Hedgehog used in attack on teenager

10:16 AM, April 11, 2008

A man in New Zealand has been charged with using a hedgehog as a weapon, the New Zealand Herald has reported.

Police said William Singalargh, 27, hurled the hedgehog, similar to the one pictured here, at a 15-year-old boy.

"It hit the victim in the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture marks," Senior Sgt. Bruce Jenkins, in the North Island town of Whakatane, told the Herald.

It was unclear whether the hedgehog was still alive when it was thrown; it was dead when collected as evidence.

The police spokesman said the suspect was arrested "for assault with a weapon, namely the hedgehog."

Singalargh is due to appear in court next Thursday. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times

Posted by Francisco Vara-Orta on April 11, 2008 in Animal Attacks , Animal Cruelty , Current Affairs , Hedgehogs | Permalink

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Comments

Clearly, there needs to be some form of common-sense regulation of hedgehogs. Perhaps, as a first step, registration; with confiscation as the final goal. Citiznes cannot be trusted with hedgehogs.

Posted by: bruce lerner | April 11, 2008 at 12:39 PM

The US Constitution is very clear about this: A well-regulated militia being necessary to the defense of the United States, the right to bear hedgehogs shall not be infringed. Perhaps our diligent congress should revisit this amendment.

Posted by: stevo | April 11, 2008 at 02:57 PM

Well played, Mr. Lerner, well played.

Posted by: Castulo Guerra | April 11, 2008 at 02:59 PM

No where in the article is mention made of the superiority of American hedge hog vs the spiny, clearly hazardous, New Zealand variety.

Posted by: Dave | April 11, 2008 at 06:59 PM

Seriously, was Mr. Singalargh charged with animal cruelty also?
Oh, that's right, this is the LAT, new home of rip-and-read journalism.

Posted by: M. | April 11, 2008 at 07:25 PM

Seriously? Who throws a hedgehog?

Posted by: Kathryn | June 03, 2008 at 01:55 PM

Our Bloggers

Tony Barboza, a Colorado native who moved to Southern California as a college student, is a reporter for The Times' Orange County edition, where he covers the beaches and the city of Irvine. A lifelong animal lover, he lives with his 2-year-old cats Mario and Vincent.

Carla Hall, a general assignment reporter, has covered animals and their people across the state of California (and occasionally beyond). She chronicled the Oakland Zoo's attempts to hand-raise a baby African elephant and followed the Los Angeles Zoo's L.A.-born gorilla Caesar on his trek to a new home at Zoo Atlanta several years ago. Preferring to get up close and personal with her subjects, she once fed corn cobs to the L.A. Zoo's now-deceased elephant Gita (no connection between her demise and the feeding) and spent hours interviewing pit bulls at the Laurel Canyon Dog Park. Currently animal-less, Carla still insists on plying people with anecdotes about her cat Arnold, who died 10 years ago.

Francisco Vara-Orta has been a staff writer at The Times since 2006, writing about birth control for squirrels in Santa Monica and pigeons in Hollywood, the hidden culture of TV pet adoptions and puppy theft. Although he grew up with pet dogs, he realized the sad realities of neglected animals after spending a summer in high school volunteering at a local shelter. Francisco, an L.A. transplant, graduated from St. Mary's University in his hometown of San Antonio, where his dog Diego now keeps his mother company.

Questions? Comments? E-mail us at unleashed@latimes.com.