An animal attacking a person usually makes the headlines… but you might have missed this story of a man who used a pet as a weapon.
A New Zealand man has been charged with assault with a weapon. The weapon he used? A hedgehog. Earlier this year, the man allegedly threw a hedgehog at a fifteen year old boy. The hedgehog hit the boy in the leg, leaving a good sized welt and several puncture marks behind. According to police, the boy did not need medical treatment for his hedgehog-induced injury.
The man was arrested for assault with a weapon, though he plans to plead innocent when he goes before a judge this month.
The one injured the worst in this exchange was the hedgehog, who did not survive the encounter. Police do not know whether or not the hedgehog was alive when it was thrown, but it was dead when it was collected as evidence. If the hedgehog was alive when it was thrown, it could have been fatally injured in the impact with the teen or with the ground. It might not seem like much of a fall from a human perspective, but hedgehogs are small!
According to police in the town of Whakatane (where the incident occurred), people get charged with assault for throwing all kinds of things at other people. A hedgehog, however, is a pretty unusual choice of weapon. If convicted, the man could serve up to five years in prison.
Mostly I feel bad for the hedgehog. I really hope it wasn’t anyone’s pet — especially the man charged with assault. I can’t imagine being so angry or upset that I would actually throw one of my own pets at someone (even if I could manage to throw Moose, which I doubt). Maybe the hedgehog belonged to the teenager? Or maybe it was just a handy weapon in the wrong place at the wrong time.