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Police in Oldham, England, raided a man’s home on alleged drug charges; during the raid, however, a cage holding the suspect’s pet hamster toppled over and popped open. The hamster escaped, according to the Daily Mail, and that’s when the police dog gave chase and swallowed the hamster. After all, a dog in uniform is still a dog. The dog’s handler forced the dog to cough up the unfortunate hamster, but the hamster had already expired.

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Police then proceeded with their investigation, presumably after an awkward silence. While they were unable to find any drugs on the premises, they did unearth a balding parakeet in a dirty cage placed too close to a radiator. This was enough for the RSPCA to file charges of animal cruelty against the bird’s owner, Musa Khan. Khan was charged with mistreating his parakeet. He pleaded guilty to failure to protect the animal from suffering and was fined $170, ordered to pay $620 costs, and banned from bird ownership for two years. The parakeet has been rehoused.

No word on whether the police dog was fined for his animal cruelty.

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