Top 10 Examples of Animals Under Arrest

Everyone is familiar with those shows where animal control is called to take home dangerous animals, such as alligators or bats. Depending on where you live, that sort of thing may be perfectly normal to you. But these stories are examples of animals that were arrested by the actual police, actually being detained in prison. The crimes the animals in the article are being accused of vary greatly in severity, measuring from something as low as vagrancy, all the way up to espionage, with a lot in between.

 10. Oscar, the Cat Burglar

Oscar was described by the police as being “fat and aggressive”. He is a Swedish cat who was arrested after a family that suspected him of “terrorizing” their own cats trapped him while he stole food in their house. The police realized that the cat was too well groomed to be stray, so they set out looking for his owner, keeping him in custody for at least one night. Luckily, the owner was found, as had Oscar remained unclaimed, he would have been put down. So any time somebody quotes Sweden as being a progressive country, you can tell them about how Oscar almost received the death sentence for theft.

9. Bhola, the Illegal Alien

Bhola is an elephant that was arrested in India after trying to get to get across the border to Pradesh for medical treatment following a collision with a truck. He sustained serious injuries in the accident, including blindness (reports conflict as to whether it was in one eye or two). The elephant proved a very popular attraction at the police station with the local children. Bhola’s owner never showed up in court with the relephant paperwork (ha!), so courts handed him over to Wildlife SOS, who introduced him to a sexy she-elephant.

8. Bobby, the Indian in Pakistan

Bobby is an Indian monkey whose crime was the he crossed the India/Pakistan border “illegally”. Unlike Bhola, Bobby was wild (he was named after being caught), so nobody was trying to smuggle him, he just unknowingly wandered into Pakistani territory. After being spotted by locals, who failed to capture the unwelcome tourist, authorities in Punjab detained the monkey, before handing him over to the zoo, where they named him Bobby. Most people believe that this is most likely payback for…

7. The Pigeon Spy

This unnamed bird was a Pakistani pigeon spotted by a local resident, this time in Punjab, India. While it may seem odd that somebody could tell where the pigeon was from, Pakistani pigeons are a distinctive white. Upon closer inspection, the pigeon had a foot ring, as well as Pakistani phone number and address stamped on it. The bird was accused of espionage, kept in a temperature controlled room under watch by multiple armed guards, legally denied visitation rights and senior officials were notified of the “situation” three times a day. Eventually, the pigeon disappeared, with no official explanation. Such is the cold reality of avian espionage.

6. The Killer Cow

In 2005, a cow was arrested in Lagos, Nigeria, for the murder of a bus driver who stopped on the side of a motorway to urinate. The animal attacked the man from behind, knocked him down, and began to kick him and attack him with his horns until he died. The animal also injured some other bystanders. Many people demanded it be killed on the spot, but the police chief ordered it to be arrested and held at the station.

 5. Mookie the Monkey

Mookie is a monkey who was put under house arrest by Florida police after biting a man who tried to pet him. Despite his owner warning the man before petting him that animals are unpredictable (although Mookie has no history of violence), he was still in trouble with the law. Apparently he was startled by the noise of a passing truck, and bit the man petting him. The house arrest lasted 30 days, as authorities wanted to ensure that the Simian monkey was rabies free. His owner, Brad Berman, was very upset with the decision, as Mookie not only showed no symptoms of rabies, but was also already registered with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The worst part, however, is that Mookie was forced to celebrate his 20^th birthday during his arrest.

4. Cat Smuggler

A cat was recently arrested in Alagoas prison, Northeast Brazil. The cat had been seen several times on the prison grounds, but not much was thought of it until one day, an officer noticed that it had a bag strapped to it. The bag contained a cell phone and charger, tiny saw blades, and other tools for tunnel digging. It turns out the prisoners had raised the cat, and would send it out of jail grounds, where it would be picked up by family members, who would strap tools to the animal. The cat would then instinctively return home to the prisoners. It was arrested on sight, and currently all 263 prisoners in Alagoas are suspects in the crime (no word on whether or not the cat is included in that 263).

3. Lorenzo, Drug Cartel Member

Lorenzo is a parrot who was arrested in Columbia. However, this story is one on a much larger scale than previous entries. You see, Lorenzo was only one of 1,700 parrots trained by the Columbian drug cartel to cry “Run, run, you’re going to get caught” in Spanish whenever they saw police officers approaching. Somehow, the cops saw through this extremely subtle safety word, and arrested Lorenzo in a bust that also resulted in the seizure of over 200 weapons, a stolen motorbike, a large amount of drugs, 4 men, and two other birds.

2. Gosha, the hobo monkey

Gosha was a macaque who was bought as a pet by a wealthy family in Biysk, Russia. However, as he grew older, he became harder to control and the family abandoned him. Gosha went from living a life of luxury to living on the streets, but in a turn of events that sounds like a rejected plotline for a Disney film, he met some lovable homeless people after a few months who adopted him and took him to a house in which they were squatters. Unfortunately, the police soon raided the house in question, and everyone in the house, including Gosha, was arrested, as it is a crime to be homeless in Russia. Police decided to send Gosha to Novosibirsk zoo, as it would be too expensive to deport him.

 1. The Magical Goat

Again, this animal had no name. He was arrested in Nigeria in 2009 for taking part in the armed robbery of a car. Several men were seen attempting to rob a car, and while the rest were apprehended, one escaped and ran down an alley. When police made it to the alley, all they found in it was a goat. Logically, the police deduced that the unknown man had magically turned into a goat to (unsuccessfully) evade capture. Eventually, the goat was sold at a police auction for 300 Naira, then about $2.

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