Clogged drains, hostile cats and not enough milk: RCMP releases weirdest calls of 2022

What should you do when you run out of milk, swallow a mosquito or clog your bathtub drain?

The answer, unsurprisingly, doesn’t involve calling 911, but common sense didn’t stop people in Saskatchewan from calling the emergency number for all of those issues in 2022.

On Thursday, the Saskatchewan RCMP released details on a number of calls to 911 that it said “missed the mark” in the past year. The RCMP fielded 352,854 calls for service over the past year, and many turned out to be a little odd.

The top off-the-mark call for the year involved a caller who called 911 to complain that their bathtub drain was clogged. Coming in second was a caller who wanted RCMP officers to pick them up some milk after running out. In third was a customer at a clothing store who called 911 when the manager wouldn’t let them return winter boots that had been worn.

Other off-the-mark calls fielded by 911 operators in Saskatchewan in 2022 included a caller who encountered “a hostile cat” and wanted RCMP officers to take it to a shelter, a caller whose roommate ate their takeout food order, and someone who needed help deleting a voicemail message.

Another 911 caller complained about swallowing a mosquito, causing them to choke and lose their dentures, “leaving them unable to eat supper,” the RCMP said.

One caller dialled the emergency line to check up on a polite RCMP officer they previously knew to see how the officer’s family was doing.

“While well-meaning, this certainly would not be considered an emergency,” the RCMP said.

In one case, a prank caller reported a cougar on the loose in their city. When asked for details, the RCMP said the caller laughed and told them the cougar’s name was “Cindy.”

While the list of off-the-mark calls is good for a few chuckles, wasting the time of 911 operators and police is no laughing matter, the RCMP emphasized.

“We release the list to raise awareness about the misuse of 911, which can possibly delay someone experiencing a life-threatening emergency from getting help,” the RCMP’s Lee Rosin said in a statement.

“Every moment that we are spending speaking with someone complaining about their shopping experience or wanting to prank call 911 is time that call-takers and officers could have been helping someone in a life-threatening situation.”