Overview
- The Bundespolizei stopped a 36-year-old ICE passenger at Hannover Hauptbahnhof on Wednesday after a ticket inspection showed he had no valid fare.
- During a search officers found a knife with an approximately 8.5 cm blade in the man’s right pocket and a live hedgehog tucked into the pullover’s belly pocket.
- Officers ordered the man to set the animal down, placed the stressed hedgehog in a cardboard box for its safety, and later released it into the Eilenriede city forest.
- Authorities seized the knife, issued the man a 12-hour station ban, and have opened procedures for suspected fare evasion and possible violations of weapons and animal-protection laws.
- The Bundespolizei warned that hedgehogs are protected wild animals, said transporting them in clothing can cause stress or injury, and advised people to leave found hedgehogs alone or contact a specialist rescue service.