Friday, September 19, 2008

Woman dialled 999 because rabbit didn't have floppy ears


Police have appealed to the public to stop making "frivolous" 999 calls after a woman phoned to complain that the rabbit she had bought did not have floppy ears.


She dialled the emergency number when she discovered that her pet's ears did not match their description in a newspaper advert.

In another abuse of the emergency services number, a man demanded police action because there were too many onions in his Chinese takeaway.

Operators also received calls from people who objected to being splashed by cars in wet weather, and one misguided 999 caller phoned to ask for the postcode of her local police station.

Central Scotland Police, which revealed details of some of the stranger calls it had received in the past year, said they could put lives at risk by delaying the response of the emergency services to life-or-death situations.

In one call, a man reported being soaked by a car driving through a puddle as he walked along a pavement.

Just moments before, a woman caller had made a similar complaint. When she was told that it was not appropriate to call 999 about being splashed by water she verbally abused the call handler.

Chief Insp Alan Stewart said: "It is unbelievable that anyone should phone 999 to report being soaked by a passing car, ask for a postcode or report that the item bought from a newspaper advert was not as described.

"These are examples of how people clearly do not think when they pick up the phone and dial this number. While officers and staff are dealing with these frivolous matters they are not dealing with genuine emergency calls."

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