Poor hedgehog.

RIP hedgehog.

I've always wanted one, but they're illegal in this state.

If he had some rings he would still be alive.

I did own a hedgehog for better latter part of college.

He probably picked up our friend post mortem, to pick up a fully grown hedgehog without Aunt Jemaima's gloves is for a naught...

poor hedgehog, hope the bastard gets a hefty fine.

From the article

It was unclear whether the hedgehog was still alive when it was thrown, though it was dead when collected as evidence.

Made me laugh.

Maybe the guy was hallucinating and thought the kid was a badnik?

If they had painted him blue i be JT would be trippin' balls.

Oh god. That's horrible. I hope it was a dead hedgehog they found or something.
Because otherwise that sucks. Poor little guy.

/Eggman wanted for questioning in the incident.

I feel sorry for the victims of this heinous crime.

@Fyren: You're not supposed to wear gloves to pick up hedgehogs; they don't like it. They're a lot more sociable and respond well to human touch if you use your bare hands. If a hedgehog pet balls up when you try to touch it, it's probably neglected and asocial. Poor thing.

I, too, feel sorry for the hedgehog ... involved in an act of violence in a world he never created. So sad. Still, as a weapon, it could be a pretty good idea ... I mean, it could run off and hide itself.

...After things like this, people STILL think the right to bear hedgehogs is on par with freedom of speech.

I HATE that hedgehog!

Who throws a hedgehog? Seriously, who DOES that? I mean, where would you even find one, first off, and then why would you decide to use it as a weapon?

Wait, a thought occurred.

Why is it specifically going to be targeted at Sonic? What about other famous hedgehogs? Why not those books with their Mrs. Tiggy Winkle? What about Terry Pratchett's books? Huh? Double standards, I say!

Games are always the scapegoat.

@kface: hence why I said Aunt Jemaima's gloves.

HAHAHAHAHA, wtf!

"hey m8 get off my yard!"
"screw you old man!"
"FFS! I swear, I'll, I'll, I'll..."
"you'll what? you old dirty man, you don't have a weapon"
"but i have this you scum bag!"
"NOOOOOOO! not sonic!"
*thud*
"you old bastard! that hurt like hell...."
*whaaa cry whaaa*
"that'll teach you hooligan!"

@TalKeaton: Game Design Major:
A 40oz malt and some Sonic 3??

The guy probably had horrible aim, so threw the hedgehog figuring it would use it's homing attack.

Back when I lived in Ireland we used to walk home from the pub past a little spot where they'd come out to play at night.
As for the question why would someone throw a hedgehog.
Probably cos they're a lot f*cking easier to pick up than a badger.

@Cruithne:
me too. i know it's sick, but that line got to me...
not a funny story, but jeez...

animal liberation will be all over this one...

@Drake Lake: illegal as pets or illegal animals?

He would have had hit him 7 more times to take the guy out.

I had a pet Hedgehog and I can totally see how you could hurt someone with one. Not that I in any way condone the weaponizing of Hedgehogs

>.>

NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHING

<.<

I thought hedgehogs were all blue.....

@SixDemonBag:
in the jugular....

@meltyman:
As pets for sure. Not sure about them as animals.

:'(

Poor hedgehog.

@Heyyou27: @mortalum: Bravo, bravo...

Still, Im quite saddened for the demise of the weapon-Hedgehog... I can only hope his death was a quiet and peacefull one, not a long running disaster of poor quality videogames, the way Sega is trying to kill it's Hedgehog.

There should be some sort of viodeogame characters associantion to defend VGcharacters agains such abuses.

And yes, the biggest question of all, like refered by @TalKeaton: Game Design Major: Who in their perfect mind would throw an hedgehog!?

rofl, thats so sad, yet I can't stop laughing. The real victim in all this is the poor little hedgehog. I hope that they lock that guy up and feed him to other no so friendly woodland animals....

Hedgehogs primary sense is smell. So picking up hedgehogs with gloves is useless for the owner as its recognize the smell of the glove and not the BO of the owner ;P

On topic: I hope this guy gets that 5 years in jail for abusing an animal like that. If the mainstream media doesn't get it, I bet PETA will.

Did he drop any rings?

@Drake Lake:
I take it you live in California, Georgia, or Hawaii? In any other state you _are_ allowed to own hedgehogs, though some states require permits, other prohibit European hedgehogs specifically (while African Pygmies, Egyptian longeared, and Indian longeared hedgehogs are allowed), and Pennsylvania only prohibits the import of hedgehogs across the state line (descendants of in-state breeding stock are supposedly legal, though). There are also a few counties and cities that have declared them illegal on a local level.

@Fyren:
A friend of mine from college had an African Pygmy Hedgehog, which was very sweet. Well, at least it was to me. Her owner got the rough shoulder, but that's partly because whenever the little thing got sick, that's who had to administer the medicine. And clip the toenails. The bellies are quite soft, and as long as they're not frightened or pissed off, the spines all lay flat on the back. I wouldn't call _them_ soft, but when they're not standing up on end they're not going to poke you. It's not like porcupine quills, where they're designed to actually penetrate the skin.

@kface:
Or it knows and dislikes that specific person.

@Cruithne: Only thing I've read to day that I actually laughed out loud about. Good job you get a CHAOS EMERALD!

OH SNAP! That guy got spindashed!

we all know who the real hedgehog killers are. sega and sonic team.

i kid!

@Shiryu: I believe if you're throwing hedgehogs, there's no way in hell you have a perfect mind.

Hedgies rock! You get one of three types. The grump, the cuddler and the runner. Sometimes they mix. I had a grumpy cuddler.

@meltyman:
Well, the European hedgehog is protected in some areas (illegal to capture or harm), specifically barred from ownership in others (where they do allow African Pygmy Hedgehog ownership), and considered a pest creature in other areas (generally areas where they are not native) because they put other native species at risk due to excessive overeating (presumedly in those areas it's perfectly legal to kill them on sight, like rabbits in Australia). It is inadvisable to let them loose in areas where they are not native for that very reason. I don't know if there are any laws specifically preventing the wild release of domesticated hedgehogs in the US, but they are not native to the Americas.

@urbanbuddha:
Actually, gloves could work very well for owners, if used at specific times. Any time you're going to do something necessary that the hedgehog will find unpleasant (clipping toenails, administering eardrops, giving shots, etc.), donning gloves would help prevent the hedgehog from associating those acts with the owner, and thus the owner will be able to handle the hedgehog without gloves in other instances without it getting irritated.

I like hedgies. :(

If not for the small and cute animal that died, I would say that this is pretty awesome. On par with the crazy cat lady from the Simpsons.

On a side note, I wonder how much sympathy the hedgehog is getting just because he's a hedgehog (and Fahey posted a cute picture of one at the top). I imagine that "Oh that poor Cockroach!" would not have been the cry.

I hope nobody throws their pet Italian plumber at nobody.

Why would you throw a hedgehog at someone? It just doesn't make sense. Why throw a small pointy mammal instead of a knife?

Randomness:
Did you know that Sonic Hedgehog actually exists?

[en.wikipedia.org] (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_hedgehog)

However, the video game character existed first (or was at least NAMED first :-P). Oh you wacky developmental biologists...

Remember: People with Hedgehogs don't poke people. People who play Sonic the Hedgehog that have hedgehogs poke people.

If the dollar is worth less than the pound, why are american sold items cheaper? Its all backwards!

@Eville1: We have a grumpy runner :p... he's cute though.

I would bet the hedgehog was alive. I've never seen a dead hedgehog, but they have to want their quills to go out. When they're relaxed, they're down, and not pokey. If that hedgie was anything like ours (who is scared of everything), he'd be scared to death when thrown and curl up right away. And if it made punctures? Yeah, it was thrown hard.

Poor guy :(

Just how am I not supposed to believe this wasn't a despondent Crecente taking fury role-playing a step too far???(!)

@okenny :): because Crente doesn't bring the fury anymore, that's the prinny's job now.

@Purple Dave:

Wow your knowledge about hedgehog law is surprisingly accurate.... What do you know about Ligers?

@Purple Dave: I have a hedgehog so when I do handle her, I don't use gloves. Though I do agree with your statement since I wear gloves when I need to give my hedgehog a bath. Other times, like clipping her toenails, I don't wear them because she's more calm when I'm handling her.

This isn't funny, people. >:(

For all we know, the hedgehog could have been supersaiyan during the attack. Do you know how much that would have hurt?

That poor hog. What's next, plumbers stomping on turtles?

While I am saddened about the abuse of the animal, the guy gets points for creativity.

5 years for assault with a hedgehog? How much time do you get for assault with a two tailed fox?

He couldn't find anything better to throw than a hedgehog? Here's a free suggestion for dealing with the next 15 year old that won't get off your lawn: try a rock!

OMG, what a cute picture. I hope the little guy was dead before he was hurled.

@Wubbytoes: Can you just imagine what would happen to the poor turtles?

...
*cast*
*reelreelreel*

Poor hedgehog :'(