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A rooster named Maurice has been put on trial in France, as the defendant in a court battle over a long-running neighborhood dispute.

The trial has stirred up enormous debate in the country, especially as roosters are one of France's national symbols. His owner has started a petition which has garnered over 120,000 signatures, and several people even came to the court with other roosters in a show of support.

As surprising as it may seem, there have been many cases over the centuries of animals that have been in trouble with the law, with many being arrested for crimes including theft, assault and battery, and espionage.

Check out this gallery to find out what kind of trouble Maurice is in, and learn more about some of the most bizarre and shocking stories of animals that have committed punishable crimes!

▲In 2015, an elderly woman allegedly called the police to report that a parrot was shouting insults at her, according to The Telegraph.

▲The police detained the bird but after the woman was unable to get it to repeat the obscenities in front of them, they released it to the state's forestry department.

▲In 2015, a squirrel was reportedly arrested after police in Bottrop, Germany, received a call from a woman that it was aggressively stalking her, as shown by The Telegraph.

▲The police station discovered that the poor animal was misbehaving out of exhaustion and hunger. After feeding it some honey, they transferred the rodent to a rescue facility.

▲According to the BBC, a goat was allegedly arrested in 2009 in Nigeria after being charged with robbery.

▲Supposedly, a vigilante group called the police after suspecting that a person had performed witchcraft and transformed into the goat. The British news portal highlighted that the arrest was condemned by political activist groups as demonstrating the lack of education in the local police force.

▲As shown on the The Independent, in 1494 a pig was arrested and sentenced to death by hanging in Clermont-lez-Montcornet, France, for allegedly killing a baby.

▲The pig was said to have "strangled and defaced a young child in its cradle" and later found guilty by a judge, according to the publication.

▲The BBC published a story about a Brazilian cat who was said to have been arrested on the grounds of a prison with contraband strapped to its body.

▲Among the items were drill bits, files, a mobile phone and charger, and earphones. Officials were unsure as to whether the cat was being used to assist prisoners in an escape or to provide them with means of communication, but the cat was eventually taken to a rescue center.

▲According to the The Independent, the popular tale of the "Hartlepool" monkey dates back to the Napoleonic wars.

▲After a French ship's pet monkey washed up on the shores of Hartlepool, England, it was accused of being a French spy and sentenced to death by hanging.

▲According to the book 'Ever Since Adam and Eve: The Evolution of Human Sexuality,' Frenchman Jacques Ferron and a donkey, named Jenny, were supposedly arrested in 1750 for engaging in lewd acts.

▲The judge ended up acquitting Jenny after locals filed a petition with the court, stating that the donkey was not a willing participant in the act. Jacques Ferron was hanged.

▲According to The New York Times, in 1877, an organ grinder and his pet monkey Jimmy were arrested after a woman claimed that Jimmy assaulted and bit her.

▲The judge ruled that he didn't have the authority to imprison the monkey and sent both Jimmy and his owner home.

▲According to the BBC, a pigeon was allegedly arrested in India in 2015 after being suspected of being a Pakistani spy.

▲The bird had a message written on its body in Urdu in addition to a Pakistani phone number. Although X-rays didn't reveal anything more, the pigeon was kept in custody and logged in the police system as a suspected spy.

▲A bear was convicted of stealing honey from a beekeeper's farm in Macedonia in 2008, as reported by the BBC.

▲The bear was found guilty of theft and criminal damage, however, the judge was unable to detain the bear as it belonged to a protected species. The state was forced to pay for the damages it had caused to the beekeeper's property.

▲The Washington Post reported that in 2011, an Indian monkey suspected of being involved in espionage efforts was arrested after crossing the border into Pakistan.

▲The monkey was taken to a local zoo following the incident.

▲In 2016, a beaver was apprehended in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, USA, for destroying a store full of Christmas decorations, according to WPIX News.

▲“The suspect attempted to flee the area but was apprehended by Animal Control,” the sheriff's department posted on their Facebook page. The beaver was then sent to a wildlife rehab center.

▲According to NPR, a donkey was supposedly arrested in 2008 in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas on assault and battery charges.

▲The donkey served three days in jail until its owner paid the medical bills of the victims.

▲Until the mid-2000s, misbehaving primates used to be detained in a monkey jail in India's northern Punjab region, according to an article on Mental Floss.

▲Wild monkeys were imprisoned after attacking humans, ripping pieces of clothing off passersby, and stealing food, among other crimes.

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After the jail closed, it was transformed into a "reform school" for the disobedient primates.

▲After appearing in court (without Maurice to ensure he did not disrupt proceedings) his owner told CNN, "I'm going to go see him, give him a kiss and tell him we're going to win this trial!"

▲The rooster's crime in question is his morning crowing, which some neighbors in the rural village of Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron call noise pollution. The trial appears to be a symbol of the divide between urban and rural France.

Shocking stories of animals in trouble with the law

Did you know animals could be arrested?

05/07/19 por StarsInsider

LIFESTYLE Animals

A rooster named Maurice has been put on trial in France, as the defendant in a court battle over a long-running neighborhood dispute.

Check out this gallery to find out what kind of trouble Maurice is in, and learn more about some of the most bizarre and shocking stories of animals that have committed punishable crimes!