Child's Stolen Pet Duck Found By Police Beside Pressure Cooker At Thief's House

The pet duck of a 6-year-old boy in China was recently saved from being cooked and eaten after Shanghai police found it next to three pressure cookers in the thief's home, according to a report.

The owner, whose surname is Liu, paid 5,000 yuan ($725) to buy the call duck, a domesticated breed imported from Europe, two years ago as a gift for her son, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

However, on April 14, Liu and her son discovered that the pet duck was missing from the garden of her shop.

Liu's son could not help but cry after learning of the disappearance of the duck, worried that someone might have already cooked his pet, local news outlet Xinmin Evening News reported.

The mother and son sought help from police, who then checked footage from surveillance cameras in the area.

Authorities found that a man had stolen the duck and brought it home about 10 kilometers away from Liu's shop.

Shanghai police found the duck still alive inside a basket beside three pressure cookers, apparently being readied to be cooked.

The thief, identified by his surname Wang, said he was making a delivery near Liu's shop when he saw the fat, white duck in the garden and thought that it would make for a good dinner.

Though the breed has gained popularity as a domesticated pet in China in recent years, many people still consider these animals edible.

Wang told investigators that he didn't expect that police would find him so soon. He is currently held in administrative detention for theft, reported SCMP.

Upon reuniting at the police station, Liu held the duck in her arms.

Some social media users in the country criticized the man who attempted to eat the pet duck, calling out "how gluttonous the man was to steal and eat other people's pets."

"It has nothing to do with the breed. Even if it's cheap meat duck, you can't steal it," one user said on Zhihu, China's version of Quora.

Netizens in China also remembered how a famous actress, Wang Luodan, told her millions of followers on Weibo that her friend's pet duck was stolen near her home.

She shared a screen capture of the surveillance video which showed a middle-aged woman walking away while grabbing the pet duck, Jiji, by its wings.

Wang sought help to find Jiji and promised that she would reward those who would find the pet duck with "10 Peking ducks of the same size." But while the woman was later found, the pet duck was gone.