. We also don't need licenses for service animals. I know someone who trained her own.

Still, enjoyable episode.

[Harvey]

This was a really good episode. Frank being upset that the office didn't do anything for his pneumonia was funny 😆 And so was when he missed the stop sign.

I am not sure where they are going with Templeton's character.

[DanaK]

The part with the medical dog revealing itself with the diabetes guy was pretty sweet

[Driad]

The dog started by opening the refrigerator, IIRC, which worried me for a moment because dogs that open fridges are not always doing it to be helpful.  A friend's dog opened the fridge at someone else's house and ate everything he could reach including a pound of butter.

They seemed to have a bit more screen time for animals than they did in an earlier episode, which is good.  I could quibble about the species and weight of the tortoise but I won't.

[peachmangosteen]

On 3/20/2024 at 9:37 PM, Crashcourse said:

I could be wrong, but I have a feeling it's Frank who sent the gift basket to Victoria.

That was my first thought but then the 't' didn't match. I can imagine Frank not writing it the same way though because he picked up on what they were doing and changed it. But then again, maybe it's just the Frank/Victoria shipper in me thinking he did it lol.

[possibilities]

Seeing how awful Frank's father was to him, and that it wasn't just a sibling ribbing between him and his brother, really explains Frank's personality of extreme cynicism and defensiveness.

I could see him sending the gift baskets, but it's almost too obvious. I don't know yet whether the show is the sort to do the obvious thing (it might be!) or not.

And the card could have been written by the gift shop staff-- when I had flowers sent to someone, I called it in and they wrote my message onto the card for me.

[iMonrey]

It really pissed me off that Ravi and Templeton left the dog tied to the doorknob. The owner might not be home for a long time. Clearly she was not answering the doorbell when they were trying to make their getaway. 

[incandescent]

The service dog storyline was infuriating. First of all, there is no government-issued documentation to prove a service dog is legitimate in the US, and it's illegal for state or municipal governments to require certification of service dogs. Second of all, you steal a medical device from a person and don't make sure to put it back in her hand?? You just saw how important that dog is for treating a medical emergency, which for all you know that lady is having right now!

[Crashcourse]

If the person wasn't home, the dog barking outside would probably attract a neighbor's attention, so I didn't think it was that big of a deal.

[possibilities]

How would aggravating a neighbor help anything? It's more likely to put the dog in danger than help the dog. Also, they should have done a wellness check on the woman, lest she be lying on the floor like the guy at the station, in a blood sugar crash.

When they started to take the dog, the woman should have insisted on going with them to the station, and if they refused, she should have called there immediately to complain. By the time they got back there with the dog, the situation would be known to their supervisor.

Or, the guys could have asked her more questions instead of leaping to conclusions and confiscating the dog so fast.

Also, I think that bringing an animal to the restricted area (if it's not a service animal) would be a fine, not an animal confiscation? Wouldn't it? At least for a first offense? Maybe they'd issue a ticket and you'd have a court appearance date to dispute it-- long before they take your animal. If anything, worst case scenario, they'd arrest YOU, rather than confiscating the animal and letting you go free.

There needs to be some kind of protocol, because taking someone's dog is never a joke, but taking a service dog? Ye gods, it's 10,000 times worse.

 

I am not sure why the dog was not wearing a vest. The service dogs I know always wear a vest indicating their status, but I don't know if medical alert dogs typically do that, and of course it's not a law, as far as I know. It's just a way to signal to people not to bother the dog while it's working.

There IS a problem of people claiming they have a service animal in order to get away with  bringing animals where animals don't have a right to be, and the unfairness of it is that it does wind up meaning that people with legitimate service animals are frequently harassed. 

So I found the story realistic as well as problematic, and was glad that when the guys realized they had fucked up and were going to be in big trouble. I wanted to see them suffer those consequences. But this is a comedy so they don't follow through on those things.

There ought to be a protocol to deal with this kind of thing, and the staff ought to know what it is. It's not actually funny.

[Driad]

Not about this episode, but do ambulance crews, police, etc. have protocols if they are dealing with a person with a dog?  Years ago a friend was walking her dog, fell, and took a while to get up.  Someone who saw this must have called, because an ambulance showed up.  They told her to tie the dog's leash to the fence and come back for it later, which she was not willing to do.  She ended up walking the few blocks home (with a broken arm) and getting a ride to the hospital.  I hope there are better protocols in place now.

[possibilities]

I don't know in a general way, but when a neighbor was arrested here, he asked the cops doing it to let him ask another neighbor to feed his dogs. They allowed him to do that before they took him away. I don't think it was a policy, though. More like a favor.

I would hope for better from animal control and medical people than from cops, but I am guessing it varies from district to district.

 

[Crashcourse]

I handwaved the dog situation because I don't overthink things in comedies. 😁