
Parrot Detained for Yelling 'Police' to Warn Its Owners About a Drug Raid - turtlegrids
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mb8ewy/a-parrot-got-detained-for-yelling-police-to-warn-its-owners-about-a-drug-raid-vgtrn
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dontbenebby
> _The cops brought the parrot back to the station, but so far, the bird is
> keeping his beak shut around police. A vet named Alexandre Clark told a
> local Brazilian journalist that police have been unable to get him to repeat
> the warnings he shrieked out during the raid—or squawk anything at all._

Sounds like the bird is flexing its rights. (I assume Brazil, like America,
respects the right to remain silent)

~~~
subculture
> so they turned him over to a nearby zoo

The bird remained silent, but was still jailed. Where's Glenn Greenwald on
this?

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lykr0n
> Apparently, the cops got tired of trying to wring some salient information
> from the uncooperative bird, so they turned him over to a nearby zoo, where
> he'll presumably get to do normal bird shit and not have to spend his days
> cawing about drug busts anymore. We respect your loyalty, though, buddy.
> Enjoy your new and better life away from the drug trade.

I don't know why, but I like it when lighter news articles use a tongue in
cheek writing style where you know the author is amused about what they are
writing.

~~~
foldor
I was really hoping for something about him not being a canary since he didn't
"sing".

~~~
lioeters
Good point, a missed opportunity!

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Liquix
Acting as 'lookout' is only quasi-illigal, but it raises an interesting
question: if a human trains an animal to do something illegal, does blame fall
on the animal or the human?

For example, many pit bulls who attack or maim people these days get put down
by animal control. If a court could prove that an animal had been
trained/conditioned (by a proven guilty defendant) to commit the offending
act, would said animal still be facing death?

~~~
dragonwriter
> For example, many pit bulls who attack or maim people these days get put
> down by animal control. If a court could prove that an animal had been
> trained/conditioned (by a proven guilty defendant) to commit the offending
> act, would said animal still be facing death?

Yes, putting down a dangerous animal isn't a criminal punishment premised on
the animal's culpability (as a matter of law, animals lack the capacity for
culpability), but a protective measure equivalent to condemning and
demolishing a dangerous building.

~~~
moioci
"as a matter of law, animals lack the capacity for culpability" Apparently it
was not always thus in European jurisprudence. This podcast episode tells
more:

[https://www.futilitycloset.com/2014/10/27/podcast-
episode-31...](https://www.futilitycloset.com/2014/10/27/podcast-
episode-31-pigs-on-trial/)

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LifeLiverTransp
Seperating birds bonded to people is very cruel. This creature was socialized
in a very strange fashion and can not bond to other birds even of the same
kind.

~~~
anbop
I agree with you, but what’s the real alternative? The zoo seems like the best
thing, given that putting it in jail with its owner is probably unworkable.

~~~
LifeLiverTransp
Rebond it to a similar behaved person?

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AdmiralAsshat
What is the parrot being charged with, exactly? It is not _illegal_ to warn
someone that police are nearby, much as I'm sure they would like it to be.

~~~
gmiller123456
While you are technically correct, in this particular case, the warning was to
aid someone in committing a crime. And aiding someone in committing a crime is
illegal in itself.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
Indeed. Driving a getaway car is a crime, even if arguably, you claimed you
just picked up your friend outside a bank to drive him home. And perhaps he
paid you for your trouble.

Though arguably, it's the intent there that matters, not the act. (If your
friend called you for a ride home from a bank and you didn't know he robbed
it, it wouldn't be a crime to do so.) Was the parrot aware it was aiding a
criminal act?

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humantiy
I'm sure the police will get that bird to sing what it knows.

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notheruser
Reminds me of the bit in Twin Peaks when the cops take in a Parrot that
witnessed a crime. Someone murders the Parrot to stop it from talking.

~~~
anbop
There’s a much worse version of this in an episode of Black Mirror.

