Prickly situation ... frisky hedgehogs sparked a hurried police response when the sounds of their nocturnal activities alarmed a nearby resident. Photo / John Borren
Prickly situation ... frisky hedgehogs sparked a hurried police response when the sounds of their nocturnal activities alarmed a nearby resident. Photo / John Borren
It was the early hours of the morning, and a woman was screaming in the nearby bush reserve.
At least, that's how it sounded.
Police rushed to the scene after an Auckland woman reported hearing what she thought was a woman being attacked in the bush near her house, SergeantJason Loye said.
"Upon arrival they also heard sporadic noises of 'distress' coming from the bush area. The staff then attempted to identify the direction and location of the 'attack'," said Loye, who was told of the incident by colleagues.
"After a short search of the area, they located the offending couple and proceeded to separate them. The parties involved immediately scarpered into the surrounding bush and were lost, as they were difficult to apprehend and hold.
Sergeant Richard Van Asch tries to get wandering cow MooMoo back home. Photo / Supplied
"The officers then returned to the caller's home to report their findings back to her, to alleviate her fears of a predator lurking in the bush near her house. They informed her that they had located all parties concerned and that there was no complaint forthcoming.
"They also indicated that holding and detaining the culprits would have been difficult and painful to the officers, with little to be obtained in doing so."
They told the woman the activity was "between two consenting hedgehogs".
The prickly situation is just one of thousands of animal-related calls police receive each year.
Statistics released to the Herald show between the beginning of 2017 and October 2018, police received 19,805 calls about animals, not including those relating to animal abuse.
But nearly half of those calls didn't even end up with a police officer attending, as there was little they could do, or the incident could be resolved without their help.
The figures show 9746 of the calls were cancelled without attendance, while 88 ended with an offence recorded, and just seven resulted in an arrest being made.
Some of these relate to dog control incidents, where a person can be charged over failing to control their pet.
Now police officers have shared their tales of animal-related shenanigans while on the job.
While not a call to police, officers came across a pig while photographing a crash scene. Police were impressed the pig knew how to sit on command. Photo / Supplied
Another officer described the time he had to use police tape to lead a pet cow home to its owners.
The cow, MooMoo, "kept getting loose and grazing the long acre, normally ending up a fair distance from home", said Sergeant Richard Van Asch of the Marlborough Police.
A Boons Valley resident called the boys in blue to deal with the visiting cow.
"Because MooMoo was a pet you couldn't drive her but she would lead, only thing I could find that resembled a lead was police tape," Van Asch said.
"Once I had her out of the property I walked her home, just over 1km up the road.
"Unfortunately animal control eventually got called and MooMoo is no longer with us."
Sergeant Chris Painter of Auckland also shared a story of the time he spent half an hour chasing a pet pig through a busy urban street.
"It's not the usual area you would find a pig," he said.
Police were able to catch a fleeting photo of the pig that they were chasing around an urban Auckland street. Photo / Supplied
"We spent 25 minutes chasing this thing in and out of properties ... It would run so fast we would have to jump in the car and sort of cut it off in the car."
Members of the public were even slamming on their brakes and getting out to help police with the chase.
Police eventually called animal control officers, who also didn't know what to do. They ended up using duck-catching nets to nab the pig.
"When you grab a pig it makes the most horrendous squealing noise you've ever heard," Painter said.
People started calling 111 thinking it was the sound of a human screeching, and had to be reassured it was simply a loose pig.
MooMoo the cow had to be led home with what officers had on hand - police tape. Photo / Supplied
Another officer said it was fairly common for people to call police about aggressive birds, leaving staff perplexed as to what they were expected to do about it.
Someone else said police would receive calls about ducks on the road, but by the time they arrived on scene the ducks were already gone.
According to Police Minister Stuart Nash, police receive about two million calls each year across all categories, with nearly half of those made to 111.
However, just 20 per cent of 111 calls resulted in an emergency response or were classified as "priority one".
