Sorry, no punchline here, although you may be looking for one. This is a true story, believe it or not and it certainly caught my eye. Indeed, truth is sometimes more strange than fiction.
From the Des Moines, Iowa
Register via The Detroit Free Press, as written by Grant Rodgers on May 23, 2012:
Man charged with drunken driving after taking zebra into bar
Most people might leave their pets behind
when going for a drink at the local watering
hole. Not Jerald Reiter, a longtime farmer
and exotic pet owner.
The Cascade man’s arrest Sunday outside
the Dog House Lounge in Dubuque on a
charge of operating while intoxicated
gained attention across the state when it
was reported that he had a zebra and a
macaw inside his vehicle. For Reiter, taking
Pee Wee, the 3-month-old zebra, and
Izzy, the parrot, out in his truck and
elsewhere isn’t out of the ordinary.
Reiter, 55, told the Des Moines Register
that the zebra and parrot are like friends
to him and they often spend time indoors
and ride in his vehicles. The animals visit
neighbors, and the parrot has been on
trips to the local feed store, Reiter said.
On Sunday, after doing chores and eating
dinner, Reiter said he decided to take the
animals to the Dog House, where he
thought they’d be allowed.
“I said, ‘Let’s go for a ride. I ain’t been
away from the farm for almost two months
because I’ve been planting corn and
everything else,’” he said. “So I opened the
door, the zebra jumps in, the macaw loves
to go for a ride, so we went for a ride.”
Reiter said he’d had three mixed drinks
with his dinner before leaving.
Immediately upon walking into the bar,
Reiter said, a group began taking pictures
with the zebra. That’s when he was told he
couldn’t have the animals in the bar, he
said.
Reiter said he’s seen dogs in the bar.
However, a bartender who answered the
phone at the Dog House on Tuesday
afternoon said she’s never seen animals
inside the establishment and that they are
not allowed. She said she’s heard the
rumor, possibly because of the bar’s
name, that dogs have been allowed inside.
After Reiter left the bar with a friend, he
put the animals back in the truck. He said
he got in the truck with the macaw on his
shoulder and began backing up when his
friend asked if he should drive instead.
Reiter agreed and said he was out of the
truck, switching seats with his friend, when
police arrived.
Police were called to the bar at 11:37 p.m.
to check on the animals’ welfare, said Lt.
Steve Radloff of the Dubuque Police
Department. Police gave Reiter field
sobriety tests, and he was arrested and
charged with operating while intoxicated.
The worst part of the incident, Reiter said,
is that he feels as though he’s been
branded as mistreating his animals.
The zebra and the parrot were never left
alone inside the vehicle, except for when
the police arrived, he said.
“We pulled in, we unloaded, we loaded
them back up,” he said.
Reiter was not charged with any crime
relating to the animals, Radloff said.
After Reiter’s arrest, his friend drove the
animals back to his farm, which has cattle,
other zebras and Watusi, a type of African
cattle known for their long horns. Reiter
says he enjoys keeping the animals and
wants to start taking them to parades.
“We almost got Izzy riding on the back of
Pee Wee so we can, you know, take them
to the parades,” Reiter said.
