Mouse taped to firework on New Year's Eve exhibited in museum

A mouse that was taped to a firework rocket during Dutch New Year festivities and later died of its burn injuries is now being 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 a 500-strong police unit dedicated to stamping it out.


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Astromuis was rescued by police with burns to his stomach and paws but died last Friday. 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.