Parrot Calls Out Police in Emergency
May 17, 2001

LONDON (Reuters) - Police in the northern English city of Manchester found they had been called by a parrot when they rushed to respond to an emergency 999 telephone call.

Peering through the window of the house from which call was made, police spotted a cocaktiel, an Australian parrot, standing on the push button phone with the receiver off the hook lying next to it. No one else was in the house.

“It is not unusual to receive silent 999 calls, but this is the first time we have been called by a parrot,” Superintendent Martin Harding said of the incident Wednesday.

“I would like to congratulate the officers who responded calmly to this incident and managed not to get in a flap.”

Police said they could not name the parrot for legal reasons.