HAPPY, HAPPY HIPPO

Here at Doc40 we have quite a predilection for animal tales and we are also very fond of cocaine stories, so you can imagine how exceedingly pleased we are when the two are combined. The story of Matilda the hippo, the former pet of Colombian drug overlord Pablo Escobar was brought to our attention by the UK Edition of The Week. It would seem that, after Escobar was murdered by what was supposedly an unholy alliance of the Colombian government, the Cali Cartel and the CIA, his private zoo, that housed Matilda and her mate Pepe, along with other exotic animals, was allowed to fall into chronic disrepair. Unhappy with their lot, Pepe and Matilda broke out and settled in the wild, but the same Colombian authorities, who had killed their previous owner, deemed the pair a health hazard and government hunters killed Pepe. Photographs of his death, however, so outraged public opinion that the government was forced to back down and a reprieved Matilda will be resettled to live out her days in an animal sanctuary.