Mouse Taped To Firework To Be Exhibited At Museum

The rodent, named Astromuis – Astro mouse – 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.