QUIRKY WORLD ... Dog almost gone: That takes the (choc) biscuits

Britain:  A dog which tucked into a box of Christmas chocolates while its owner was out almost died.

Bichon Frise Faith rifled through presents kept in a spare room when her owners were out and found a large packet of dark mint chocolates.

When owner Anne-Marie Smith returned to her Glasgow home, she found the 3-year-old dog had been sick after eating 27 chocolates and took her to a vet. Faith was put on a drip at the PDSA pet hospital and recovered after spending the night with vets.

Cold kebab? Don’t call 999

Britain:

Police are warning the public not to make time-wasting 999 calls after they received complaints of cold kebabs and noisy foxes.

Scotland Yard said Christmas and new year is the busiest time of year for the emergency services, and nuisance calls waste valuable resources.

The Met Police released a list of ten of the worst offenders, including a caller who wanted to know where to get a bacon sandwich, and another who was angry that clowns were selling balloons for £5 each.

Santa goes chicken

Britain:

Police have released CCTV of an armed robber dressed as Father Christmas climbing through a drive-thru window at a KFC.

Derbyshire Police said the man, 1.8m (5ft10in) and stocky, climbed through the window at around 10.30pm on Saturday carrying a knife before demanding cash.

Derbyshire Police said the man was wearing a red hat, red trousers, and a red jacket over a black top, and had his face covered.

Elf emergency

USA:

A 7-year-old girl called 911 after she touched her elf on the shelf.

Police say Isabelle LaPeruta, of Old Bridge in New Jersey, was worried because, according to the popular children’s book, the magic of Christmas goes away if the elf is touched.

It is understood the girl panicked when the elf fell on the floor when she threw a ball.

An officer who attended the scene said: “Isabella apologised. She touched the elf on a shelf. She won’t call 911 again.”

Calming canines

USA:

A team of professionally trained dogs are aiming to ease travellers’ stresses at major US airports this Christmas.

The dogs are part of the United Airlines United Paws Programme, which sees them patrol terminals at seven of the airline’s hub airports in a bid to reduce stress and anxiety among passengers.

At Dulles International Airport in Washington, Rugi, a great Dane-Labrador mix, English bulldog Cinnamon, and cross-breed Pepper are helping prove the theory that simply petting a dog can reduce stress and bring out smiles.

Criminal filtered out

USA:

A man who posted a photo and videos of himself robbing a bank on Instagram has pleaded guilty.

Dominyk Antonio Alfonseca, aged 24, admitted one count of robbery in Virginia Beach Circuit Court, Virginia, after he walked into a TowneBank branch in May and handed the cashier a note asking for $150,000 (€138,000) in bonds — and including the word “please”.

He recorded the incident on his mobile phone and posted videos and a photo of the note online.

Officers arrested Alfonseca shortly after the incident, carrying a gym bag full of money. He will be sentenced in March.