As a break from the serious, here is an article regarding something that happened within Sydney earlier this month. The article coems from the USATODAY website, so it does have some details wrong. But I'm sure you get the point. The joys of humanity ... and taxpayers dollars!

Bomb squad robot rescues pet bird
AP

A robot designed to disarm bombs was sent Friday to rescue a pet bird whose owner had to flee her apartment building two days earlier because it was endangered by a nearby tunnel collapse.

The cockatiel, named Tweety, was stranded in the apartment directly above a section of the building that partially collapsed when a giant hole opened up near the site of a new tunnel earlier this week.

Tweety's owner, Karen Bruce, was barred from re-entering the building to get her pet after she and about 60 other residents were awakened early Wednesday and ordered to flee.

When the robot emerged from the building with Tweety on Friday, Bruce held the bird up triumphantly.

"Tweety is a hand-reared cockatiel who likes daily contact," she said.

Asked about her feathered friend's condition, she said: "I don't know. I'm not a vet, but she's had a bit of (water and) seed left and stuff, so she is quite content."