>>> June 20, 2002

Down,
boy

A Norwegian man is breathing easier after he was cleared on charges of disturbing the peace stemming from his barking like a dog in downtown Oslo.

Trond S. Hansen was on his way home from a dinner party, his children in tow, when the youngsters got into a bit of a disagreement. When one started crying, Hansen thought it a good tactic to get them to calm down by barking. A witness to the strange spectacle called police, and Hansen was hauled off to the pound. Slurred speech gained him charges of public drunkenness to compliment the charges of disturbing the peace and child neglect.

At trial, Hansen attributed his slurring to loose false teeth. With no evidence to the contrary, an Oslo judge dropped those charges along with the others, finding it unlikely that Hansen’s barking was loud enough to warrant the charges. :

-Scott Saxon