Staying one hoof-step ahead of the law
Every day, police officers respond to reports of all sorts of events and nonevents, most of which never make the news. Here is a sampling of lesserknown — but no less noteworthy — incidents from police log books (a.k.a. blotters) in our communities.
ADVENTUROUS ANTELOPE
An African antelope named Mary that escaped from the Lupa Zoo in Ludlow on April 1 has spent the past month on the lam. Joan Lupa, who operates the zoo, said Mary is 22 years old, which in antelope years, makes her “an old gal.” But apparently, she’s still young at heart. The eland antelope got out when a tree fell during a storm and broke the paddock that she and her mate were housed in. While her male companion stayed put, Mary had other plans and proceeded to embark on a whirlwind tour of the surrounding area. Lupa Zoo and Ludlow Animal Control shared information about her escape on social media, asking people to keep an eye out for her and contact authorities if they see her. “She is a non aggressive herbivore. Do not approach because she will run, instead call your local police to notify the extraction team,” Ludlow Animal Control wrote in an April 5 Facebook post. “She can kick if approached from behind and startled like a horse, but will not rear on hind legs. Please be careful while driving & contact dispatch if you see her.” Soon after she went missing, Edison DePaula Jr., the owner of Moose Hill Farms in Wilbraham, took a video of Mary at his farm. Then on April 17, another eyewitness, Becca Day, shot video of Mary sauntering along Route 181 in Palmer. As of May 1, Mary was still on the run.
DOGFIGHT
At 10:53 a.m. on March 10, Watertown police responded to a report of a fight between two dog owners at Filippello Park. According to police, one man was trying to leave the fenced dog park area while another man approached the gate and yelled for him to put his dog on a leash. The man who was exiting — let’s call him #1 — told police that when the new arrival came in, their two dogs began to bark at each other, and the new guy kicked #1’s dog, then allegedly struck #1 in the face and put him in a headlock. The alleged assailant told a different story to police: He said when the dogs became agitated he tried to separate them by kicking #1’s dog, and he accused #1 of pushing him (and denied putting him into a headlock). Police issued a summons to #2 — a 40year-old Watertown resident — on charges of assault and battery and cruelty to an animal, while #1 was not charged.
SAVING A YOUNG GREAT HORNED OWL
On April 12, while Danvers firefighters were out in the woods trying to put out a fire that started the evening before, they found a young owl lying motionless on the ground. The bird appeared to be in distress, so firefighters placed it in a box and moved it out of the smoky woods and gave it some water, which really seemed to help. A local wildlife rehabilitator determined the bird was a young great horned owl that probably fell out of its nest during the fire. The owl was brought back to the same area where firefighters had found it and released there, with the hope that it could reconnect with its mother.