Legal lineup: Pets on the wrong side of the law

As pets grow nearer and dearer to the human heart, they also grow nearer to legal trouble. Here are a few recent sticky situations pets and their people have found themselves in:

Pigs are pets too

Jupiter, Fla., banned residents from keeping pigs—but resident Loretta Mayo pleaded for leniency for her pot-bellied pig, Daisy. Town leaders voted 3 to 1 to allow Daisy to stay, finding that Daisy's more than a pig; Daisy's a pet.

Keeping pets entertained

Police in Berlin, Germany, broke into an apartment after neighbors complained that music had been playing nonstop and the lights had been left on for five days. Instead of finding a resident in trouble, police found a pet hamster. A friend said the owner was on vacation and didn't want his hamster to feel lonely. So the friend promised to turn down the music a bit and check on the hamster a little more often.

If only a Shih Tzu could read

While Albert Smith sat in jail in Bentonville, Ark., awaiting trial for allegedly murdering his ex-wife's boyfriend, he sent a letter to his 5-year-old Shih Tzu, Murphy. When prosecutors subpoenaed anyone who knew Smith, they included Murphy. They realized their error when the defendant's brother brought the pet to court.

A shooting accident

In Bates Township, Mich., a man was shot by his cat while he was cooking dinner. The cat knocked the man's 9mm handgun off the counter. It discharged when it hit the ground, shooting the man in his lower torso.