A chain of links led me to this funny site called Dumb Laws, where I found a number of really silly-sounding rules including the claim that in Florida,
If an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle.
Well, I'm as willing to believe in the idiocy of the Florida Legislature as the next guy, but it made me a little suspicious that there was no citation to the source of this rule. Party-pooper that I am, I popped over to the Florida Statutes Annotated on Westlaw and searched for the words “elephant” and “elephants”. Not found.
Could it be the the “dumb” here is believing these are actual dumb laws?
(Hope these guys have done their research…)
It might be that the author of the “dumb laws” took some liberties with explaining the law. For example, there may be an old law that requires that either cars or animals occupying a parking spot must pay the meter. The law may state something like “animals that may be ridden”, clearly thinking of horses, mules and the like, but also technically applying to elephants. The author of the “dumb laws” then introduces the word “elephant” in order to make the law sound more absurd.
Even though it is categorized as a “Florida Law”, could it be a local ordinance? Aren’t there communities in Florida that were traditionally off-season homes to circuses?
My nephew got a “Drunk Horse Riding” ticket in Colorado. I had him ride one of my horses home, because he was drunk and the horse knew the way. I thought he would be safer. It was down a dirt road and only a little way. I still don’t know what a cop was doing way out there in the middle of the night.