Stories we couldn’t make up if we tried

This week: Buggy bloopers, narrow escapes and our top story, “Man Arrested for Drunk Driving had Zebra in Front Seat.” Yep.

An Iowa man was arrested outside a bar in Dubuque, Iowa, last weekend, where police discovered a young zebra and a parrot in the front seat of his vehicle. He told police that he and his girlfriend treated their animals like children and frequently took them for car rides. [Horse Talk NZ]

BUGGY BLOOPERS

In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a 15-year-old juvenile carriage driver fell asleep at the reins and struck a school bus. The teen suffered minor injuries and was cited for careless driving. [MSNBC]

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who collided with a horse and carriage on Monday morning, leaving the carriage driver with minor head injuries. The horse, Smokey, was OK with the exception of a few cuts. After his driver was ejected from the carriage, the horse also fled the scene, returning to his stable a short distance away. [WTMJ]

NARROW ESCAPES

A horse got stuck in a basement in Herriman, Utah, on Sunday evening. The gray Arabian stallion, named Himself, wandered into his owner’s backyard and fell in through a window well. The owner told KSL 5 News that the stallion didn’t seem to care that he was trapped. “Oh, he was fine down there,” she said. “I think he was casing it out, you know. It was like a bachelor pad or something. And I thought, ‘No, you need to go out. Go back to your room.'” He was eventually tranquilized and hauled out by a heavy rescue crew, emerging with only a few cuts and bruises.[KSL]

In Hilltown, Pennsylvania, a horse was rescued from a family pool on Thursday. The owners of Donovan, a quarter horse, believe he “mistook the green pool cover for grass.” While initially in a bit of shock, he was rescued by firefighters and reportedly back in his pasture grazing within 45 minutes. [AP]