And now from the WTF?!? files...:lol:

19 November 2003

AMSTERDAM — Police suspect that a man found dead in his home Wednesday was poisoned by ammonia gas from the excrement of his pet parrots and ferrets who had been badly cared for.

The man reported feeling unwell early in the morning in his house in the town of Tegelen in North Limburg.

An ambulance reached his home by 7am, but he was already dead. A post mortem is to be carried out on his body to confirm the cause of death, newspaper De Telegraaf reported.

A spokesman for the emergency services said it appeared the victim had not cared for his parrots and ferrets well and ambulance workers were struck by a "penetrating odour" when they entered the house.

It is suspected that the animals' excrement was allowed to accumulate in the building over a long period of time and that it began releasing toxic amounts of ammonia.

Normally, police seal of a property where a person has died in suspicious circumstances, but in this case the windows and doors were opened to clear the ammonia vapours. Locals reported the parrots' screeching was heard all around the town.

[Copyright Expatica News 2003]


Take home lesson here...take care of your pets! Or you'll be in deep shite! :laugh:

:lol: Thats a trip! I could swear my pets were gonna kill me with their emissions a few times! :fart:

Been finding a lot of tales of the weird lately, eh? :lol: Reminds me.... today's cage cleaning day. Wish me luck I don't croak from cockateil emissions :p

I could swear my pets were gonna kill me with their emissions a few times!

I hear that... when my cat lets loose, I run for the hills :lol:

Well, serves him right I say. This is one of those things that might be urban legend but it is completely possible, and if there really was such a neglectful person, dying like this couldn't have happened to anyone more appropriate.

Totally weird. How could anyone live like that?? :confused: He proved you can't. :p

I knew a guy named Blake.....(He's been gone about 6 years now)...... he always had exotic animals..birds, fish, etc... he took well care of them and became sick after just changing the papers and cleaning the cages. The docs couldn't figure it out...said it was worse than cancer & AIDS put together. It was something in the feces...some type of bacteria or something (I forget exactly) but I can see how this sort of thing would happen.

Originally posted by Roemello

I hear that... when my cat lets loose, I run for the hills :lol:

Try having four 20 pounders, bro! When they bomb the box....LOOK OUT!!! :laugh:

Yikes! :bigeek: This is why I will never own a pet bird or a ferret! :eek:

Nasty! Maybe he should have consulted a vet or an animal store....

Originally posted by LOSTNTHE80S
I knew a guy named Blake.....(He's been gone about 6 years now)...... he always had exotic animals..birds, fish, etc... he took well care of them and became sick after just changing the papers and cleaning the cages. The docs couldn't figure it out...said it was worse than cancer & AIDS put together. It was something in the feces...some type of bacteria or something (I forget exactly) but I can see how this sort of thing would happen.

That's toxoplasmosis (or something like that). When the parasites reach your brain, you might as well be dead.

*Edited 'cause I forgot this thing wasn't a bacteria.

Originally posted by XXX


That's toxoplasmosis (or something like that). When the bacteria spores reach your brain, you might as well be dead.

Can't you get that from cleaning Cat poop out of litter boxes :confused:

Reason #675 why I don't own cats! :D

Yes. Esp. with cats. That's why my parents don't have a cat box or let the cat sleep in the house.

Another thing one can get from animal droppings is something called "hanta virus" and that one is really nasty. I've never read of anyone surviving that one, but that mainly happens in the country side with field mice and critters like that.

One of the guys in Trainspotting died of something due to cat poop

Originally posted by Caligula
One of the guys in Trainspotting died of something due to cat poop

... in the movie, not in real life ;)

**Oops. I read your post wrong. Sorry :p

Every day, I have to keep an eye on my sister's three pets--two dogs and a bird--that she can't keep in her Oxford (yes, the Mississippi city) apartment.

She attends Ole Miss (http://www.olemiss.edu) and lives in an off-campus apartment. But she'll graduate soon(?) and may attend University of Alabama at Birmingham next.