The 9-1-1-department in Largo, Fla. , was confused when a 38-year-old man called them to seek help from a group of police officers who came to arrest him. Police arrested Dana Farrell Shelton after a local bar lodged a complaint about him causing a disturbance there. Shelton, who appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, immediately called 911 to report he was surrounded by police officers with their guns drawn and needed help.

The 9-1-1 dispatcher in Canada was surprised to receive a call from a man in north of Toronto informing him about two elephants wandering through his neighbourhood early Thursday morning. It was later found that the massive giants, named Bunny and Suzy, had escaped from a circus at about 3 a. m. in Newmarket, a town of 75,000 people near Toronto. The pachyderms, who perform at the Ray Twinney Complex with the Garden Bros. Circus, were strolling around freely munching on trees, shrubs and flowers.

A Chicago woman, who called 9-1-1 to complain about illegal fireworks in her area, said all she could hear on the other end was uncontrollable laughter. Brigitte Biver called 3-1-1 on the evening of July 4 but the operator transferred her to the city's 9-1-1 emergency center. But all she could hear was wild laughter on the other end.

As the number of cars in the upcoming southern city of Shenzhen has touched the one million mark, the city's mayor has urged its residents to stop the purchase of new cars. With 90,000 new cars registered already this year, Xu Zongheng fears that more cars in the city will give rise to the traffic problems. The English-language China Daily quotes Zongheng as saying, "Problems arising from the city's traffic are mounting. I hope residents take this into consideration when planning to buy cars. "

Hello Kitty - world famous Japanese moon-faced cartoon cat is all set to pamper your pet dog with a 3. 9 million yen ($31,660 USD) doghouse set to go on sale later this month. The first-of-it's kind doghouse comes embedded with 7,600 Swarovski crystals and is just large enough for a lapdog like a Chihuahua or terrier. Its manufacturer Sanrio Co. , which is also the makers of Hello Kitty cartoon cat, said the dog house was created especially for a sales event at a Tokyo department store. Designed in collaboration with a maker of high-end pet goods, the luxury dog house has a pillow in the shape of Hello Kitty's face. AP quotes Sanrio spokesman Kazuo Tohmatsu as saying, "There's been a boom in luxury couches for larger dogs, so we thought there might be room for something new. "