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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat kind of person does this?
http://www.seattledogspot.com/dog-health-wellness/officials-warn-dog-owners-exploding-tennis-balls/KOMO-TV reported yesterday that Officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms warned Seattle area families and dog owners that abandoned tennis balls they find could be small bombs powerful enough to maim or kill both people and dogs.
KOMO reporter Connie Thompson said officials often see an increase in reports about exploding tennis balls around the 4th of July.
Last February an Everett man found a paper bag of them in the Silver Lake area. And in 2000 a dog in Portland died while playing fetch when a tennis ball that its owner found exploded in its mouth.
At a community meeting last week with Kent police, someone asked how to spot a tennis ball bomb. Here is the response from the Kent Police Department Facebook page:
A tennis ball bomb is very easy to identify. It is a real tennis ball that has some sort of fuse sticking out of it. The tennis ball could also be completely wrapped in duct tape with a fuse sticking out.
Seems like there is no end to the methods people invent to injure or kill dogs.
Some people just suck.
liberalmuse
(18,672 posts)Anyone who would do this has to know that a child or animal is likely to be the victim. I'll never understand it. Not in this life or a thousand others.
REP
(21,691 posts)If they are bombs with fuses, how do they get the dogs to light the fuses?
Sounds like silly season nonsense to me.
ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)The notion that someone is going to build s booby trapped tennis ball is absurd.
In order to do that, you have to have a vibration trigger which, by itself, is easy.
The tricky part is not having it go off on you. So, you need to place the ball carefully, and then twist or have a switch on two leads that you'd then stuff back into the ball.
That would make it go off as soon as it was moved. If you wanted to have a delay between the first movement and detonation, then you'll have to have a time delay circuit, which could be a capacitor, a resistor, and a threholding comparator which, again by itself isn't that hard.
But you'd also probably want to have a time delay on the arming circuit as well.
Then you have to wire that up with your battery, your explosive, and your igniter, stick it inside a tennis ball, and then wander off and place them, carefully, in various places without being seen, in the hope that someone is going to pick them up at random.
Maybe if someone had a fuse-ignited tennis ball bomb, they could light it and lob it into an area where any of several dogs might pick it up - if the dog was inclined to pick up a ball with a lit fuse burning... but that doesn't sound like a viable plan unless you are prepared to outrun the owner and possibly the owner's other dog.
Seems far fetched.
REP
(21,691 posts)Once you start thinking about it, it seems more and more absurd.
Although it's a nice that this is bullshit, for the sake of the dogs, but scaring people over bullshit is, well, bullshit.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Just don't take the Mickey Mouse blotter acid while setting your tennis ball bombs at the instruction of your satanic coven.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)REP
(21,691 posts)Unfortunately, most things you hear about cats being abused is true, though it's mostly done by teens playing at being occulty and other assholes.
Response to ripcord (Original post)
Oneironaut This message was self-deleted by its author.
Oneironaut
(5,494 posts)No idea if it's bs like the "needles in Halloween candy" urban legend. Supposedly someone near me's dog died from a poisoned tennis ball, but a - how would they have known it was the tennis ball, and b - would the poison really be effective anymore?
So, meaningless urban legends or truth? I have no idea.
REP
(21,691 posts)But now, kids don't trick or treat and X-ray machines are tied up to examine Snickers.
Even the smartest dog is unlikely to be able to light a fuse, even if it guarantees blowing up the vet's office.
Downwinder
(12,869 posts)REP
(21,691 posts)I know some smart dogs, but asking a dog to light a fuse is a bit much. Most dogs have quit smoking anyway and don't carry lighters. And most dogs won't pick up something that is literally on fire, such as a tennis ball with a lit fuse. I doubt Raytheon is perfecting the one-dog-at-a-time Death Ball and trying it out at unnamed parks.
This scary scary story just sounds like bullshit once it's examined rationally.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)REP
(21,691 posts)Well, probably.
csziggy
(34,136 posts)So if a dog bites down on it, it explodes.
Snopes:
<SNIP>
Tennis ball-bombs are nothing new. Investigators said they are usually made by curious teens and young adults "looking for that big bang," using information found on the Internet. They are then abandoned when they don't detonate like they were supposed to.
Because this sort of bomb isn't all that uncommon, folks are cautioned to leave found tennis balls alone, especially those which are wrapped in duct or electrical tape or feel heavier than usual.
http://www.snopes.com/critters/mishaps/tennisball.asp
Emphasis added by me.
tsites
(36 posts)Actually the way these bombs are made is to cut off the heads of self-striking matches. Push the heads through a small hole in the tennis ball until the ball is packed tightly with match heads. When you throw the ball at a wall, the compression of the ball causes many of the match heads to ignite causing a chain reaction and an explosion (no fuse necessary). It's not as powerful as one packet with gunpowder, but it's plenty powerful enough to blow a few fingers off if it goes off in your hand. Unfortunately I've seen "science" teachers demonstrate this to their classes.
Now that makes some kind of sense.
REP
(21,691 posts)The match head ones aren't made to target dogs, as the article strongly implies.
tclambert
(11,085 posts)meow2u3
(24,761 posts)designed to scare people from playing with their dogs. I don't believe that for one minute--at least, not now.
Whiskeytide
(4,461 posts)... one dog reported dead - in 2000 - but the report says they are more common than you think. Apparently it's a home made firework that is abandoned when it doesn't go off.
Six such bombs reported in 2000 in Portland alone.
http://www.snopes.com/critters/mishaps/tennisball.asp
Odd hobby - and irresponsible as hell to leave 'em laying around.
REP
(21,691 posts)See above about match head tennis ball "bombs." One dog 16 years ago is unfortunate, not someone on a dog-killing spree. The article is poorly researched and written and so is the Snopes entry.
Whiskeytide
(4,461 posts)Apparently some assholes use tennis balls to make home made fireworks. If one doesn't go off, they just abandon it for some hapless dog to find and bite into later.
The OP - and several posters - seemed to think it was a nefarious plan to kill dogs. Nope. But apparently it is a real enough event. Six in Portland in one year - per the city's bomb squad unit - is enough to make you say "damn, really?"