NJ cops kick in door over bird's cries for help

[catgirl]

Source: Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. - Cries for help inside a Trenton, N.J., home turned out to be for the birds. Neighbors called police Wednesday morning after hearing a woman's persistent cry of "Help me! Help me!" coming from a house. Officers arrived and when no one answered the door, they kicked it in to make a rescue.

But instead of a damsel in distress, officers found a caged cockatoo with a convincing call.

-snip-

About seven years ago, the bird cried like a baby for hours, leading to reports of a possible abandoned baby and a visit to the home by state child welfare workers. But it was only Luna practicing a newfound sound, DeLeon says.

DeLeon says her bird learns much of her ever-growing vocabulary from watching television, in both English and Spanish.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080905/ap_on_fe_st/odd_boisterous_bird;_ylt=AoFjB8bNOjvyM68PbRTZDM6s0NUE

---

Picture of the beautiful bird can be found at the link.

I thought this story would be a nice read for those of us who need a momentary break from
politics!

[glowing]

1. Does no one know no one anymore.. A neighbor couldn't say, its a bird.

kick and ask later.

[Realityhack]

25. That's pritty silly.

The police got a call and heard screams for help. Maybe when you are screaming for help they should canvas the neighborhood first to see if their is a parrot in your house. Sure it could mean you die but hey... they should be super careful before responding to calls for help right?

This does not appear to be a case of police over-reaction or abuse. It's just funny.

[Posteritatis]

28. There's some times where I'd rather take the chance of being embarrassingly wrong (nt)

[roguevalley]

30. my uncle had two mina birds that were AWESOME mimics. they could

swear like crazy and many is the time my uncle had to explain to someone really pissed off that had knocked on his door that it wasn't him, it was heckle and jeckle. :) I love mina birds.

[sarge43]

2. And somewhere a parakeet and lorry are laughing their asses off.

"They always fall for it. Peeps are sooo stupid."

[DCKit]

3. Thank God she wasn't allowing it to watch Chinese opera...

but she should pay a little more attention to what's on the TeeVee.

[catgirl]

6. LOL!

[VP505]

4. What, cops didn't

tase the bird while shouting at it to SHUT THE FU** UP.

[Mari3333]

5. I sent this story to quite a few people

I have a parrot named Oliver who yells his head off , and when the windows of my house are open , he stops people on the sidewalk with his screams and wolf whistles. Once, someone knocked on my door asking me if anyone was in distress in my house. The neighborhood kids love him.

[sarge43]

8. My macaw does "Hi sailor" -- loudly.

It's a long sordid story that just gets this thread locked.

Welcome to DU, Mari3333.

(typo)

[krkaufman]

9. Thanks for sharing. This article had me howling. A good start to the day. n/t

[Habibi]

32. Hey, welcome back, Mari!

[Mari3333]

34. Hi Habibi

:hug:

[Baby Snooks]

7. Oh thank you for this..

I needed something funny to start the day with and carry me through.

[pipi_k]

10. TV...a bad influence on birds....

I had a cockatiel who loved the "Cops" program. Well, the theme song, anyway...as soon as he'd hear it on TV he would get to chirping and screeching and jumping back and forth on his perch. Then he would get engrossed in the program....or maybe he just looked like he was engrossed while he sat there thinking little bird thoughts.

He used to like football too, although I have to admit that what happened there was my fault...

Somehow he started picking up on my bad language (OK I shout out a lot of naughty words during games!) and there was one morning I went to uncover his cage and he looked me square in the eye and called me a bastard.

Yes...he went from a sweet little, "Pretty boy", "Crazy bird", "Hi kids" kind of critter to a tiny tough guy, complete with bad language and cranky as hell.

sigh....

:yoiks:

[sarge43]

12. Parrots, ya gotta love 'em.

:rofl:

[roguevalley]

31. I think I love your bird, pipi_k.

[pipi_k]

33. hee hee

He was a character, for sure!


:7

[trthnd4jstc]

11. This Also Shows How the Reactionary Fascist Can Think They Are So Right, and Be So Wrong.

[Proletariatprincess]

17. my feelings exactly....

I dont find this very amusing. Cops break in doors rather than knocking and asking what is going on? Did they have thier guns drawn? It could have been a tragedy for that family.
I am more afraid of cops than I am of crime now.

[Paladin]

24. And If It Had Been A Human Screaming In Distress.....

...and the cops said "Fuck it, it's probably just a bird" and walked away, you'd probably be just as outraged.....

[cartach]

47. Maybe the next time

she'll be the person in distress,she'll get what she wants, and wind up dead rather than enraged.

[Paladin]

52. Good Point

You know, I don't have any more use for bad cops than anybody else. But this notion that all law enforcement personnel are tainted to the point of being fascistic just doesn't cut it.....

[Danger Mouse]

36. Did you RTFA? It said the cops kicked down the door when nobody would answer it.

[Realityhack]

37. NO! This was exactly the correct reaction.

The police heard someone screaming for help, the responded appropriatey. This is an appropriate and correct use of force.

You think they should have knocked? They DID. Nobody answered so they kicked in the door.

Edited twice due to stupid mistake on my part.

[Codeine]

38. And the Dipshit Brigade chimes in,

right on schedule. :eyes: It's almost too predictable at this point.

Better that the police ignore a cry for help, or spend time ascertaining whether or not there's a bird in the house, right? And if somebody dies in that time, well, no big deal -- right?

[IndyOp]

18. They did what they did for the right reasons - they made the right kind of "errror"

They responded strongly to a type of problem that is very important -- a person yelling for help -- and that is exactly what they should do this is exactly the right use of force. They made a mistake but they made the right kind of mistake.

Fascism is responding to the wrong kind of signal -- responding to a person who is asserting their rights by repressing that person -- that is exactly the wrong use of force.

There is a big difference between using force for mercy and using force to dominate.

[trthnd4jstc]

21. You are right about this. I believe that us "human" creatures can be reactionary.

The Fascism that has overtaken our nation occured over years of brainwashing, and not dealing effectively with our fears, and allowing someone other than ourselves to be making the big decisions. I do think that the police in this case made the kind of error. I may have done the same thing, if I was a neighbor, but only after calling the police in the first place.

It is strange though, that the ones who are trained, sometimes, go to extremes. It shows why we have so much more to grow, in order to have a more perfect nation.

Thanks to the reply to my reply to the post. You are right. I do believe that it will be good when the Career Milias (Our Current Police Force) is disbanded, and citizens are the milita, receive training, and We the People no longer have an occupying force. Do you not think so also?

[Codeine]

39. Oh good lord.

The police are an occupying force now? :eyes:

[Realityhack]

41. Right...

Police are not citizens but rather an occupying force. Do you live in Iraq or on another planet or something?

[brentspeak]

26. Uh, what?

The cop was "wrong" to respond to screams of "help me! help me!"???

Also, what's with capitalizing the first letter of each of your words?

[Realityhack]

40. That is incredibly stupid and downright scary.

Let me get this strait.

The police get a call that someone is screaming for help.
They show up and hear the cries for help.
They knock on the door.
Nobody answers.
They break down the door to rescue whoever is screaming for help.

That is lightyears from reactionary or fascist. In fact I question wither you even know the meaning of the word fascist.

What exactly do you want the police to do when you are screaming for help? Wander away because you didn't let them in?

Don't cry wolf. Complain loudly when the police violate rights and over react. NOT when they act in a responsible manner.

[trthnd4jstc]

44. I am sorry that you all think I am so out of touch.

I have been politically active for 25 years. I worked with, and for organizations to the left of most in the Democratic Party. I have had death threats. I have been banned from employment. I believe that Citizen Militias are superior to a standing Police Force. I want the citizens to be the police, instead of it being a career for the police. I also was in Central America during an illegal war during Reagan's time. So I know how bad it can be, and my nephew is in Iraq right now.

Sorry. I think people, not just cops can be reactionary. I am sorry, I overspoken, but to all of you that want to shit all over me go to hell.

[Bigmack]

13. Wife's African Grey swears...

... like a Marine. I can't figure out where the little asshole gets that shit!

What's worse, tho, is that imitates the sounds both of us make during those "special (increasingly rare) moments". He'll entertain vistors with a large, obscene vocabulary, then top the performance off with fart sounds and some "Ooooooh.... oooooh.... ooooh god's".

And he'll probably live for another 40 years.

Maybe...

[Malidictus Maximus]

20. Yep. You stole my line "I can' figure out why the fuck he swears so Godamn much"!

My Macaw can rattle off everything from 'up yours' to 'pinche culero'. And those choice sounds . And *LOUD*. Plus any bodily function you can think of.

[sarge43]

29. "Where did she learn to be such a fucking potty mouth?" n/t

[cobalt1999]

14. They should let the bird watch porn.

At least it will keep the police from showing up.

[DemReadingDU]

15. I love bird stories, thanks!

[Patiod]

16. My cousin taught their parrot to yell "Help! Help!"

whenever the door bell rang. Very convincingly, I might add.

I'm surprised no UPS guy or FedEx gal ever called the cops.

[buzzard]

19. This bugger has neighbours looking for a lost kid, he yells MOM MOM MOM.

[Mari3333]

48. my parrot Oliver looks just like yours

Oliver

[Kali]

22. bwahahahaha

I have a macaw that does that. Only when he decides to fly off and then gets scared of where he lands.
Pretty funny.

[PSPS]

23. My experience

There used to be a pet store downtown named "City Pets." Over the checkout stand was a caged cockatoo. I was in there once and while I was looking around I noticed that they were getting a lot of phone calls. But it was the bird! When it got on a roll, which I apparently witnessed, it would mimic the ringing phone exactly, and then make the precise sound of the phone's handset being picked up and then say "City Pets!" I don't know how the employees could tell it wasn't the real phone ringing!

[bitchkitty]

27. That's so funny!

At a birds-and-fish pet store in Georgia, they had "dueling parrots" - an African gray and some sort of green bird. The grey would sneer "Fuuuuuuuck you" in a young man's voice, and the green (on the other side of the store) would exclaim, "What???" in a very shocked old lady voice. It was freaking hilarious.

[Odin2005]

35. LOL! Parrots, cockatoos, etc. say the darnest things!!!

:rofl:

[jmowreader]

42. I saw this in a Cheech and Chong movie

It was the scene where Strawberry had come back from a drug buy only to be greeted by his mynah, who had learned the words the cops used during the drug raid they'd made on his house only minutes before.

[Kajsa]

43. My favorite thread today!

Thank you- to the OP and everyone who shared
their bird story!

:rofl: :)

[LosinIt]

45. My friend's African Grey got bored being home alone during the day

so he left the TV on for him. Must have been TV Land because he got the whistle from the Andy Griffith Show and Yankee Doodle Dandy combined into one song. He also picked up the sound of the garbage truck. It started with the backup beeping then picking up the cans, then the double beep the truck did as it took off again.

[catgirl]

49. That is so funny!!

A parrot I babysat for, did the "charge" song, followed, of course, by charge!! Layla also
did a very convincing telephone (among other sounds).

[TankLV]

46. Parrots are spooky - they can really sound like the real thing...

If you've never heard a good one, you're really missing something...

[Codeine]

50. Ours used to love spray-bottle showers

so much that he mimicked the sound the bottle made when he wanted to inform us that it was Shower Time. The problem was that he did it so well my girlfriend and I usually assumed that we were hearing the other give him his shower!

He also loved to call the cats to dinner when no food was actually being served. I honestly believe he knew he was irritating them. :D

[Kat45]

51. Great bird stories in this thread.

I love hearing stories about things birds are saying and doing. I used to have a budgie who had a vocabulary of around 100 words. I talked to her a lot and whenever I walked by her cage, I would tell her where I was going or what I was doing. Two of her phrases were "I love you so fucking much," which I said to her all the time, and "gotta take a shit," which I'd say if that's where I was heading. :rofl: