When even birds have better legal protection and GDPR rights than most citizens......

In September 2019, police in Utrecht, the Netherlands, arrested a man suspected of shoplifting, but the most unexpected "detainee" that day wasn't the suspect. It was the colorful pet bird perched on his shoulder.

With no birdcage available at the police station, officers temporarily placed the bird inside a holding cell while its owner was being processed. The bird was given bread and water to keep it comfortable, and police later joked that, as far as they knew, it was "not guilty of any charges."

The story quickly went viral after Utrecht police shared a photo of the bird sitting calmly in the cell beside a piece of bread. Dutch news outlet RTV Utrecht added to the joke by placing a black bar over the bird's eyes in published photos, parodying the way suspects' identities are often concealed in the media.

Once the shoplifting suspect was released a short time later, the bird left the station with its owner. It had never been considered a suspect, only an unexpected companion with nowhere else to wait.

The lighthearted incident became an international viral story and remains one of the most amusing examples of police humor on social media.
​#dutch #birds_of_imgur #wholesome #history_memes #privacy #me_irl #humor #daily_dose #unexpected