Sunday, March 20, 2005 - Tonight, the Nassau West Department of Justice and the Nassau West Sheriff's Department were put to the test, and they passed? Or did they?

To best relay this story, it is necessary to start where it started, at the beginning. This started at about 10 AM at the Nassau West Benson Embassy when Nassau West Secretary of State Wayland Bartram was emptying a bucket in the east lawn.

Upon removing the contents, a rodent startled the Secretary who threw the bucket and its contents. The rodent was never located. A short time later, however, a newborn rodent (usually called a "pinkie") was found near the scene. This pinkie was so young that its eyes were not yet open and was completely devoid of any hair.

The pinkie was observed for quite some time and was covered with some of its nesting material to keep it warm. Nassau West Sheriff Kelly Bartram was the first officer to respond to the scene and immediately began his report of the incident.

Meanwhile it was determined that the Nassau West Medical Center would not be capable of keeping the newborn alive without its mother. An APB was issued in hopes of locating the mother. Hours passed and attempting to locate the mother was unsuccessful.

Sheriff Bartram decided it would be best to euthanize the animal humanely, rather than leave it outside in the elements waiting for its mother and waiting to die. He said, "I think it's best to put this little guy out of his misery, rather than sitting here freezing waiting to be picked apart by a bird or discovered by ants which would eat him alive." The President disagreed.

Motions for both sides were filed in Nassau West Superior Court No. 7. The Court quickly ruled in favor of euthanizing the unfortunate animal and set a 5 PM deadline for the mother to retrieve her baby or it would be put down. The President was furious.

A last minute appeal to the Nassau West Supreme Court granted a stay of execution until 5:05 PM, when they affirmed the ruling of the Superior Court and ordered the execution to proceed. The Sheriff, being the one selected to euthanize the animal, commenced to do so at 5:06 PM.

The final words spoken to the animal, instead of last rites, were, "I'm sorry about this, little guy." The entire process lasted less than two seconds, and yielded immediate and painless death to the pinkie. The Sheriff's Department has refused to describe the method of execution.

Sheriff Bartram had this to say about the event, "I really hated to do that. (The pinkie) was so cute and totally helpless. I wish there had been another way to handle this most unfortunate incident, but there wasn't. This was not a good day for the Department or for myself."