In international news this week, a Swedish woman could be facing criminal charges after unlawfully housing a hedgehog for over a
month.
The woman discovered her prickly pal in the street some time in June and decided to take him in. He lived on such luxuries as cat food and sausages until Swedish police, accompanied by two veterinarians raided the woman’s flat to determine the breed of hedgehog. Apparently, had the hedgehog been African he would have been considered a trendy pet, but as he was the bog standard Swedish variety his time indoors was at an end. After it was determined that he had suffered no ill effects from his time in the flat he was released.
According to Swedish law if you find a wild animal you are entitled to “briefly suspend it” before deciding to kill or release it. According to The Local Swedish police received a “tipoff” that the woman was housing a hedgehog and acted accordingly. What we at Newsnibbles would like to know is what gave away the fact that she was harbouring a hedgehog. Did a shop assistant notice that she was buying more miniature sausages that a woman alone could consume? We would love to hear your opinions.
We asked our man on the ground for his thoughts on this contentious topic, but apparently it reminded him of a time he was attacked by a hedgehog, and he felt the whole experience too traumatic to recall.
In an exclusive statement to our Hog Whisperer, the Hedgehog, named Brad had this to say:
“Well, it was good while it lasted. I knew when that chap with the binoculars saw me chomping on chipolatas on the balcony my time was up. I’m just grateful that she didn’t use the letter of the law and kill me. When she suspended me first of all I was sure I was a goner. Now I have to find a nice pile of dry leaves and start again, I’m sure my wife will have started divorce proceedings by now…”
You can read the full story here: http://www.thelocal.se/35230/20110729/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=259
You can read another, less heart-warming hedgehog story here: http://www.anorak.co.uk/182760/tabloids/man-attacked-by-hedgehog.html/
And you can “like” us here: http://www.facebook.com/newsnibbles you know you do a bit…
