A turkey (illustration) -

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Latvian police have arrested three men accused of stealing a turkey from a small private zoo and getting it drunk on vodka.

The package, in all likelihood premeditated, took place in Riga on Wednesday morning, the birthday of one of the three suspects.

CCTV footage shows the three men dressed in black entering the mini zoo before escaping with the turkey in a bag.

The thieves, aged 30 to 40, took the bird to the nearest train station to reach the seaside town of Jurmala.

They forced the animal to swallow alcohol

Arrived at the station called Bulduri (which means “turkey gulping” in Latvian), they went to the beach to drink and force the bird to swallow vodka with them.

The party was already over when the police discovered the thieves and the animal.

The turkey was brought back to the zoo.

She later appeared on TV3 Latvija, safe and sound, but visibly distressed.

"One of the suspects was celebrating his 34th birthday and the other two decided to celebrate it," Inga Zonberga, head of the criminal police of the western district of Riga, told local media.

Now the trio will face criminal charges for "burglary and organized group intrusion," she said, adding that the suspects had already had trouble with the law for hooliganism and other crimes.

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