Miniature horse escapes handlers before cops rescue animal from busy city street

An adorable miniature horse had to be rescued by police after it was seen wandering around a busy city street, just weeks after it had been caught taking yet another dangerous walk

A wantaway miniature horse was found clip-clopping around the streets of the major Asian city of Taipei, having already been caught taking a stroll just weeks before.

The cute creature caused traffic to stop and police to be scrambled after it was videoed wandering around the Taiwanese capital, with local authorities handing out fines to its seemingly careless owners.

The miniature horse was seen walking around Taipei’s Beitou district on Sunday afternoon (May 24), following an identical incident on May 1 this year. Cops quickly worked out the stable it had escaped from, and called the staff there to come collect it straight away.

Under Taiwan’s road traffic regulations, owners who allow animals onto public roads and disrupt traffic can face fairly large fines, according to the Taiwanese news outlet Taipei Times.

And officials warned that the fact this was not the first escape could raise concerns about both the horse’s welfare and the management of the stable.

Taipei’s Animal Protection Office said the first incident was still under investigation when the horse escaped for a second time, according to the Taipei Times.

The two cases were therefore combined in calculating the total fine, resulting in a NT$9,000 (£220) penalty fair for the owner, along with compulsory attendance to a four-hour animal welfare course.

Officials have cited the incident as in breach of Taiwan’s Animal Protection Act, which requires all pets in public places to be accompanied by a responsible person.

Authorities said that allowing the miniature horse to be unsupervised could have posed risks to both drivers, pedestrians and to the animal itself.

The escapee horse is not the first animal to make headlines by wandering around a major city, with a German wolf being at the centre of a massive manhunt earlier this year, after it bit a womans face outside a branch of IKEA.

The wolf had become trapped in a shopping mall in the German city of Hamburg on 30 March, right next to a branch of the Swedish homeware store, and was repeatedly smashing itself into a pane of glass in a desperate attempt to escape.

The creature was eventually captured by authorities, who subsequently released it into the wild.

The lone wolf is believed to have been abandoned by his pack at some point over the last days and weeks, leading to its obvious distress. The incident in Hamburg is thought to have been the first wolf attack since the reintroduction.

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