On the lighter side of the news

Library evacuated over spray
By Don Peat, The Peterborough Examiner
Friday, March 9, 2007. Page B1

The curious incident of the pepper spray in the library sounds like a
book title but it was fact, not fiction, yesterday morning at the city
library.
Shortly after the main library on Aylmer Street opened at 10 a.m., staff
had to evacuate the building and prop open the doors after pepper spray was
released around the main desk.
City firefighters responded, but no injuries were reported and the
building was reopened quickly, staff said.
The pepper spray had been inside a pressurized canister marked "dog
repellent" on a key chain left Wednesday night, library manager Becky Rogers
said.
While staff were looking at the key chain trying to find an
identification tag that would help them find the owner, Rogers said, someone
accidentally pressed a button releasing a small dose of pepper spray.
"I noticed staff started coughing and tearing up," Rogers said, adding
the spray seemed to waft around the main desk area by the entrance and
started to float toward the children's area. "We had to evacuate everyone."
The library tends to be fairly busy when it first opens, but, except for
one staff member with a cayenne pepper allergy, no one reported any lasting
symptoms, she said.
Staff said they were glad the incident didn't happen on a Tuesday
morning when about 90 parents and children gather for story time.
The owner of the keychain has called the library, Rogers said, and will
be coming to pick up her keys.
Rogers said the incident has been a learning experience for staff and
has shown the need for a library evacuation procedure.
She said she'll start working on that immediately.
Although staff say they have seen some interesting items come into the
lost and found, no one recalled ever finding dog repellent before.
"This is one of the stranger ones," Rogers said.
dpeat@
peterboroughexaminer.com

Sidebar- Is it legal?
City police said dog repellent and bear repellent types of pepper spray
are legal -- to a point.
Sgt. Walter DiClemente said as long as the spray is bought to be used
for the intended use it's legal.
But if the spray is used in a crime then it is considered a weapon and
becomes illegal, DiClemente said.
"It's like a baseball bat. You can use it to play baseball and it's
fine, but if you use it to commit a crime then it's a weapon," DiClemente
said.