Word: metallers
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...There is an end-of-world ambience to Srifa as the hot wind blows down deserted streets, stirring the branches of eucalyptus trees and banging loose sheets of metal blown off shop fronts by the force of the exploding bombs. Other than the few Hizballah men who dart between the rubble, the only other signs of life are the packs of scrawny dogs who lope down the street and a pair of thin horses standing forlornly in the shade of a gas station waiting patiently, it seems, for a master who may never return...
...that they scream. Snaring them is simple enough, says Nitin Desai, a conservationist at the Wildlife Protection Society of India-you set a few iron traps near a game-park watering hole, then wait for a tiger to take a wrong step. But when the trap's jagged metal teeth sink into its paw, the tiger howls-an alarm that can rouse a sleepy park ranger. So, a smart poacher will plunge a spear down the trapped animal's throat and tear out its vocal chords; then, at his leisure, he can poison or electrocute...
...Dallas, such thefts have doubled over the last year, according to the Dallas Police Department, up from 113 to 282 so far this year. Five detectives working metal thefts are overwhelmed by the increase, according to police spokesperson Donna Hernandez. Dallas' Dalco Air Conditioning & Heating Co. has replaced units at a pizza parlor and a struggling Baptist church. The two crimes total $30,000 in damage...
...just ACs that are the targets of the metal thieves. Plumbing pipes, electrical wires, mail boxes and even copper urns decorating graves are all fair game. Even the Alabama Environmental Council's recycling center in downtown Birmingham was a victim of a recycling crime. The center's lone bathroom was stripped of copper pipe, spewing gallons of water out during drought restrictions on water usage. Fortunately, a homeless man cut off the water. Still, the $12 worth of copper mined from the sink cost the small non-profit $800 in repairs...
...Prosecuting these acts is not easy. One problem is the inability to track copper parts and tie them to an offense. Hernandez recommends spray painting or etching copper pipes for identity purposes. Meanwhile, companies like American Scrap Metal in Dallas check photo IDs and turn away scrap that looks too new. Birmingham's Standard Heating & Air Conditioning Co. and Dalco are even starting to attach alarms to AC units. That may sound drastic, until you realize that in the South air conditioners are a life or death issue. "Without air conditioning, nobody would live in this hell hole," said Points...