Cattle rustler rammed three cows into back of his Honda Odyssey
Three heavily-sedated cows have been found crammed inside a family car after a bungled theft.
The weight of the stolen cattle caused a tyre to puncture and the rustlers were forced to flee on foot.
Police in Malaysia said they received a call about a suspicious Honda Odyssey abandoned on the roadside.
They arrived on the scene in Chini, in the western state of Pahang, to find the car without licence plates and with a burst tyre.
Until then the call-out was fairly routine but they then peered through the car window.
The cows were lying in the seats sedated and weak and officers said the weight had caused the car to break down.
Police superintendent Mohd Razli Mohd Yusof said: ‘The police monitored the area for 30 minutes but no one came back.
‘With the help of the locals in the area, we managed to find the owner of the cows, a 65-year-old man.’
The local authorities have yet to make any arrests as the investigation into the bungled rustling attempt continues.
The sex of the cattle has not been disclosed but it is likely that the combined weight was equivalent to between 35 and 40 people.