A hamster, not the one pictured, was eaten by a police dog during a raid in Oldham (Picture: File)

A police dog ate a man’s hamster during a raid on a home in Oldham.

Police had taken their loyal sniffer dog as they searched an address for drugs.

The canine apparently knocked the hamster’s cage over, setting the rodent free – before swallowing it in one go.

The dog was forced to cough it back up by its handler, but the hamster had already perished.


A police dog, not the one pictured, gobbled up a pet hamster during a search (Picture: File)

The events panned out as police searched the home of Musa Khan, 46, last May. No charges were brought against Mr Khan in connection to the raid.

However, officers did stumble upon a bald parakeet and Khan was prosecuted by the RSPCA.



Khan pleaded guilty to failing to prevent suffering at Oldham magistrates’ court.

Defence lawyer Tim Hughes said Khan had kept animals for many years and said Miko the bird was already losing its feathers when he took it in, and that he nursed it back to health.

Mr Hughes said Miko was ‘on the up and up’ thanks to the defendant.

‘He accepts keeping the bird in a cage that’s close to a radiator and TV in a room where an old cat has been,’ he said.

Nonetheless, Khan was fined £110 and told to pay £400 costs.

He has been banned from keeping a bird for two years.

Miko has since been rehoused by the RSPCA.