Brisbane, Australia - A ferret placed on death row for biting a policeman's penis received a court pardon on Thursday when his owner escaped conviction on a charge of illegally bringing him into Queensland state.
The male ferret, dubbed "Richard" for his feat, is expected to be returned to 20-year-old Karl Sullivan who pleaded guilty to keeping prohibited wildlife.
Sullivan, who was found stroking the sleeping ferret in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley Mall on February 5, was let off the charge and no conviction was recorded against him by magistrate Brian Hine.
Sullivan faced a maximum A$60 000 dollar (about R238 000) fine under the Nature Conservation Act for the offence, which sparked a chain of events and almost caused a major accident on a central Brisbane roadway.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Mark Everett told the court how the ferret was confiscated and had to be "subdued with a blow to the head" after escaping from a cardboard box on the back seat of a police car and biting a fellow officer's penis.
The bite did not cause serious injury, but distracted the officer who almost crashed as he tried to restrain the animal, yanking on the hand brake and sending the car into a 180-degree spin.
The ferret defecated on the back seat before the drama ended.
Sullivan's lawyer, Kerry Bichel, told the court her client had purchased the ferret in New South Wales state three weeks before arriving in Queensland to find a job.
Bichel said Sullivan had already suffered the misfortune of losing his pet and asked that the charge be dropped.
The court heard Sullivan should at least be given the opportunity to save his pet, which is in a Brisbane wildlife centre, rather than see it destroyed.
Ferrets, prohibited animals in Queensland, face death by lethal injection if found as pets unless interstate welfare agencies claim them in time. - Sapa-AFP