A mouse that was taped to a firework rocket during Dutch New Year festivities and later died of its burn injuries is to be exhibited in a museum.
The rodent, named Astromuis – Astro mous – by the Dutch media, has been stuffed and mounted in a "triumphant position" surrounded by firework rockets on a display that opened to the public on Thursday.
Two 20-year-old men from the Frisian village of Drachten were arrested for maltreating the mouse in a country that takes animal cruelty so seriously it has 500-strong police unit dedicated to stamping it out.
Astromuis was rescued by police with burns to his stomach and paws but died last Friday. The mouse is not the first victim of cruelty to animals to be preserved for posterity in Friesland's Natuurmuseum.
Also displayed is Dominomus, a stuffed sparrow which was shot in 2005 after it flew into an exhibition centre where 18 million dominoes were precariously balanced ready to be toppled for a world record attempt.
The bird had knocked over 23,000 dominoes before it was killed to become an animal cruelty cause célèbre in Holland and has two popular songs and a website dedicated to its memory.
Another sparrow on display, Tennisbalmus, was killed by a tennis ball during a high-speed power serve in 1996.
Christiaan Walen, the museum's taxidermist, said that the Astomuis exhibit would help prevent future cruelty to animals.
"The story behind the mouse can help schoolchildren and other people learn respect for nature and everything that grows and thrives," he said.
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The most fitting punishment would be to tape the two morons to the outside of the next space craft to be launched, just to see how they like te ride.
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