HE wasn't arrested for taking his pet zebra and parrot
to a bar, but for trying to drive them home drunk. <!--
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Jerald Reiter a farmer from Dubuque, Iowa - located on his
home state's border with Illinois and Wisconsin - was stopped
on in the carpark of the town's Dog House Lounge on suspicion
of drunk driving, with his unusual passengers on the front
seat.
Jerald Reiter was released from the
Dubuque County Jail on Monday. Picture: Jail
photo
Police said that field sobriety tests showed that
the 55-year-old had a blood alcohol level of .14, almost twice
Iowa's legal limit, KCRG-TV reported.
Reiter told the Des Moines Register that he and
his girlfriend treat the animals - three-month-old zebra
PeeWee and parrot Izzy - like friends and take them to the bar
because it sometimes allows animals inside.
He told the paper, "I said, 'Let's go for a ride.'
I ain't been away from the farm for almost two months
because I've been planting corn and everything
else. So I opened the door, the zebra jumps in, the macaw
loves to go for a ride, so we went for a ride."
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However, the creatures were turned away and the bar
disputed Reiter's claim that animals were permitted inside and said
that despite its name, not even dogs were allowed in the
establishment.
Reiter said that as soon as he started driving away from the bar
he realised he was too drunk to continue and was about to let a
(human) passenger take the wheel but he was stopped by the cops
first.
He believes a passerby who was taking pictures of the pets may
have tipped off police. He was released from the Dubuque County
Jail on Monday.
The zebra and parrot at the Reiters' home in
Iowa.
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