This dog has been accused of no crime, to our knowledge. Photo by Sea Kay

Yes, that headline implies that there is more than one odd and animal-related crime news story to report which, we know, boggles the mind.

First, we have the story of a Seattle-area woman who came up with the adult version of "my dog ate my homework" to explain why she careened into a police officer with her car. The woman hit a police officer who was directing traffic and said her "pit bull puppy jumped in her lap, grabbed the steering wheel with its teeth and caused the car to go out of control." Uh huh. The dog did it--it is one of the oldest excuses in the book. (Right after "my little sibling did it.") The police officer was taken to Harborview for leg and neck injuries. Though there is technically no law against driving with your dog on your lap, the woman will likely face reckless driving charges. The accident-causing puppy? We imagine it will spend more than a night in both the proverbial and literal dog house.

While Seattle police were dealing with puppy-caused car accidents, Whidbey Island police were handling a "routine traffic stop," that became anything but. After an officer in Coupeville, Wash., pulled a woman over for failing to stop at a stop sign, he noticed what he'd thought was a stuffed animal moving in the back seat. The definitely-not-stuffed-animal was a baby harbor seal pup, and failing to stop at a stop sign had suddenly become a possible federal crime. While the woman has yet to be arrested, the seal pup was confiscated and taken to an animal rescue facility in Friday Harbor. The poor thing is too young to be returned to the wild and was dehydrated and reasonably freaked out after its ordeal.

So, local drivers, learn a lesson from these two. No blaming car accidents on the dog, especially after you hit a police officer. And, stealing seal pups and carrying them in the back of your Camry is not only a bad idea, but also a federal crime.