pizza

Hamsters in labour and chickens crossing the road are not good reasons to call 911.

Sometimes police work is serious business, but other times citizens need to just step away from the phone, as the B.C. RCMP point out in an article detailing some of the odd calls they've received.

For instance, write Cpl. Jamie Chung, a man called police after the hamster he'd brought home from the pet store gave birth to a litter of 10 babies - and became "aggressive" protecting her brood. When the store wouldn't give him a refund, he wanted to drop the critters off to the cops. The call-taker explained why police were "unable to get involved in consumer disputes" and talked him out of it - with no harm coming the hamsters, Chung points out.

Then there was time someone called to report traffic chaos at an intersection. The offender had "muddled brown feathers, red comb, yellow beak, skinny chicken legs." The man notified police after he asked the creature why it crossed the road and "got no response."

Another man thought the cops could get a pizza joint to replace the sub-standard pie they'd delivered. "Our call-taker patiently explained ... the difference between criminal and civil complaints and that there aren't enough police officers in the city to enforce good food," Chung writes.

Of course, cops don't want people to hesitate to call when they are in real distress. But a Sasquatch sighting probably doesn't qualify.